Founder of “Change is Possible” Community & Accelerator where corporate professionals build influential brands & portfolio careers I Change Advisor to Leaders I Ex-Citi COO I Follow for modern leadership, career & change

Over the past 25 years, I have built a successful international banking career.
Most recently, I was the Regional COO for Citibank’s $2Bn business across 16 countries in Asia - leading large-scale transformations in digitisation and culture.

But in 2021, I walked away from my high-paying executive role.

Why?

Because I wanted more space.
More time with family.
More alignment between who I am and how I work.

But I didn’t want to start from scratch.
So I asked myself a question:
What if I could build a career around everything I already know - and love?

That’s how my portfolio career began.
And it changed everything.

Now, I help other professionals do the same.

What I’ve built since 2021:
→ A 6-figure portfolio business with 3 income streams
→ Founder of Change is Possible - a business community for professionals redesigning their next chapter
→ 100K+ LinkedIn followers (grew from 17K in under a year)
→ Coached 100+ professionals through successful career transitions
→ Host of a Top 20 global podcast on career change, Change is Possible
→ TEDx speaker, Forbes columnist, and Bloomberg TV guest

Want to build your own portfolio career?
🚀 THE PORTFOLIO CAREER ACCELERATOR (Launching January 2026) 
Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1thkmph_EwRxLGfuL9muCsRir1uKDdF2nXYeI7X_1oSA/edit

This is an 8-week program designed to help you:
→ Turn your expertise into income
→ Build a personal brand that opens doors
→ Create your first income stream - even before you leave your job

Only 20 spots. 12 already claimed.

Other ways we can work together:
✔️ Join my business community — Change is Possible https://changeispossible.co.uk/ - doors open for new members on Sept.10, 2025
✔️ Book me to speak — I deliver keynotes on leadership, change, career reinvention, and the future of work - send a DM.
✔️ Hire me as an advisor — I support companies navigating complex transformation - send a DM to meet and explore.
✔️ Book 1:1 coaching — For senior execs ready to design their next chapter - send a DM.
✔️ Book my LinkedIn Growth Bundle — A 2-session intensive where I teach you the exact system I used to grow to 100K+ followers. Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1bLp7wmK8xhIpfFu8beImvD5JZQHYsbraTBx5Orjx0zs/edit

P.S. Still wondering if change is really possible?
🎧 Tune in to my podcast Change is Possible — where 100+ professionals share how they redesigned their careers and lives. Watch here - https://www.youtube.com/@ChangeIsPossiblePodcast

Ani Filipova

The first time someone told me the truth about my leadership, I wanted to fire them.

I did not, obviously.
But I wanted to.
"Who are they to tell me...." 🤯 

Most leaders say they want honesty.
Then someone actually gives it.
And they get defensive.

Start explaining why that person is wrong.
Or worse - they punish honesty.
Withdraw.
Get cold.
"Manage out" the truth-teller.

Do it enough times and people learn.
They stop telling you the truth.
They tell you what you want to hear.

Look around.
Scandals at every level.
Boards blindsided.
Leaders shocked by what "nobody told them."

Nobody told them because they made it unsafe to speak.

The first time someone tells you a hard truth, you will want to fight it.
Your ego will scream.
You will feel attacked.
Misunderstood.
Betrayed.

This is normal.
This is human.
This does not make you a bad leader.

Leadership is not being okay with hard feedback.
Leadership is what you do in the 10 seconds after hearing it.

How to train yourself to receive truth better:

→ Leadership is not being okay with hard feedback.
→ Leadership is what you do in the 10 seconds after hearing something that makes you want to defend yourself.
→ It is saying "tell me more" when every cell in your body wants to say "you are wrong."
→ It is thanking someone for their honesty even when their delivery was clumsy and it stung.
→ It is sleeping on feedback that feels unfair. Then waking up and finding that some of it is true and deciding to take it on.

You do not have to be perfect at this.
You just have to be 5% better than last month.

The more truth people tell you, the less scary it becomes.
Not because feedback gets easier.
But because you prove to yourself that honesty does not destroy you.

It builds you.

Follow me, Ani Filipova, for more on leadership and building a career on your terms.
♻️ Repost if a leader in your network needs to hear this.

-----
📌 Check my free webinars this month:
Future of work: https://lnkd.in/gT5S8Sbs
Portfolio career: https://lnkd.in/gf-ifWqj

Some people did everything right and still didn’t make it.

I think about them a lot.

They made smart decisions.
Built the right skills.
Were genuinely good at what they did.

And the break never came.

Meanwhile, I know people (myself included) who caught a moment of luck so precise, so accidental, that if you shifted timing by six months, or moved geography by one country, the whole story collapses.

Here are two of mine:

1) A colleague in London mentioned, almost in passing, that there was a COO role available. I applied. I got it. That one conversation shaped the next chapter of my career.

2) Years later, I got invited to an event where entrepreneurs pitched to magazine editors. I saw what people were building. The energy in the room. The possibilities. That night is a direct line to me leaving my job.

Neither moment was “earned”.
Both changed everything.

And I know plenty of successful people have these moments too, but they rarely mention them because it complicates their success story.

We are sooo binary:

- Success is merit: work hard, decide well, win.
- Success is luck: hard work doesn't matter anyway.

The real version sits in the middle.

Decisions create the conditions.
Luck pulls the trigger.

Sometimes luck pulls the trigger for someone who didn’t deserve it.
Sometimes it never shows up for someone who did.

If you are navigating this, here is what I know:

1️⃣  Your decisions still matter a great deal.
They don’t guarantee the outcome.
But they are how you stack the odds in your favour.

2️⃣  Luck is real.
You don’t get to choose when it shows up. Acknowledging it keeps you hungry without making you bitter, and grateful without making you passive.

3️⃣  Make peace with the unfairness.
This is the hardest part.
Sometimes you do everything right and still don’t make it. The only move left is to accept and move on

The truth is: most success stories are part skill, part luck, and a lot of editing.

---
You can’t control luck, but you can control your odds.
That’s what we build inside the Portfolio Career Accelerator. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gpEqqqFs

or DM me

I used to think I handled feedback well.

Then I watched myself get defensive almost immediately.

I nodded. Said, “Thank you for sharing.”

Then spent the next three days arguing with it in my head.
And thinking, “Who does he think he is?”

Here is what most people get wrong about criticism:

They do not hear, “Here is how to improve.”
They hear, “You are not as good as you thought.”

That is why people:

▶️ Get defensive.
▶️ Justify themselves.
▶️ Go quiet.
▶️ Blame the delivery.

It feels like a threat.

The top 1% leaders do not hear feedback and think, “That is unfair.”

They think, “What is useful here?”

That shift changes everything.

Here is what that looks like:

▶️ Pause.
▶️ Let them finish.
▶️ Write it down.
▶️ Ask for an example.

Then leave the room and decide what is signal and what is noise.

Not all feedback is right.
But almost all feedback reveals something.

If you want to grow fast:

Stop protecting your ego.
Start mining for signal.

Feedback is uncomfortable.
But staying the same is worse.

Follow me, Ani Filipova, for leadership truths most people avoid.
♻️ Repost if someone in your network needs to hear this.

How to learn so fast it feels unfair.

Here is why this matters now more than ever:

- The half-life of skills is shrinking.
- What you learned 5 years ago may already be outdated.
- AI is changing industries faster than most people can adapt.

Learning how to learn is no longer a nice-to-have.
It is the skill that makes all other skills possible.

Leaving corporate was one of the biggest learning curve of my life.

- Suddenly, no team.
- No structure.
- No playbook.

If I did not learn fast, I did not earn.

So I devoured information.
And still felt behind.
Because volume is not the same as mastery.

When I interviewed Dr. Justin Sung on my podcast, he explained why.
The best learners do 3 things differently:

1️⃣ They pause.
Your brain needs time to organise what it just received.

2️⃣ They synthesise.
They teach it, apply it, turn it into something useful.
This is where real understanding happens.
And where you discover what you actually do not know yet.

3️⃣ They compare.
They connect new ideas to what they already know.
This anchors new knowledge into your existing mental frameworks.
It makes learning stick.

🎥 Watch the full podcast episode with Dr.Sung here: https://lnkd.in/g32j73jq

♻️ Repost if someone in your network needs to learn faster.

I built my first income stream with a Calendly link and 5,000 followers.

My only regret? Waiting until I left my COO job to start.

While you are at your job, you have the credibility.
You do not need the testimonials.
You have the big title as a crown, and you are sought after.

Who would not choose to be coached by a COO?

But I convinced myself I needed to leave first.
I thought it would look strange.

So I waited.
I left.
And then I started from almost zero.

It still worked.
But it took longer than it needed to.

Because once you no longer have the crown to vouch for you, you need something else - you need proof that you are doing a good job.

So, I started.

Just one offer: I will help you prepare for interviews or figure out your next career move.
No website.
No marketing funnel.

At that time I was posting three times a week on LinkedIn.
I remember refreshing my inbox constantly to see if I had new bookings.

One person booked.
Then another.
Then people started sending me messages saying, “That session changed everything.”

Those messages became my proof.

The testimonials replaced the title.

Imagine having the title AND the testimonials - you will have a much better start in your portfolio career.

You do not need a business plan to start.
You do not need a big audience.
You do not need to quit your job first.

You need one skill.
One person willing to pay for it.
One session.

That is how it starts.

Most people already know what that skill is.
They just haven’t treated it like an offer yet.

I walk through the exact steps to build a portfolio career - including how to start while still employed - inside the Portfolio Career Accelerator. Cohort 1 is underway, and Cohort 2 is starting on April 27, 2026

Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gpEqqqFs

Career Strategist I Change advisor for Leaders | I help successful professionals build freedom, income & impact through portfolio careers | Speaker I Ex-Citi COO | Follow for modern leadership, career and change

I have appeared on Bloomberg from a desk that looks like a crime scene.

Papers everywhere.
Cables tangled.
Notes scribbled on random sheets.
Three pairs of spectacles because I can never find the right ones.

Chaos.

Or so it looks.

Here is the secret: I know exactly where everything is.

That mess is my system.
It works for me.
It has always worked for me.

From this desk I have recorded over 100 podcast interviews.
Run webinars.
Taught in my community and accelerator.
Coached clients.
Appeared on Bloomberg.
Delivered keynotes.

No fancy studio.
Amazing sophisticated office.
Just me, a microphone, and a desk that looks like a crime scene.

We spend so much energy to look "professional."
The clean background.
The perfect setup.
The polished image.

Meanwhile, the real work, the “magic” happens elsewhere.

You do not need a fancy studio to be taken seriously.
You do not need a minimalist setup to be credible.
You do not need to hide your chaos to be professional.

What you need is a system that works for you.
Even if nobody else understands it.

Most people are optimising how they look.
Very few are optimising how they work.

♻️ Repost if your workspace would never make it on camera.
Follow me Ani Filipova for leadership and career stories without the performance layer.
------

📌 Check my free webinars this month:
Future of work: https://lnkd.in/gT5S8Sbs
Portfolio career: https://lnkd.in/gf-ifWqj

Certified Executive Coach (ICF) | I help women leaders amplify their performance + presence to become Executives | Wife & Mom of 3 | Exec Group Coaching Program launching in Aug 2024 | Book a call today ⬇️

Apply to work with me for Executive Coaching: https://linktr.ee/executivematerial For Brand Partnerships (brands only) please email me at team@aprillittle.co 

April Little

After getting fired and moving back home, I slept on the couch for 6 weeks before landing another role I was sure I’d never get. 

At the time, it felt like life had slammed the door in my face. 

I had just paid off my car and it decided to die in the middle of an intersection. 

It wasn’t just raining it was pouring. 

Let me retell it - flooding 😅

We often label moments like this as permanent Cannon events.

Getting fired, divorced, delayed, or forced to start over can distort time and hope.

Your brain convinces you this chapter defines the rest of your story.

I always return to one grounding question when everything feels stalled.

Am I alive and healthy enough for the story to keep unfolding? 

More simply put, am I breathing? 

If the answer is yes, there is still room for something to work out.

Drop a heart if this resonates with where you are right now. 💗

Offline returning 2/24/26 🌴| Ex-HR Exec Helping Women Leaders Break the Mid-Level Ceiling Into Executive Leadership ($200k+) | 2025 Time 100 Creator

Last year, my client left her SVP role after 5 years to build a function from the ground up at a new company. She was promised hypergrowth, but after failed fundraising, she was laid off 8 months later.

She spent 3 months applying to 50 roles and was repeatedly ghosted. 

Ghosting happens at every level, including executive roles, especially when searches rely on headhunters and hidden markets.

As a busy mom of 2 juggling sporting events, school schedules, and travel, she was exhausted from spending her most non-renewable resource, her time, on a search that demanded more and more every week. 

When we began working together, I learned she was spending 45 minutes per application, rewriting the same bullets and guessing which keywords mattered.

I have spent 15 years in recruitment reviewing thousands of resumes, and the pattern is clear.

Roles now expect close to a 100% match, which means tailoring is not optional, even with an $800 resume.

This is where Teal comes in.  As a longtime #tealpartner, I had her start with Matching Mode, which compares resumes to job descriptions, highlights missing keywords, and prioritizes skills recruiters screen for first.

Within seconds, she could see alignment gaps, and we reduced her application time from 45 minutes to 10.

You can do the same here: https://tealhq.co/4pt2iqD

We used that recovered time to prepare her interview narrative and focus on a sustainable, network-driven strategy.

After a total 6-month search, she landed another SVP role at a 10,000-person company.

The average exec search takes between 6-12 months.

You cannot control every variable in hiring, including broken processes, but you can control how you prepare and where you invest your time.

Ghosting does not reflect your worth, but your approach changes your odds.

Tag and share this with someone who needs this reminder today.

✨✨Building EXCLUSIVELY on Instagram & TikTok @iamaprillittle✨✨ | Ex-HR Exec Helping Women Leaders Break the Mid-Level Ceiling Into Executive Leadership ($200k+) | 2025 Time 100 Creator

In my 20's, I was a human doormat, staying silent when I should have spoken. Then, I overcorrected and spoke up about everything until I learned which battles deserved my voice. 

Perhaps that is why LinkedIn serves two purposes for me: to generate leads and as an outlet to help others. 

When I did pipe up, I was told I was "piping up" too much. 

I think that happens to many of us.

We trade one extreme for another as we seek to establish balance and boundaries. 

Emotional reactions are human, but so is learning discernment.

I do think it's human to suffer an emotional reaction to disrespect. 

I also think we have a responsibility to use our discernment to know when to respond and when not to. 

The real skill is in finding a middle ground.

Because it's not a good idea to give someone the impression they can say anything they want to you. 

What I've learned:
Not every perceived slight needs a response
Setting boundaries ≠ being a doormat
Choose your moments wisely

"The need to comment on everything is the definition of busy work. There is great peace in reserving your perspectives for the right time and people rather than always talking just because you have something to say." - Anonymous 

True power isn't in speaking up about everything - it's in knowing which battles are worth your voice.

credit: herleader on IG
—-

Hi, I’m April Little. I help current women leaders (Sr. Mgr, Director +) prepare for executive roles in 8 weeks or less. I am accepting 2 new clients this month. https://lnkd.in/gc-hbQBd 

 ✨ Recent Client Wins ✨
Director --> Vice President Promotion (on page)

Not everyone gets to be QUIET without consequences.

Years ago, a good friend of mine was reported to HR for not being “friendly enough.”

She was quiet. 

Focused. 

Got her work done and went home.

Eventually, she was fired.

The official reason? “Lacked enthusiasm” and “wasn’t a good fit.”

Here’s why HR failed her:

Coming in on time
Delivering high-quality work
Communicating updates clearly

That is enthusiasm.

We don’t owe anyone endless peformative chatter to prove we care.

And we shouldn’t be forced to act like the bouncy sidekick in someone’s workplace rom-com just to keep our job.

I’m both an extrovert and an introvert.

I'm not big on labels but I guess that makes me an ambivert. 

I know, firsthand that introverts have some of the most insightful thoughts that they share with people as well as extroverts - I don’t think one is “better” than the other.

Even though the world will say LOUD is better. 

(Not true) 

The problem wasn’t her.

It was a culture that confuses comfort with compatibility.

It was an organization that rewarded performative engagement and punished quiet excellence.

The real failure?

Expecting her to code-switch just to make someone else feel better about their own biases and firing her anyway.

Being introverted and being the one the only and the other. Whew an entirely different conversation altogether.  

True inclusion embraces all personality types.

It measures contribution, not charisma.

Because who gives a damn? 🤷🏽‍♀️

It makes room for Stanley Hudsons not just Andy Bernards.

(office fan) 

Because when we conflate enthusiasm with being a super chatter, we don’t just lose talent.

We signal that fitting in matters more than showing up.

No alternative text description for this image

Last month, I spoke to 30+ directors and VPs who are ready for executive-level promotions. They all had 1 thing in common: they want to find new roles because getting promoted where they are is nearly IMPOSSIBLE. 

Being ready for the next level often requires patience: business needs, succession plans, politics, etc. 

There is a line that must be drawn between patience and action to avoid wasting time. 

Strategic waiting usually includes.
→ expanded scope
 → senior leader exposure
 → clear promotion criteria and timelines 

Time being used without return usually includes.
→ undefined timelines
 → repeated delays
 → roles that cannot change without disruption

(In other words, you're a central jenga piece.) 

Most people do not leave because they don't like their jobs. 

They leave when there is a clear incongruency between their goals, plans, and timelines. 

There are moments when staying is the right strategic decision.

And I still truly believe for most people the answer is not always a NEW JOB. 

However, there are also moments when staying benefits everyone else but you. 

Knowing the difference determines how long you remain promotable.

--
Hi, I’m April Little. I help current women leaders (Sr. Mgr, Director +) prepare for executive roles in 8 weeks or less. I am accepting 2 new clients this month. Link in bio. 

 ✨ Recent Client Wins ✨
Director --> Vice President Promotion (on page)

Black women have not stopped wanting executive roles. They have stopped trusting systems that do not reliably reward their talent.

90%  percent of my clients are Black women and women of color.

They are ambitious, capable, and deeply invested in their careers.

Even with everything happening in the world, that has not changed.

What has changed is how predictable and transparent advancement feels.

I speak weekly with women and men who want to build long-term impact at the executive level.

They are not disengaged.
They are paying attention.

They are watching patterns and outcomes.
They are noticing who absorbs risk and who is protected.

They are tracking which behaviors are rewarded and which ones quietly raise the bar.

Some of this response is fear.
Much of it is information.

→ Advancement that remains conditional
→ Visibility that increases scrutiny
→ Performance that expands expectations without expanding authority
→ Investment that does not guarantee continuity

In environments like this, caution becomes a rational professional response.

This is also why, in moments like these, job search often begins to outweigh development.

A job search offers options.
It restores a sense of control.
It feels responsive to uncertainty in a way development does not always promise.

That does not make development irrelevant.

It explains why one often emerges as the clearer immediate choice.

I’ll say this directly to you.

It is okay to be prudent with ambition.

Many of you are not done wanting more.

You are waiting for evidence that the conditions are worth reinvesting in again.

And when those conditions begin to stabilize, the leaders who move forward fastest are not choosing between development and opportunity.

They are prepared for both.

View newsletter: Executive Material (on Kajabi)

Thank you for reading Executive Material. Every Monday, break down how power, positioning, and executive communication actually work at senior levels,

Open article: Why "Just Find a Sponsor" Falls Flat and How to Borrow POWER and PRIVILEGE Instead  by April Little • 6 min read

Why "Just Find a Sponsor" Falls Flat and How to Borrow POWER and PRIVILEGE Instead

Instagram Live Event ✨How to Position Yourself for Executive Interviews

EDIT: 2/11 & 2/12 Events are cancelled for now. Thank you!

Executive interviews reward preparation that happens before the first question is asked.
Not resume prep. Not answer practice. Positioning.

This session focuses on the pre-work senior candidates need to do so their experience is interpreted correctly once interviews start.

If you are entering $200K+ interviews and want to avoid being read as too tactical, misaligned, or unclear despite strong experience, this session sets the foundation.

Follow me on IG: https://lnkd.in/g38Dj2Ax

View event: How To Position Yourself For Executive Roles - Instagram Live

How To Position Yourself For Executive Roles - Instagram Live

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