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

Optimistic constant connector of people, ideas, and possibilities. Committed to lifelong learning and embracing the benefits of creativity, diversity and empathy. A serial volunteer, active across multiple local, regional, and global networks. Big believer in enabling progress by promoting equality, education, empowerment, entrepreneurship and the environment.

Global career in finance, investment, treasury and banking. With at least equal interest in the arts, sport, and the value of stories.

Experienced angel investor and mentor to several startup programs including hosting a series of Citi FinTech Meetups in Hong Kong, connecting Citi to the grass root startup scene and showcasing topics that include Women in FinTech, Artificial Intelligence, Innovation Leadership, Wearable IoT, and the Economics of Cryptocurrency. 

Past President of The University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni club in Hong Kong. Currently volunteering to host The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride in Singapore, focused on men’s health. Previously a director on the boards of Music For Life International, a charity based in New York that creates transformative social impact through music; and Resolve Foundation, a leadership program with the aim of making Hong Kong more tolerant and inclusive. Founding director on the board of the Ladies’ Recreation Club Charity Foundation, supporting causes across the community.

Speaker on topics that include how innovation happens, the value of volunteering, and networking as a personal and professional adventure. Motivated by connecting with a wide range of people and collaborating on causes we care about.

Passionate about initiatives that shape corporate culture, amplify creativity, and increase innovation. Collector of tools and techniques that fuel continuous experiments, accelerate action, and convert strategy into reality.

• Special interests include the benefits of maintaining a growth mindset, lean startup experiments, and agile project management. 

• Active across mainstream sports such as golf and tennis, plus alternative sports including skateboarding, bicycle motocross, and snowboarding.

• Supporter of TEDx, PechaKucha, Creative Mornings, FuckUpNights, The School of Life, House of Beautiful Business etc

• Self-published author of two books, most recently ‘Productive Accidents — a playbook for personal & professional adventure’. Available via Amazon and Spotify. 

• Speaker and podcast host, including a series of Virtual Book Tours, featuring four authors per episode

• Father of four creative and inspiring children

Peter Williams

Time to get a little vulnerable. 

One of my personal ambitions is to activate a global speaking career. 

To be fair to Catherine (my better two-thirds, a.k.a. wife of 30 years), this new path will only be feasible if I can demonstrate a pipeline of paid speaking engagements. 

This is where I need your help — I’m challenging myself to do this with zero marketing budget and without an agent. Your referrals and recommendations will be the fuel that converts this dream into reality. 

My main product is to energise and inspire an audience by sharing an actionable and repeatable process for turning your life into an evolving adventure. The talk is packed with stories and supporting photos (not a single bullet point will appear on any slides). As a bonus, the framework will also make you and your organisation more creative, playful, and innovative. 

Another value-add is that I will host small follow-up dinners (groups of ten) for your high-achieving teams, and for your V.I.P. clients. 

Personal tours of your city via Vespa can also be negotiated. 

Ask — please share this message with the event organisers and decision makers in your firm and across your network. 

Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,
Peter

Ps. I’m writing this message while on a flight from Singapore to India, the altitude might be responsible for this burst of daring to dream

Pps. The below photo was taken at the PechaKucha 20x20 event in Hong Kong, circa December 2015

Ppps. I’m curious to see who this message resonates with, and who will be the first customer for the company I’ve formed — The Adventure Factory Pte Ltd

#activation
#daretodream 
#theadventurefactory

Peter B. Williams

Emerging Global Speaker ✦ Treasury & Innovation Professional ✦ Author of Productive Accidents ✦ NGO Board Member ✦ Advisory Board Chair ✦ Founder of The Adventure Factory

No alternative text description for this image

Arriving back in Singapore after an amazing weekend of wedding celebrations in Chennai, and stumbled on this quote. It feels entirely appropriate, so I want to share and endorse the message. Happy Tuesday.

Source: Alpha Woman Mindset (link in comments)

#theadventurefactory

Day 1 of 4 at a special wedding celebration in Chennai. The event also doubles as a mini-reunion for our MBA classmates from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, catching up with some for the first time since our graduation in 2010. The perfect time to reflect on our journey so far, and pause to imagine what might happen next.

One of my favourite travel traditions is to rent a motorcycle when visiting new locations. It makes exploring easier and increases the probability of making interesting discoveries.

Typically I aim to rent a red Vespa Primavera, but anything will do. Today’s adventure in Chennai included navigating some tricky traffic on a Royal Enfield to the cricket stadium to watch New Zealand play Afghanistan in the T20 series.

On the way back to the hotel I stopped briefly and opportunistically to create a magical travel memory. I’m still smiling at how easily the pieces fell into place, and at the experience that was captured. I’ll share a video in a subsequent post. 

#bike #traditions #theadventurefactory

When asked to introduce myself, I typically begin by saying that I grew up on a BMX bike and a skateboard. By stating this up front, I’m fishing for any fellow BMX riders and skateboarders in the audience — if there’s a match we will connect and almost guarantee lifelong friendship. 

Yesterday’s daily adventure included a session at Somerset skatepark in Singapore. Note that I’m riding a DK Bicycles racing BMX, and my backpack includes a surf skate by Carver Skateboards. 

This photo provides clear evidence that I am:

a). Still growing up
b). Yet to grow up
c). Unlikely to grow up

And I’m ok with this situation, now and in perpetuity.

#bmx #skateboard #theadventurefactory

Extending the list of gardening leave projects to include the delivery of fresh flowers to my better two-thirds. 

Thank you Catherine for embracing the concept of playing with a portfolio of possibilities for the next phase of my career. 

LYFE xo

Congratulations to Nicholas Epley on the upcoming release of his new book, A Little More Social —  how small choices can create unexpected happiness, health, and connection.

Nick was my first professor in my first class at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He was teaching the subject ‘Essentials of Effective Management’ and I still remember his brilliant opening monologue, delivered at a million miles an hour — it was an amazing performance.

Nick’s new book reminds me of the work of a few friends:

• Rob Lawless who has an ambitious project to have 10,000 one-hour conversations

• Ankit Shah who created Tea With Strangers

• Patrick Ip who created a global dinner series focused on helping others without expecting anything in return

There are also similar lessons in my own book, Productive Accidents — a playbook for personal & professional adventure. 

Follow the links in the comments for more details, including ways to pre-order Nick’s book. 

#theadventurefactory

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Ani Filipova

Peter Williams

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The Battle

Ani Filipova

Peter Williams

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