From Cambridge to Cowboy Suits: Kellye’s Story of ReinventionAfter 20 years as a physicist, Kellye left her career in science to follow a completely different path — one guided by creativity, craftsmanship, and courage.From building cancer research sensors at Cambridge to hand-stitching rhinestone suits for country icons in Nashville, Kellye’s story is a masterclass in daring to start again when the life you built no longer fits.In this episode, we talk about identity, creativity, and the uncomfortable—but liberating—truth about change.⏱️ Timestamps0:00 – 04:00 | From Texas Farm to Physics Prodigy Kellye shares her childhood on a working farm in Texas, where fixing things and understanding how machines worked first sparked her curiosity — the early signs of both a scientist and a maker.04:00 – 10:00 | Cambridge and the World of Academia How Kellye was recruited into university at just 16, worked her way to Cambridge, and built a 20-year career in physics researching cancer sensors — all while quietly craving something more creative.10:00 – 16:00 | When Success Doesn’t Feel Like Success The moment she realised academia’s version of “making it” wasn’t hers — and what happens when your dream job stops feeling like a dream.16:00 – 23:00 | The Pivot: From Labs to Leather & Lace Why Kellye and her husband quit their jobs to start a furniture business, and how that side-step opened the door to her lifelong love of sewing, tailoring, and Western wear.23:00 – 33:00 | Saving a Dying Craft Kellye dives into her obsession with vintage embroidery machines — how she tracked, restored, and mastered 100-year-old equipment to keep a lost art alive.33:00 – 41:00 | From Savile Row to Nashville How a leap of faith (and a lot of self-belief) led Kellye from a tailoring course in Macclesfield to Nashville, where her first project was sewing a suit for Johnny Cash’s son.41:00 – 50:00 | The Art of Storytelling Through Stitching How she now creates bespoke, hand-embroidered suits that carry her clients’ stories, and why every stitch is a piece of living history.50:00 – 59:00 | Reinvention, Ego Death & The Artist’s Way What it really feels like to walk away from an identity that once defined you — and how Kellye rebuilt her life and confidence through creative discipline, journaling, and community.59:00 – End | Finding Your People & Following the Pull The importance of surrounding yourself with people who “get it,” and the power of community when you choose the road less travelled.💡 Key TakeawaysSuccess means nothing if it’s misaligned. You can build the perfect life on paper and still feel empty — that’s your cue to pivot.Creativity and logic aren’t opposites. Whether in science or art, both start with curiosity and the courage to make something new.Leaving an identity behind is hard — but necessary. Growth often feels like loss before it feels like freedom.Old crafts deserve new hands. Reviving lost skills can connect us to something much bigger than ourselves.Find your people. Reinvention is lonely until you build a community that sees you for who you’re becoming, not who you were. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.