Sophie Hartley

Sophie Hartley

Sophie Hartley is an editor at Women's Economic Brief, covering work, careers, money, business, leadership and the economic issues that shape everyday life. Her writing explores how changes in workplaces, households and the wider economy influence decisions, opportunities and long-term financial wellbeing.

When Your Work Stops Fitting

When Your Work Stops Fitting

After working with people across different fields for years, I’ve noticed that career changes rarely happen on impulse. They usually arrive quietly, often months before someone actually makes a move. The person sits in a meeting and realizes they’ve stopped…

Professional Confidence Across Career Stages

Professional Confidence Across Career Stages

Professional confidence is not something that arrives fully formed at a particular age or career milestone. I’ve worked alongside people in their twenties who carried themselves with steady assurance and people in their fifties who still second-guessed their competence in…

What Investment Risk Actually Means in Practice

What Investment Risk Actually Means in Practice

After spending years watching how people approach their portfolios, I’ve noticed something consistent: most investors talk about risk in ways that don’t match what they actually experience. They’ll say they understand volatility, then panic when a 15% drawdown happens. They’ll…

How Long-Term Investing Actually Works

How Long-Term Investing Actually Works

After working with people’s financial lives for years, I’ve noticed something consistent: the gap between what people understand about long-term investing and what they actually do with their money is often wider than the gap between ignorance and knowledge. Someone…

Online Learning in a Packed Schedule

Online Learning in a Packed Schedule

After years of working with learners who juggle full-time jobs, family responsibilities, and the occasional attempt to upskill, I’ve noticed something consistent: the people who succeed with online learning aren’t the ones with more free time. They’re the ones who…

Family Obligations and Career Trajectories

Family Obligations and Career Trajectories

Over the years, I’ve noticed that the people who struggle most with career decisions aren’t usually those lacking ambition or opportunity. They’re often the ones managing invisible weight – a parent’s health decline, a sibling’s education costs, a partner’s job…