For many a career change means a new start, but few can have been as dramatic as Sinéad O'Sullivan's pivot.
Feeling burnt-out after 10 years as an aerospace engineer, also working on financial, business and geopolitical issues, she landed on a new role - sailing the seas competitively.
The Armagh woman said she was inspired to try and break into a traditionally male-dominated field by female sailors like Joan Molloy, Catherine Hunt and Pamela Lee.
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"For the first nine years, I really, really loved my job, but that last year, I ended up just being in calls from morning to night, back to back on Zoom," she said.
"We went on holiday and we went sailing and the skipper that was on our boat was an Irishwoman and I got talking to her about her career, she's an amazing woman.
"So I went back and handed in my notice and decided that I wanted to at least try to do some of the stuff that some of the female sailors that I'd met had done."
Sinéad says it is a daunting journey as there isn't a clear path to get to where she wants to be and she has instead drawn her inspiration and guidance from women who have forged their own path in the sector.
By chance, while doing her sailing exams in Dublin, Sinéad was given an opportunity to join a crew competing in the Round-Ireland Regatta, an off-shore race she had on her list of events she'd like to compete in.
The stars aligned for the aerospace expert and she is hoping she can bring that engineering background to bear in her sailing career.
"Most of sailing is actually aerodynamics and I've done more aerodynamics in the last three weeks than I had in the last six years as an engineer, which is crazy," she said.
"They say that 85% of boats that race don't meet their full potential because they're not set up properly aerodynamically.
"What I think I might be able to contribute, if it's not pure muscle mass (some of sailing's tasks require quite high strength levels), is thinking about the aerodynamics and navigation strategy."
She has joined up with Wild West Sailing, a sailing school that is set up to be accessible to all who want to get into sailing, which can traditionally be an expensive activity to try and get into.
It is as part of their crew that Sinéad will compete in the Round-Ireland Regatta starting this Saturday, which will see them complete an 800 mile circuit of the island which could take up to five days.
It involves keeping land to the starboard (right) side of the boat at all times, with a crew of 8 rotating between four above deck and four below, every four hours.
Sinéad told Belfast Live she is looking forward to seeing the island of Ireland in a new way.
"I'm excited and nervous and I just to get through it, it'll be my first proper, big off-shore race," she said.
"I'm looking forward to seeing Ireland from a very different perspective, I'd love to see the west coast and the north coast especially."
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