From a life in law to Hedley Thomas' partner in true crime....

You’ve heard me say many times that I personally found my yay in walking away from the law. I worked so hard to get there (and actually loved my time there), only to realise that my joy lay somewhere completely different.

But I love that this week we get the other side of that story - someone who stayed in the law, loved it, and found enormous purpose in building an incredible career at the Australian Government Solicitor (although, spoiler alert, she too made a huge pivot but it came a little later than most...)

Chances are, you already know Karina Berger’s voice. If you listened to Hedley Thomas’ Bronwyn podcast, you’ll have heard Karina first volunteering to lend her legal expertise to that investigation. She was, at the time, still very much a lawyer - working in coronial law and bringing a completely different lens to the case.

Fast forward to The Poisoned Wife, which you heard all about from Hedley in our last episode, and somehow Karina is no longer referred to as a volunteer helper but has left law altogether to work full-time as a producer and co-host alongside Hedley investigating the extraordinary death of Rosslyn McQueen...

And it all started with a cold call.

I find that trajectory so fascinating - because we talk so much on this show about carefully planning our next chapter, when sometimes you couldn’t possibly plan for the places your skills, curiosity and one unexpected opportunity might take you.

So today, we’re going behind the voice you already know to find out who Karina is, why she loved the law enough to stay, what made her eventually leave it, and how on earth she ended up here.

Karina Berger, welcome to Seize the Yay.