The building of an academic career can be a beautiful but challenging road. Anna Beyeler, France, is a principal investigator at the French Institute of Health (INSERM). In this podcast, Ilse Graat, the Netherlands, talks with her about the ups and downs of her academic career path and how she currently helps early career scientists in building their own career. Amongst other things, she highlights that there should be more attention for the full range of neuroscience careers, not only emphasizing careers in Academia.