This is My Story.

 For decades, I have worn many hats—entrepreneur, strategist, sustainability advisor, mother, partner, daughter, and global citizen.  I had built a meaningful life, and taken advantage of exciting opportunities from the time I was a teenager.  This led me to work across continents with businesses, governments, multi-lateral organisations, NGOs and communities — to navigate complex transformational change —always seeking to align people, purpose, places and progress, for a better world. 

At the same time, my husband and I were raising three incredible third-culture kids, again guided by shared values and a deep belief in leaving the world better than we had found it. 

But behind the scenes, I can now see that I was quietly juggling the impossible.

I loved my work, and poured myself into it.  I also contributed to volunteer activities that were meaningful to me, supporting wellness for others in both — yet I rarely allowing myself the same grace.   While I designed policies for maternity leave or mental health days, I took few.  I spent time with my children and contributed to my community, but to do i all, I worked daily until 2 a.m., after everyone was tucked into bed.    

And it seemed to work. 

I wasn’t burnt out at first… but in retrospect I was definitely burning through myself.

And I wasn’t alone.

So many of the women I worked with — inspiring, generous, mission-driven — were doing the same.  We were the strong ones.  The capable ones.  The ones who “made it work.”   But the fact is that it also came at a cost.  Our health.  Our careers.  Our connection to others.  Our connection to self.

And inside, many of us were asking quietly:  Why does it always have to be such a distinct choice for women? 

And when I started to voice my own longing — a career AND a family, purpose AND joy, ambition AND freedom—I was sometimes met with confused looks or judgment:

“Why can’t you just be happy with what you have?” 

“Why do you want more?”

“Isn’t that selfish?”

But I knew at a cellular level that I wasn’t asking for too much.  I was simply responding to a deep yearning to live fully and authentically — to live my biggest life.

 And I could see the pattern when I did not. 

When I ignored that yearning, life had a way of waking me up — through accidents, illness, relationship strain, and burnout.  Every time I strayed from my truth, life would gently—and many times forcefully —redirect me back to it.   In contrast, every time I allowed myself to follow the whispers of my own inner voice — my North Star — I was met with insight, clarity, inspiration and renewed vitality.  Life seemed to open up, and synchronicities were commonplace.

And so, slowly but surely, I remembered to listen, even if it did not seem completely logical,                     or practical, or realistic.  I stopped overriding my truth — and returned to building a life that honored those yearnings, and invited the women I met to do the same.   And the men around to support them. 

Over time, I realised that true transformation begins from within.  Connecting deeply, living authentically, growing, contributing.  That is how we make meaningful impacts.