I kind of fell into leadership. Although if you asked my brother, he'd tell you I was destined to be a boss from a young age. I was a very bossy child :) As a teenager, though, I was obsessed with the film industry. I wanted to be a film director. I studied Film and Media and worked in production for five years before leaving that world to start my own business. I created a brand of yoga accessory products and co-founded an events and marketing platform for wellness. At the t

The future of leadership is changing. The old directive norms just aren’t cutting it anymore. People are smarter now. More informed. They carry a higher sense of self-worth, and they have options. When something isn’t working, they have the ability to jump ship. Gone are the days when someone stayed at the same company for their entire career, collecting a pension and a plaque at the end. The way we work has changed. Work is no longer just a means to pay the bills. It’s becom

For most of my career, I led the way I thought was the right way to lead. Fast. Decisive. Always on. Always pushing through the exhaustion, the doubt, the quiet signals from my body that something wasn't right. I built businesses, scaled teams, turned around companies in crisis. By every external measure, I was succeeding. But I was exhausted, and if I was honest, I was miserable. The problem with how we lead We inherited a model of leadership built on constant output. On ove

There’s one more thing that is hard for women in particular: it requires us to stop giving and start receiving. And receiving whether that’s help, recognition, support, or just stillness, can feel deeply uncomfortable. We’ve been taught that our value lives in our output. In how much we give, do, and hold together. But here’s what I’ve learned: the façade of having it all together isn’t strength. It’s separation. The moment I admitted I couldn’t do it all, that I needed help,

Here’s something worth asking yourself honestly: are you always the one talking in meetings? Because stillness isn’t just personal, it changes the dynamic of your entire team. You don’t need to be the loudest voice in the room to be respected. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do as a leader is create space and let others fill it. Your calm creates safety. Your silence gives others permission to speak. I’ve led teams in Asia where the cultural default is to defer to l

Let me say something that might feel uncomfortable. Rest is not something you earn. It’s not the prize waiting for you on the other side of the milestone, the big launch, or the financial target. It’s not for when you’ve “made it.” Rest is not a reward. It’s a necessity. And for most of us in leadership, it’s the most underused tool we have. I know, because I learned this the hard way. The five-year mistake When I was building my business, I went five years without a proper p

We were taught that leadership looks a certain way. Assertive. Sharp. Decisive. Loud. We were handed blueprints built on dominance over discernment, speed over reflection, achievement over peace. The message was clear: to lead, you must override your natural rhythms. Suppress your emotions. Push beyond your limits. Prioritise logic over feeling. And when we tried — when we showed up exactly as we were told — we were still told we were too much. Or not enough. What if that was