What do I know about all of this?

I have been exactly where you are.  I worked in Big 4 consulting for over 20 years, including 7 years as a Partner. 

Early in my career, I believed that success came from hard work.  My teachers and my parents said it; work hard and the rewards will come.

So I worked long hours.
I said yes to everything.
I paid attention to every detail.
I made myself as helpful as possible.

That way of working came at a cost.

Time.
Energy.
And moments in my life I couldn’t get back.

I live on the other side of the world from my family, and when my dad flew over to visit during a busy work period, I went to work instead of spending the day with him.  ON A SUNDAY.  And the worst thing was, he wasn’t even mad, because he had taught me that hard work was important and he believed it would pay off.  

My wake up call

Sitting at work one day, I realized I had lost my peripheral vision.  Then I started to get other spots missing in my vision.  But like the good worker I was, I sat at my desk until the feeling passed, and then carried on working.  

I told my best friend about it later, and she forced me to go to the doctor, where I was told I had suffered a transient ischemic attack, more commonly known as a mini-stroke.

And following a bunch of tests to find the cause of the stroke, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer on a Friday afternoon.  I had no idea if it was treatable, and I wasn’t able to get in to see a specialist until the following week. 

That weekend, I sat with a question that played over and over in my mind:

If I’m not dying… what will I do differently with my life?

And in amongst all the promises to drink a green smoothie every day, say yes to more fun things, spend less time sweating the small stuff, there was one thing that stood out…

I never wanted to feel like I was sacrificing my life for my job again.

What does it look like on the other side?

That moment forced me to rethink everything.

I realised that the way I had been working was due to the stories others had told me, and the stories I had told myself.  These stories had formed my beliefs around what it meant to be valuable, successful, and “good” at my job.

So I changed them.

I stopped organising my time around what everyone else needed…
and started focusing on what actually mattered.

I set real boundaries; no working evenings and weekends, no longer saying yes to everything.

I learned to prioritise strategically.
To delegate effectively.
To use my voice to advocate for myself and call out what wasn’t right.

And I got excellent performance reviews and continued to progress in my career.

You can do it too

You don’t have to become the loudest person in the room.
You don’t have to sacrifice your values to keep moving up.
And you don’t have to burn yourself out to prove your worth.

You just need to learn how to lead differently.

And that’s exactly what I’m here to help you do.

Book a call and let’s get started.