In mid-March, Barbados confirmed the first two cases of COVID-19. My daughters school closed immediately and our little island nation went into lockdown. We didn’t know how long it would last but I made the decision that I wasn’t merely going to survive this lockdown but that I would thrive–just as I had when I went to prison. I know that for many this time has been extremely challenging and I felt immense gratitude to have this time to take a step back, to slow down and rethink the direction I wanted my life to go in.[TH1]
I began to focus on pivoting my business to align it more fully with who I truly am–a bold, rebellious natural disruptor. While I always knew this about myself, it was enlightening and freeing to have this confirmed when I started working with a brand specialist. She guided me through an insightful process that revealed my authentic personality–the rebel. It was as if someone had turned on the lights and I realised that throughout my life, no matter what challenges came my way–my rebellious nature refused to let me give up. I started to feel more like myself. I loved this journey of discovery and felt ready to embody more fully this powerful persona– now given a name–the rebel.
Still, there was more learning and growth to wring out of this lockdown so I enrolled in high-level coaching training with master coach Rich Litvin. He teaches a fearless, bare-all, hold-nothing-back, unmasked style of coaching. I love how, when you make the decision to reveal more of who you are, the universe responds by leading you even deeper. So I went deeper still and completed several more training programs.
In four months I’d completely redirected my business from a coaching practice to a leadership consultancy and gave birth to the Up-Level Rebel and Rebel Universe concept which I’ll be sharing more about in the coming months.
And still, the universe was not quite done with me. I wrote and published my book This Woman in September 2019. Leaving the UK and embarking on a “Delicious Discovery Year” with CC my daughter, made me feel immense gratitude for everything that had lead me to this point. The freedom to take my daughter with me on this incredible journey was a dream come true and an extraordinary privilege. I began writing the book when my daughter CC and I travelled to New York. I continued writing it during our time in Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada and finished it when we finally settled in Barbados. I had experienced so much in my life, things that might have made some want to give up, yet I’d always found a way to rise above it all. I knew that there were other women, experiencing things I had in the past, that needed to hear this. So I wrote and the words and memories just fell on the page and when I was done I published it. But with growth comes introspection and I knew the book needed more. So, I brought on an editor from New York who with sensitivity and grace helped me refine and rework the book. Now, it’s more completely aligned with who I am and my mission and not surprisingly retitled Rebel Woman.
Having to relive all the painful parts of the book again was tough. Old wounds reopened and at many times throughout the process I felt raw. But this is the space that I know I must live in time and time again throughout my life if I am to rise to the highest vision for my life and the world I hope to impact.
All in all, this process has been amazing. I’ve grown in confidence in my work and my mission and I’ve embodied what I teach my leadership clients–your vision is not a place to get to but rather a place to come from. Create such an impossible vision for your life that it inspires you to the point where you cannot let it go until you change everything to achieve it.
Change is uncomfortable. It is a space most people refuse to sit with it, opting instead to remain safe, yet can’t seem to shake that nagging, deep dissatisfaction with their lives. But the rebel knows that it’s in the discomfort that the magic happens. The rebel refuses to accept the status quo. The rebel is determined to destroy what isn’t working. I know I will go through this process again and again throughout my life and I’m ready for it.
Rebel Woman is published under the Rebel Universe Publishing imprint and is available to pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Lulu, Smashwords and IngramSpark. Launches officially on 24 October.
Go follow me on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIN or Twitter to enter to win 1 of 5 Kindle copies and learn more about the campaign to empower more women to discover their inner rebel woman.