Niaby is a conscious thought leader, Dream Weaver and transformational mentor whose work explores healing, consciousness and the deeper truths that shape human behaviour. After stepping away from a successful career in stockbroking following years of chronic ill health and burnout, she devoted her life to supporting awakening, subconscious transformation and conscious leadership. In this interview, Niaby shares how her own healing journey reshaped her path, how Dream Weaving works as a gateway to the subconscious, and why reconnecting with our natural gifts, talents and dreams is central to the way we live, lead and create. She also reflects on the evolution of human consciousness, the role of spiritual healing, and her vision for a more conscious way of living. Niaby Codd, Author, Dream Weaver, Transformational Mentor What led to your decision to transition from a successful career in the corporate world to becoming a transformational mentor? The shift came when I reached a point where I could no longer continue living in the way that I had been. After twelve years as a stockbroker in London and Hong Kong, years of chronic ill health and burnout brought me to a breaking point and forced me to step away from my career. What initially felt like a curse soon became the greatest gift, because it brought everything to the surface and left me with no choice but to face myself more honestly. What followed was a collapse of identity. The life that I had built, and the version of myself that I had been living from, could no longer hold. By moving through trauma, conditioning and the mask that had kept me disconnected from myself, I came into a very different understanding of truth, healing and human behaviour. What emerged from that process was a life rooted in meaning, purpose and devotion to humanity’s collective awakening. How does your work as a Dream Weaver differ from traditional life coaching or therapy? What distinguishes my work is the depth at which transformation can be supported. I work at the level of identity and subconscious patterns, bringing together spiritual guidance, trauma-informed practice and psychological understanding. As a Dream Weaver, I work through the dream state as a gateway to the subconscious, where trauma, limiting beliefs and inherited conditioning can be accessed and released at their root. This allows the work to support awakening, integration and self-mastery in a more profound and embodied way. I offer this work through The Dream Weaver, a premium one year mentorship where I work with only two clients at a time. That allows for a level of presence and personalised support that gives the work the depth and space required for meaningful, lasting and fully integrated transformation. I only began guiding others in this way after mastering my own healing journey and ascension process. Having mastered that in myself, I am now able to hold space for others to do the same. My work is led by intuition and visionary insight, which allows me to meet people where they are and to recognise what is truly present beneath the surface. From there, I can guide them in the way that is most needed, helping them to return to their inner authority, cultivate self-mastery and reconnect with the truth of who they came here to be. Can you explain how dreams play a role in your healing method, and why they are such a powerful tool for releasing trauma? Dream Weaving is a sacred and ancient healing practice that has existed across cultures and spiritual traditions for centuries. At its core is a conscious connection with the dream state, beyond the limits of ordinary waking life. By moving between realms in this way, we are able to access the deeper landscapes of the subconscious, where what has been buried beneath the conditioning of the conscious mind can begin to surface and be released. In waking life, people can recognise a pattern intellectually and still find that it continues to shape the way that they think, feel and respond. Within the dream state, the subconscious becomes far more accessible. With the ego at rest and beyond the conditioning of the waking mind, what has been buried, protected or held outside conscious awareness can begin to shift. Trauma can be released more deeply, and the patterns that have formed around it can begin to unravel and be rewoven in a way that supports embodied integration. What does the Merlin lineage mean to you, and how does it shape the guidance you offer your clients? The title Merlin represents a lineage of spiritual masters, healers, mystics and prophets devoted to truth, balance and transformation. The legendary Merlin of Avalon is the guiding consciousness through which that lineage is expressed within my work. As a Merlin myself, and a guardian of this sacred lineage, I have cultivated a deep, embodied connection to my own divine wisdom. Merlin has acted as my guide, helping me to remember that wisdom within myself, whilst empowering me to stand in my own truth and my own connection to Source. Rooted in the alchemy of healing and transformation, this lineage shapes my work as a visionary, healer and teacher. Through this connection, I am able to work with ancient wisdom and higher states of consciousness, translating them into guidance that can be understood, embodied and lived. Through my mentorship, corresponding experiences can begin to weave through waking life in relation to what has been worked upon in dream time. Merlin supports that process by creating opportunities in lived experience in order for clients to respond differently, from a more healed and conscious place. As their responses begin to change, the healing becomes embodied. Their way of meeting life begins to shift, and with it their attraction point begins to change. Through that interplay between dream time, waking life and conscious response, the work becomes integrated and anchored into a new way of being. You often speak about a “gentle revolution”. Can you elaborate on what that means and how it can inspire real change? We are going through a revolution of consciousness, a revolution of our hearts and minds. It is not the kind of revolution that we have seen throughout history, It is a spiritual revolution. It asks us to see differently, live differently and make different decisions from a deeper place of truth. What is changing now is that more people are beginning to wake up from the conditioning of a deeply sick society. They are reconnecting with the truth of who they are. This is where real change begins. We create it by doing the healing work that is needed to free ourselves from that conditioning. When we do that, we become the best possible version of ourselves and inspire others to do the same. There is no problem in humanity that cannot be solved by humanity making a different decision. When people begin living from truth rather than conditioning, the way they lead, relate, create and contribute begins to change. They make different decisions, reconnect with their natural gifts and talents, and begin to follow the dreams that are intrinsic to who they are. In doing so, they inspire positive change simply by being who they came here to be. From here transformation begins to move beyond the individual and into the collective, creating a gentle revolution that changes the world one individual journey at a time. In your vision for a new type of education, how do you hope to break free from societal conditioning and nurture children’s true selves? Much of the disconnection that we see in adulthood begins from an early age. Many children are taught to move away from their natural gifts, passions and inner knowing in order to fit systems that reward conformity, performance and external validation. My vision is to create an orphanage, a conscious community and an alternative education system in which individuality, emotional awareness, creativity and natural intelligence are honoured. I want to create a model in which children are supported to grow in alignment with who they truly are. We all have natural gifts and talents, yet they are often overlooked, dismissed or treated as less valuable than the qualities that train us to become society’s money makers. Our natural gifts and talents are the very essence of who we are. When those gifts are ignored, dismissed or treated as though they are not good enough, children can begin to believe that they are not good enough. To break free from that conditioning, children need environments in which their true nature is recognised early, nurtured with respect and allowed to develop with care, so that they stay connected to the truth of who they are rather than being conditioned into something they are not. What are some of the most significant shifts you've witnessed in clients when they embrace their authentic self and reconnect with their natural gifts, talents and dreams? Clients often become far more aligned with themselves and with the life that they wish to live. There is usually less stress, less inner conflict and a greater sense of peace, because they are no longer trying to force themselves into ways of being that are unnatural to them. They begin to trust themselves more, make clearer decisions and feel more grounded in what is true for them. As they reconnect with their natural gifts, talents and dreams, a deeper sense of purpose often begins to emerge. They begin to recognise that their dreams are not incidental, but part of the blueprint for the life they are here to live, and that their gifts and talents are often the very tools through which those dreams can be expressed and brought into reality. That can lead to profound shifts in direction, including moving towards work, choices and ways of living that feel far more aligned with who they truly are. For the leaders, influencers and high-visibility individuals that I work with, the impact extends far beyond the individual. As they reconnect with the truth of who they are, the way that they lead, communicate and shape the world around them begins to shift. Their decisions become more aligned, their influence becomes more conscious, and their presence begins to affect the wider environments that they touch. Influence carries responsibility, and when that influence is rooted in truth, transformation creates a ripple effect across audiences, organisations and communities. How do you see the evolution of human consciousness, and what role does spiritual healing play in that process? I see the evolution of human consciousness as humanity beginning to wake up from the illusion of separation, from Source, from ourselves and from each other. We have lived for a long time within systems shaped by fear, domination, extraction and disconnection, and many people have been conditioned to accept those systems as normal. As consciousness evolves, those structures begin to be questioned, because people start to feel more clearly that they are out of alignment with truth. Spiritual healing is an essential part of that process because it helps people to return to the truth of who they are beneath the conditioning. As healing takes place, people reconnect with themselves more deeply, and in reconnecting with the truth of who they are, they also reconnect with Source, the deeper truth of all that is. From that reconnection, people begin to live from a place of love rather than fear. That changes how we relate to ourselves, to one another and to life itself. As people come back into truth, they start to have more love and respect for themselves, and that naturally deepens their capacity to respect and love others. That return to truth also changes how we live together, moving us away from disconnection and towards a more conscious way of living shaped by connection, mutual respect, shared divinity and community. This is the movement of consciousness that is now unfolding. It is a return to truth, to love and to a more conscious way of living in connection with ourselves, each other and Source. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Niaby Codd

Written by Shardia O’Connor, Cultural Consultant Shardia O’Connor explores identity, power, leadership, and social conditioning through a values-led, critical lens. In today's world, many people confuse love with loyalty, and loyalty with obligation. We've been taught to stand by people no matter what, to take on their problems, their trauma, their chaos, and call it love. Whether it's your partner, your parents, your children, or your friends, the message is the same, stay loyal, no matter the cost. But that mindset is exactly why so many people are emotionally drained, stuck in toxic relationships, and disconnected from themselves. At some point, you have to develop discernment. Because not everything you feel is right. And not everyone you love is good for you. People are human first, not their title One of the biggest mistakes people make in relationships is putting titles above truth. Your mother is human first. Your partner is human first. Your child is human first. Your friend is human first. And being human means they are capable of unhealthy patterns, poor decisions, and harmful behavior. Just because someone holds a role in your life does not mean they should have unlimited access to you. Discernment is about seeing people for who they actually are, not who you want them to be, and not who their title suggests they should be. Stop carrying what was never yours A lot of people are carrying emotional weight that doesn't belong to them. Other people's trauma. Other people's bad decisions. Other people's cycles. And the truth is, you cannot heal someone who refuses to take accountability for themselves. Supporting someone is one thing. Absorbing their dysfunction is another. When you lack discernment, you start to feel responsible for fixing people. You get pulled into problems that were never yours to solve. And over time, that drains you mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually. You are not here to carry people. You are here to live in truth. Discernment vs. Emotion Feelings are real, but they are not always reliable. You can love someone and still be honest about who they are. You can feel loyalty and still recognize destructive patterns. You can care deeply and still choose distance. A lot of people ignore what they see because of what they feel. But feelings change. Patterns don't. Discernment requires you to step back and ask, What is this person consistently showing me? Not what they say. Not what you hope. What they do, repeatedly. That's where truth lives. Not everyone deserves your loyalty This is where people struggle the most. Because we've been conditioned to believe that loyalty means standing by someone no matter what, even when they are clearly in the wrong, clearly self-destructive, or clearly unwilling to change. But real loyalty is not blind. And real love does not enable. There's a difference between, someone who is struggling but willing to grow, and someone who is committed to staying the same. If a person consistently avoids accountability, repeats harmful behavior, and expects you to stay loyal simply because of your connection, that is not love. That is the manipulation of loyalty. You are allowed to step back from that. Toxic relationships and the lack of discernment Many toxic relationships continue for one reason, lack of honest judgment. People see the red flags. They notice the patterns. They feel the impact. But they ignore it because of history, attachment, or fear of letting go. So they stay. They defend. They tolerate. And in doing so, they enable the very behavior that's harming them. Discernment breaks that cycle. It forces you to stop pretending. It forces you to stop excusing. It forces you to be honest. Even when it's uncomfortable. Love is not unconditional when it becomes destructive This might challenge people, but it needs to be said clearly. Love does not mean unconditional tolerance of harmful behavior. Love is not: Constantly being hurt Constantly excusing someone Constantly sacrificing your well-being That's not love. That's self-abandonment. Real love is rooted in truth. It wants growth. It values accountability. It does not ignore destruction. You can love someone and still set boundaries. You can love someone and still walk away. You can love someone and still refuse to participate in their dysfunction. Discernment is a form of self-respect At a certain point, discernment becomes less about other people and more about you. It's about what you allow, what you tolerate, what you continue to make excuses for. Because every time you ignore what you know is true, you move further away from yourself. Discernment is choosing clarity over comfort. It's choosing truth over attachment. And it's understanding that protecting your peace is not selfish, it's necessary. Closing thought A lot of people are loyal to people they should be honest with. They are defending behavior they know is wrong. They are carrying burdens they were never meant to hold. And they are calling it love. But love without truth is not love, it's enabling. And without discernment, you don't just lose clarity. You lose yourself. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Shardia O’Connor Shardia O’Connor, Cultural Consultant Shardia O'Connor is an expert in her field of mental well-being. Her passion for creative expression was influenced by her early childhood. Born and raised in Birmingham, West Midlands, and coming from a disadvantaged background, Shardia's early life experiences built her character by teaching her empathy and compassion, which led her to a career in the social sciences. She is an award-winning columnist and the founder and host of her online media platform, Shades Of Reality. Shardia is on a global mission to empower, encourage, and educate the masses!

Written by Arabella Arkwright, The Alchemist’s Clinic Arabella Arkwright is a deeply intuitive energy healer and offers an integrative approach to healing, combining years of experience with an innate ability to sense and address the root causes of emotional and psychological suffering. Her work extends beyond symptom relief, offering transformational guidance supporting profound mind-body healing. What if the most powerful healing force available to you was already within you? Closer than you realise. It lives in two quiet places. Your breath. And your capacity to love yourself. When you return to your breath and soften the way you speak to yourself, something profound begins to unfold. The body relaxes, the mind quiets, and the heart opens to a deeper intelligence that has always been there. Life can become noisy. We absorb expectations, responsibilities, and constant messages about who we should be. Without realising it, we slowly drift away from ourselves. Yet beneath all of that, something steady and loving remains. A quiet presence. A gentle intelligence. A soft, enduring love. Not the kind of love that must be earned. Not the kind that waits for perfection. But a living love that is already within you. There is an intelligence that moves life itself, guiding tides, opening flowers, and sustaining everything we see. And that same intelligence is breathing through you right now. In this moment. Through your breath. Your breath has been your most faithful companion since your first inhale. It does not judge you. It does not hold your past against you. It does not worry about your future. It simply continues, offering life to every cell in your body. Every breath is an act of love. And when you return to your breath, you return to yourself. And when you return to yourself, you return to love. You were never broken At the heart of who you are, there is a quiet wholeness. Beneath the layers of pressure, comparison, and self-doubt, there is a part of you that is calm, compassionate, and deeply wise. Many people believe they need to fix themselves before they can feel worthy of love. But healing reveals something much simpler, and far more beautiful. You were never broken. You were never incomplete. You simply forgot how to relate to yourself with love. And that love has been there all along. The way you speak to yourself matters One of the most powerful forms of healing is learning to speak to yourself with kindness. The words you repeat internally shape your emotional world and your nervous system. Neuroscience shows that repeated thought patterns strengthen neural pathways, meaning what you practise becomes what feels natural. When your inner voice is harsh, your body responds with tension and stress. When your inner voice softens, your system begins to feel safe. And safety is where healing begins. A gentle practice Take a slow breath in through your nose, allowing your belly to expand. Exhale softly through your mouth. And gently say to yourself: I approve of myself. Take another breath. I love myself. Or, if that feels more honest: I love myself for not loving myself. Another breath. Life supports me. These are not just words. They are acts of kindness. They are signals of safety. They are small moments of love that your body can feel. Your body listens to your thoughts. Your mind listens to your breath. And your breath listens to love. When love becomes your foundation Over time, something begins to shift. Not because you forced change, but because you created space for it. You may notice more ease in your body. Clearer thinking. A softer way of moving through the world. Relationships may deepen. Others may gently fall away. Opportunities may appear where there once felt like obstacles. This isn’t magic, it’s alignment. As your inner world becomes more loving and regulated, your outer experience begins to reflect that. Returning to gratitude and beauty Your body has loved you quietly every moment of your life, even when you forgot to notice. Gratitude reconnects you with that love. You can gently guide your awareness by asking: Show me something beautiful today. Or. Show me something even better than I expect. And then simply notice. A beam of sunlight. A calm breath. A kind interaction. Life is always offering you moments of beauty. We just need to slow down enough to receive them. Trusting yourself again As you begin to meet yourself with love, something deeper returns. Trust. You start to listen more closely. You hear your intuition more clearly. You remember that there is a quiet wisdom within you that has always known the way. Self-love, in this sense, is not indulgent. It is grounding. It is regulating. It is a return to your natural state. And when your heart begins to feel full, that love naturally extends outward. Your calm creates safety. Your presence becomes steady. Your energy becomes something others can feel. A simple truth to carry with you This is not about becoming perfect. It is about coming home to yourself. So if there is one practice to carry with you, let it be this: Pause. Breathe. Speak to yourself with love. Let your breath remind you that life is flowing through you. Let your heart remind you that you belong here. And remember this, "Healing does not begin somewhere outside of you." It begins within. With one breath. With one loving thought. With one gentle moment of returning to yourself. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Arabella Arkwright Arabella Arkwright, The Alchemist’s Clinic Arabella Arkwright is the founder of The Alchemists Clinic. She is an energy healer and nervous system specialist whose work bridges mind, body, and subtle energy. After profound personal healing experiences, including a spontaneous spinal realignment she describes as an awakening, she developed a refined ability to sense and shift energetic patterns, helping clients move from tension to regulated, embodied balance.

Written by Andrea Adams, Transformational Coach Andrea Adams is the creator of The Haamiah Method, a trauma-informed framework helping women break free from toxic workplace dynamics, dysfunctional family systems, and emotionally unsafe relationships. She guides women back to emotional clarity, self-worth, and sovereign self-trust. In my previous article, I explored the nervous system cost of toxic workplaces and why so many experienced professionals find themselves running faster and faster simply to keep unstable environments functioning. The hamster wheel metaphor resonates with many high-performing women because it captures something subtle but powerful: the exhaustion rarely comes from the work itself. It comes from the constant effort required to stabilise environments that were never stable to begin with. Eventually, a quieter question begins to surface. Not loudly, not dramatically. But persistently. What would happen if I stopped running? The moment clarity appears Stepping off the wheel rarely begins with a dramatic decision. More often, it begins with clarity. A conversation replayed one too many times. A leadership meeting that leaves you feeling unexpectedly drained. A Sunday evening where the familiar knot in your stomach feels less like pressure and more like information. For many high-performing women, the turning point is not when something new happens. It is when the pattern finally becomes impossible to ignore. The realisation arrives quietly. No amount of competence is changing the underlying dynamic. When that moment lands, the internal question begins to shift. Instead of asking, “How do I make this work?” You begin asking something different, “Why am I still trying to?” The loyalty that keeps women running One of the least discussed reasons women stay in dysfunctional environments is loyalty. Not blind loyalty. Principled loyalty. Loyalty to colleagues who are trying their best. Loyalty to leaders they once respected. Loyalty to the standards they have always held for themselves. High-performing women often carry a deep sense of responsibility. When systems become unstable, their instinct is not to withdraw. It is to stabilise. They absorb pressure. They solve problems. They quietly compensate for dysfunction around them. Over time, however, this strength can become misdirected. What begins as leadership becomes endurance, and endurance, when applied to unstable systems, can slowly turn into self-abandonment. The silence of competence Another reason high-performing women remain on the wheel longer than they should is something far less visible: silence. Competence often brings with it a quiet expectation of self-sufficiency. The more adept you are perceived to be, the less likely others are to ask if you need support. Over time, many professionals internalise this expectation. They handle the pressure. They solve the problems. They keep the system moving. Not speaking up can feel like professionalism. In reality, it is often something else entirely. Professional pride.A desire not to appear overwhelmed.A belief that someone in a senior or responsible role should already have the answers. But silence has a cost. When these women stop voicing what they are experiencing, dysfunctional patterns remain unchallenged. The system continues exactly as it is, while the individual inside it absorbs increasing pressure. Over time, this pressure can quietly evolve into what might be called an internalised endurance mindset. Instead of questioning the system around them, many begin questioning themselves. Why can’t I handle this better? Why am I not on top of things? But the problem is often not capability. It is the expectation that competence should allow someone to absorb unlimited instability. No professional, no matter how accomplished, can sustain that indefinitely. Eventually, even the most composed professionals begin to recognise the truth. Competence should never require isolation, and the moment that recognition appears, the wheel begins to slow. Reclaiming agency Stepping off the wheel does not always begin with leaving. In many cases, it begins with something far more subtle. A shift in attention. A recognition that your energy has been invested in maintaining a system that is not designed to support you. This moment of clarity allows a different kind of choice to emerge. The choice to stop absorbing instability. The choice to stop over-functioning in environments that require constant adaptation. The choice to observe the system rather than constantly trying to repair it. When this shift happens, something important changes. You move from being inside the pattern to seeing it, and once a pattern is visible, it becomes far easier to navigate. The perspective that returns The moment a high-performing woman begins to step off the wheel, something unexpected often happens. Perspective returns. Conversations that once felt confusing begin to make sense. Dynamics that once felt personal begin to reveal themselves as structural. The exhaustion that once felt like weakness is recognised for what it truly was, a sustained effort to remain composed inside an unstable environment. Distance does not erase the experience. But it restores clarity, and with clarity comes something powerful: choice. Because once you can see the wheel clearly, you are no longer trapped inside it. What happens when you step off the wheel Stepping off the wheel rarely feels dramatic in the moment. There is no sudden sense of victory or closure. More often, there is something quieter in space. The constant mental replay of conversations begins to fade. The body slowly releases the tension it has been holding for months, sometimes years. Energy that was once consumed by stabilising instability begins to return. At first, this space can feel unfamiliar. Many high-performing women have spent so long managing difficult environments that stillness itself feels strange. The instinct to keep fixing, explaining, or absorbing pressure does not disappear overnight. But gradually something important begins to shift. Attention moves away from the system that once required so much of it, and back toward the person who had been carrying it. This is where real clarity emerges. Not simply the clarity that a workplace was dysfunctional, but the deeper recognition that competence was never the problem. The environment was. And once that truth is fully understood, something powerful becomes possible. You no longer measure your strength by how much instability you can endure. You begin measuring it by something far simpler. Your willingness to step away from systems that require you to abandon yourself in order to remain inside them. Because real power is not found in how long you can endure the wheel, but in recognising when it is time to step off it, and the moment you do is often the moment you begin returning to yourself. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Andrea Adams Andrea Adams, Transformational Coach Andrea Adams is a Certified Transformational Coach and the founder of The Haamiah Method. She works with high-functioning women who feel trapped in toxic workplace cultures, dysfunctional family systems, or emotionally draining relationships. Drawing from lived experience in trauma and mental wellness, and years of mentorship and personal development, Andrea helps women untangle emotional conditioning and rebuild a life rooted in clarity, boundaries, and self-trust. Her work focuses on emotional sovereignty, nervous system safety, and breaking generational patterns of dysfunction. Through her writing and coaching, she guides women back to their true essence - not stronger, but safer and more whole.

Written by Jenny Hersey, Life Coach and Counsellor Jenny Hersey is a counsellor, life coach, supervisor, and critical incident debriefer. She has spent two decades in this field and works with individuals, groups, and businesses. I first started suffering symptoms of depression when I was twenty-one. At the time, I was working three jobs, only allowing myself a Sunday afternoon off. My Sunday afternoons were for drinking alcohol, and I would usually pass out on the sofa after a drinking binge. As I am writing this, I cannot remember why I was working so much, but I can guess it was because I was running away from something. What I do remember is how I felt during that time. I have a vivid memory of driving in the car and feeling like a bucket of water had been poured over me. A feeling of complete and utter despair washed through me, and I felt like I was choking. This was the first time I had felt like this, and I did not know what it was. It started to get more frequent and I felt like I was going mad. I could not sleep and when I did manage to drop off, I then could not get out of bed. I could not stop crying and sobbed and sobbed until my eyes were so swollen I struggled to see. I felt a sense of utter hopelessness and the pain I felt was so bad. I was exceptionally good at hiding what I was going through. I was already abusing alcohol and cocaine with the friends that I had at the time and putting on a persona of someone who was happy, but inside, I felt like I was dying. Winston Churchill called his depression his “little black dog,” but mine felt like a demon that had invaded my body. It soon got to the point where I could not hide it anymore. My family started to notice that something was wrong. Then one day, I just stopped talking. I remember my mum trying to talk to me and having a feeling that I was trapped inside my body. After one particularly nasty episode where I had a complete breakdown, my mum took me to my aunt’s house as she did not know what else to do. They ended up calling 999, which is the emergency services in the UK, and a mental health nurse came to the house. I remember her saying to me ‘do you need to be in hospital?’ I couldn’t answer her, I couldn’t even look at her. I was curled up in a ball as I felt so unsafe. The decision was made that the mental health crisis team would visit me every day at home. I cannot remember a huge amount at this time, as I was so seriously unwell. I do remember that I wanted to end my life. The pain and sadness were so bad I thought I would never get through it, but I could not do that to my mum and family. I was a people pleaser at that time in my life, as I thought it would keep me safe (it did not). But people pleasing worked for me during that time, as it would not allow me to take my own life because of what it would do to my family. I knew, even on my worst days, that they would never get over it. But oh, how I wanted to. There were many times that I would sit with a box of tablets or with a knife to cut my wrists, but I just could not do it. Not for me, but for the people that I loved. I am so thankful now that I had the strength to resist that feeling. With the help of medication, I managed to get myself to a place where I could use my voice again. I cannot remember how long I was mute for, but family members tell me it was a while. I started to see a small chink of light within the darkness, and I held on to it with everything I had. I was terrified that I was going to go back into complete blackness, so I knew I had to try and help myself. Music and exercise have always been a sanctuary for me, so I started to use it. I would put my earphones in, put a hat on, and would walk. At the beginning, it was just walking blindly with no sense of where I was going. I was terrified of being seen, so I would have my hat pulled down low and keep my head down. I did this every day. It started at fifteen minutes, as this was all I could manage, but it slowly got longer until I was eventually walking for hours at a time. I would walk for miles, still with my hat on and my music. My depression slowly started to lift until it got to a point where I could join civilisation again. This took around a year for me to be able to go back to work and start seeing people again. I would love to tell you that after that, everything was ok because it was not. I was stuck in a cycle of depression and taking drugs and alcohol for over 10 years. But it never got that bad again. They say when you have reached rock bottom, the only way is up and this was true for me, but it took a huge amount of strength, medication, and self-love to get me here today. I have talked about trauma in other articles that I have written, and depression is a symptom of that. It was not until I started to heal myself of the trauma symptoms that I was experiencing that the depression went away for good. So, what did my experience of depression teach me about myself? It taught me that I have an inner strength. It taught me that I can overcome anything and it taught me that I was worth saving. Eighteen months after that day when my voice was taken from me, I started working with a local mental health charity as a support worker. I wanted to use my experience for something good. That is where my career started and I have been working with people ever since. I am very spiritual and I believe that everything that I have experienced was meant to be. I was meant to help others heal and I was meant to teach people that you can overcome anything in your life. But you must put the work in. I learned from an early age that no one is coming to save you. I have only ever had myself to rely on. If anyone reading this is struggling with depression, then please know that there is hope. Find out what works for you. What resources do you need in order to start to heal yourself? Is it exercise? Journalling? Painting or drawing? Do you have supportive people in your life that you can talk to? Reach out to someone. But the most important thing you must do? Go inwards because it is there you will find the answers that you need. There was a time when I thought I would die from my depression. But I never. I am fully healed now, and you can do that too. You can find your way out of the darkness, you just need to let the light in. Visit my website for more info! Read more from Jenny Hersey Jenny Hersey, Life Coach and Counsellor Jenny Hersey runs her own business, working with people to create a life that brings them purpose and joy. A victim of childhood abuse, she has since dedicated her life to helping others. She works internationally and has clients in different parts of the world as well as in the UK, where she is based. Jenny's mission is to educate people about the ability to heal themselves. She believes that everybody should have access to counselling and life coaching, no matter what their circumstances are.

Written by Melvin Flippin, Leadership Transformation Coach Melvin Flippin is a leadership strategist & founder of One GOAL LLC, where he offers leadership coaching & development for both organizations & individual leaders. The One Goal leadership framework & tools help leaders coach to & measure behavioral commitments, shifting the focus of management from lagging indicators to leading behaviors. Several organizations say culture matters, and their leaders spend months writing action plans or creating strategies to elevate culture, only to watch execution quietly stall where it matters most, inside everyday behaviors and decisions. The difference isn’t what’s written in the plan, it’s what’s lived every day in your culture. What if the reason your strategy isn’t working has nothing to do with the strategy itself? Why strategy alone fails Many of us have heard the phrase, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” I love this quote, and I have a small addition to the end. Culture doesn’t just eat strategy; it decides whether strategy ever has a chance. You can have the most brilliant and sound strategic plan in the world, but when your culture doesn’t support it, I’ve witnessed what happens. Execution breaks down in ways that I’m confident you’ve experienced before: Leaders say innovation matters but punish risk. Teams are told to collaborate but are rewarded individually. Speed is emphasized, but decisions require endless approvals. These contradictions don’t show up in strategy documents; they show up in culture, and culture always wins! Moving from culture as a concept to culture as an operating system The mistake many organizations make is treating culture as a “soft” concept, or something to inspire people, not the foundation for operating the business. Great leaders think differently, and they treat culture as a living operating system; a model that drives performance with the same rigor as financial planning or process design. I once had an Area President, who is an amazing leader, ask me: If there were one change I could make in how we operate, what would it be? Almost without hesitation, I alluded to a performance metric target that our business didn’t consistently discuss and seemed aspirational. I explained to her that I was confident in our ability to exceed this target, and to do so would mean that everything we do and discuss with our teams should point to it like a north star. I later observed her take an action that made a significant impression on me as a leader. She announced to her leadership team that everything we do should be guided by this target, and we would no longer incentivize conflicting behaviors. This kind of shift changes everything for your leaders. Instead of asking, “What’s our strategy?” they ask, "What behaviors does our strategy require? What environment reinforces those behaviors? What signals are we sending, intentionally or not?" This provided a fundamental truth for me. Culture is not what you say in meetings, what’s written in your values, and what you hope people believe. Instead, culture is what your team consistently does, reinforces, and holds each other accountable for. As well as what your systems, incentives, and leadership behaviors consistently reinforce! That’s where some organizations miss the mark, they build a strategy, they communicate the vision, but they never connect it to daily behaviors and commitments. The invisible system driving everything Some organizations like to believe that they run on strategy, structure, and process. Yet, underneath all of that, they run on something far less visible and far more powerful. They run on culture. Culture isn’t posters on a wall or values listed in onboarding decks. It’s the set of unwritten rules that shape how work gets done. It determines what gets prioritized, what gets ignored, how decisions are made, and how people behave when no one is watching. And here’s the hard truth, every organization already has an operating model. Culture is it! Once we accept this, the two most important questions become, "Does our culture support our vision and direction?" and "Are our leaders intentionally designing it, or passively inheriting it?" The leadership shift: From messaging to modeling Leaders often believe that culture is shaped through communication, but I respectfully disagree; it’s shaped through modeling. Every decision a leader makes sends a signal: What gets funded What gets recognized What gets tolerated What gets challenged The truth is that people don’t follow value statements; they follow patterns… especially the patterns of their leaders! If a leader says “people first” but consistently prioritizes short-term results over team well-being, the real culture becomes obvious. If collaboration is praised and competition is rewarded, the system corrects itself accordingly. Thus, culture is not declared. It’s demonstrated. The outcome of elite culture: Self-driven performance When culture becomes an operating system: Leaders stop chasing performance Teams operate with clarity Accountability becomes normalized Trust becomes embedded I once led an organization as part of a large business, and a leader from our company’s systems and process improvement team started an open forum for feedback on tools and processes that did not properly support the work of our agents. Her team had not received much feedback, and she asked all company leaders to encourage the use of the forum to improve our internal ways of working. I had a group of leaders and agents who often shared feedback with me because they trusted me to support them in the success of their daily work. I asked them to capture and funnel all feedback to this forum, as this feedback would help us design the proper processes and tools to support their success. Within 30 days, my organization submitted the most feedback, and numerous improvement projects were launched as a result. This accomplishment was self-driven by agents in my organization, simply because our culture was one of consistent feedback, accountability, and collaboration. That brings us to one of the most valuable outcomes of a strong culture. Retention of your top talent improves! Because people don’t leave organizations where expectations are clear, leaders are consistent, performance is recognized, and growth is visible. I mentioned earlier how people follow the patterns of their leaders, and they are aware of when your culture is conceptual. They know this when they only see it in slogans on a wall, written messages from their leaders, or annual surveys. But when they see it in how their leaders show up for them every day, consistent follow-through, and reinforcing the message in every action they take, it becomes something far more powerful, "An operating model that drives execution, performance, and results!" The real work of leadership Rethinking the operating model isn’t about adding more complexity. It’s about recognizing what’s already driving your organization and taking ownership of it. The real work of leadership is not just setting direction; it’s shaping the conditions under which that direction can succeed. That means asking harder questions: What culture are we reinforcing through our actions today? Where are we unintentionally undermining our own strategy? What behaviors are we rewarding, even if we don’t mean to? Whether you design it or not, your culture is already executing something. The only question is, "Is it executing what you intended?" Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Melvin Flippin Melvin Flippin, Leadership Transformation Coach Melvin Flippin is a leadership development strategist, dedicated to helping organizations & leaders close the gap between strategy & execution, through more effective coaching & accountability. As the founder of One GOAL LLC, he developed a practical framework & proprietary tool designed to transform how leaders manage performance, shifting the focus from outcome alone to the behaviors & commitments that drive sustainable results. He collaborates with clients of all sizes to provide training for the One GOAL framework & tools that empower employees to perform at their highest capabilities, through established clarity, alignment & execution.

Alexandria, Va., April 21, 2026 – Heal Thrive Dream Holistic Services, Inc. will host the Finding Your Voice After Trauma Summit, a free, two-day virtual event on May 14-15, 2026, designed to help trauma survivors reclaim their voice, build confidence, and move forward with clarity and purpose. Led by trauma recovery expert Karen Robinson, the summit brings together a diverse group of speakers, advocates, and organizations committed to supporting healing and personal growth. The event offers practical tools and guided conversations to help participants move from silence and self-doubt toward authentic expression and empowerment. A key strength of this year’s summit is the collaboration with mission-driven sponsors whose work aligns with trauma recovery, leadership, and personal transformation. Featured sponsors include Path To Discovery, Carolyn Pistone, Serving Women on a Mission, TruPath, AA Warrior Health & Wellness, and Legendary Events. Several sponsors also serve as featured speakers, strengthening the connection between expertise and impact. These include Steve Nagib, Tonya Tyus, Kat Mitchell, Carolyn Pistone, Caterina Rando, and Aly Angel. Their involvement highlights a shared commitment to amplifying voices, fostering resilience, and creating meaningful pathways for healing. Attendees can expect expert-led sessions, actionable strategies, and a supportive virtual environment where they can explore safe ways to express their experiences and reconnect with their identity. The summit is open to trauma survivors, caregivers, clinicians, and individuals seeking personal growth. Registration is free, with optional VIP access available for extended content and replay opportunities. For more information or to register, visit here . About Heal Thrive Dream Holistic Services, Inc. Heal Thrive Dream Holistic Services, Inc. is dedicated to empowering trauma survivors through holistic, trauma-competent care. Through summits, coaching, courses, and community support, the organization helps individuals heal deeply, strengthen relationships, and create a vision for a meaningful and purpose-driven life. Contact Heal Thrive Dream Holistic Services, Inc. Email: healthrivedream@gmail.com Website:   https://www.healthrivedream.com/FindingVoiceSummit

Written by Stefania Leone, Jyotishi, Vedic Astrologer, and Advisor Stefania Leone is a Jyotishi /Vedic Astrologer with 40+ years of experience, blending deep spiritual insight with practical business acumen. She interprets birth charts as sacred maps of karma and dharma, guiding leaders and visionaries to align with purpose, clarity, and conscious growth. For too long, women have been praised for endurance. We are celebrated for how much we can carry, how much we can give, and how gracefully we can continue despite exhaustion. Yet, somewhere along the way, strength became synonymous with depletion. In reality, a goddess does not thrive through constant sacrifice. She thrives through pleasure, presence, and receptivity. Pleasure is not indulgence. It is intelligence. It is the body’s way of signaling safety, alignment, and life force activation. When a woman is disconnected from pleasure, she is often disconnected from her intuition, her creativity, her sensuality, and the inner authority that guides her choices. To receive pleasure is to remember worth. The myth of the strong woman Modern culture has elevated a version of feminine strength that is rooted in over-functioning. Women are often encouraged to push through, hold everything together, and remain composed regardless of the internal cost. But this version of strength comes at a price: nervous system exhaustion, emotional disconnection, and a gradual loss of inner aliveness. What we have called “strength” is often survival in disguise. True feminine strength is not the ability to endure endlessly. It is the capacity to remain open, receptive, and energetically resourced while moving through life. A woman in her natural state is not in constant output, she is in rhythm. Pleasure as biological and energetic intelligence Pleasure is far more than a sensory experience. It is a state of nervous system regulation and coherence. When the body feels safe enough to experience pleasure, something profound happens: The mind softens The breath deepens Creativity re-emerges Intuition becomes clearer The body re-aligns with vitality From this perspective, pleasure is not optional. It is informational. It tells the body: you are safe to be here, you are safe to receive, you are safe to expand. When pleasure is consistently absent, the system adapts by numbing. Over time, this numbing is mistaken for normality, but it is disconnection from life force intelligence. Pleasure is not something to chase. It is something to allow. The cost of pleasure deprivation When a woman becomes disconnected from pleasure, the effects are subtle at first, then increasingly profound. She may begin to feel chronically tired, even after rest, over-give in relationships or work, lose connection to creativity and inspiration, experience emotional flatness or irritability, and achieve externally while feeling internally empty. Success without pleasure creates an imbalance: life looks full but feels thin. Over time, this leads to burnout, resentment, and a quiet disconnection from self. A woman disconnected from pleasure becomes disconnected from her intuitive intelligence. Reclaiming pleasure as a daily practice Pleasure is not a rare event reserved for special occasions. It is a daily practice of returning to oneself. It can be as simple as moving more slowly without apology, allowing rest without earning it, receiving support without guilt, reconnecting with the senses, touch, taste, sound, beauty, creating moments of stillness in the day, and choosing what feels nourishing over what feels depleting. These are not luxuries. They are recalibrations. Pleasure is not a reward for completion. It is a way of staying aligned while living. When a woman begins to prioritize what nourishes her, her entire system reorganizes around coherence rather than survival. The goddess principle: Receiving as power The archetype of the goddess represents more than beauty or softness. It represents embodied receptivity as intelligence. In this state, receiving is not passive. It is conscious. It is selective. It is magnetic. A woman in her goddess state is not constantly proving her worth, she is anchored in it. She does not overextend to be seen. She allows what aligns with her to come closer. The most powerful feminine presence is not the one that gives the most, but the one that remains energetically full. A goddess does not earn pleasure. She allows it. Conclusion A goddess needs pleasure not as luxury, but as truth. Not as escape, but as return. When a woman allows herself to receive life fully, she becomes clear, magnetic, and deeply attuned to her own rhythm. She no longer operates from depletion or obligation, but from coherence and inner authority. In that state, she does not chase life. Life moves toward her. That is the nature of embodied feminine power. Follow me on Instagram , or visit my website for more info! Read more from Stefania Leone Stefania Leone, Jyotishi, Vedic Astrologer, and Advisor After a lonely, traumatic spiritual awakening at the age of 7, Stefania began what has amounted to a lifetime of study in the areas of consciousness, metaphysics, and holistic healing. The most profound and useful answers came through Jyotisha, the original and most accurate and true source of Astrology. Her mission is to bring Jyotisha mainstream in the West.

I’m Lisa Sheerin, a London-based executive communication coach and voice-over actor. I work with senior professionals who need to communicate with clarity, authority and control in high-stakes situations – presentations, leadership moments, and career-defining conversations. My background in performance and coaching means I understand how voice, presence and psychology work together. The result is simple: you don’t just sound better, you’re taken more seriously. Lisa Sheerin Executive Voice and Presence Coach  What inspired you to transition from a career in acting and film to coaching others in public speaking and overcoming imposter syndrome? I moved into coaching when I saw the gap between capability and how people come across when they speak. Highly capable people were being overlooked, not because they lacked expertise, but because they weren’t landing it. I trained professionally and built my work around one focus: helping people close that gap so their communication reflects their actual level. How do you integrate your experience into your approach to voice and presence coaching? Communication is not just a skill. It’s a state. Most people focus on the words. I focus on the person delivering them. If your thinking speeds up, your body tightens, or your voice drops under pressure, your message loses impact, regardless of how strong it is. I work on the full picture: voice, delivery, mindset and presence, so when the moment comes, you don’t just get through it, you hold the room. In your work as a coach , what has been the most rewarding moment or breakthrough you’ve witnessed in a client? One of my early clients was a CEO who didn’t believe her voice carried weight, despite leading a successful organisation. Through our work, she shifted how she showed up, not by changing who she was, but by owning it more clearly. She now speaks regularly at major events and leads with confidence. That’s the work: not adding something artificial, but removing what holds people back. What lessons from your background have shaped your approach to helping clients silence self-doubt and speak with authority? My background in acting, group exercise and indoor cycling,  coaching since 2009, shaped how I work more than anything else. Leading rooms in real time teaches you how to manage energy, read people instantly, and hold attention without forcing it. There’s no script. No safety net. That experience translates directly into the work I do now with senior professionals. Whether it’s a studio or a boardroom, the challenge is the same: stay composed, stay clear, and lead the room.   Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today. A pivotal moment in my career came in 2016 when I realised that how you see yourself shapes how others respond to you. That shift changed how I approached both performance and coaching. Since then, my work has been focused on one outcome: helping people align how capable they are with how they are perceived. Follow me on LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Lisa Sheerin

Written by Kenneth J. Breniman, Grief Guide & Mindfully Mortal Therapist Ken Breniman is a queer author, licensed clinical social worker, yoga therapist, and thanatologist guiding fellow mindful mortals at the threshold of life, death, devotion, and (r)evolution. His work blends neuroscience, primatology, Celtic wisdom, and psychedelic integration to invite braver ways of being human. Let’s start with a little pop culture play before we get too serious. For years, I assumed that if Death Becomes Her ever got a sequel, it would be Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep leading the charge. But I wonder, would they still want to glamorously refuse death with a wink and a potion made by Bruce Willis, or would they finally let Death become the star of the show? Instead, in a plot twist I didn’t see coming, it’s Nicole Kidman stepping into the conversation, openly sharing that she’s training to become a death doula after the loss of her mother. Now that’s a real-life sequel I can get behind. And from this seasoned thanadoula, I’ll say it plainly, the more, the merrier. Because while Hollywood has often treated death as something to outrun, defeat, or digitally enhance away, real life keeps inviting us into a different relationship. We’ve seen beloved public figures, including Bruce Willis, openly navigating serious health conditions. These are tender reminders that surrender is not a failure of the body, but part of the human experience. Ms. Kidman’s coming out as a doula-in-training isn’t just celebrity news. It’s a timely cultural opening. And maybe, just maybe, an invitation to anyone willing to stay with it instead of walking out, changing the channel, or scrolling to something more comfortable. This is not a how-to Recently, I was interviewed by The New York Times about my work as a death doula. Even writing that feels a little surreal. Death, which is often hidden, sterilized, and avoided, is finding its way back into mainstream conversation. The 2020 pandemic, as horrific as it was, helped stimulate that conversation. Now, more mindful mortals, like Ms. Kidman, are reminding us of the ultimate spoiler alert: none of us get out of this alive. For someone who supports others in dying, I know that appropriate humor plays a role in softening some of the “bad news.” But here’s what didn’t make it into that interview. My relationship with death didn’t begin in a training program. It began early. Very early. And not just once. A childhood car accident.Moments in altered states, through breathwork, plant medicine, and lucid dreaming. Experiences that felt like brushes with death, close enough to the edge that something in me reorganized. Now, let me be clear, I’m not here to prescribe near-death experiences. You can’t schedule them like a yoga class. That’s not the point, although a little time in corpse pose doesn’t hurt, yoga practice or not. Humans have a pattern: when something powerful emerges, we try to package it, sell it, condemn it, or control it. The medical system is basically doing that with psychedelics. We’ve done it with technology. We’ve done it with almost everything that carries transformational potential. So while this isn’t about chasing the edge. It is about deeply listening to what the edge reveals. For me, what emerged wasn’t invincibility. It was perspective. A sense that life is more continuous than I was taught. That identity is more fluid than I assumed. That death, while mysterious and often dreaded, may not be the full stop we imagine. And interestingly, that hasn’t made me reckless. It has made me more precise about how I live this most precious life. Death has been around for a very long time, we just forgot how to be with it The role of a death doula may sound modern, even trendy. It’s not. It’s ancient. Long before hospitals and institutional care, humans died in community. Death was witnessed, tended, and integrated into the rhythm of life. Across cultures, there have always been guides at the threshold. In many Indigenous traditions, death is understood as a transition, not a disappearance. Community members gather, sing, pray, and accompany the dying. In parts of Asia, families remain physically present, tending to the body and maintaining connection through the final breath. In Tibetan traditions, teachings offer orientation through the dying process, not certainty, but companionship. In Ireland, wakes invite storytelling, grief, and humor, offering a full-spectrum honoring of life and loss. In many African traditions, ancestors remain in relationship. Death transforms connection rather than ending it. What we now call a “death doula” is, in many ways, a way of remembering. Remembering that death is not only medical. It is relational. It is emotional. It is spiritual. It is communal. Modern medicine has extended life in extraordinary ways. And, in the process, death has often been removed from daily life. It has become something to manage instead of something to meet. So when people ask what I do, I often say, I help people find ways to become more mindfully mortal. What the primates remember (that we complicate) In the primate world, the one I keep returning to, we have an opportunity to learn the primal instincts around accepting death and letting go. All of the great apes have been observed lingering with their dead. A gorilla mama carrying a stillborn baby on her back.A group of chimpanzees holding vigil, protecting a dead body. We don’t fully understand what they experience. But something is happening. They don’t theorize death. But they don’t avoid it either. They remain in a relationship with it. Spend enough time with primates, and you start to wonder what we began to forget when we came down from the trees and set out to become “civilized.” Modern sapiens, on the other hand, seem to oscillate in a very human way. We either avoid death entirely. We sanitize it, medicalize it, push it out of sight. Or we over-intellectualize it until it loses its immediacy and sacredness. Wisdom may live in between. Not in pretending we fully understand death. And not in pretending it isn’t coming. But in allowing it to be part of the conversation. Why death is my most honest co-therapist In my work as a thanadoula, I often say that death is my co-therapist. Death cuts through the noise faster than any modality I’ve studied. It has no interest in our personas or defenses. It asks direct, uncompromising questions. Sometimes I joke that it’s like a strange multiverse collaboration, like if Thanos showed up and, instead of snapping half the universe away, sat down with the Avengers and asked: “Alright, what actually matters here?” It’s absurd. And also deeply accurate. Because when death gets close, really close, something clarifies. What matters becomes obvious. What doesn’t quietly fall away. What the dying keep trying to tell us In my work, I hear this again and again from people nearing the end of life. I wish I had been more honest. I wish I had taken that risk. I wish I had let myself love more fully. Not grand regrets. Human ones. These insights are not reserved for the dying. They are available now to anyone reading these words. 5 ways to access edge-of-life clarity (without almost dying) So if we’re not chasing death, how do we access that clarity safely? You don’t need a crisis to wake up. There are legal, intentional ways to step outside your habitual mind and access a deeper perspective: Float tanks: Where sensory input drops away and the mind softens, often revealing what’s been underneath the noise. Sound baths: Where vibration bypasses the thinking mind and reorganizes emotional experience. Breathwork: Guided practices that can open powerful, non-ordinary states and emotional release. Psychedelics (where legal and safely supported): Not shortcuts, but amplifiers that can temporarily loosen identity and deepen meaning. Meditation retreats and contemplative reflection: Whether guided or self-directed, both create space to ask honest questions about how you’re living, right now. Each offers a glimpse, not of Death itself, but of what falls away when we stop clinging so tightly to who we think we are. We are born with the instinct to cling, just watch a baby orangutan, yet we must also learn the graceful art of letting go. And when identity softens, life-affirming clarity emerges. You don’t need the edge, but you may need a reminder So maybe the invitation is not to be flippant about or flirt with death. Maybe it is time to stop living as if you have unlimited time to become yourself. To let mortality interrupt the trance. To wake you up. Because the people I sit with at the end of life rarely ask for more productivity. They want the truth. They want a connection. They want love that hasn’t been over-edited. So perhaps the real wisdom is this: Live in such a way that your life does not require a last-minute apology. Live so your love arrives on time. Live so that when death pulls up a chair, it finds you already in conversation with what matters most. And if all this growing attention from the media, from culture, from unexpected places continues to build. Then maybe, just maybe, we begin to shift the script, and instead of calling Ghostbusters when things get existential, we call someone willing to sit with us. A death doula. Someone who won’t run from the ending and helps you honor your final chapter with the dignity and grace your life deserves. Follow me on Facebook , LinkedIn , and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kenneth J. Breniman Kenneth J. Breniman, Grief Guide & Mindfully Mortal Therapist Ken Breniman is a queer author, licensed clinical social worker, certified yoga therapist, and thanatologist whose work lives at the intersection of mortality, meaning, and transformation. Drawing from neuroscience, primatology, Celtic wisdom, and psychedelic integration, he challenges the myth of human exceptionalism while honoring the precious role each of us plays in the ongoing evolution of our species. Ken is the author of a three-body solution and subversive acts of humanity, and the creator of the See-Soul children’s grief literacy series. Through writing, teaching, and ritual-informed practice, he guides mindful mortals toward deeper humility, resilience, and collective becoming.

Written by Janice Elsley, Leadership Expert, International Author, and Podcast Host Janice Elsley is a leadership strategist, author, and keynote speaker who helps CEOs and leaders elevate their impact. As founder of Harissa Business Partners, she blends neuroscience, change management, and human design to drive success. Burnout isn’t just about working too hard. It’s about working in a way that goes against who you are. For high-achieving women, leadership often comes with a hidden tax: the emotional, physical, and energetic toll of constantly pushing, proving, and performing in cultures that weren’t built for you. If you’ve ever felt like you had to leave parts of yourself at the door just to be taken seriously, you’re not alone. And you’re not broken. What is invisible burnout? Let’s talk about the burnout that doesn’t show up in sick days or stress leave. I call it invisible burnout, which is the chronic self-abandonment women in leadership face when they try to lead like someone they’re not. It’s when you deliver the results, manage the team, meet the metrics, but your soul starts whispering, “There has to be more than this.” According to McKinsey’s 2023 Women in the Workplace report, 43% of women leaders are considering leaving their jobs. This isn't due to a lack of success, but rather a lack of support, meaning, and authenticity. Burnout isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it’s a quiet resignation of self. The hidden cost of leading in masculine systems I’ve spent over two decades inside boardrooms across four continents, and the same pattern showed up, no matter the industry: Leaders rewarded for output, not empathy. Cultures that confuse control with competence. Women asked to “lean in,” but never invited to lead differently. This is the very system that led me to my breaking point. After years of shaping strategy and culture as a leadership consultant, I found myself physically depleted and emotionally numb, even though, on paper, I was thriving. I was working harder than ever. But I wasn’t working in alignment. The cost? My health, my joy, and my voice. It wasn’t until I left that version of leadership behind and rebuilt from the inside out that I found a different truth. Authenticity isn’t a luxury. It’s a leadership advantage. What happens when women lead from alignment When I discovered the neuroscience behind performance and paired it with Human Design (a system that maps your unique energy blueprint), everything shifted. I stopped trying to lead like the CEOs in power suits and started leading like me, intuitive, strategic, and purpose-driven, grounded in emotional intelligence rather than ego. Here’s what that alignment did: I healed my nervous system. I built my own business (without burnout). I now help women step into leadership without the mask. Because when women lead from who they truly are, not who the world told them to be, they create workplaces that feel different. These are cultures where people can breathe and teams that thrive on trust, not fear. How to lead without losing yourself Want to avoid burnout and build a leadership legacy you’re proud of? Start here: Reconnect with your energy, not just your to-do list. Women aren’t linear. Your energy moves in cycles. Learn when you’re naturally magnetic and when you need to retreat. This is strategy, not softness. Lead from your Human Design. Whether you’re a Projector, Generator, or Manifestor, knowing how you’re wired helps you lead with less resistance and more flow. (You can get your chart here). Ditch the performance mask. Stop rewarding yourself for self-abandonment. Real leadership isn’t about perfection, it’s about presence. Replace “What do they expect?” with “What feels true?” Prioritise nervous system resets. Breathwork. Nature. Boundaries. Regulation isn’t optional for women leaders. It’s the foundation of sustainable impact. Build spaces where women don’t burn out to belong. Create cultures where feminine wisdom is celebrated instead of sidelined. That’s how we future-proof leadership. This isn’t just personal, it’s global The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report confirmed that emotional intelligence, resilience, and empathy are among the most in-demand skills by 2030. We don’t need to become more like machines. We need to become more human. And women are uniquely positioned to lead this shift if we stop dimming our light to fit outdated models of power. Final thought: Burnout isn’t your fault. But reclaiming your energy is your responsibility If this resonates, you’re not alone. You’re not behind. And you don’t have to keep leading in ways that hurt. This is your call to reset, realign, and redefine what leadership means for you and for the future you’re building. Ready to lead without burnout? Download your free Human Design Chart Snapshot and discover your leadership energy type. Or visit the website  to explore leadership retreats, executive programs, and coaching. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn  for more info! Read more from Janice Elsley Janice Elsley, Leadership Expert, International Author, and Podcast Host Janice Elsley is a leadership expert, author, and keynote speaker helping CEOs and executives future-proof their leadership with neuroscience-driven strategies. As founder of Harissa Business Partners, she drives performance, inclusivity, and talent retention. Her book Leadership Legacy and programs, Leading Edge Women, The Leading Edge, and First 100 Days of Leadership, equip leaders with the confidence and strategies to make an impact. Whether coaching executives or delivering transformational keynotes, Janice creates real results.

Written by Francis Njoku, Cultural Commerce Strategist, Artist, and Founder of UKRAFT Francis Njoku is an artist and entrepreneur working at the intersection of culture and global commerce. Through his work and UKRAFT, he addresses critical gaps in how African craftsmanship is positioned, transforming it from locally traded goods into globally valued cultural assets As a child, I spent more time with my grandmother. From the farm harvests to the crowded markets of Mbaise, she would go to the bigger markets alone, which she described to us as we waited, at the specific time of the day and week, for her return (there were no cell phones). Mostly, we would wait at the bus stop to help her bring the items home. She brought home mostly crafts from this mysterious big market. We would help her carry them back home, then to the market in Mbaise the following day. Seeing this for many years was quite an adorable experience, one that would later become the UKRAFT vision. The air was alive with colors, intricate beadwork, and woven baskets, each craft with a story, actual stories you could hear the merchant women share as they exchanged inspiration among themselves using these stories. I honestly didn’t care at the time, only until I started reminiscing. The entire scenery proved each pattern was a legacy. These weren’t just souvenirs; they were cultural assets, filled with history and value. My grandmother’s hands created beauty, but it was beauty often unseen beyond that period of my life. Today, I stand on the other side of the world, in Canada, carrying that legacy in my heart. I see how African craftsmanship is absent from global conversations, not because of lack, but because of mispositioning. It is not a side market. It is not a souvenir. African crafts have global luxury potential; they are a structured economy waiting to emerge. And it is this gap, this urgent, global gap, that UKRAFT is built to fill. UKRAFT is more than a platform; it is a home in you. It is the bridge that connects African crafts to New York apartments, Lagos studios, London living rooms, and Dubai offices. We are not just exporting goods; we are embedding African solutions into daily life. We believe in a sustainable future, one where each craft tells a story, like it did back when I was a kid, where every house holds a piece of true home connected to something unique, with stories, and where every person, craft lover or not, feels a connection to something bigger, by what they do (the crafters) or what they admire (the craft lovers). Gratefully, we are building this every day, not just as a business, but as a movement for sustainable living, a force that brings African cultural identity (how we live) into global consciousness and inspiration. This is the #Amazon of unique crafts, sustainable, bold, for homes, for you. We craft together, and that should inspire us to craft. From that early market with my grandmother, my vision evolved. I knew that the real power wasn’t just in a single craft made; it was in a community. So, I set out to build that community, U Community, a place where crafters, artists, and dreamers come together, where every maker is seen, valued, and connected to a global audience, most importantly that story that was shared among crafters, and all concerns. U Community is the heartbeat of UKRAFT, a living, breathing network that transforms isolated craft makers into a global force. At the core of this network is the UKRAFT e-store, our U-Hub, our U-Base. This is where the crafts come alive beyond a one-time market transaction. The U-Hub is the digital home where each craft is a daily necessity, not a novelty. We embed innovation, sustainable sourcing, ethical production, and a circular economy model so that each piece doesn’t just decorate a home; it reshapes how we live. Every sale loops back, creating a sustainable cycle, supporting the crafter, scaling the industry, and reinvesting back in the community. This is an ecosystem, not a business transaction. It is a global solution built by Africans, for Africans, and for every craft lover who believes that daily living can be beautiful, ethical, and global. UKRAFT will be the force that brings African crafts from the margins to the center, an essential part of everyday life, a force for good, a home in you. The problem in Africa’s craft market runs deep. It is not just about isolated potters or carvers. No, it is a fractured ecosystem. Local economies rely on artisans, yes, but also on managers, marketers, distributors, and showrooms, all trying to survive in fragmented, informal markets. The chaos of these systems, no clear structure, limited access to global platforms or shelves and showrooms, and undervalued talent, keeps Africa’s crafts in the shadows. But this is where UKRAFT steps in. We don’t just market crafts; we reimagine the entire environment. Our vision is a holistic solution: we connect these artisans to a global community through U Community. But beyond that, we recreate the marketplace, from chaos to calm. We give artists the tools to influence every facet of life: from home decor to garden design, from night markets to auctions, from collectibles to heirlooms passed down through generations. Every piece we share is a chance to transfer heritage and create a movement that stretches from the savannas to the oceanfronts, from the valleys to the peaks. UKRAFT is more than an e-store; it is a living, breathing infrastructure that transforms African crafts into daily, necessary solutions for homes around the world. By building this ecosystem, we are not just sustaining crafts; we are sustaining dignity, creativity, and the ability to reshape how we live. This is Africa’s moment: to be seen, to be celebrated, and to be a daily part of the world’s sustainable future. As we craft, we don’t just build a business; we build a world where every corner, every home, every story is a testament to Africa’s immense power. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , and visit my website  for more info! Read more from Francis Njoku Francis Njoku, Cultural Commerce Strategist, Artist, and Founder of UKRAFT Francis Njoku is an artist and an artepreneur and the founder of UKRAFT, a platform focused on transforming African craftsmanship into globally valued cultural assets. His work centers on bridging gaps in how crafts are positioned, traded, and experienced across international markets. Now based in Canada, he brings a cross-cultural perspective to building systems that connect artisans to global demand through storytelling and design-led commerce. His broader vision spans Africa, Europe, and emerging markets, where he explores how cultural products can drive sustainable living and economic growth in modern urban environments.