The usual call schedule changed so I could celebrate my birthday so if anyone is around at 5pm tonight, join us! Come and ask your questions around brand and personal development. Remember, all members can join this call. It's your one chance this month to speak to us face to face (or screen to screen) so don't miss it.

Step Back In When you have to step out for a while, the world keeps moving. People keep posting. Conversations keep happening. Opportunities keep shifting. Other voices get louder because they’re still in the room. And that can feel strange when you come back. It can feel like the space you had has changed. Like people have moved on. Like you’ve got ground to make up. But here’s the positive part. If the world can move quickly when you step out, it can also move quickly when you step back in. One post can restart a conversation. One message can open a door. One decision can bring your energy back. One brave move can remind people who you are. You don’t need to punish yourself for pausing. Sometimes life needs you elsewhere. But when you’re ready, don’t stand at the edge wondering if there’s still space. Step back in. Today’s POWERUP: the world moves fast, but so can momentum. Start showing up again and let people remember why your voice matters.

Another Year of Becoming Birthdays have a way of making you pause. You look back at the year you’ve had and it’s never just one thing. There are the wins you’re proud of.
The moments you didn’t expect.
The challenges you would never have chosen.
The things you handled because you had no other option.
The parts of you that changed because life asked more of you. A birthday isn’t just about getting older. It’s a marker. A moment to notice the person you are becoming. The real version of you. The one who has kept going. Kept learning. Kept showing up. Kept finding a way through when life got messy. Today’s POWERUP: don’t only celebrate what you’ve achieved. Celebrate who you had to become to get here.

My hand crafted card from my daughter. She bought me a frog years ago saying it looked like me (charming), then she bought me and Matt wedding frogs and now I have a finger frog card. Her friends are always horrified but it filled my heart with joy and made me laugh out loud. It’s just our thing.

Fuel or Brakes Yesterday, I asked an expert for advice. After a few months where I’ve had to step back, I realised my personal brand had gone a bit missing. Not only that, someone with the same name as me, also in the leadership space, had started showing up more strongly. Nothing wrong. Nothing stolen. Just a reminder that the world does not pause when you do. So I asked how I could build my own brand presence again. The response? Maybe I should just support “your amazing husband” Matt instead. I don’t disagree, he is amazing and I love supporting him but… Now, I had a choice. I could have heard that as a reason to stop. I could have let it confirm a doubt. I could have made it mean there wasn’t space for me. Or I could let it light a fire. And it did. Sometimes the thing someone says can become the brakes or the fuel. The words might be the same, but what we do with them is ours. Today’s POWERUP: not every comment deserves to stop you. Some are there to remind you how much you still care.