Reinvention - A work in progress

Founder – Everyday Strategy Funding Acquisition Specialist

For me, life has been an evolving journey of reinvention.

I recall early in life; a simple interaction left me feeling that I was not quite good enough. It was an insignificant event. I was sitting on the grass contemplating nothing, in particular, perhaps my first experience of being entirely in the moment, in the curious way that children in nature do. I recall being told that no one likes a sullen child. It was at this moment that I began to think I needed to be more, do more, and perform more to be appreciated. That one limiting belief has travelled with me and is often present before I am even aware of it.

Like many people, I've had to constantly battle against that thought so that it doesn't drive my decisions and create my results in life. That remains a work in progress. There are various circumstances throughout my journey that have triggered reflection, of course; the birth of my daughter and the complex dynamics of extended family that followed; complications experienced during my second pregnancy and my relationship breakdown shortly afterwards; losing my 'forever home' and the death of my father. These individual events and circumstances seem less relevant than being able to accept the ultimate flow of life: joy, constraint, the stickiness of challenges, solutions development, growth and the insight that follows.

It's not always easy to accept that flow when you are deeply embedded in the experience. Still, as I become wiser (and older), I recognise that despite the unfamiliarity and discomfort life sometimes presents, it is the most fertile ground for growth. While we are in the vast terrain of uncertainty, clarity is not expected. I've always liked to be informed to make good choices. Some might consider me a control freak; I think of it as being organised and informed. Life has shown me that, on occasion, we have to get lost to find ourselves.

My father was a pragmatic man, but he was also insightful. Only after his death did I come to see the value of his experience, teachings and wisdom. In hindsight, he and my mother taught us well early on. We were raised to commit and follow through but also to trust our instincts. We were free to make choices but required to accept responsibility for those choices. We were taught to use our experiences to develop insight, not to make the same mistake repeatedly, to leave others bigger than we found, and to pick our battles and prepare for the fights that mattered. We were taught emotional intelligence long before it was a thing. It was not ‘woo woo' or even intentional; it was just the way of life for my parents. They were smart, centred, loving people.

Becoming An Entrepreneur

I have always been an analyser and a creator, even when I didn't know it. Some of my favourite memories of early adulthood include sitting around with my brother, identifying what didn't work about life, relationships, people and systems and trying to brainstorm solutions. Cam went on to become an analyst, and I became an entrepreneur. It figures. I always felt a little unusual, and my life choices reinforced my view of myself. I always believed that if I could conceive it, I could create it. I have always been driven, ambitious and wanted to have an impact. After a string of jobs in sales and account management for large corporates, in which I did reasonably well but struggled with the structure, I found myself working as a consultant and a facilitator in organisational and leadership development. I loved that work but saw a fundamental flaw in how organisations developed. They sent people to be trained to develop skills, sometimes personal, other times professional; they wrote corporate strategy without any real engagement, threw in some team building, if there was time and budget, and hoped that it would result in a healthy culture. There was no real foundation for measuring, monitoring or changing culture. None of the existing frameworks defined what culture was.

Feminine Intuition

I think that intuition has always led me in life and business. I can feel into opportunities easily and make decisions quickly, which has meant that

I've been both fortunate and opportunistic. I love what I do, but what I do has changed many times during my career, always with the fundamental goal of helping businesses grow. Being flexible and allowing myself to adapt and transition - which I consider essential feminine skills - have been the keys to my own personal and professional growth.

Connecting with others is the essence of true collaboration. I have always sought connection; it is one of my highest values. If we are authentically connected and communicate, we can solve almost any problem, figure out the pathway to create more possibilities and ultimately, create better outcomes for ourselves and others.

It's tricky; it's still a man's world in many ways, even though we are starting to see that called out more often. I don't think we need to emulate men. Women have the unique ability to understand men and to use their feminine powers for good. I do believe there can be a pitfall, however. We are still expected to juggle more and complain less, to be beautiful, intelligent, resourceful and gracious in a way the world does not expect of men. The more women help and support each other, the sooner we can shape those structures that once held us back and show the world how it can be done together and with love, rather than from a place of separateness and competition. Women have this unique capacity for softening and an authenticity that can transform circumstances. I'm not saying men can't do that, but I have seen it come more naturally for women far more often.

Everyday Strategy & Inspired Engagement

My work helps corporations and government organisations to expand. We do that by building a better culture. By building emotional intelligence at leadership levels, we can truly shape the whole ecosystem of an organisation which has ripple effects on individuals, their families and communities. We spend, on average, 90,000 hours of work during our lifetime – workplace culture significantly contributes to how we experience it. The more we can create healthy cultures where people thrive, can find themselves, experience enhanced wellbeing, feel connected to others, and contribute meaningfully, the more we can create win-win outcomes for all involved.

Through this business, I wrote my first book, Inspired Engagement, and had the opportunity to share stages with some of the very best in the industry (Brene Brown, Simon Sinek). This inspired me to contribute to thought leadership about the role and potential of building a better culture. Most recently, in this business, we have created a tech platform that measures and monitors culture, offering a simple, gamified experience for the end user while providing a real-time culture snapshot for organisations.

This unusual foray into becoming a tech startup led to a new business opportunity for me. For small businesses, we facilitate expansion through grants. It has been my personal experience when I launched my tech product for the corporate market that grants can be an effective growth strategy for small businesses. There are over 3000 grants available at any given time; on average, they are only 17% successful. The strategist in me can't help but want to help other small businesses to take a step back, do the research and use grants as a key growth strategy.

So, of course, in true entrepreneurial style, I created a business to do just that! At Everyday Strategy, we help clients to find, submit and win grants. I have become quite passionate about grants as a growth strategy; often, a grant can be the difference between getting a dream off the ground and not. I know how overwhelming that can be for business owners who are not used to reading guidelines, strategising their business into projects and writing to win funding.

I am an ideas agent, first and foremost, fuelled by intuition and creativity. I love to spot an opportunity and leverage it; I guess that's why I have always loved and been good at selling, even when I feared failure in my younger years. These days I am motivated by creating freedom (time and money) as access to being present with the things which matter most to me. If I can help others do the same, that's a win-win. I'm unsure if I will always be in this business or even in business. I am sure I will always keep my eye on the horizon, seek growth, and try to accept myself more.

After all, the real work is “self-work.” Don't you agree?

The more women help and support each other, the sooner we can shape those structures that once held us back and show the world how it can love. be done together and with