30/01/2026
A few months back I found myself having a 'moment', it was the second time in four years I’ve been stuck in bed for days, unable to move or eat, after a night in the hospital emergency department - this time, from a menopausal symptom no one warned me about.
Five days in a dark room.
Vertigo.
No way to work, parent, function - let alone perform.
It was my fourth hospital admission for 2025, and it was not to be the last.
And I remember thinking:
'There is no way I could work for someone else right now.'
Because what job lets you disappear for five days with no warning - and come back when you can?
Mine does.
Because I built it that way.
Not for ambition. Not for lifestyle.
But because I knew, even ten years ago, that the system wasn’t made for women like me.
I used to believe success meant job titles, salary bands, 150% output at all times.
That slowing down meant falling behind.
That no one respected a 'non-starter.'
Now?
I see slowing down as a skill.
I’ve built a business that bends when life does, or as is more often the case my body does.
And I respect myself far more than I ever did in those high-output years.
My relationship with work is different now.
It’s gentler. More honest.
I help other women rewrite their own career stories - because I had to rewrite mine.
I work when I can, rest when I need to,
and define success by how aligned I feel,
not how impressive I look.
If your body is louder than your calendar allows…
If your life is asking you to slow down and you don’t know how…
Know this: you are not broken.
The model is.
And you’re allowed to create a career and life that honors you, and your capacity.
I write about this a lot on my blog 'The Invitation'
You'll find this at www.soulcompass.life
Or in my insta bio
