A fall season on the move | Power, Partnerships, & Possibilities
While I am writing this, I await the arrival of my mezcal cocktail and am watching as a few pelicans nose-dive to discover their evening delights in the Pacific Ocean. The rhythm of the crashing waves next to my table are a soothing elixir, as I savor my final week in Mexico. How can I begin to sum up the happenings of the months since my last newsletter?
A lot has happened in the material world. I spent six weeks traveling through East Africa to visit prospective partners through my work with the Global Engagement Institute. I discovered impactful projects related to global health, clean energy, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable development.
The call to lead | rivers and roads flowing to new career heights
As I write this I am listening to the soothing summer sounds of crickets and feeling safely nestled by the verdant range of deciduous trees that grace the banks of lazy rivers in the Southern United States. This is a spot I have fond memories of visiting as a child, tucked into the back of a woody station wagon, with anticipation of the riverfront restaurant expedition that awaited some 60 minutes away from our hometown. Even if I showed up slightly nauseated from the winding roads it took to get here, it could not diminish my excitement.
At this moment, my 42 year old version of myself, is accompanied by a Blue Moon and indulging in some local fare of fried green tomatoes as I attempt to synthesize the happenings since my last update in April of 2024. I will do my best to hit the high points.
Peru | A quest into the land of Abundance, Alpacas, & Amazonia
I felt called to Peru for various reasons. In April 2023, I read the Celestine Prophecy - a spiritual classic - which left a significant impression on me. It's about a young man who's drawn to Peru, and has a series of synchronistic encounters with different individuals in his travels that each have a wisdom message to impart. A book about travel as a tool for spiritual development, SOLD!
We began to have momentum onboarding property partners based in Peru through Postcard Travel Club in the winter of 2024 who were committed to responsible travel. I took this as my green light that the timing was right to cruise on down to see what life lessons were waiting for me.
A winter season of re-consideration, re-direction, and re-generation
As I write this I am sitting at a rooftop bar in Cusco looking out over the main square filled with humans milling about, a mix of tourists and locals, and an expanse of mountains in the backdrop. It has been five months since I wrote my last newsletter update, which on some level, feels slightly disappointing.
The last letter was written from South Africa, a country I fell in love with for both its people and its landscapes, and the strange way it mirrored the complexities of my own country of origin. A history of colonization, significant challenges with economic inequality, a pervasive disenchantment with government, and dynamic and diverse cultural influences. During my three-month visit, I kept my heart open to connections or opportunities that might reveal I was meant to stay, but as my 90-day visa window closed, it was clear that it was time to leave…for now.
Organization Activation Case Study | Postcard Travel Club
In January 2024, Postcard Travel Club had confidence in the value it was creating for both the partner community, which had grown to 71 properties across 23 countries, as well as the community of +2,500 conscious travelers that we had built. The foundation had been established in terms of getting the “right people in the room” who were values-aligned, and now it was time to shift towards strengthening the organization’s ability to deliver on the next phase of the concept, which included continued growth of the community, enhanced user experience, increased engagement with the platform, all to build towards launching a number of revenue streams. Based upon this, I stepped in with my background in Organizational Development and working with other start-ups who were preparing to scale, to help activate the organizational capacity of the Postcard Travel Club team.
Circle Activation Case Study | Women’s Mastermind Group
In January 2023, I initiated a pilot Mastermind Group Coaching Cohort as a complementary offering to the 1:1 coaching sessions I conducted throughout the fall of 2022. Recognizing a shift away from the traditional "guru model" of teaching, I observed a growing desire for more intimate and curated communities that fostered positive, reciprocal relationships. This led me to explore a structure that could resonate with a group of values-aligned individuals with whom I had previously engaged in coaching.
Brand Activation Case Study | Postcard Travel Club
In Spring of 2023, I took a course with the Transformational Travel Council (TTC) focused on “Experience Design” as I started to imagine whether I would want to design my own retreats, sabbaticals, or immersive voluntourism experiences as part of my coaching offerings.
Through my involvement with the TTC and the course, I met a number of inspiring leaders who had visions to make travel a force for good. In listening to their challenges, I realized my passion was most alive around playing a role in raising consumer awareness about the offerings this community was creating, which facilitated positive impact for both the traveler and the destinations they visited.
Program Activation Case Study | RICA Leadership in Higher Education Program
In the fall of 2021, while traveling through Nebraska after relocating from Seattle during the pandemic, I had a fortuitous meeting with Blayne Sharpe, who was managing a portfolio of projects for University of Nebraska-Lincoln as the Director of Partnerships and Exchange - Africa. He recognized the synergy between my background in leadership development, career development, entrepreneurship training, and diversity & inclusion and it’s alignment with an existing partnership they had with the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA).
South Africa | A visit to the land of Braai, Bokke, & ample Bushland
I arrived to South Africa in September 2023 fresh off the heels of a Business of Conservation Conference hosted by the Africa Leadership University in Rwanda. My days preparing to depart were filled with foreshadowing of what I would get to explore deeper during my visit.
With many representatives from various South African private reserves present at the conference, there appeared to be a bit of a friendly sense of competition that existed between Rwanda and South Africa. Jokes were made about how nice it must be for South Africans to have escaped the loadshedding headaches, which are regular rolling blackouts due to insufficient generation energy capacity, that has haunted South Africa since 2007.
Vision Activation Coaching Program Step #8 Vision Activation
Well, we made it! We have clarified the vision, release the blockages, aligned with outside forces that can support our success, and now we are ready to powerfully move forward with full confidence that we have what we need to create our next manifestation, which promises to bring greater levels of fulfillment, joy, and inevitably, it’s own set of lessons.
This is most certainly not the end of the journey, but another important stop along the way. Remember, each vision we feel drawn to and commit to realizing, helps us continue to shape and refine our sense of a bigger purpose we are here to fulfill, as long as we don’t quit.
Vision Activation Coaching Program Step #7 Vision Support
We have now taken time to give thought to how we will balance pursuing our vision with the various moving parts and pieces of our lives, including relationships, financial commitments, and other priorities. Now we get the chance to look at how we activate our support system to rally around us, and consciously consider what strengths might compliment ours, and what energies and voices we can surround ourselves with that can help us maintain momentum as we take steps towards our desired objectives.
Vision Activation Coaching Program Step #6 Vision Balancing
As we head into the Vision Balancing Step part of the process, we take a moment to recognize that we are part of an interconnected system of humans and that anything we dedicate ourselves towards pursuing has implications and impacts on different aspects of our lives.
When we were in our 20s, perhaps we could get a wild hare, and take off on a road trip across America with a friend on a week’s notice, but as we get into our 30s and 40s, we have often developed a lot more responsibilities and are juggling a few different priorities that can often feel they are competing with one another.
Vision Activation Coaching Program Step #5 Vision Alignment
It is from here in the coaching process that we take a moment to pause, as we shift from honoring what internal alignment and intention we need to create around our visions and dreams, to aligning with the external forces that can be supportive in our efforts to accelerate our process.
Vision Activation Coaching Program Step #4 Vision Clearing
In my own journey to building a life that honors the various aspects of who I am, where there is authenticity as well as alignment, one of the somewhat sneaky and non-sexy things they don’t tell you is that identifying and letting go of blockages is actually often more important than taking inspired action to “make it happen.”
Vision Activation Coaching Program Step #3 Vision Awareness
So, we have our grand vision that we have given ourselves permission to name and own, without limits or constraints - how exciting!? I know it is easy to jump into the, well then “how” am I going to make this exciting and expansive dream come true!? But for now, I just want you to relish in the emotions that come up when you imagine this future reality. The deeper we allow ourselves to feel into that emotional reality, which is actually what we want more than the packaging, the quicker it will find its way to us.
Vision Activation Coaching Program Step #2 Vision Discovery
The Vision Discovery Part of the journey is about having permission to hope and dream without the typical constraints that we get caught in by the ego mind and all its objections. Surely we can’t pursue our love of writing, because it won’t pay the bills. Surely we can't pursue living overseas, because we have a dog. Surely we can’t have a lover that we connect with spiritually and sexually, because we haven’t found that is possible…YET!
Vision Activation Coaching Program Step #1 Vision Context
The Vision Context part of the journey is about considering what vision might make sense in this moment of your life to dedicate yourself towards, taking into consideration what milestones you have already overcome, and what might feel most alive for you in this very moment.
Sometimes we have achieved certain goals, only to realize it was just a stop along the way, not the end point, which can feel frustrating at times. But it is also important to recognize that all of our efforts to self-actualize, contribute, and live into our purpose are cumulative, and each step gets us farther along in finding the deepest truth that wants to be expressed uniquely through us in this lifetime.
Reflections on a year of following my soul's calling to create, connect, and conserve
I am saturated, but in all the best ways. South Africa has offered me the opportunity to see this country from many different angles and perspectives, and I am beyond grateful for the people who have generously shared their country with me. I will focus another post on more detailed South Africa reflections, as I want to savor this last week here, and take time to synthesize the insights with a little time and space.
I am currently writing this newsletter from a spot on the southern coast of South Africa, aptly named “Wilderness,” which is a charming town located along the infamous Garden Route. Many people I know have had some shake-ups in their lives in the first half of November that threw them for a bit of a loop, and I got sucked into my own version of chaos and resulting anxiety, and knew that getting into nature was the best medicine to reset my nervous system, and get back to a place of equilibrium.
Announcing the Launch of Vision Activation Coaching Program
We all hit certain points in our life where we feel unsettled, uninspired, and a bit stale, especially if we are curious individuals who are used to taking on new challenges on a regular basis.
For those of us who are high achievers, these static points are often satisfied in choices to pursue further education in our 20s/30s, but once we have our masters or terminal degree, the conveyor belt ends, and we are left to our own devices to craft our own personal and professional evolution journey outside of the escalator provided by society.
Hitting these spots at mid-career also have unique dynamics and constraints we have to work with differently than when we were young, uninhibited, and untethered. We often have more commitments, and as a result, more to lose if we make a big leap, without deeper consideration.
A journey through Africa | Where your focus goes, your energy flows
As I write this post I am currently taking in the landscape of rolling farmlands covered with vineyards, based in the wine country of South Africa, where it is honestly hard to have a care in the world. My whirlwind tour of Rwanda in the month of August feels a million miles away, but my heart and mind are still digesting the insights and lessons of the connections and experiences that defined that visit. And this feels like the perfect place to take a moment to pause, review, and re-consider the path forward, letting my inner light be a compass.
One of the quotes that has served as a North Star when I am in the middle of a career or life transition has been a quote from David Whyte’s poem “Sweet Darkness: ”Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.”