The lens through which we see the world shifts as we experience loss and change.

What once felt certain can suddenly feel unfamiliar, and we find ourselves walking in a different kind of light.

Walking at twilight in autumn, alongside the unpredictable ocean, I often notice how powerful a metaphor it is for life itself.

The tides, the shadows, the shifting sky – all mirroring the unpredictable curveballs that can be thrown at us without warning.

In my own life, I have walked through many such twilights:

 • The darkness of my parents’ breakup 

 • The harsh, unexpected death of my brother

 • The breakdown of my own relationship 

 • Walking away from a long‑held family dream

 • Moving overseas at the age of 55

 • Returning to South Africa two and a half years later to create a new company in Cape Town

Each of these chapters required not only facing forward, but also grieving who I had been, in order to slowly create who I was becoming.

I had to mourn an old identity, to make room for a new one.

What I discovered is that growth is rarely tidy.

It includes pain and uncertainty, but also an incredible sense of achievement and quiet dignity.

As healthy leaders and adults, we come to see that:

 • Pain deepens our capacity to appreciate joy

 • Heaviness helps us recognise and value lightness

 • Being alone can expand our appreciation of love and true connection

This, to me, is one of the real nuances and hidden gems that loss can offer us, if we allow it.

The coaching work I do with leaders is humbling and deeply meaningful.

I am often invited into those raw, disorienting moments of change, where titles and certainty fall away and people are left with the question: Who am I now, and how do I move forward with integrity?

These are the leaders who go on to do significant work and make a real difference to those they, in turn, mentor and lead.

Over time, I realised that meaning is not found despite suffering, but often through it.

On the other side of how we choose to relate to grief and change, there can be an incredible sense of freedom, spaciousness, light and immense joy.

If this resonates with you, and you are navigating your own season of loss, transition, or reinvention, I’d be honoured to walk alongside you.

Let me know if you would like to book a coaching session with me.

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