During a 20+ year career spanning non-profit and corporate environments I worked my way to the top, leading at Director and CEO level for more than a decade to deliver work across four continents.

Over the years, failing to succeed - i.e. embracing the opportunities that failing provides - became something of a personal motto.

My professional journey began when I left school at 16 and unexpectedly became a parent the same year.

After a few crazy years working in news media in London I jumped back into education, hoping to unearth the academic potential I’d abandoned as a headstrong teen.

I read Social and Political Science at the University of Cambridge. Juggling parenting duties with lectures and rowing, my daughter and I fell into a happy routine amongst the scholars and spires of Cambridge.

After university I joined PricewaterhouseCoopers’ graduate training scheme. When a financial crisis hit the City of London I was - quite mercifully - made redundant. I’d passed the professional qualifications but was keen to explore other sectors.

Unemployed and keen to do something more purposeful I took a deep breath and a big leap, relocating to Africa with my daughter. We lived internationally for many years while I established my career in the international development and do-gooding sector.

In Kenya, Tanzania and Switzerland I led climate projects for the Danish government, partnered with Maasai communities to reverse environmental degradation, advised the United Nations on communications, delivered the BBC’s international development projects to more than 5 million people across East Africa, and led a global programme leveraging private-sector resources to support women-led business in global majority countries. Later, back in the UK, I worked closely with Buckingham Palace to widen educational opportunities for disadvantaged children, and led global work to stop children dying from hunger.

Although I loved the purpose of my work, once I made it to the top I realised how lonely the C-suite echo-chamber can be, and how overwhelming the burden of leadership feels when you're living in Burnout City.

As a senior leader, what I needed most was fresh perspective and a professional confidante to keep me moving forwards, in terms of work outcomes and personal growth.