September 19, 2025

The Thrive Effect

When you can back yourself, the world can shift

How vision, courage, and community turn impossible goals into reality.

“Why don’t you close your eyes and see how far you get?”

That was my astute grandmother’s sarcastic go-to response whenever I dared to dream out loud. At ten years old, I proudly proclaimed that one day I’d be going to Tahiti and that I’d live by the ocean where I’d have a horse that would trot up to my kitchen window each morning for carrots. In her mind it was hogwash – impossible to comprehend. Case closed for her.

Well, it did not deter me, and I continued to plaster my walls with posters of white beaches, dreamed of palm-fringed lagoons in the South Pacific, and pictured myself riding horses. In 2000, I was sitting on a beach in Moorea, one of Tahiti’s sister islands, watching the sunset and remembering my grandmother’s words. The dream that she had dismissed as youthful nonsense was now my reality.

The Power of Vision

The irony: closing my eyes to see how far I’d get is exactly what I did. That was my first lesson in the audacity of having a big and clear vision. If you can see it vividly enough, if you dare to back yourself, life has a way of opening doors you never knew existed.
There was a time when I thought that the status quo was my limit.

That any big dreams were just that – dreams. I have been proven wrong many times and the more I allow myself to act towards some seemingly impossible goal, the more I get surprised or rewarded by the universe as I’d like to call it. Energy really flows where energy goes.

A concept I have embraced, but it took me over four decades to get here, because everything that was modelled to me was linear goal setting based on what I should be doing or what I was good at. I gave myself permission to let go of my old stories.

The Leap That Changed Everything

By my mid-twenties, I was dreaming of taking six months off to travel the world. New Zealand sat right on top of my list. I was fortunate that my work had presented opportunities for business travel in the Middle East. When I was busy forging plans to move to Dubai for a year, my logical choice, things took an interesting turn.

My boss threw me a curveball when he suggested New Zealand instead and told me he’d put in a word with a client and that I surely would get sick of the ‘sand and the heat’ soon enough. Before long, I had a job offer and a pre-approved work permit ready to go. My feelings ranged somewhere between panic, disbelief and exhilaration all swirled together. Another call for bold action. Back myself and say yes or let the opportunity pass.

I said yes. My family thought I’d lost my mind and had a hard time coming to terms with that choice. Twenty-five years later, as I write this article, I’m still here. New Zealand has become my home and my spiritual anchor and the place of my biggest transformations.

Lesson 1:

Sometimes the universe delivers what you didn’t plan for but always secretly wanted. The key is having the courage to say yes.

Burnout, Breakdown, and the Boldest Pause

New Zealand came with opportunities I never would’ve dreamed of as a young woman back in Germany. I was hooked, but those opportunities came at a cost. I found myself climbing the career ladder in male-dominated industries, working harder and pushing myself further and that soon trapped me in a hamster wheel of my own making. Until my body broke down.

Adrenal fatigue. Anxiety. Depression. Sadly, Multiple miscarriages. My nervous system was fried, and I learned the hard way what a cocktail of high cortisol, the economic uncertainty of the global financial crisis, and a deeply rooted belief of never feeling successful enough can do to the female reproductive cycle and your mental state.

Lesson 2:

Bold action isn’t always about doing more. Sometimes the bravest move is stopping completely.

Vision Without a Map

So, I did something radical. Bold action – again. I started legal proceedings against my narcissistic and verbally abusive boss. I quit. I put my mortgage on hold and allowed myself to just be. No plan, nowhere to go, and nothing to prove. I really didn’t know who I was anymore.
The longer I invited stillness and sat with the mess I had created, the more clarity I got. I began to find myself again. I signed up for a life coaching diploma, not because I had it all figured out, but because I had things to say and wanted to speak openly about my experiences and share the lessons. I needed a place to begin, and my vision formed.

I didn’t want anyone to feel as alone as I did and so I showed up online perfectly imperfect, without having a real plan, with no brand, no marketing strategy, just raw vision and a willingness to share my story vulnerably. I shared about pregnancy loss. About burnout. About rebuilding. And in the process, I began holding space for women who felt as lost and broken as I had.

Lesson 3:

You don’t need a ten-step plan to start. You need the courage to take one step in the direction of your vision.

The Power of Visibility

A challenge that New Zealand presented was its remoteness and we’re pretty small. And “tall poppy syndrome”, the cultural tendency of cutting down or criticizing anyone who stands out, succeeds, or rises above the rest, so they don’t “grow taller” than others, runs deep. As an immigrant this never really applied to me, so I ignored it, but it felt like I was barely treading water in my new business. I wasn’t willing to shrink. I knew if I wanted to leap, I had to go global.

So, I held my vision and started showing up – relentlessly. I said yes to every chance to be seen and practice my speaking: podcasts, summits, panels. I joined a group of visionary women in the US who were hosting workshops and leadership seminars. A steep learning curve, but a great stepping stone and the stage was still terrifying me a bit but stepping into the fear stretched me.

Lesson 4:

Visibility is uncomfortable, but it’s where bold action becomes bold impact.

The Thrive Effect

Then Thrive happened. I came across the Women Thrive Summit on my Facebook feed and something in me lit up – an immediate ‘yes’ in my sacral (yes Human Design nut here, I’m a Mani Gen true and true). I applied, got interviewed by Raimonda, and said yes again despite being the only New Zealand speaker and the British pound exchange rate made my eyes water. Another choice point – bold action.
That single decision sparked a domino effect.

My Thrive talk grew into my bestselling book Corporate Rewilding, which won a Global Bronze Book Award last year. It opened international stages, media opportunities, and collaborations I never could have imagined and now TEDx is next for me. I boldly declared at 50 that my next decade would be wild, woowoo and wonderful.

Today, I’m proud to also serve as the Feature Editor for Women Thrive Magazine behind the scenes and love seeing women sharing their own stories openly and courageously.

Lesson 5:

Bold visions create ripple effects. Back yourself, and the world will meet you halfway.

Back Yourself – Always

I began this journey as the girl who was told to close her eyes and stop dreaming. I learned to be bold, too much, too loud and too wild and I did it with a community alongside women like you, who dare to have big visions and take bold action.
I got here by backing myself, again and again, even when I was terrified, or had second thoughts. Today, I’m a woman who knows that vision paired with bold action is unstoppable.

And you can too. I’m here rooting for you and want to see you flourish.
The Thrive Effect can be your story, too. It’s what happens every time a woman dares to dream bigger than her circumstances, refuses to shrink to fit, and takes that one audacious step toward her vision.
So, close your eyes. Picture the life, the stage, the business, the impact you crave.
Now open them and take the step that scares you most.