Hi! I'm Stephanie! I'm passionate about building impactful partnerships, enabling businesses to grow, and making sure the social impact community thrives. With over a decade of consistently generating seven and eight figure annual revenue for companies, I understand what it takes to drive success.

Over the last 15 years working with non-profit, government and for profit businesses, I've developed a unique process for building community and generating revenue through a partnership growth mindset. I've been fortunate to develop programs and partnerships that have touched lives across the globe, from India to the United States and beyond. I've created thousands of ecosystems and opportunities that unite governments, educators, employers, and donors to make tangible change.

I believe that together we can achieve great things and am committed to paving the way for a more inclusive, impactful future.

Stephanie Wilson

This weekend I’m spending time at the ISET National Gathering, and I want to name how meaningful it is to be here.

Being in this space is a reminder that workforce development is not just about programs, funding, or outcomes on paper. It’s about people, place, and self-determination. Indigenous communities have been doing this work for generations, building pathways rooted in culture, community knowledge, and lived experience.

What stands out most is the care and intentionality behind the conversations. 

Listening comes first. 
Relationships come before solutions. 
Progress is measured not just by numbers, but by trust, relevance, and long-term impact.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn, to listen, and to be present in a space led by Indigenous voices and priorities. 

Moments like this quietly reshape how you think about the work and how you show up when you return home.

#ISETNationalGathering #ISETGathering2026 #Indigenous #WorkforceDevelopment #Community

Thanks to Jelly Academy for organizing such a collaborative space and to Digital Moment | Moment numérique for the opportunity.

Cross-Sector Growth Strategist | $100M+ in Government & Partner Funding Secured | Nonprofit • Tech • Education • SaaS | Founder – The Uplift Collective

The last five days have been full.

Full in the sense of listening carefully, asking questions, and sitting in rooms where people are genuinely trying to figure out how we do this work better.

Across different events, sectors, and conversations, the thread has been consistent.

How do we build systems that actually serve people, not just programs?

How do we prepare for the future of work without losing sight of the humans navigating it right now?

How do we move past performative solutions and into ones that are grounded, inclusive, and durable?

There’s also a reality I’m hearing more clearly now than ever.

Funding is tight. Budgets have been cut. Teams that once sent three or four people to conferences are now sending one. Many are attending virtually, not by choice, but by necessity.

I’m genuinely grateful to conferences and organizers who make that possible. Access matters. So does recognizing that for many organizations, showing up at all right now takes intention and sacrifice.

What that’s changed is the weight of being in the room.

More people are carrying insights back to their teams. 

More responsibility to listen well, synthesize, and translate what matters into action. Fewer spectators. More stewards.

The conversations I’ve been part of haven’t been about trends for the sake of trends. They’ve been about tradeoffs. Priorities. What we protect when resources are constrained.

Spending this time with practitioners, funders, educators, Indigenous leaders, and workforce builders has been a reminder of why this work matters to me.

Not because the answers are easy.

But because when conditions are tight, clarity matters even more.

It was so great to reconnect, meet new people and learn from so many amazing individuals! Until next time friends!
Wendy Baker Darian Kovacs ♾️ Allain Lauzon Mary Stack, BA, CPHR Jasmeen Sidhu, Ph.D. Allan Govender Virginia Gluska Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia Eleanor Hawkins Nausheen Ali Fatima Saadeddine, MBA,PMP,CHRP,ESPT  Jade (Jadelyn) Psutka Allison Bear BComm Barbara Wilson,🍁CCDP® Lisa Stephenson-MBA, CRSP Kelly Johnson

It was unfortunate that so many people had travel cancelled so they couldn't attend after all - I see you!

#Cannexus2026 #ISETGathering2026 #Community #NonProfit #EmploymentServices #Indigenous #Learning

We have a beautiful owl that lives in the trees near our driveway. Usually across the way. Easy to admire from a distance.

Last night, I went out to grab wood for the stove before bed and nearly jumped out of my skin. 

He was sitting right on the front porch railing. Completely still. Just watching. Probably hunting. Definitely unbothered by me.

I froze. Slowly backed into the house. Turned off the lights.

Then I stood in the dining room, in the dark, and watched him for a while.
No noise. 

Just this quiet, unexpected moment of sharing space with something wild and calm and entirely unconcerned with my plans for the evening.

It was incredible.

Sometimes the best moments are the ones that do not mean anything more than exactly what they are.

#Wildlife #NotAPhotographer #CountryLife 

Alyx Parks and Stephanie Martin - I thought of both of you immediately after it happened.

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The Uplift Collective

https://www.upliftcollective.ca/the-partnership-blueprint-five-proven-steps-for-forging-successful-partnerships

the-uplift-collective

I grew up in a small town in rural eastern Ontario.

When I finished high school, I had no idea what I wanted to be. I just knew one thing very clearly. I did not like school the way it was structured. Sitting still. Being talked at. Memorizing instead of doing.

So I took a year off after high school to try to find my way.

It felt uncomfortable. Most of my friends knew exactly what they wanted to do. Everyone was heading off to university. I felt behind. A little lost. Like I had missed some memo everyone else received.

After that year, I still did not know what I wanted to be “when I grew up.” But I did know I needed some form of post secondary education. I needed skills. I needed momentum.

I chose college and enrolled in executive administration.

It was hands on. Practical. I learned a lot. I worked three jobs to cover rent and school. I learned how to manage money because I had to. Those years shaped my work ethic and my sense of responsibility in ways I still carry with me.

After graduating, I got a job working for a municipal councillor. What started as a role turned into six formative years. It exposed me to government, policy, community, and how decisions actually get made. That path eventually led me into the nonprofit world, where I found my purpose. That part of the story is for another day.

For a long time, I was embarrassed to say I did not have a university degree.

I was screened out of jobs automatically because it was mandatory. I questioned myself more times than I can count.

Do I regret not going to university?

Yes and no.

No, because I do not think I would have thrived there at that point in my life.

Yes, because there were real opportunities I never got access to because I did not have that piece of paper.

Both things can be true.

I am sharing this because I see so many people feeling pressure to follow a single definition of success. A single path. A single timeline.

Education matters. Credentials matter. But lived experience matters too.

Learning by doing counts. Working your way through school counts. Taking a longer or different route counts.

There is no one right way to build a career.

Chart your own path. Pay attention to what energizes you, not just what looks good on paper. 

Choose the pathway that works for how you learn, how you move, and who you are becoming.

#CareerPath #Employment #FindYourOwnPath #NonProfit #Education

Photo is me from 2008, still trying to figure things out.

Some of the most valuable parts of my work live in the things I no longer consciously think about.

After years of building, reviewing, defending, and negotiating government budgets, so much of what I do has become instinctive. 

You stop noticing the hundreds of small decisions you make because you have internalized how funders think, where flexibility actually lives, and which details quietly matter most.

Recently, I had the chance to sit with that experience and write it all down. 

Not the big frameworks or the obvious rules, but the small things you only learn by doing the work. 

The wording choices that reduce scrutiny. 

The assumptions that do not need to be over engineered. 

The places where people think they are locked in, but are not.

There was something unexpectedly grounding about translating years of lived experience into something clear and usable for a client. 

Not to impress. 
Not to overcomplicate. 
Just to make the work easier and less stressful for the people doing it.

This kind of work reminds me why I enjoy what I do. 

Helping smart teams feel more confident, more capable, and less constrained by rules that often feel heavier than they actually are.

If you have ever felt weighed down by process or rules that seemed immovable, I promise there is often more room to breathe than it appears.

#BudgetDevelopment #ProposalDevelopment #NonProfit #GovernmentFunding

One thing I think everyone should try at least once is learning someone else’s job.

Not the polished version. The real, day to day work. The setup. The decisions no one talks about. The small things that keep everything moving quietly in the background.

When you work in teams, so much of that effort becomes invisible. Systems run. Tools connect. Processes exist. You rarely stop to think about how much experience and judgment it takes to make things feel that seamless.

Until those people are not there.

And you have to do one small piece yourself.

You realize how many choices live inside what once looked simple.

Lately, I am spending an absurd amount of time learning tools.
Not the exciting kind. The tiny, fiddly ones. Payment systems. Tool connections. Settings I did not even know existed.

Learning to do something you have never done before, or something that was always someone else’s role, builds more than skills.

It builds appreciation.

It changes how you show up the next time.

#ProfessionalDevelopment #GrowthMindset #Entrepreneurship

I really hate getting a no.

Not because I expect everything to work out, but because I put a lot into the work. Time. Thought. Energy. And more than that, belief. I care deeply about what I do and about the teams and ideas behind every proposal. That makes the no’s land harder than people realize.

Early on, I took them personally. Every declined submission felt like a judgment, not just of the work, but of the care behind it. And honestly, I still feel that sometimes. Loving the work makes you more exposed, not less.

What changed over time was not the feeling. It was what I did with it.

I started sitting with the no’s longer. Looking for patterns. Paying attention to what funders questioned, what they ignored, and what clarity actually meant in practice. Every no taught me something I could not have learned any other way.

That learning adds up. Today, more than 40 percent of what I work on gets approved. Not because the no’s stopped hurting, but because I stayed curious instead of shutting down.

Lately, there have been a lot of yes’s for clients. And I feel genuinely excited for them every single time. 

I also know the no’s will come again. They always do.

When they do, I will feel them. And then I will learn from them.

Because caring about the work is not a weakness. It is the reason the yes’s mean so much when they arrive.

#GovernmentFunding #BusinessDevelopment #ProposalDevelopment

I’ve learned that authenticity isn’t about having a fixed identity. It’s about staying honest as things shift.

I have spent years being the reliable one. 

The person who could hold a lot, absorb uncertainty, and keep moving anyway.

That works. Until it does not.

Because eventually you realize how much energy it takes to live up to a version of yourself that was built for other people’s expectations.

Letting go of who you think you are supposed to be does not mean losing drive or ambition. It means releasing the pressure to look a certain way while you are building something real.

Authenticity is not a reveal or a brand decision.

It is a daily choice to show up aligned, even when that alignment keeps evolving.

And that choice changes everything.

#BeTrueToYourself #Authenticity #Leadership #NonProfit #StartUp

One of the best parts of a panel on AI and the next generation at the AI Policy Conference yesterday was that it did not try to wrap anything up neatly.
Instead, it named the complexity.

AI is already embedded in education, work, and daily life. Young people are forming relationships with systems that shape how they think, learn, and see themselves. Institutions are trying to respond in real time, often without data, shared frameworks, or room to pause.

At the same time, many of the loudest predictions about jobs and disruption have not fully materialized. Change is happening, but unevenly. Slowly in some places. Abruptly in others.

What emerged was a quieter but more useful set of questions.

How do we equip young people to be creators, not just users?

How do we protect without pretending we can stop what is already here?

How do we build literacy, judgment, and human skills that remain valuable no matter how tools evolve?

There was no single answer, and that felt right.

This is long-term work. It requires humility, collaboration across disciplines, and a willingness to sit with uncertainty without defaulting to fear or hype.

If there was a through-line, it was this: the future will be shaped less by the tools themselves and more by how thoughtfully we choose to integrate them.

Panel participants:
Justin Hendrix, Tech Policy Press
Shingai Manjengwa, Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
Namir Anani, P.Eng., ICTC-CTIC
Laurent Charlin, Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
André Côté, The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University 

Thankful to Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute for access to the AI Policy Conference and for putting together such a great event!

#AIPolicy #YouthAndAI #Talent #GovernmentofCanada

Creativity is my word for 2026.

Creativity in how I approach work, rest, and everything in between.

Creative problem solving.
Creative contracting.
Creative time off.
Creative experiences.

Creativity is what lets you ask better questions instead of accepting the default answer. It is how you find options where others see constraints. It is how you design work and life in ways that actually fit.

In 2026, the only box is that there is no box.

More room to experiment.

More permission to rethink how things are done.

More trust in the idea that there is almost always another way.

Here is to a year of curiosity, flexibility, and building something that feels as good as it works.

#Focus #GrowthMindset #HeresTo2026

I never thought I would be an entrepreneur.

In fact, quite the opposite. I was convinced I did not have the “it” that founders and leaders are supposed to have. 

I wanted stability. The person who imagined working for others my whole life and being perfectly content doing that.

And for a long time, that made sense.

What I did not realize then is that entrepreneurship does not always look like taking big risks. Sometimes it looks like taking responsibility. For your values. For your time. For the kind of work you want to put into the world.

I did not wake up one day wanting to start something of my own. I arrived here slowly, through experience, through necessity, and through a growing understanding of what I needed in order to feel grounded and aligned.

Entrepreneurship was not a goal. It was a response.

And maybe that is the part we do not talk about enough. Not everyone sets out to build something. 

Some of us end up here because staying the same stopped being an option.

Did you ever picture yourself doing what you are doing now?

#Entrepreneuship #CareerFocus

Woke up to a weirdly satisfying thing this morning.

I’ve had a watch since July that tracks something called body battery. 

I’ve seen it end the day at five more times than I’d like to admit.

Today I woke up at one hundred. First time ever.

That’s it. That’s the post.

#WeekendVibes #QuietWins #SlowDown

READ THE QUOTE IN THE IMAGE!

Now read it again!

Who. You. TRULY. Are

NOT the version that feels easiest to explain.

NOT the version that keeps everyone comfortable.

NOT the version that fits neatly into a role you learned to play well.

Being yourself is not about being loud or visible all the time.
It is about being honest. With your values. With your limits. With what actually matters to you now, not who you were five years ago.

I have learned that the more energy you spend trying to meet expectations that are not yours, the dimmer everything feels. The work. The relationships. Even the wins.

The moments where things start to open up again usually come from a small shift. 

Saying no when you would normally say yes. Choosing alignment over approval. 

Letting yourself evolve without needing to justify it.

Your light is not something you manufacture.
It is something that shows up naturally when you stop hiding parts of yourself to fit the room.

And the right rooms do not require you to dim it in the first place.

#BeYourself #BeAuthentic #ISeeYou #Leadership #Teamwork #BetterTogether

One thing I keep coming back to in conversations lately is timing.

A lot of organizations are doing the right work. Strong ideas. Capable teams. Real demand. And still, things are not moving the way they expected.

Not because they are doing something wrong.

Because the system itself is in motion.

Calls are delayed or quietly reworked.
Programs get folded into other initiatives.
Priorities shift before anything ever reaches a public intake.

From the outside, it can feel confusing. Like you misread the landscape or missed a signal. In reality, the rules are still being rewritten.

This is where patience becomes strategic.

Not passive patience. Active patience. The kind where you keep preparing, strengthening, and paying attention while resisting the urge to force momentum.

A lot of the work right now is helping teams sit with that uncertainty without spiraling. Adjusting plans without abandoning them. Staying ready without trying to rush a system that is not ready yet.

Sometimes the smartest move is not to push harder, but to hold steady until the timing catches up to the work.

#FundingStrategy #GovernmentFunding #NonprofitLeadership
 #StrategicPlanning #SystemsThinking

Join an upcoming FREE workshops to better prepare for what's coming!  https://lnkd.in/e_KQt4jg

Stop beating yourself up!!!

Don’t think you do that?
Here’s what it actually looks like in real life:
- Replaying a conversation on the drive home.
- Second-guessing a decision you already made with the information you had.
 - Assuming a mistake says something about who you are, not just what happened.
 - Feeling like you should have known better, been faster, clearer, stronger.

Sound familiar?

We’ve been taught that self-criticism equals accountability.
That if we’re hard on ourselves, we’ll improve faster.
That pressure produces excellence.

But more often, it just produces exhaustion.

Beating yourself up usually shows up when expectations are high, outcomes are uncertain, and you’re carrying more responsibility than anyone sees.

It’s a signal.
The problem is that self-criticism rarely makes us better.
It just makes us smaller.

So how do you stop when you catch yourself doing it?

1️⃣  Name what’s actually happening.
 Instead of “I screwed this up,” try “This didn’t go the way I hoped.”
 Facts calm the nervous system. Stories inflame it.

2️⃣ Separate intent from outcome.
You can have good intentions and imperfect results at the same time.
Both can be true. Only one needs fixing.

3️⃣  Ask one forward-looking question.
Not “What’s wrong with me?”
But “What’s the next small adjustment I’d make if this came up again?”
That’s it. No spiral required.

If you’re trying to be a good person and you try to do the right thing, that's all that matters.

Growth doesn’t require punishment.

It requires honesty, rest, and the willingness to keep going.

And if you’re reading this thinking, “This sounds like me” then it probably is.
You’re not alone, and you’re not doing it wrong.
Be a little kinder to yourself today.

#BeKind #PersonalGrowth #FallingNotFailing #SelfImprovement #Leadership #Teamwork

You may not control the events that happen to you
 but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

That choice is one I see leaders, founders, and builders struggle with more than almost anything else.

Because a setback can quietly turn into a story about who you are.
A hard moment can shrink your confidence if you let it.
One decision, one missed opportunity, one tough season can start to feel permanent.

But it isn’t.

You’re allowed to be impacted without being defined.

You can acknowledge what hurt without letting it harden you.

You can learn from something without carrying it as proof that you’re not enough.

Resilience isn’t pretending things didn’t affect you.

It’s choosing not to let them take more than they already have.

If you’re in the middle of something heavy right now, this is your reminder

You’re still standing.
You’re still growing.

And YOU get to decide what this chapter means next.

#NonProfit #Leadership #StartUp #GrowthMindset #Resilience #NonProfitLeadership

I watched a video and could not stop thinking about how early we learn to edit ourselves.

Kids start out loud, curious, unapologetic. They ask strange questions. They take up space. They are fully themselves without checking the room first. And then, slowly, they learn when to quiet down. When to blend in. When to stop standing out.

What stayed with me is how familiar that feels in the professional world.

At some point, many of us learn the same lesson.

Tone it down.

Stick to the playbook.

Do not be the odd one out.

Over time, that sparkle does not disappear. It just gets managed. Contained. Brought out only when it feels safe or appropriate.

And yet, the work that actually moves things forward is almost always shaped by people who think differently. 

The ones who question defaults. 

The ones who see patterns others miss. 

The ones willing to sound a little strange before they sound right.

If you have ever felt yourself shrinking to fit a role, a title, or an industry norm, consider this a reminder. 

That part of you is still there. It has just been waiting for space.

BRING BACK THE SPARKLE!!

Step off the well worn path.

Nothing meaningful has ever been built by people who only followed the herd.

https://lnkd.in/emWvkws2 
His Youtube Channel to give him a follow: https://lnkd.in/ehb-AESd [I couldn't find the above video on the channel]

#BringBackTheSparkle #BeYourself #BeAuthentic

If you have ever hit a word limit halfway through answering a funder’s question, this is for you.

One of the hardest parts of writing proposals is answering every part of a funder’s question while staying inside a tight word or character limit.

Especially when appendices or extra attachments are not allowed.

You cannot skip components. You also cannot explain everything.

So when space is tight, here is a rule that helps.

Every sentence must do more than one job. Ideally three.

A strong sentence should:

 1 describe what you are actually going to do

 2 signal eligibility and alignment to the funder’s priorities

 3 imply milestones, outcomes, or credibility

If a sentence only does one of those things, it is a candidate for removal or compression.

This is how you stay compliant and persuasive without running out of room.

It is not about writing less.

It is about making every sentence work harder.

If you have ever hit a word limit and wondered what to cut, start here.

#ProposalDevelopment #GovernmentFunding #NonProfit #Charity

Growth is what you do with what happens.

That is how better decisions get made over time.

#WednesdayWisdom #GrowthMindset

One thing I wish more people understood about funded projects is how messy they usually are behind the scenes.

From the outside, a successful contribution agreement looks clean.

A defined plan. 
A neat timeline. 

It gives the impression that everything is stable and predictable.

That is almost NEVER the case.

Most funded projects are delivered while markets are shifting. 
Project timelines wobble. 
Plans get pulled forward or pushed back. 
Teams make trade offs in real time, often without the luxury of perfect information.

What funders are really assessing in those moments is not whether risk exists. It is how it is understood and managed.

Strong applications and delivery organizations are not the ones pretending everything is fine. 

They are the ones that show judgment.
An ability to adapt without overreacting. 
A plan that can flex while still holding together.

There is a skill in knowing what to surface and what to hold steady. 
In demonstrating resilience without amplifying uncertainty. 
In showing that the work will continue even when conditions are not ideal.

Funding success is rarely about having a flawless story.
It is about proving you can keep moving when the story changes.

#Resilience #NonProfit #GrowthMindset #StartUp #GovernmentFunding

Construction Consultant & Coach | 25+ years experience | Helping businesses structure, scale and sustain with digital systems & real world strategies | More control. More freedom. Higher profits

You built your business for freedom.

So why does it feel like a prison?

You're making money. But working harder than ever. And more exhausted and absent than ever.

50 WhatsApp messages before breakfast. Every decision runs through you. You can't step away for an hour without something breaking.

Big decisions sit on your desk for weeks because you're terrified one wrong move could destroy everything you've built.

And the worst part?

You're missing your family. Another dinner. Another match. Another bedtime. When you're home, you're on your phone. The guilt never goes away.

Here's what I've learned after 26 years building and scaling businesses:

You don't have a you problem. You have a system problem.

Working harder won't fix it. 
You need structure. Visibility. Accountability. 
A business that runs without you at the centre of everything.

That's what I help founders build.

I call it the Scaling Operating System.

We Discover what's broken, Design the system your business needs, and Drive the implementation together.

Done with you, not done to you. 

20+ founders have used this to reclaim their time, scale with confidence, and finally be present for their families.

One client told me: "this is the most focused I’ve ever felt. I feel clearer, calmer… like I’m not carrying the whole thing on my own now.

It’s helping me massively, I feel more organised, more in control, and I can see the way forward now. Even my partner said I seem different.”

That's the goal.

If you're trapped in a business you built for freedom, let's talk.

DM me "FREEDOM" and I'll send you a quick diagnostic.
________________________________________

Why Work With Me?
I’ve scaled businesses, rebuilt after setbacks, and coached leaders through chaos. I’m not here to give advice. I build systems, guide execution, and drive results.
________________________________________

Let’s Connect:
•	DM for coaching, consulting, or speaking enquiries
•	Email: westley@satoris.co.uk 
•	Based in Dubai | Working globally

Westley Harnett

I attended a Connections DXB networking event recently at Grosvenor House.

First time going.
Great venue. Relaxed room. Interesting conversations.

What I’m noticing more and more since moving to Dubai is the density of networks here.

Different rooms.
Different formats.
But often familiar faces.

And that’s a good thing.
Because real networking isn’t about collecting contacts.

It’s about context over time.

Seeing people again.
Picking up where a conversation left off.
Building familiarity before opportunity.

And that’s where value actually forms.

The event isn’t the work.
The follow-up is.
The coffee after.
The message that references something specific.
The willingness to continue the conversation without forcing an outcome.

Your network isn’t built in the room.
It’s built in what you do after you leave it.

Grateful to meet some new faces and reconnect with a few familiar ones.

If you’re networking:
Are you chasing rooms…
or building relationships?

Because one looks busy.
The other compounds.

Peter Thomsen Josh Bowley Travis Haasch Sailesh Jani Mark Primett Adam Allison

Helping founders of $1m-$10m businesses scale with confidence through my Scaling Operating System (SOS) | 25+ years experience building and scaling businesses.

I visited Virtuplex Dubai recently, and I was seriously impressed.

I have spent over 25 years in construction.
I have watched technology shift slowly, and sporadically.
I have used VR myself for pitching and presenting design concepts.

Until now, it usually meant sitting in a chair with a headset, looking around a static space.

This was different.

Virtuplex operates inside a space of over 2,000 square feet, which means you are not just viewing a model, you are walking it. 

It takes some getting used to at the beginning, they have the ability to recentre when you reach the edge of the physical space, to change scenes in an instance and to change levels in seconds.

The scariest thing for me was the ability to walk up and down stairs and off edges of buildings, a very strange feeling at first, but you get used to it.

The experience never breaks.

I visited large scale urban planning, building projects, interior projects, residential projects, car showrooms, a yacht and the moon!

What surprised me most was scale.

One moment you are inside a room.
The next, you zoom out to a full birds-eye view of the development.

It genuinely felt like towering over a city, then dropping straight back into a specific apartment to see every detail inside it.

You can strip the building back completely and view only the infrastructure.
Pipework.
Ductwork.
Sprinklers.
All visible, all coherent.

Finishes can be changed in seconds.
Materials, textures, and atmosphere shift instantly.

And the quality matters here.
This was not abstract or pixelated.
You could see textures clearly. Floors, walls, details. It all held up.

This is not a novelty.
It is a practical tool that changes how decisions get made, how teams align, and how clients actually understand what is being built.

I would genuinely recommend people go and experience it for themselves.
Not to be impressed, but to recalibrate what is now possible.

Thanks to Junis El Hassan and Musab Al-Saraireh for the hospitality and for walking me through the technology. 

It was a strong reminder of how powerful things become when capability meets intent.

In 14 days, Circle Networks Live Dubai takes place on the QE2.

The real value isn’t on stage.

It’s what happens between the sessions.

The conversations over coffee.
The slower, more honest chats over lunch.
The moments where you sit next to someone and realise:
“Oh… it’s not just me.”

I’ll be hosting on the day, holding the room and energy together and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from rooms like this, it’s this:

Momentum doesn’t come from information.
It comes from proximity.

Being around people who hear the same message you do.
Who are wrestling with similar decisions.
Who are building, questioning, recalibrating, just like you.

In a world that’s fast, digital, and always on, having space to think with the right people is rare.

And powerful.

One day won’t change your life on its own.

But the right conversations can change the direction of this year.

Take a look at what the day includes and see if it feels like the right room for you. The link is in the comments.

Sometimes clarity doesn’t come from doing more.
It comes from being in the right place, with the right people.

#cnlive2026

Hazel Bergin ·Shayan Khan Gautam Ganglani Christopher Adams Amanda Llewellyn Asrin Shahana Ewa Ledeboer Emma West Paolo Volani Rajiv Shah Shoma Mittra Ina Hammer Taqua Malik Jamie Stewart

Most leadership teams are making workplace decisions using the wrong numbers.

Around 90% of organisational cost is people, not space.

Yet many offices are still designed and managed as if desks are the asset that matters most.

I attended the MEA Workplace event yesterday at Expo City Dubai.

One line from the event stuck with me, shared by Oliver Baxter:
Measure twice. Cut once.

In other words, slow down long enough to understand how people actually work before redesigning where they work.

Because the data, excellently provided by Workplaced , is uncomfortable.

In many markets, offices are still operating well below 50% utilisation across a typical week.

Yet leadership conversations still default to space cost, attendance, and control.

That gap is not a facilities issue.
It's a leadership one.

What stood out most was not a push for full-time office or full-time remote.
It was something far more considered.

Hybrid is not a perk. It is a productivity model.
Activity-based environments create clarity.
Design work around behaviour, not habit.
One-size-fits-all offices fit no one.
Trust outperforms control.
And the office has to earn the commute.

The real question is not where people sit.
It's whether the environment, physical and cultural, supports the outcomes you expect.

When leaders skip the measuring part, they pay for it later.
In disengagement.
In quiet resistance.
In performance that never quite shows up.

Huge credit to Oliver Baxter for a clear, evidence-led, practical session.
Exactly the kind of thinking the region needs more of.

If you are leading a business right now, especially between $1m and $10m, ask yourself:
What are you designing for, presence, or performance?

Great panellist's as well
Siddharth Peters Brian Kelly Toby Hall Richard Fenne Paula Walshe Adel E.

A client said something to me yesterday.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in this mental state when I’ve stepped onto an plane to go away.”

No panic.
No mental load.
No running checklist.

Just space.

We didn’t achieve that by working harder.
Or pushing more.
Or adding pressure.

We structured the business.
Clarified decision rights.
Installed simple systems.
Removed noise that never needed to be there.

But the real outcome isn't just operational.
It's internal.

When founders come to me, they often say they're scared, fearful of making the wrong decision and it all collapsing.

What they are really asking for is permission to breathe again.
To leave without guilt.
To stop carrying everything.
To trust that things will hold without them.

Most founders forget this part.

The business was never the point.
The life it was meant to enable was.

That moment, stepping onto a plane with a clear head, is the signal that things are finally working the way they should.

Not because everything is perfect.
But because the business no longer lives inside you.

If you built your business for freedom, but still can’t switch off when you leave, it might be time to ask what is actually missing.

Structure changes businesses.
But what it really gives back is peace of mind.

I'm in the business of results, outcomes and feelings.. if you want any of these, DM me.

There was a point where working harder was no longer an option.
Not because I didn’t want to.
Because I couldn’t.

Being a single dad forced clarity in a way ambition never did.

Time was finite.
Energy was limited.
Presence wasn’t optional.
I couldn’t stay late to fix things.
I couldn’t carry everything myself.
I couldn’t let the business spill endlessly into home.

So the business had to change.

Not because of growth targets.
Not because of scale.

Because life demanded it.

Structure stopped being a business decision.
It became a life decision.

Most founders never get forced into that corner.
They just slowly accept the cost instead.

What would you change if your time was genuinely non-negotiable?

Some weeks feel chaotic.

Others just feel full.

Busy.
Necessary.
Productive on the surface.

But the pressure doesn’t always show up in the moment.

It shows up later.
In the carryover.

Decisions that stay open.
Tension that never fully leaves.
Energy that doesn’t quite reset before Monday arrives.

That’s because unresolved weeks don’t disappear.
They compound.

I tried fixing this with better tools.
Planning systems.
Productivity tweaks.

What actually changed things wasn’t doing more.
It was stopping.

Once a week.
No dashboard.
No optimisation.

Just three questions:
What drained me this week?
What required unnecessary effort?
What shouldn’t come back into next week?

Most founders skip this pause because it feels non-urgent.

But unresolved weeks quietly create:
Reactive leadership
False urgency
And systems that drift.

If you don’t design the week
The week designs you.

What would change if one hour a week was protected before everything else filled the space?

Not all chaos is loud

You are the most important business you'll ever run.
Not your company.

Not your role.
Not your title.
You.

And yet most founders put more structure, discipline, and intention into their businesses than they ever put into themselves.

We obsess over ROI.
We track revenue.
We track costs.

But when it comes to life, we drift.

Energy gets depleted without noticing.
Commitments become optional.
Standards slide quietly.

Time gets spent without intention.

Running your life like a business isn't about optimisation for the sake of it.
It's about ownership.

Stepping up.
Stepping in.
Deciding how you are going to show up.

What becomes non-negotiable.
What you stop tolerating.
What you protect.
What you give.

The return isn't money,
It's consistency.
It's clarity.
Presence.
Capacity.

The hard part is not knowing this.
It's choosing it, repeatedly, when no one is watching.

If you treated your life with the same intent you treat your business, what would you make non-negotiable first?

From a podcast with the legend KHALED ABULJEBAIN

There was a point in my life, in the evenings,
I was physically present.
Mentally elsewhere.

Phone nearby. Head still in the day.

I would hear the words, but not fully take them in. 
Nod. Respond. Drift.

Nothing dramatic happened. 
No big argument. 
No clear moment.
Just small signals.

Shorter conversations. Less eye contact. Quieter rooms.

I told myself it was temporary. 
That this was just what building required.
But time doesn’t pause while you’re building.

That realisation didn’t come from a crisis. 
It came from noticing what had quietly changed.

If you’re honest, how often are you home without really being there?

There’s a cost to every decision.

But there’s a bigger cost to the ones you don’t make.

Most people negotiate with themselves.
Delay. Justify. Revisit.

Tell yourself I'll decide “when it fells clearer.”
It never does.

One of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made came a month before my wedding.

Flights booked. Guests paid. Santorini waiting.

I made the decision to call off my wedding.

Not because it was easy.
Because it was intentional.

That moment taught me something I’ve carried ever since:
The pain isn’t in the decision.
The pain is in living with decisions you didn’t make.

Over the years, I’ve learned this:
Make the decision.
Then make it non-negotiable.

Not from ego.
Not from reaction.
But from values.

When you decide based on what you stand for, not what feels comfortable. You stop arguing with yourself.
You stop replaying conversations.
You stop leaking energy.
You stop living in the “what if.”

Most people don’t struggle because they choose wrong.
They struggle because they never fully choose at all.

If this has got you thinking, ask yourself:
What decision are you still negotiating with yourself? 
Even though you already know the answer?

Check out the Hope It Helps podcast, by KHALED ABULJEBAIN, link in the comments 👇

A lot of leadership problems aren’t attitude problems. 
They’re boundary problems.

When expectations are loose, people hesitate. 
When decisions are unclear, confidence drops. 
When standards shift, trust erodes.

Most founders don’t avoid boundaries because they don’t care. 
They avoid them because they want to be fair. Supportive. Reasonable.

So they soften. 
They explain. 
They step in.

Over time, the team adapts.
They wait. 
They check. 
They escalate.

Not because they can’t decide. 
But because they're unsure where the edge is.

Strong leadership doesn’t come from being liked. 
It comes from being predictable.

Clear standards remove emotion from decisions. 
They create safety, not distance.

If your team waits for you before acting, what boundary might still be unclear?

Somewhere between $1m to $3m, the business starts to feel different.


From the outside, it looks like progress. 
Revenue up. 
Team growing. 
Clients coming in consistently.

From the inside, the days feel tighter.

People hesitate a little longer before acting. 
The same issues resurface, just framed as “quick checks”.
Questions come to you that used to be handled without you. 

You tell yourself this is normal at this stage. 
That staying close is the price of growth.
You keep things moving. 
So you stay available. 
You fill the gaps.

At first, it works.

Then your calendar shifts without asking you. 
More internal meetings. 
More decisions needing context. 
More responsibility sitting with you, even when others are capable.

You’re not overwhelmed. You’re relied on.

The business performs, but only if you're present. 
Time away feels risky. 
Thinking time feels indulgent.

Evenings carry the weight of the day. 
Family time gets compressed between notifications. 
You’re providing well, but you are rarely switching off.

By $5m, the business needs you to function. 
By $10m, the idea of stepping back feels unrealistic, not liberating.

This is the part few founders talk about.
Not because things are going badly. 
But because they’re going well, and still feel wrong.

You built this business for freedom. At what point did it start feeling like a golden cage?

Most people confuse mistakes with regret.
They're not the same thing.

A mistake is an action.
A decision that didn't land the way you hoped.
You see it. You adjust. You move.

Regret is what happens after.
It's the story you keep replaying.
The wishing you had acted differently.
The quiet weight that follows you day after day.

I once heard this explained through the parable of the two arrows.

The first arrow is unavoidable.
Pain. Failure. A wrong call.
That happens to everyone.

The second arrow is optional.
It's the meaning you attach to it.
The self-judgment. The identity you build around a past moment.

Most suffering doesn't come from the mistake.
It comes from firing the second arrow over and over again.

You can learn from a mistake without carrying regret.
But only if you decide not to let the past define who you are.

That requires a mindset that doesn't stick to every outcome.

Not denial.
Ownership without self-punishment.

What happened happened.
What matters is who you choose to be next.

I would rather be shaped by the future I am building than the decisions I have already made.

Where are you still carrying a second arrow that no longer needs to be there?

Out in Dubai Design District yesterday between meetings.

You can feel it again.
 
The energy.
The movement.
The city fully back at work.

Being out there reminded me why I do what I do.
And who I do it for.

I have a genuine obsession with freeing founders from the businesses they’re building.

Yes, building a business takes hustle.
Yes, it takes pressure, sacrifice, and moments of doubt.

But it shouldn’t take your identity.
Or your health.
Or your life.

A business should enable the life you want.
Not consume it.

When structured properly, a business becomes a machine.
Clear decision rights.
Real accountability.
Simple operating systems.
The right people in the right seats.

Not chaos held together by effort.
Not growth powered by you carrying everything.

That’s where I step in.

My work is about helping founders between $1m and $10m turn what they’ve built into something sustainable.

Something that supports their ambition and their life.

Yesterday was a reminder that there are a lot of founders here who want more than just growth.

They want clarity.
Capacity.
Time.

And a business that gives back instead of constantly taking.

Good conversations.
Good energy.
Great reminder of the mission.

LFG!

Most mornings don’t start with strategy.

They start with messages.

Questions that feel small. 
Decisions that feel quick. 
Clarifications that seem harmless.

You tell yourself it will only take a minute.
Then another. Then another.

By the time the day actually starts, you’re already behind.
Not on work. On thinking.

Even when you step away, the phone stays close. 
Walks turn into inbox checks.
Holidays feel half-present. 

The cost isn’t just time.

It’s energy that never fully resets. 
Family moments that get the leftover version of you.
Opportunities you don’t spot because you’re reacting. 

Most founders don’t realise how loud their business has become until they try to create quiet.

If you didn’t respond for an hour, what would really stop?

Most founders at $1m–$5m aren't lazy. 

They're stretched.

They’re working harder than ever.
More responsibility.
More at stake.
Longer days. 

And yet, the same problems keep showing up.

The same confusion appears in different forms. 
The same decisions land back on your desk. 
The same conversations get repeated.

So you assume the answer is more effort. 
More involvement. 
More checking.

That works for a while.

Until effort becomes the thing holding everything together.

You start noticing how much relies on memory. 
On you being available at the right moment.
On judgement. 

The business doesn’t feel broken. It feels fragile.

That's usually the point where founders turn inward. 
They question their leadership. 
Their clarity. 
Their capability.

But most of the time, it’s not a personal problem.

It's a business running on effort instead of structure.
And effort doesn’t scale quietly.

Where's the business still relying on you to remember, decide, or catch things before they slip?

By the time a business crosses $2m, something subtle happens.

You stop being busy because you’re building.
You stay busy because the business needs you to function.

Projects still move, but only if you are across them.
Decisions still get made, but only after you weigh in.
People still act, but only once you confirm direction.

From the outside, it looks like leadership.
From the inside, it feels like obligation.

You carry the risk.
You hold the context.
You absorb the uncertainty.

And slowly, the business stops working without your presence.

You didn’t lose control overnight.

The business reorganised itself around you while you were busy keeping it going.

At what point did ownership start to feel heavier than employment?

It was great to finally meet Susanne Ekström after being connected on LinkedIn for over a year.

This was our first time meeting properly, not just liking posts or exchanging comments, and it reminded me why this platform can be powerful when used well.

Nothing replaces getting to know the person behind the profile.
We spoke about business.
About transitions.
About writing, leadership, and building credibility in new markets.

But we also spoke about life.
Parenting.
Neurodiversity.
And what it takes to keep going when the path isn’t straightforward.

Those conversations matter.

This is what LinkedIn is meant to be about.
Connecting, supporting, and growing together, over time.

Susanne Ekström, it was a real pleasure getting to know you beyond the feed.

Looking forward to continuing the conversation, supporting each other’s work, and catching up again soon.

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Westley Harnett

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The Battle

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