I will never forget the ‘aha’ moment that lead to founding DrivenWoman. I was somewhat desperately searching for my next career move after having left the big corporate life a few years back and stayed at home with my twin boys. I was hoping to discover an idea where I could put my branding skills into use, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect I would end up building a women’s network.

I don’t know if I would have ever discovered my passion to empower women on a global scale, if it wasn’t for Jennifer to support me on that day when we both decided to dig deeper to discover what we were really made of.

We wanted to find out what were our true building blocks.

I was trembling for days after the realisation that I didn’t just want to, but I had to, start building something that would become a movement of proactivity for women. The idea of running ‘some groups for women’ absolutely terrified me. How would it look on my LinkedIn profile!? I was a respected branding consultant. What on earth was I to do. What would people think!

Just days after the ‘aha’ moment I was hoping I could un-do this fundamental self-discovery. I was hoping I could simply turn back into my old existence where I was talking about doing something, but not actually doing it.

But I knew there was no going back.

So I jumped into the deep water and started swimming. I knew I had to trust my inner compass. And why wouldn’t I? Who else’s voice should I have followed if not my own!

I can imagine that’s how a sea turtle feels when she realises it is time to swim across the ocean to an island where she was born years earlier. She has never been there since, yet she knows what she has to do. It must feel terrifying, but she will not hesitate to start swimming. It is a miracle how she will find the island again.

Imagine if this little turtle was standing on the beach, looking at the vast ocean, dipping her toes into the water saying:

“Ah, I don’t think I can do this. How will it look on my LinkedIn profile!”

Her babies will never be born. She will never fulfil her true purpose. She will turn around on the sand and head back to the comfort of the lush leaves and find her turtle friends. All that talk about passion and purpose… But her LinkedIn profile will look immaculate!

And perhaps for the rest of her life she’s left thinking…

What if.

~ Miisa

Are you standing on the beach, thinking if you should hop in and start swimming? Join DrivenWoman for support from like-minded women who will help you to stay on track to build a bigger life. Groups now in London Soho, London Shoreditch, Guildford, Helsinki, Paris, Singapore (opens 1.10.2016), Auckland (opens 8.10.2016) or email me for more info on how to get get involved.