Based on my own experiences and challenges of being a woman in the 21st Century I decided to create Above Water - a platform and real community for those who want to live life to the full whilst juggling the realities of modern day living. Women who want to live life on their own terms - not on the terms or expectations of others.
Up until October 2015 I was leading a very 'normal' life (whatever 'normal' is...). The life that many of Generation Y had been taught - go to school, university, move to London, get a 'professional' career, buy a house, settle down... we all know how the story goes.
On the outside I had it all - the six figure salary, the busy social life, the designer wardrobe. As an ambitious and driven A type personality I’d bought my own London flat, run marathons in Africa and rowed at Women’s Henley. Yet despite all of this I was neither fulfilled or happy. Rather than waking up and embracing life every day I felt as if I was continually on a treadmill, keeping my head above water to keep up with expectations. Tired of the relentless pressure of ‘having it all’ I decided to take the bold decision to leave my private equity career, pack up my London life and pursue my lifelong dream of moving to Uganda, East Africa where I ran a charity and later set up a social enterprise, Grass Roots Cafe and Deli. It was the best thing that I've ever done. Moving to a foreign country by myself, knowing nobody and only with a bag of possessions stripped me completely and taught me what the important things in life are - community, purpose, adventure and wilderness.
Unfortunately in July 2016 I had to fly back to the UK after I was hit by a motorbike and fractured my back. When I moved back home to the North East of England I was both shocked and saddened by the total disconnect and lack of consciousness here in the UK - the negative themes throughout mainstream and social media, increasing concerns over mental health, record levels of obesity, the everyday sexism, the disconnect within communities and with nature, the divide between London and the rest of the UK. The list goes on. People appear to be more worried about what they look like than who they are and the impact they have. This was not a world in which I wanted my children to grow up in (as and when I have them....!). After I began to document my thoughts on a blog, girls and women approached me by either saying how my story had inspired them to try something different or asking for advice. The recurrent words were 'worry', 'pressure', 'not good enough', 'not thin enough', 'looking for something more'.
And so I decided to start this platform in the hope that would help those who want to live life to the full and inspire more women to realise their full potential. To show women that they can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. I describe myself more of a pragmatic realist than a dreamer but I know from first hand experience that with the right mindset, each and every one of us has the ability to achieve our dreams. It doesn't happen overnight and it takes perseverance, determination and a hell of a lot of hard work but if you want it bad enough you will get there. Our only real limits are ourselves.
The hope is that this platform will not only be a source of intelligent and inspiring content to help get more women out of their comfort zone but to also create a real time community of women who want to share these experiences together. For people to question and challenge their own perceptions, live life more spontaneously and to engage in important issues that matter.
I have come to realise that we are each responsible for the life we lead - no other person is or can be - so lets choose to embrace life and live it rather than surviving with heads above water.
