Hello Reader, For years, bosses told me I was too quiet. They meant well. They'd explain that if I didn't speak up more, people would think I was aloof, unapproachable, or simply lacking confidence. None of those were good options. I knew it, but knowing it didn't make it any easier to open my mouth in a meeting. As a child, I was praised for keeping myself busy in my own corner and not bothering the adults, and in primary school I spent five years in the B class, never quite making it into...

Growing up, I never thought about money. My dad earned it. My mum ran the home. When my brother and I went overseas to study, my dad paid for all of it. Money was just there when we needed it. So without knowing it, I grew up with a story. No matter what happens, someone will take care of me. I never questioned it. I didn’t even know it was there. Until life put it to the test. What I believed in no longer made sense My husband and I quit our jobs to start a café. It didn’t work out. We...

This month, I settled my son into university in the UK. I talked about it on my LinkedIn post HERE. It was exciting, a little heartbreaking leaving my son there while I came home. Then the bills started arriving and all the old stress and anxiety about money resurfaced, even though the money was there. It was more a timing issue. Some funds just hadn’t come in yet. But I felt it. That familiar tightness in my chest. The quiet panic I used to live with every day. I hadn’t felt it in a long...