My journey

My healing began long before I had the language for it. As a child, I learned very early that survival and self-discovery often walk hand in hand. There were moments in my life when I rose and moments when I fell, yet I never stopped trying.

This is the part of my humanity that I embrace most. I do not believe any of us are meant to be perfect or endlessly positive. A balanced life is one that holds both light and shadow, and learning to navigate both is what builds real strength.

I grew up in an environment shaped by emotional manipulation. My mother, a narcissist, used silence as punishment and criticism as control. I was taught that I was never enough and would never become anything of value. For years I carried those words as if they were facts. They became the lens through which I saw myself well into my twenties.

The day before my final high school exam, she left me at boarding school and told me I was her biggest mistake. I was eighteen, alone and overwhelmed, without money or a clear path ahead. I still remember the moment I made a decision that would define my life. I chose survival. I chose to keep going, even when it felt impossible.



Throughout my adult life I moved in and out of contact with my mother. Each time I hoped for change. Each time the cycle returned. Manipulation. Withdrawal. Conflict created to regain control. For fifteen years this repeated until I finally gathered the courage to walk away permanently. It was one of the hardest and most freeing decisions I have ever made.

My twenties became a decade of searching. I studied intensely and completed a BSc in Ecology and Wildlife Management. I read every self-help book I could find, from Louise Hay to Wayne Dyer to Deepak Chopra.

I explored different belief systems, different identities and different ways of understanding myself. I journalled. I meditated. I ran, walked and swam my way through questions I didn’t yet know how to answer. I was trying to find a sense of belonging within myself.

Looking back, this is where the foundation of what I now call the Thesis of Self began. I was desperately trying to understand who I was beneath the noise, beneath old narratives and beneath the wounds that had shaped me. I entered relationships that mirrored the behaviours I had grown up with.

Only later did I understand that these experiences were guiding me toward clarity. My life was showing me where my healing and my purpose needed to begin.

My thirties were transformative. After a serious health crisis, I made the choice to rebuild my life with intention. I started choosing myself in a way I never had before. I visualised the life I wanted every day. I set small goals and achieved them. Then I set bigger ones. Then even bigger ones. Slowly, deliberately, I became the woman I had always imagined I could be.

During this time, I finally broke free from the relationship that had caused me emotional and psychological harm for more than three decades. Cutting ties was not an act of anger. It was an act of self-respect. Everything changed from that moment on.

This decision marked the beginning of a new chapter, not only personally but professionally. As I stepped deeper into my own healing, I also stepped into my power as a businesswoman. I worked alongside my husband for a number of years and then created Girl in the Wilderness a platform dedicated to empowering women to travel, explore and reconnect with nature.

"I finally started choosing myself, over and over again until it became natural"

What began as a personal passion quickly grew into a thriving brand that now inspires and guides women from around the world. Through these ventures I have carved out a successful career in the travel industry, creating deeply meaningful safari experiences and championing conservation-driven tourism. My work has allowed me to blend business with purpose, offering women safe, transformative journeys throughout the African wilderness.

This is also what led me to life coaching. I realised that every hardship, every question, every moment I felt lost had been preparing me to help others find their way too. I began studying formally, taking courses, attending lectures and training in the tools that had changed my own life. I now hold advanced qualifications in Life Coaching from the Academy of Applied Psychology. I have trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and completed holistic healing studies specialising in trauma and recovery.

Today, everything I coach comes from lived experience, professional training and a deep belief that no woman is too broken to rise. Healing is not linear and growth is not always graceful, but both are possible. I am living proof of that.

And now, through Woman in the Wilderness, I help women discover their own Thesis of Self. I help them remember who they are, reclaim their power and rebuild their lives with intention and clarity.

When we return to ourselves, we return to our strength. And that is where real transformation begins.

Stepping into my truth allowed me to succeed