When Someone Else’s Story Opens a Skylight
Have you ever listened to someone share their story - not in highlight reel, attention-grabbing style, but simply, openly, and wholeheartedly, recounting their ups and downs and the lessons they’ve learned?
Did you feel something shift inside?
For me, there have been times when it’s like a skylight has been pushed open and the light that pours in shows me something new. It’s felt almost electric. As if something inside of me has expanded, and things aren’t going to go back to “normal” again.
What I’m noticing lately
In my mentoring sessions recently, I’ve been hearing a familiar musing from clients:
“I know there’s more I’m here for…”
The women musing about this are often what I call seasoned. They’ve managed and juggled a lot. They’re not newbies in their industry or business. They have runs on the board, fuel in the tank, and a hunger and capacity for more.
Importantly, they recognise that more doesn’t necessarily mean bigger.
It can mean deeper. More meaningful. A better fit for the woman they have become.
And it invariably means impactful.
Something’s shifting. There’s a restlessness, a curiosity, a readiness to stretch and reach for something new. Not necessarily a complete reinvention; it’s rarely a “baby and bathwater out the window” scenario.
It’s more often a recalibration. A refinement. And it’s helped by inspiration and discernment.
That excites me, because that’s exactly where so many of my own next chapters began - not with perfect clarity, but with curiosity.
Moments can change everything
When this kind of curiosity sparks, your brain starts to help.
Your Reticular Activating System quietly switches on — that’s your internal radar that filters what you notice and amplifies what you care about in this season.
Once you start entertaining a new possibility, your mind begins scanning the world for signs, patterns, and ideas that match that energy. Suddenly, you overhear a podcast, meet someone, or read a line that feels almost eerily aligned. Those goosebumps or that “knowing” feeling isn’t coincidence - it’s perception shapeshifting into possibility.
It’s a relief to know you don’t have to force clarity. You can simply create the conditions for it to grow.
Once you start wondering, once you set an intention or even ask simple Skylight Thinking questions like “What if I tried that?” or “What might I need to create that?”, your awareness begins reorganising itself around that new, fledgling thought.
That’s when pathways, ideas, and people that support your next chapter are suddenly spotlighted. They were likely already there, moving in the background - you just hadn’t seen them before.
Now, your intention and attention are lighting them up like Christmas trees.
Way Showers and the spark of possibility
A Way Shower is someone who, often inadvertently, shows us what’s possible, not by preaching from a mountaintop in an “I did it my waaaaaay” kind of style, but by simply being.
Their story, courage, and choices illuminate a path you might not have noticed before.
Over the years, I’ve had many Way Showers visit my world.
Some have been mentors I’ve proactively sought out. Many have been authors, TED Talkers, and thought leaders I’ve never met (why, hello there, Brene Brown and Adam Grant). Others are clients and friends who I’ve watched make brave decisions in their own businesses and lives.
Each of them, in small or significant ways, has helped me expand my vision of what’s possible. I think of them as lighthouses - they’re illuminating the path ahead or revealing alternate routes.
Some have even helped me realise, Lighthouse guidance or not, I needed to get off the boat altogether!
This is why stories matter so much. They tap into lived experience, into action rather than theory. And the more we hear, the more we realise there aren’t just multiple destinations, but multiple paths to reach them.
Catalyst Conversations
These stories are a part of what I call Catalyst Conversations.
You can be an active, present participant in a catalyst conversation, or you can also just overhear or witness it.
It might be a chat over coffee, a passing comment, a podcast episode, a presenter at an event, a mentoring session, even a line in a book or a scene in a movie.
You’re listening… you’re taking it in… and then something specific lands. Hard.
Your body reacts before your brain catches up: “That. That’s what I’ve been missing”.
You entered the conversation one way…and you leave it changed.
Resonance ripples. And you realise that this part of someone else’s story has just cracked open a new perspective in yours.
These are the moments I delight in - the ones that can help unlock your next chapter with a little (or big) shift.
When women share stories
One of the delights of my work is hearing the real stories of businesswomen - the courage and truth behind the scenes.
I also get to see the points of connection we share. The common doubts and hopes, the desire for impact and meaning, the resilience and creativity that fuel us.
Businesswomen are, invariably, generous. We share resources, connections, strategies, and tools. That’s valuable and appreciated.
But sharing your skinned knees? That’s where the real magic happens.
Telling the truth about your journey - where you’ve been, what you’ve experienced and learned, and where you’re heading next - that kind of insight and wisdom is what throws open the door for another woman to step into her next chapter.
Bringing these ideas to life
These ideas, Seasoned Businesswomen, Way Showers, and Catalyst Conversations, are at the heart of my November Spark Summit.
I’ve gathered an extraordinary group of women to share their experiences, lessons, expertise, and plans in a series of rich conversations, culminating in a live panel discussion. It’s a diverse mix of women who have commandeered international stages, to those who are serving local communities, and everywhere in between.
My guests aren’t dictating blueprints or formulas; they’re not pelting you with shoulds or musts or “if you want my type of success, you simply have to xyz…” lectures. Bleh! No, they’re sharing stories, perspectives, insights, and what’s lighting them up.
Your job? Listen for your own goosebump or aha moment. Take what resonates. Let go of what’s not a fit for you.
After all, that’s what Self-leadership, Business Strategies’ siamese twin, is all about. Discernment and internal authority.
The invitation
So, if you’ve also felt the spark that says, “There’s more for me…” please accept my invitation to the Spark Summit.
Not to be taught, but to be inspired.
Not to be overwhelmed, but to reconnect.
Not to be fixed, but to expand.
You’re already brilliant.
We’ll just increase the voltage a little…
