Learning to Trust the Process - 2025 Review

I’ve been consulting for the past three years, and a big chunk of that time has been spent working closely with the PhoenixFire Strategic Consulting team. 

We’re a global bunch spread across three continents, and we built a lot of trust over screens. We’ve celebrated milestones and made big decisions without ever sitting in the same room. Last year, that changed when I finally got to meet some of the core members in Málaga.

It was refreshingly natural. We enjoyed the gorgeous Spanish summer together over tapas and Tinto de Veranos, letting the hours pass as we spoke about work, family, and everything in between. It was just lovely to share that time and realize how much of our working relationship had been built on an unspoken foundation. After that, I headed back home to South Africa with with an experience that will always remain in my heart.

Then I dove into something new - helping to launch and build the PhoenixFire SPARK Community. If you take a look at phoenixfiresc.com/spark, you’ll get a sense of what it’s all about. For me, it’s about creating a space for nonprofits and social enterprises to get expert support from our multi-disciplined team while brainstorming and collaborating with fellow change makers from around the world.

Building something new is never easy. Yes, there’s excitement, but there’s also a constant undercurrent of uncertainty. You get questioned in ways that make you second-guess yourself, and you get told no more than you’d like to admit. I had many sleepless nights thinking about what’s not working and why. 

I’ve come to realize that this is part of the process, and there is no such thing as an “over-night success”. Building something new takes time and requires having faith, sometimes blind faith, that what you’re building will take shape, even if you can’t see it clearly just yet. It’s about putting one brick down at a time, every single day. 

SPARK came out of this slow, unglamorous process. Despite the challenges and the moments of doubt, I’ve loved working on it. 

SPARK has given me the space to lean into my creativity in a fresh way that feels useful. Creating content that encourages engagement, designing practical workbooks that are timeless and co-hosting workshops and Ask Me Anything sessions that are valuable and fun. 

I don’t think meaningful work has to feel heavy all the time. People are exhausted and overwhelmed with life, and being able to lighten their load a little has been so rewarding. 

The moments that stood out for me the most this past year are the ones where I lost track of time completely because I was absorbed in creating. From the outside, it probably just looked like work. From the inside, it felt more like play.

Looking ahead, I want to keep growing SPARK and deepening the experience within it. I still have a lot to learn, especially when it comes to community building and content creation. I’m still figuring things out and that’s okay. It’s about showing up, even when the picture isn’t fully clear yet.