A personal thank you

You've made the risk worth it

Hey team,

A final storytime…

Until a few short years ago, I did not feel good enough to lead a team at all.

My imposter syndrome was always lurking, waiting for me in every meeting room, 1-2-1, salary review and difficult conversation.

Then… I went from Assistant Manager of a team of 8, to building, selling and integrating a SaaS start-up into a large corporate. My team, salary and responsibilities all tripled in size in a short space of time.

And I finally gave myself permission to acknowledge I was doing something right.

I dove headfirst into the world of leadership. The decision-making. The people pleasing. The endless conflict. The anxiety. The setting boundaries (then breaking them again).

Management is exhausting

We’re responsible for hitting targets, supporting individuals (all who need entirely different things), and navigating conflicts, ALL while managing our own workload and emotions. As I grew in leadership, hired and fired, moved from retail to start-up to corporate…. I changed.

I stopped people-pleasing and learned that respect isn’t about being liked, it’s about honesty. True empowerment comes from delivering tough truths, not just from being nice.

Then in 2023. I took a risk. I decided to leave my safe, 6-figure salary, FTSE100 Director of Operations role, to set up my very own business.

I saw firsthand that managers were expected to lead without ever being given the tools to do well. So I set out on a mission to change that, to redefine what management can look like, and what it can feel like, when leaders are supported to do their best work.

Where we are today

Whilst I’m grateful for the 400k people who follow my work across social media, the truth is it doesn’t mean nearly as much to me as this space does. This newsletter is where my heart lives.

This whole business started right here, with me, every Monday evening, sitting for hours, researching, thinking, and furiously typing like the page was the only place I could make sense of leadership and life.

And this community… each one of you who shows up to read In The Making week after week… You are my safe space × 1000. You’re the reason this work matters.

And there are now officially 21,000 of you 🥺

So my message today is a simple heartfelt thank you from me, to you.

What to expect in 2026

In these weekly 07:59 Tuesday emails, I promise to do my best to keep offering advice and comfort, delight and inspiration, but above all… That special realisation that you’re not the only one who feels like this.

We’re making some changes and updates for 2026. Here’s the big picture overview:

• Cohort 5 of Fresh Start is going LIVE in Feb. The results from the 500+ students so far have been crazy. I’d love you to be next. Join the waitlist.

• This one is supppper secret, but I’m building a piece of software that is going to be every business and manager’s secret cultural weapon. It’s been in development for the last month, and I’m aiming for a Beta launch in March. You’ll start hearing a lot more about this from me in Q1.

• More IRL events are cominggggg eek. These were so beautiful in 2025, getting to meet so many of you, so we’re hosting more In The Making exclusive dinners and events throughout 2025. I’d aboslutely love to see you there. More on this soon too.

Sending my biggest heartfelt thank you to you for all your support this year. It means more to me than you’ll ever know.

Lots of love to you and yours,

Heather x

P.S. If you have ANY questions, or want to give me some feedback, this comes from my personal email, so always just respond to this email and I’ll see it.

P.P.S You won’t hear from me next week, i’m taking a festive break but i’ll be back in Jan with a BANG.