A personal thank you
(& what to expect in 2025)
A final 2024 storytime…
Until about 4 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 - not just the polished, philosophical ‘leadership’ - but the real, practical, messy realities of it.
The decision making. The people pleasing. The endless conflict. The anxiety. The setting boundaries (then breaking them again).
Across the board, managers are truly not given the credit they deserve.
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.
As I changed, people in the business started noticing, and asking me to teach them how I was making it work.
I started running workshops on solid leadership principles internally. Then in July 2023. I took a risk. I decided to leave my safe, 6 figure salary, FTS100 Director of Operations role to set up Fresh Leadership World (at the time, In The Making).
I wanted to redefine what it means, and how it feels, to be a manager.
Where we are today
Whilst I love the 300k followers I’ve gained across socials, it doesn’t mean all that much to me. The business started as this newsletter. And it’s this community, you lot who read my In The Making ramblings every single week… You are my favorite.
And there are now 11,600 of you 🥺
And this message today is a heartfelt thank you from me, to every single one of you.
Being a manager right now is exhausting. But I see a better world… A Fresh Leadership World, that gives new managers the thing I didn’t have in the early days.
A manual to help them navigate the trickiest of days in their Leadership role.
A tried and true blueprint for messy af world of Leadership.
So in these weekly 07:59 Tuesday emails, I will 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.
What to expect in 2025
We’re making some changes. I’m excited and nervous in equal measure.
The big picture overview:
Cohort 3 of Fresh Start is going LIVE on the 21st Jan. The results from the 200+ students so far have been crazy. I’d love you to be next. Join the waitlist.
This one is supppper secret and isn’t actually announced here but I can tell you here (I think… I have a book launching… with Penguin (yes, THE penguin 🫣🙈 - How did we get here???) launch is July, I’ll start talking about it more online around April time. Eek what the hell.
The FLW Community - We are launching a community platform, a home for us all to connect (not just me to speak at you), where we can solve each other’s managerial problems, address concerns and celebrate wins together. You can get on the waitlist for this one here.
We’re starting a podcast. I can’t even talk about this yet without getting nervous. But we’re doing it. Launch ill most likely be in March because i’ve got a crazzyy fab amount of speaking gigs in Jan/Feb, but you’ll of course be the first to know when I have a date for launch.
Thank you so, so, sooooo much for your continued support
It means more to me that you’ll ever ever know.
I can’t WAIT to see you grow in 2025.
Lot’s 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 I’m not sending an email next week, i’m attempting to take a little festive break but i’ll be back in Jan with a BANG. x