In the Spring of 2022, I received an email: an invitation to the launch of the trophy for the 2023 ICC T20 Women’s World Cup in Cape Town. South Africa was preparing to host the first women’s cricket World Cup on the African continent, and as a broadcaster, I was used to receiving invitations to events. But this felt different. Sacred, even.
That moment quietly became the beginning of my journey into sport.
I attended the launch and later covered the World Cup in 2023 as a radio broadcaster. During the tournament, I met athletes who shared their stories privately with me. I met female coaches and women in sport who had struggled for years to be heard or seen. Their stories mattered deeply, yet they were still not being prioritised.
At my Essence is a deep conviction to be God-led and focused: meditative, intuitive, and prayerful. The sacred guides every choice I make. And the deeper I leaned into that sacredness, the clearer it became that I needed to build something of my own within sport.
Building from Essence
I decided to create a women-in-sport focused media brand, with podcasting at its heart. Creativity is not simply a skill for me; it is another pillar of my Essence.
But before the brand had even launched, my ambitious nature had already decided something else too: it would not become just another podcast among millions. It would be excellent. It would shape conversations through relationships.
The purpose became clear. I was not entering sport simply to report stories. I was there to build relationships, another important aspect of my Essence, and to become someone trustworthy with the voices and experiences of women.
Slowly, the podcast and media brand expanded outward into events, speaking engagements, partnerships, and new relationships.
The Test of Alignment
Just a year after launching the brand, I was approached by a major sponsor who wanted to support and grow the platform. At first, it felt like confirmation. Expansion had always been part of the vision, and sponsorship was high on the list of what the brand needed.
But after only a month of working together, I began to feel uncomfortable.
The sponsor was slowly pushing the brand away from its purpose. My commitment to relationships, to centring female athletes’ stories, and to being led by the sacred held little value within their vision for the brand.
I could not afford to lose the investment. But neither could I afford to lose the way I had chosen to lead.
Choosing to walk away became one of the hardest decisions I have made in sport. Yet in making that sacrifice, I regained something deeper: contentment.
Remaining True to Essence
At the heart of how I lead and show up in sport is a simple order: God first, people second.
Three years later, those values remain deeply embedded in my work, both within my own brand and in how I collaborate with others in sport. I have learned that remaining grounded in my convictions matters more than rapid expansion.
Author Roy Bennett once wrote, “When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.”
For me, this is what it means to lead from Essence: values clear, alignment tangible, and purpose rooted in something greater than external success. When these remain the driving force, there is renewed energy, deeper joy, and the desire to keep pursuing purpose for reasons far beyond the earthly.
