MY STORY
I’ve always been an ambitious dreamer. I remember being at school back home in France and wanting to become a dancer on stage for my favourite singer.
Later in my teenage years, I often found myself lost in books, trying to escape the reality of a world where I had no real friends and where I felt lonely, judged and used.
I became so convinced that I was unworthy of having friends that I did everything I could to impress, suppressing my true self one day at a time.
I managed to escape this toxic environment and move to another school. I wasn’t lonely any more, but something was still missing. It’s almost like I knew there was something else in this world for me, something bigger, better. Something I could feel but had to idea how to reach.
After a year at uni studying English and German, I decided I was going to pack and become a nanny in the USA for the summer. I was 19, first time travelling abroad and on my own. On the other side of the Atlantic was the start of a new, exciting adventure for me. This was the trip that made me realise how much happiness travelling and living abroad could bring me. I remember thinking:
“I never want this to stop. I am going to keep discovering new countries and live abroad. This is going to be amazing!”
And I did just that. I went and studied in Germany, lived in Australia, Cambodia and England. I was living what looked like the dream life. Seeing wonderful parts of the world, travelling, meeting amazing people and eating the most delicious food. I thought I figured it out. But slowly, it all started to fade away. I still felt empty and like I had no real purpose.
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I made the decision at that point that I was going to study and work in hospitality as it would allow me to do things I really enjoyed: speaking different languages, travelling and having conversations with people.
The truth is, I wasn’t actually enjoying it.
I jumped from hotel to hotel thinking this was going to solve my pain. I became stressed, overworked, anxious and simply not enjoying life.
I was keeping myself busy without realising it was my way of hiding the fact that I was unhappy. I continued working in a career I no longer enjoyed because I thought this was all I was capable of being good at and because I enjoyed feeling appreciated for my work.
All the while, I was living abroad and dealing with the difficulties this brought to my life: the feeling homesick, the struggle to make “real”, strong friendships and loneliness. I didn’t know what to do any more, I felt like I spent years studying something I now hated and turned my passion for travelling into something that made me feel even more confused. I felt unfulfilled and lacking purpose.
It all came to an end when I was forced to stop work for months and had to stay home with little to no access to the outside world.
Days of slowing down stripped away all the layers I had created over the years and left me with only myself.
For the first time in years, I wasn’t doing anything I didn’t want to do. This made me realise I had lost myself and was heading in the completely wrong direction.
At first, I felt confused and sad. It became clear to me that I had been trying to change my environment, hoping it would bring me fulfilment and happiness but actually had no idea what I really wanted in life.
After a while, I rediscovered my love for self-development, mindfulness and yoga.
I spent everyday learning and coaching myself.
This introspection allowed me to completely reconnect and find the things that truly made me happy.
I started a new online project where I shared my insights on positivity and everyday ways to be happier.
I came to the conclusion that hospitality was not a passion and that the sole reason I was doing it was because I thought this was the only thing I was really good at that could make me money.
However, after days of self-reflection, listening to inspiring podcasts and most importantly, coaching myself and using the right questions, I had this light bulb moment where I thought to myself:
“Could I really turn my passion for making others happy into a career?”
I quit my job and decided I was going to put my whole into this new project and become a happiness coach for expat women.
I think I always knew this was possible but felt like I had to fit in this society mould for so many years.
With the help of coaching, I found clarity and slowly started to feel connected again.
I realised I did not have to continue working within an industry I didn’t feel right being in, even though it was what I studied.
I realised I could continue travelling the world while creating my own business and help women just like me find their true purpose and become their happiest self.
