Hey ,

We recently had our first ever MILESTONES CELEBRATION PARTY and wow I'm in awe.

The vulnerable stories shared.

The presence, active listening and safe space held.

Some people said they almost cried. I’m telling you— I was crying internally cuz I felt so overwhelmed with love and gratitude. 

To those who were present or there in spirit— Thank you for being the community 18 year old rae wish she had. And being part of the safe space for each other 🥹

Wanna join us for our next one? I'll share more in this email :) because I can't wait to meet you!

But first, here's how the party went!👇🏻

An energetic cozy group of 40 peeps who consist of open, curious, passionate, and growth-oriented peeps.

We had the most amazing, vulnerable, candid sharings - from stories about overcoming addiction, shedding old identities, to battling cancer and emerging victorious.

We even had Karen who sang an original song ("For J"), written for the people (her husband, and Jesus) who saw her as who she was throughout a particularly dark time in her life.

This touched me deeply, because when I was in university, singing and music was what got me through some of my very dark times.

A safe space to use your voice

One of my key intentions for this gathering (apart from celebrating my milestone of 1000 IG posts), was to create a comfortable, low-pressure environment for you to use your voice — to share your story, new ideas, projects and passions.

So many "stages" out there are pretty scary — our board meetings at work, sales calls, formal networking events, posting content on social media... all high-stakes scenarios.

What helps you Own Your Voice, apart from intentional practice and powerful coaching, is participating on stages that have lower stakes.

Feel the fear and do it anyway

I want to share about Cheryl— two weeks before the party, she felt the nudge to share in one of the interactive discussions. She told me: "I'll see if there are any spare slots...maybe I'll do it"

Deep down, the idea of speaking in front of a live audience scared her. But yknow what? She said yes. Her powerful words — "If I don't speak my truth now, then when?"

And so she did, and she spoke powerfully. Wow. As a speaking coach who coaches leaders to speak with impact, my honest opinion is that her storytelling was powerful.

She spoke with authenticity, presence, and had such good audience engagement. She shared her journey of peeling away the layers of professionalism and rules of who she "should be", in order to show up as the person she truly is.

Despite her nerves, she did it (without looking at her notes throughout the sharing!)

Her reflections below says it all 👇🏻 We are way more courageous than we think.

Most of the time, all we need is the safe environment, the right people, and a lil nudge of encouragement. But otherwise, you already have it inside of you to speak your truth and share your story.

Curious Conversations to exchange perspectives

"The opposite of addiction is connection."Brian shared.

He continued - "I know how to spot red flags because I used to be the biggest red flag. The end of my last relationship was the final wakeup call for me to start healing and do the inner work."

There's not many men who attend personal growth events (at least from my experience). Candid conversations like these are so powerful, for us to hear the perspectives of "opposites" - men and women, entrepreneurs and corporate professionals, people from different cultural groups or religion.

What we come to realise is this — we are more similar than we think.

In my upcoming events, I aim to curate spaces for such conversations, supported by individuals such as Brian who are so generous with their stories and sharing of their journey with powerful vulnerability.

Conversations aren't for finding solutions. The conversations itself IS the solution.

Life can be a lonely journey, especially for you if you're a dreamer, an ambitious, curious, and passionate go-getter. You're bound to have dreams people don't understand.

Nobody will fully understand, because your dreams are yours. And nobody has it all figured out. What being in community has given me are the amazing friendships where we "sit" together in the "I don't knows".

It is in witnessing other's journey, that we find ourselves feeling less alone.

Fitz shared with us her journey battling cancer, recognising that as a huge wake up call after years tolerating burnout. Today, she sees the world through a brand new perspective on life, work and money, eventually embarking on her entrepreneurial journey by starting a BodyTalk and Wellness clinic.

Elly had the most beautiful slides (truly). She shared with us the magical story of how Harry Potter got her her first job — yes, her custom Hogwarts magical resume and all. As the Emotions Wizard, she now turns fiction & fandoms into emotional mastery in real-life through immersive experiences.

Jia Hwan shared with us a piece of "art" aka this IG post that took a massive amount of courage and conviction to publish. She says "When I meet a potential client who tells me that they want to compare between different financial plans, I always say - sure, go ahead, look for me again when you're ready to choose me". Hwan was a coachee of mine - to see how she went from being a perfectionist in her content, to now unapologetically speaking her truth.

Look at how magically unique we all are? Gosh - I'm literally getting goosebumps writing this. We are so unique and interesting, and it is when we choose to USE OUR VOICE, that we have our uniqueness reflected back to us.

My invitation to you

Join us at our next gathering. Don't be a stranger. Connect in our Telegram Channel (under comments!)

This year, I plan to get to know you better. This would look like:

1️⃣ Making the Telegram Community a place you can use your voice, keeping the connections you made at in-person events alive!

This would look like:

• Threads for you to share about books, podcasts, quotes or even memes that have inspired you each week. And learning from others too!
• Threads for you to promote your work - to share about your passion projects, your business, your content pieces - because these are ways you're using your voice!

2️⃣ Regular in-person gatherings

This could look like these options below, which I'd love your help to vote in the poll, so I know what you want :)

By the way, these are all experiments, haha! I started this telegram channel years ago for it to be an updates channel. Today, I feel excited to evolve it so it can be more community-focused.

This means more conversations and connections in the channel! You've the chance to share your perspectives under the "Comments" tab, and connect with others in the Discussion channel :)

Next Steps

 🎉 Whether you were at the Milestones Party or not, let's keep the connections alive + spark new connections!

Head to the Telegram Community > find this post (it's very recent!) > click "comments" > introduce yourself! + Connect with those whose introductions interest you! :)

We can't wait to hear from you <3

Here are what some peeps have shared about the Milestone Party 🥹

Look - in a world that celebrates hustle, competition, getting ahead, not "losing out", and constantly telling us that "Success determines our value", what has anchored me all these years are the people I am connected to.

Friends. (Non-imposing) mentors. Community. These are the best gifts my business has given me. This is what makes life worth living.

Let me tell you, the feeling of being in a room full of grounded, passionate people is electrifying.

See you at the next one, and in our Telegram Community :)

In your corner,

Rae xx