Cherry Ward

THE BOOK HAS A COVER 🎉

Lead with Kokoro: A Leadership Compass Built on Japanese Wisdom. Eighteen months in my head, and now it's a thing with a spine. Thank you Morpheus Publishing for the beautiful cover art 😍

Look at the gold, that's kintsugi, mending with gold so the repair becomes part of the beauty. Running right through the cover of a book that has a whole chapter on it. 🥹

Book launch details - https://www.cherryward.co/links

Come celebrate with me!


59 m

5.45am, hotel gym, Perth. Seven weeks post-op. is the Japanese word for practice. The hard part isn’t maintaining one, it’s returning to one.
Then the sky went pink over the city and I got to watch the whole thing. You don’t get the sunrise unless you’re already awake for the hard bit.
What have you been meaning to return to?

I was working from the couch this morning laptop open, when I heard them.

Two kookaburras on the back deck calling out to each other and then just sitting. Completely unbothered.

I put the laptop down and watched them for a while. Didn’t check the time. Didn’t think about what was next.

This is what I keep writing about and keep having to relearn. Ma (the intentional pause) doesn’t always arrive as a philosophy. Sometimes it arrives as two birds on a railing who have absolutely no interest in your to-do list.

day 6

On the other side of it now. Surgery done, leg up, and naturally watching the Socceroos.

For someone who’s spent years practicing and writing about Ma - the Japanese philosophy of the intentional pause - being forced into stillness is its own kind of lesson. No gym, no rushing, no filling every gap. Just rest, recovery, and trusting that this pause is part of the work.

“The moments I pause to ask ‘How am I actually feeling?’ are not interruptions to my work. They are the work.” — Lead with Kokoro

Forced stillness. Practising what I preach.

My new website www.cherryward.co is now live ✨

I have the incredibly talented to thank for it.
Earlier this year I knew it was time for a refresh - book launch, new website and new photos that actually felt like me.

I've worked with Carol before and the whole experience was easy, warm, completely unpretentious and so much fun. The results speak for themselves - head to the link in my bio to see them on the new cherryward.co.

If you've been putting off updating your brand photography, Carol has another session coming up on 25th June Studio in Brisbane.

May was a rollercoaster. 🎢

Pride and pain, momentum and pause, all in the same month.

I wrapped up projects, kicked off new ones, and signed with a publisher for my first book, arriving October 2026.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, a knee that had been playing havoc with my training finally demanded attention. Surgery is booked for the end of the month.

There's a Japanese philosophy I write about in my book - the beauty found in imperfection. The cracked tea cup. The weathered wood. The month that held both a book deal and a date with my surgeon.

Brisbane winters are my favourite. Crisp mornings, clear skies, stillness. June feels right for sitting with what May asked of me and for preparing intentionally for what's ahead.

This image had a little help from Gemini, a sneak peek at what I've been dreaming about while my publisher works on the real thing. ✨

What are you carrying into June?