Yadah Coaching

Spring invites us to pause, soften, and look honestly at what we’ve been carrying.

What have you normalised that no longer serves the woman you’re becoming?

A new season is a powerful place to choose differently.

How quickly do you say yes?

I’ve been thinking about how often we answer before we have actually considered the question.

“Can you do this?”

“Yes.”

“Can you help with that?”

“Sure.”

“Would you mind…?”

“No problem.”

And sometimes it really isn't a problem.

But at times, if we were given another thirty seconds before answering, we might have realised that it actually is a problem. Or that we don't want to do it.
Or that we could help without taking the whole thing on ourselves.

The interesting part is that the answer can come so quickly that we don't even experience it as a decision anymore.

We just know what the answer is supposed to be.

And then, much later, we wonder why we're tired, irritated or quietly resentful.

Maybe the question isn't whether we should say no more often.

Maybe it's whether we have become so accustomed to saying yes that we've stopped asking ourselves what we want before we answer.

Something to think about this week.

There is a woman behind every role you play.

The professional.
The mother.
The partner.
The leader.
The daughter.
The friend.
The woman everyone calls when something needs to be handled.

And somewhere along the way, it can become very easy to confuse the roles you play with who YOU are.

But you are HER first.

Your career is one part of your life.
Your relationships are another.
Your responsibilities are another.
Your ambitions, dreams, disappointments and hopes are all part of the picture.

But none of them, on their own, defines the whole woman.

And when one part of your life changes, the others often feel it too.

That is why The Woman You Are Becoming™ is bigger than a career conversation.

It is an invitation to pause and ask:

Who am I becoming?
What have I been carrying that no longer belongs to me?
Where have I been putting everyone and everything else into the equation - except myself?

The 21-Day Reflection, Putting Yourself Back in the Equation, is a space to come back to yourself.

Not to become someone else.

Not to fix yourself.

But to begin putting the pieces back together- with greater awareness, honesty and self-trust.

Because before you are the professional, the leader, the mother, the partner, the caregiver, the achiever…

you are a woman.

And she deserves to be in the equation too.

I did a bit of research and asked professionals who are either starting a new job, going back to corporate after a career break, recently promoted, what they are struggling with the most.

The most common answer was: ' I have lost confidence'

Upon probing - none said: "I cannot do the job" - but what I heard them say was:
- I am overthinking decisions
- Everything takes longer than it should to produce/deliver
- I second-guess myself more than I used to
- I am mentally exhuasted
- I know I am capable but something feels off

This is not a confidence issue.

Transitions stretch our capabilities (of course we are operating at a different level or in a new context). Therefore our rhythm is disrupted.

This is a transition problem. And it impacts your momentum, judgement and self-trust.

Transitioning from the freedom of entrepreneurship back into the corporate world isn't just a career move; it’s a deeply personal evolution that often feels more like a loss before it feels like a gain.

Many of us go into this change thinking the biggest hurdles will be "practical", learning the new organisation's context, mastering different processes and software, building new relationships or getting used to a 9-to-5 rhythm.

In reality, the most human part of this journey is the "internal dissonance".
As an entrepreneur, your identity is often tied to your autonomy, the specific way you define success and the rhythm of your operations.

When you step back into a corporate structure, you aren't just changing your commute; you’re being asked to release the version of yourself that was successful in a different season. It’s an uncomfortable process because those old habits, the ones that helped you survive and thrive on your own suddenly feel like they don’t fit anymore.

This experience can be unsettling because it challenges our fundamental sense of self. We often think of growth as "becoming more," but as the true transition is often about "becoming different". It’s the "quiet work" that happens beneath the surface, where you have to figure out how to integrate your old strengths with your new reality.

Ultimately, at some point, we face the question that can make us feel vulnerable: "Who are you willing to become next?".

It’s a reminder that while the office and the title might be the visible parts of the change, the real story is about the evolution of who you are becoming in this phase of your career.

“If you’ve taken a career break and are thinking of returning, you haven’t lost your edge - you may just need to find the right way to express it again.”

For a long time, the conversation has been about people leaving corporate.

Entrepreneurial pursuits.
* Pauses due to burnout.
* Career misalignment.
* Family responsibilities.
* The desire for more flexibility - and many other reasons.

And yes, that shift is real.

But there’s another, quieter movement happening that we don’t talk about enough.

Many experienced professionals are finding their way back into corporate.

As a deliberate, informed choice.
Not as a step backwards.

They are returning with deeper self-awareness, broader perspective, and a clearer understanding of what matters to them now.

Research from organisations like McKinsey & Company continues to show that career paths are no longer linear. Breaks, pivots, and re-entries are becoming part of how modern careers evolve - globally and even here in South Africa and across the SADC region.

And what I’m seeing more and more in my work is this:

Women are not returning to corporate to “pick up where they left off.”

They are returning:
• More self-aware
• More intentional
• Less willing to settle
• And deeply motivated to make meaningful impact

But here’s where the challenge comes in…

Returning is one thing.
Returning aligned, confident, and well-positioned is something else entirely.

Because the questions they carry are different now:
“Where do I fit?”
“Does this still align with who I’ve become?”
“How do I position myself without starting over?”

This is where a more strategic, informed approach to re-entry becomes essential.

Not just about going back to work -
but about how you return, and what you return to.

This is the work.