I went to NYC to level up...Instead, I had to stop.
I landed in New York feeling like the stars had aligned.
After a mess of delays, I jumped on an alternate flight at the last minute, and it felt like a good omen. The airport lounge set the tone: calm, curated, and mine.
No school lunches. No family logistics. Just time. A full calendar. A plan.
I told myself this retreat would be the next level. A room full of brilliant entrepreneurs, a few breakthroughs, and ideally, a flight home with momentum.
And in many ways, I got what I wanted. But not in the way I thought.
A self proclaimed retreat junkie.
I've been to many retreats around the globe. Keynote speaker retreats. Author achademy in Bali. Brand sessions. Business summits. The kind where you go to learn and implement and go home with a notebook full of fire.
And look — I don’t go just to “escape.” I do implement. I do grow. But if I’m honest?
I go because I’m looking for the next thing. The next level. The next insight. The next sign I’m on the right path.
And what I usually get isn’t strategy. It’s healing.
This time, NYC gave me a full-body pause.
I don’t get jetlag flying to the U.S. Coming home? Sure. But landing there? I’ve always been fine.
This time I wasn’t.
I didn’t hit the streets of Brooklyn or take a single grid-worthy pic. I was in bed. Window watching. Watching everyone else’s experience unfold online while mine was stuck in slow motion.
And no matter how much I tried to shake it, it stayed. It forced me to stop. And when I stopped, I heard it clearly:
I never feel like I’ve done enough.
I hit the goal, then raise the bar. Achieve the thing, then look for what’s next. And somewhere in all of it, I forgot to ask — when does it actually feel like you’ve arrived?
So I asked Pia Silva.
“When is enough… enough?”
She paused, and then said something I’ll carry for a long time:
“It’s not about getting there. It’s the path.”
That landed.
Because what I’ve been doing for years, maybe decades, is chasing a finish line that doesn’t exist.
After surviving cancer in my 20s, I promised myself I’d live. Big days. Big dreams. Big goals. No wasting time.
And that served me. Until it didn’t.
Because when everything is urgent, nothing is enough. And when nothing is enough, even success feels like a letdown.
Pia teaches the reframe.
And this was mine:
I don’t need to go wider. I need to go deeper.
I don’t need more ideas. I need to honour the ones I already have. And build the systems, energy, and support to bring them to life properly.
That’s what I’m anchoring to now. That’s my new north star.
The conversations about podcasting and partnerships I had in NYC — they came easily to me.
But for others? They were breakthroughs.
One even saved a brand partnership that had flatlined. (That story’s coming in Part 3 →)
It made me realise: I don’t need to keep creating new things. I need to share more of what I already know — and trust that’s enough.
So if you’re a podcaster, a founder, a creator:
And you’re saying, “I think I need another strategy session”...
Unless you’re just getting started? You probably don’t.
You need traction. You need data. You need to do the thing, and let it run for three months before changing anything.
What I’m building next:
The number one thing I get asked is: “Is my podcast actually ready for partnerships?”
We’ve launched the first iteration of the AI tool that helps answer that. Now I want to finish what we started — and build the Partnership Readiness Kit.
If that’s something you want access to (or want to help shape), comment READY below. We’ll be reaching out with early invites soon.
p.s. - This is Part 1 of my 4-part NYC reflection series — for podcasters, founders, creators, and retreat junkies who keep chasing the next thing…when the real magic might already be in your hands.
