Twenty twenty four.

2024 was a milestone year for me, turning 40 and celebrating my 10th anniversary at Microsoft meant there was a lot of reflection, taking stock and revisiting my plans for the future.

If I were to summarize my key learnings from this monumental year, I’d say authenticity is the antidote for crab mentality, rest is necessary for creativity and you’re never too old to dream big.

Authenticity, the antidote for crab mentality

One of my favorite rappers Sean Carter popularly known as Jay Z, has a freestyle verse where he says, “so now we fighting over scraps, crabs in a barrel, but crabs don’t belong in a barrel they never told us that.” Honestly speaking we’ve all encountered a version of this, our struggling capitalist driven economies make for a scarcity mindset that often results in un-constructive competitive behaviors. I’ve often found it challenging to navigate these spaces with grace and a big learning for me this year was that focusing on self - awareness, being true to one’s values and being open to showing vulnerability has a way of creating abundance in one’s own life.

Rest is necessary for creativity

I’ve had a challenging few years. In 2020 I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that ravaged my body and the journey to healing has been a tough albeit fulfilling one, as we have the disease under control and my body is repairing what it can. Perhaps it was my survival instinct kicking in but instead of taking a break during this time I chose to press on. To be fair I needed to keep my mind preoccupied else I would’ve fallen into a deep depression. But once I was on the other side of my healing journey, I was tired and found that I was no longer showing up as the best version of myself. With the support of my management and teammates who offered to provide aircover, I was privileged to take two and a half months off on sabbatical and it was the best decision I’ve made to date.

Taking a break gave me the opportunity to process everything that had happened to me over the last few years; to have new experiences and to get out of my comfort zone - I visited Japan, and I loved it! I came back to work on the 1st of October with a renewed sense of energy and a certain glow of happiness I’ve not felt in a while.

You’re never too old to dream big.

Finally, with forty came a sort of midlife crisis - that questioning “is this it”, really, I’ve lived perhaps half my life, and this is all I have to show for it, there’s got to be more. But as I reflected, I found a deep sense of gratitude in what had been the real gift of my first forty years - my faith, my family and my friends. Celebrating this journey really reminded me of who I am and how loved I am. It also reminded me of the endless possibilities. How did that little girl from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe end up working for many of the biggest companies in the world across the Middle East & Africa and if she did that surely she was capable of more. And in the folly of that moment (and with the encouragement of my love) I applied for further study and will be commencing the Berkeley Law, LL.M Executive Track Program in January 2025, yay me!

?Twenty twenty four. What a year. What a memorable year!