Welcome back Reader

My book, She'll Do It Her Way, opens with this: “I’ve always had this thing for looking back at my family's history.” Words that changed everything.

This week I had my first client call in months. They told me they've finally committed to themself. Believes in themself. Shows up authentically now in ways that would have terrified them before. And I realised: I’ve been doing the same thing.

Since July, I’ve stepped away. From clients, social media, emails - the noise of “how it’s supposed to be” after you write a book. Here’s what nobody tells you about writing a book that draws on your family’s wisdom. It awakens them. It demands you live what you’ve written.

I could have thrown myself into the book tours, the promotional hustle, the “look at me, I wrote a book” performance. That’s the usual script. But it felt off. So I stopped. Slowed down. Went inward. Tapped back into my soul.

And I went foraging like my ancestors once did. Pressing apples into juice, baking apple crumble, making tallow soap with my own hands, gathering hawthorn berries and turning them into sauce. Following instincts that felt ancient. And mine.

My client stopped performing their life and started living it. Same here. Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards. Back to your roots. Back to what your soul knew before the world told you who to be.

That’s where I’m writing from now. Not as someone with neat answers, but as someone still learning to trust the whispers of her ancestors and the stubborn pull of her own soul.

Welcome back to my 'Shine Softly' emails. Soul-nudges from a friend who only writes when there's something real to say.

Andrea

Your 'Soulful Challenger'

PS: Writing my book opened something in me I didn’t know was waiting. My family's voices still guide me. Maybe they’ll guide you too.

PPS: You can get your copy of my book here