In a culture that rewards constant output and external achievement, personal development has become more than a luxury—it’s become a form of survival. Behind polished CVs and curated lives are people searching for clarity, healing, and alignment. Whether it’s stepping off the burnout treadmill into more vitality and curiosity, healing and reconnecting with purpose, or learning how to speak the truth after years of silence, personal development invites us to live more fully and lead more authentically.
In this feature, five changemakers offer distinct pathways to transformation. It begins when we’re finally honest enough to ask: What if there’s more?
Here’s how they’re helping others reclaim themselves, evolve and grow into a better version, and how you might, too.
The Curiosity Cure
The most effective strategy I use both with my clients and in my own life is cultivating curiosity. This can be a lot easier said than done. When we’re surrounded by uncertainty (and let’s face it: there is a lot of uncertainty in the world right now), it’s natural to want to cling to things that are familiar. Add in the divisive fear-mongering of news and social media, and it’s natural to feel overwhelmed.
Unfortunately, this type of overwhelm can create tunnel vision. We’re so worried about what might happen that we lose connection with what is actually happening, right now, in front of us. We may overreact to small things or miss opportunities because we’re too caught up in our heads.
Curiosity can be an antidote to overwhelm. Curiosity is about letting go of the need to control everything. The truth is that there is a lot that we can’t control, and we’ll drive ourselves crazy trying to do it. Instead, curiosity strengthens our faith that, regardless of what ends up happening, we will be able to deal with it. It opens us up to possibilities.
I know the benefits of curiosity because I used to be something of a control freak, myself. I was afraid that, if I didn’t orchestrate absolutely everything in my life, It Would Be Awful. The way I was able to shift my mindset was to start seeing my choices as a series of experiments. If I do X, what might happen? If it doesn’t go the way I wanted, what can I still learn from having made the attempt? What surprised me? How might I do things differently next time?
One of the areas where I’ve found curiosity most beneficial is in relationships. Humans tend to make assumptions about other people based on how they look, how they talk, how much they resemble or seem different from us, and many other factors. However, our assumptions rarely – if ever – encompass the full complexity of who that other person is. Approaching them with curiosity and a genuine desire to discover how they think, how they feel, what they value, and what lights them up inside can open deeply authentic and nourishing connections. And perhaps more than anything, it’s our relationships with each other that will get us through the uncertainties of this challenging time.
– Rachel S. Heslin
Learn more: retainingintegrity.com
From Burnout to Brilliance
Craig Bruce once had it all—titles, travel, and success on paper—but inside, he was unravelling. A simple comment from a flight attendant—“You look awful”—snapped the mask. It marked the beginning of a personal development journey that would become the foundation of his life’s work.
Today, Craig helps leaders move from high performance to aligned purpose. Through his Elevate You Blueprint, he works with executives and entrepreneurs who are successful yet secretly unfulfilled. His framework focuses on three areas: cultivating self-awareness, supporting the body and mind through intentional lifestyle practices, and creating community that nurtures rather than depletes.
His message is clear: sustainable success is not about grinding harder. It’s about realigning with who you are and what energises you. That’s when leadership becomes magnetic. That’s when fulfilment becomes real.
“When leaders honour their genius,” he says, “they stop chasing results and start living their purpose. That’s when they thrive.”
– Craig Bruce
Learn more: thecraigbruce.com
The Moment Everything Changed
My breakthrough didn’t look like a mountaintop moment—it looked like surrender on a bathroom floor.
There was a night I remember vividly: mascara running, prayers whispered through clenched teeth, and the ache of knowing I had betrayed myself one too many times. I had become a version of me that looked perfect from the outside but felt completely invisible on the inside. That night, I finally said the words I’d been choking on for years: “This can’t be my life.”
That single sentence cracked everything open.
I didn’t rise the next day with a five-year plan. I rose with a new agreement: I would stop abandoning myself to keep the peace. I would start honoring what I needed, what I believed, and who I was becoming.
Since then, one core practice has changed everything—for me and for the women I walk with: telling the truth, out loud. Not the rehearsed version. Not the polite version. The real one.
When a woman finally says what she’s been silencing—whether it’s “I’m not okay,” “I want more,” or “I deserve better”—something shifts in her. Her voice becomes the gateway to her power. Her clarity becomes contagious. And she starts building a life that fits her, not the one she was trained to tolerate.
That truth-telling practice lives at the heart of my coaching, my writing, and my own daily walk. It’s not always easy. But it’s always sacred. I guide women through life’s toughest transitions, empowering them to reclaim their resilience, embrace their imperfections, and rise stronger than ever.
To me, leading with impact isn’t about titles, trophies, or TED Talks. It’s about how you show up when no one’s watching—and especially when everything’s broken. It’s what you do when the bottom falls out. It’s how you speak when your voice is shaking, how you walk into rooms where you used to shrink, and how you love people even when they haven’t earned it. That kind of leadership? It’s messy. It costs you. But it heals.
Real impact happens when your healing makes space for someone else’s. When your scars aren’t shameful—they’re sacred. If my journey helps one woman put her mask down, walk back into her life, and say, “This version of me stays”—then I’ve led well.
Leadership is when you go first in the hard things, you stay soft in the healing things, and you choose integrity over image every single time.
– Beth Close
wholebeingbroken.com
Thrive Through Transition
For many high-achieving women, midlife arrives at the height of their careers—just as their bodies begin to shift in ways they don’t fully understand. Hot flashes, brain fog, sleep disruption, anxiety, and loss of focus become daily challenges. And yet, most of these women carry on silently, unsure how to ask for support or even if they’re “doing menopause wrong.”
Dr. Tayo is changing that narrative.
For many high-achieving women, midlife arrives with both external success and internal confusion. While careers and families may be flourishing, something inside feels off—motivation dips, brain fog sets in, sleep becomes erratic, and the body doesn’t respond the way it used to. It’s easy to feel like you’re losing your edge.
Dr. Tayo knows that feeling intimately. A former radiologist, she now helps women navigate menopause naturally—not just as a health issue, but as a personal development gateway.
Her Synergistic Hormone Balancing System™ is a proven system to restore energy, mental clarity, and sound sleep. But beneath those practical outcomes lies a deeper message: this season of life is asking you to evolve.
“Midlife is the perfect time to pause and ask who you’re becoming,” Dr. Tayo says. “It’s about realignment. About meeting your body, your mind, and your purpose with new wisdom.”
Rather than offering quick fixes, her work guides women through sustainable, lifestyle-based change—shifting daily routines, refining mindset, and developing a relationship with their physical and emotional needs. She encourages her clients to see each symptom not as something broken, but as a message—an invitation to pay attention and step into their next chapter with intention.
In her coaching and group programmes, women learn how small daily shifts—better sleep hygiene, strength-based movement, protein-focused nutrition, and breathwork—become acts of self-leadership. These habits not only reduce symptoms, they build confidence, agency, and emotional resilience.
Dr. Tayo often reminds clients that personal development doesn’t always look like meditation cushions or vision boards. Sometimes, it starts with going to bed on time, learning to say no, or fuelling your body in ways that support your brain and mood.
“This isn’t just about balancing hormones,” she says. “It’s about coming back to yourself. Midlife doesn’t have to be a crisis—it can be a catalyst.”
Through her platform, she helps women rewrite the story of menopause as a time of personal power, clarity, and deep transformation.
– Dr. Tayo
Learn more: getyoursassyback.com
Healing the Inner Child Through Repair-enting
By Melanie Soloway
raisingenlightenedchildren.com
Melanie Soloway believes that parenting is one of the most powerful paths to personal growth—if we’re willing to do the inner work. As a former Deputy District Attorney turned parent educator and founder of Raising Enlightened Children, she coined the term repair-enting to describe a conscious approach that begins not with the child, but with ourselves.
“Most of us are parenting with a nervous system shaped by our own unresolved wounds,” Melanie explains. “Repair-enting means slowing down, connecting with our inner child, and choosing to break patterns rather than repeat them.”
Born in apartheid-era South Africa, Melanie’s early life taught her about injustice, resilience, and the courage to challenge inherited systems—from both society and family. After becoming a parent herself, she realised that parenting could be a sacred opportunity to heal generational trauma by reparenting herself in real time.
That personal transformation became a professional calling. Melanie trained under Lisa Nichols in the Motivating the Teen Spirit programme and is certified in multiple parenting programmes. Her work empowers caregivers to develop emotional literacy, strengthen connection, and guide their families from a place of authenticity and spiritual awareness.
Through private coaching, live workshops, and parent education, Melanie helps parents understand their triggers and repair their relationships from the inside out. Her approach blends emotional intelligence, reflective parenting, and practical strategies for creating emotionally safe homes, offering a holistic framework that supports both the child and the adult in becoming more present and whole.
Whether it’s helping a mother set boundaries without guilt, guiding a father to reconnect with a long-buried part of himself, or supporting a parent through grief over what they never received as a child, Melanie’s mission is to raise a generation of whole, conscious humans—starting with the adults they rely on.
Now, she shares that her mission is to help others navigate the sacred work of repair-enting themselves and raising children with emotional and spiritual literacy. “I believe we are not meant to do this alone—we are meant to co-parent with G.O.D. (the One who Guides Our Destiny).”
“Repair-enting isn’t about perfection,” she says. “It’s about presence. It’s about remembering who you really are so you can help your child stay connected to who they are.”
In Melanie’s view, parenting isn’t separate from personal development. It is the path. One that invites healing, compassion, and powerful generational change.
CONCLUSION
In different voices, these leaders echo a shared truth: personal development is not about becoming someone else—it’s about returning to who you really are. Whether through truth-telling, physical transformation, emotional healing, or genius alignment, each of these changemakers reminds us that growth is not reserved for quiet moments away from life. It happens right in the middle of it.
And the best part? The version of you you’re looking for may not be as far away as you think. She’s waiting on the other side of a brave question, an honest pause, or one small step back to yourself.
Jessica Sheehan is a US-based freelance writer, columnist, and TV show host who works in publicity, publishing, and show production. With bylines in multiple outlets, she contributes to a variety of stories.
