Yearly Archives: 2025

Some describe it as an economic cycle. Some describe it as a planetary shift. Some just say, "It feels like something is changing." And after everything we've lived through - financial crashes, a pandemic, wars, loneliness, burnout, digital overload - I feel that question in my bones and heart.

By sharing my mindset as I started this January, I thought it might encourage you to think about your mindset and how it has developed this year.

You could call it ‘gratitude’, I always hear this voice inside me, so many times a day say "this is a special moment".

If we all, as business people, don't get more emotionally engaged with our clients and staff now, we are stepping into a perfect storm.

We often hear about imposter syndrome, that inner voice that whispers “you’re not enough” or “you’re pretending.” But what about the moment we decide: I can only be one me?

Driven by the launch of a book co-written by members of BIP100, "Success Secrets for Living with AI”, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be human, really human, in a time when machines are learning to think, speak, and even create.

This week my ponder has been around how amazing small business owners are with their diverse expertise.

Personal development and self-understanding are key to professional success, in leadership, business ownership, and meaningful relationships.

As a leadership speaker and community builder, I’m privileged to hear the stories behind the success. And what I hear most is not about money or metrics, it’s about loneliness.

As a leadership speaker and community builder, I’m privileged to hear the stories behind the success. And what I hear most is not about money or metrics, it’s about loneliness.

In our business networking community, we’ve built a learning culture where growth isn’t forced, but supported.

Whether I’m invited as an event keynote speaker or facilitating a session as a networking speaker, I return to this truth: boundaries are a sign of self-respect. And when modelled well, they ripple through organisations, communities, and families.

As a business keynote speaker and someone passionate about emotional intelligence, I see AI not as a threat, but as an opportunity. An opportunity to reclaim time, and with it, to restore the human touch in business and life.

As a business keynote speaker and someone passionate about emotional intelligence, I see AI not as a threat, but as an opportunity. An opportunity to reclaim time, and with it, to restore the human touch in business and life.

As a business keynote speaker and someone passionate about emotional intelligence, I see AI not as a threat, but as an opportunity. An opportunity to reclaim time, and with it, to restore the human touch in business and life.

As a business keynote speaker and someone passionate about emotional intelligence, I see AI not as a threat, but as an opportunity. An opportunity to reclaim time, and with it, to restore the human touch in business and life.

As a business keynote speaker and someone passionate about emotional intelligence, I see AI not as a threat, but as an opportunity. An opportunity to reclaim time, and with it, to restore the human touch in business and life.

Penny Power Ponders: The Guiding Light of Values in Life and Business In a world full of noise, comparison, and ever-changing expectations, standing by our deepest values is more important than ever. This week, I reflect on how our values act as the strong roots that protect and guide us — and how they magnetically attract the right people into our lives and businesses. From my early days in business at 23, to navigating the evolving landscape of social networking and social media, my foundation has always been integrity, reputation, and heart-led leadership. It’s not easy, but living true to yourself, even when the world pressures you to adapt or conform, is where real success and peace are found. Are you standing tall in your values? Click the image to read my latest Ponderings and join me in reflecting on the powerful role values play in shaping our business and life journey.

This week, I am writing about Gratitude. Micro-gratitude, that when you let a thought wonder, you find yourself being so grateful to so many. As we navigate our daily lives, filled with routines and responsibilities, it's easy to overlook the small moments that bring us joy and fulfilment. Yet, it's precisely these moments that can have the most significant impact on our lives and the lives of those around us. The Inspiration Behind this Ponder of Micro-Gratitude Let me start by saying that I had a little bit of writer's block today. I looked at lots of thoughts I had…

Introduction to the Process of Elimination Good morning! In this week's Ponderings, I invite you to ponder a concept I refer to as the "Process of Elimination," a method essential for navigating both life and business. It involves the courage to try new things while recognising when they're not right for us, allowing us to move on and grow. Navigating Change and Technology A word I hear so often now is ‘pivot’, and not surprisingly. With the rise of AI, we are all seeing opportunities and concerns about evolving into another technology-driven experience. During COVID, many of us reevaluated our…

Thank you for joining my 85th Ponderings. As many of our online friends and connections know, the belief Thomas and I have in the power of community is proven over the past 27 years. The transformations that can happen in a person’s life and business, health and mindset is the reason we do this. It is a beautiful business to have. I am hearing so many people create ‘communities’ and then discover that building them, serving them and resourcing them is not the side-hustle they thought it could be, this can lead to so much disappointment from the Leader and…

Thank you for joining my weekly Ponderings, always written from my heart on a Monday, fresh thoughts and reflections that I want to help in a world that can be emotionally disconnected. Today, I find myself reflecting deeply on what it means to truly belong, to be part of a community where you are not just a member, but a valued individual that knows others sincerely have your back. This pondering is inspired by a sentiment I've found deeply moving in both the real and reel world, the assurance of "I've got you." "I’ve got you" The words "I’ve got…

This week, in my Ponderings, I want to share the balance of social networking and Social Media. I have recently been booked to do a number of talks to Sales People in larger companies. I believe my message about building closer relationships with people in business is getting through, and yet, it is not that easy if they have not been doing it before. I find it very easy to have conversations with people. I started my sales career at 19, in 1983, we relied on creating trust and therefore sales,  through conversations.   How many fish really do jump…

Good morning! Welcome to my 83rd Ponderings that encourages you to sit and think for a moment about your humanness, your Human Touch in an AI world. Let’s never lose it. This week, due to a few people sharing their challenges of imposter syndrome, I'm exploring the critical yet often misunderstood concepts of self-worth and self-esteem. While self-worth reflects our inherent value, self-esteem often relies on external validation, something that social media has ingrained deeply in our lives through the broadcast of posts and the desire to be seen and validated on them. This reliance can lead to fluctuations in…

This weekend, I was deeply moved by the warm, loving comments on a post I shared on February 7th, called ‘Ecademy Day’. I reflected on the day Thomas and I first conceived the idea of creating an online community for business owners. This was a time before Friends Reunited, LinkedIn, and Facebook—when the concept of online communities was still in its infancy. The 151 comments so far, after 3 days, have mentioned over and over again, how special this time in business was, we were socially connecting as business owners, strangers becoming friends, just like Seth Godin stated in his…

This week, my Ponderings are to encourage us all to focus on our ‘humanness’ in this AI world and to thank AI for enabling us to have more time for the very thing that brings us joy, success and confidence in life and business, “time with one another’. We all read about fear as well as the opportunities of AI. I am very excited by it, as already I see in our business that we have more time to spend on the very aspects of our business that differentiate us, we have more time with the people we care about.…

This week, I have been thinking about the benefits of adversity and challenges. It came from a moment last week when I appreciated my desire to keep pushing my brain and learn new things. I was on an AI Training day, provided by James Pick, one of our wonderful BIP100 Members, myself and 19 other BIPPers pushing our brains hard to ensure we were never obsolete! I imagine anyone reading this Ponderings will be able to think about the moments in their life when they hit a wall. Exhausted with work, perhaps feeling a sense of scarcity, and feeling overwhelmed…

Good morning! Today, I want to address a topic that many might find familiar but few discuss openly: the loneliness that business owners often face. My recent three-year online survey, with responses from 1,780 business owners, revealed that 70% had experienced loneliness in the past month. This loneliness can manifest in numerous ways, impacting both personal well-being and business performance: The driving force behind my life and work has been combating loneliness. Since the internet began transforming our lives, I’ve focused on how vital it is to feel valued within a group. Scientifically, reduced social connections impact the brain chemical…

How well can you attend to the people right in front you? Is there a danger that we are becoming too self focused? Does that increase our mental health challenges? Do we all know how to nurture the brain chemical that makes us have confidence, Oxytocin? My Ponderings this week has me reflecting on a vital, yet often overlooked aspect of our interactions and personal fulfilment: the power of attention. I remember an amazing member of Ecademy, Ronald Wopereis, saying to Thomas and I, Ronald Wopereis, in November 2004, “Attention is the Product”. These words had a big impact on…