From growing up as a real life Moana on the island of Tonga, living in a large multicultural family and moving to Australia at 8, my life was always filled with adventure—and a lot of overwhelm. I felt everything deeply, and anxiety became something I learned to live with from a young age. I coped by turning off my emotions and relied on logic, chasing external achievement and believing ‘success’ would keep me safe.

Fast forward a decade or two and I became the ambitious woman ticking off modern society's boxes—thriving in my career as a corporate Lawyer, owning the houses, cars and business, and enjoying the relationships, travel and lifestyle you’re told will bring happiness. But beneath that all, high-functioning anxiety was ruling my life, and the deeper I leaned into society’s definition of success, the more disconnected I became from myself.

At 27 I was brought to my knees in my first spiritual awakening. I was forced to surrender and face everything that I had pushed within. I courageously let go of the life I had built, sold my house, left my ‘Lawyer’ identity, and started my journey of self discovery with my then 3-month-old baby boy.

I stopped chasing the version of success I had been conditioned to pursue, healed my anxiety through deep inner work and finally found internal peace.