She Defined

Where do you stand on sleep technology? Some people love data and feel it gives them access to patterns in the body they can’t see or feel. Others prefer a simpler approach and just ask themselves how they slept and how they feel. For many, the avalanche of data and constant monitoring breeds anxiety, fuels perfectionism or creates a sense of failure when numbers show red.

The wellbeing industry has always been fertile ground for bad advice – after all, it’s where the saying ‘snake oil salesman’ originates. And when wellness moves online in the form of social media trends and quick tips, happiness ends up feeling more overwhelming and elusive than ever. One quick search for ‘wellbeing’ or ‘happiness’ instantly shows you the latest ‘must do’ trend if you want to live a happy life.

In 2024, I found myself lying in a hospital bed after surgery for aggressive head and neck cancer. My body was exhausted, my voice was altered and the speaking and leadership career I had built on stamina, service and certainty suddenly felt fragile and far away. This wasn’t the first time I had felt profoundly broken. I had known burnout before from my executive HR role during COVID-19, but this silence, this full stop to my life, was unlike anything I had ever faced.

The ability to disagree well at work is becoming increasingly important, and increasingly difficult. Organisations need people who are willing to challenge ideas, test thinking, raise risks and offer different perspectives. Poor decisions often happen not because no one saw the problem coming, but because no one felt comfortable enough to say it out loud. Yet many employees hesitate to disagree because they fear how it will be perceived.

You know the feeling. You’re shattered, but the second your head hits the pillow, your brain lights up and starts replaying every awkward thing you’ve ever said. The harder you chase sleep, the further it drifts. Learning to fall asleep faster is rarely about one dramatic fix. It’s about small, repeatable habits that work with your body instead of against it. Here are eight tips worth trying: 1.

There’s a growing chorus of complaints from job seekers. They apply for jobs and hear nothing back. Or they’re rejected almost instantly. The conclusion is quite neat: They feel invisible, and artificial intelligence (AI) is to blame. With estimates showing only 2 per cent of applicants ultimately get hired or reach the interview stage, you can understand the sentiment. It feels like the system is working against you. Yet, it doesn’t  fully hold.

Want to become an influencer? Why not? Everyone else does. According to a 2023 Morning Consult survey of 1000 young people, 57 per cent said they’d choose it as a career. Even more surprising, 41 per cent of all adults surveyed said they want to become influencers too. And with good reason. It pays well, looks like fun, lets people do what they love, and often comes with free products, travel, perks and status. What’s not to love?

Heat styling has become part of everyday life for millions of people, whether it’s a quick touch-up before work or a full blowout for a special occasion. Whether you reach for the hair straightener you own or a basic flat iron, knowing how to use any heat styling tool wisely is what stands between healthy hair and long-term damage. The trouble is that repeated heat exposure, without the right precautions, gradually leads to dryness, breakage, and a loss of shine that can be difficult to reverse.

Eight years ago, I was doing everything right. I was waking at 5am, exercising, journalling, meditating, and exercising all before the work day began. On weekends I was meal prepping, studying, building a business, and still making time for yoga, massages and manicures, because, like many of us, I thought that’s what wellness looked like. On the outside, I was the picture of a woman who had it together. I had a great career, perfect partner, a calendar filled with holidays to dream of.

If you were building a real house, you wouldn’t start with the roof. You wouldn’t start with the walls. You wouldn’t even start with the slab. You would start with the foundations. The point of the ‘sound financial house’ is to slow things down just enough to get the order right. At the base of the sound financial house are four foundations. These are the non-negotiables.