Zukie

I did everything right. Or so I thought.

After matric, I completed a degree in Psychology at the University of Pretoria. Straight afterwards, while studying a postgraduate in Anthropology, I was hired into one of those Graduate Recruitment Programmes that guarantees you employment before you even finish your qualification. The year I started working at this big multinational - in their Management Acceleration Programme - I got married. I was 22. My two daughters followed closely after.

At 24, I chose to be a stay-at-home mom so I could spend my children's foundational years with them. But I refused to stand still - completing two diplomas simultaneously, opening a preschool, and consulting for government and NGOs. By 29, I had the dream job at an international organisation, the international travel, private schools for my daughters, the picture-perfect life. Behind closed doors, my marriage was falling apart and my health was deteriorating.

On my 30th birthday, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Eight months of chemotherapy. A double mastectomy. And somehow, a promotion to Director during treatment - because even cancer couldn't stop me from overachieving. That was the pattern I eventually had to learn to break.

What followed was harder than cancer. A divorce after 10 toxic years. Moving my daughters into a backyard cottage. Crushing debt. Jumping between relationships looking for myself in other people. Being named one of the Mail & Guardian's 200 Young South Africans - one of the most prestigious awards in the country - while feeling like a complete fraud.

Then my body did what my mind wouldn't. It stopped. A nervous breakdown. 21 days in a mental wellness clinic with a psychologist and psychiatrist every single day. When I came out, I burned everything down properly. And then I rebuilt.

"Got my finances in order. Started running and completed my first half-marathon. Discovered peptide therapy and started experimenting with biohacking. Lost 18kg and began reverse aging. Started actually living instead of just surviving."

By 33, I'd bought my first house, built two profitable businesses from scratch, and discovered my spiritual gifts with the help of a soul coach. Then I took my daughters to Bali, where a Shaman told me after a cleansing ceremony:"Women will find healing in your wounds. Your greatest ministry will come from your deepest hurts."

That's when I knew. I would become the coach I needed but never had.

Today, at 40, I continue to deepen my own transformation. The peptide protocols and genetics-based approaches I discovered during my health recovery have become central to my work - helping women reverse what they've been told is irreversible. The coaching and spiritual practices that pulled me out of my darkest season now guide other women through theirs.