If you're here for the calls, I have put them on pause for now. I've had a blast chatting to dozens of wonderful people who are thinking of going on sabbatical or who already are on sabbatical, and demand has outpaced what I can manage alongside my close-to-full-time job!
I am building an online guided journey for sabbatical-takers which I will release progressively over the next few months.
Scroll for more info, and sign up to my Substack for updates.
Hi there, I'm Cécile, a 36-year-old French woman from London.
After 12 years working intensely for big businesses in strategy and transformation roles, including 7 years in leadership and senior leadership positions, I decided to take an intentional break and go on a 12-month sabbatical starting in February 2022.
My first intention was to rest. My second intention was to figure out what kind of work I would end up doing, and life I would end up living, if I stepped out of the constraints of traditional work, stopped 'doing' things constantly, and followed my curiosity for a while.
Of course I was worried about the dent this would make in my career and about living off of the savings I had been building up for a house deposit. I was also terrified that 'following my curiosity' would result in me realising that I was not a curious person after all.
Now that my sabbatical has come to a close, I can say it: taking the leap was absolutely worth it!
I ended up taking on all sorts of small projects that were sparking my curiosity. I started writing regularly in February and started being active online in April. I designed my first-ever blog in March and my own website in August. I created a newsletter in September and was a guest on my first podcast that same month. I made my first YouTube video in December. I attended courses, workshops and retreats that helped me develop my writing, design and leadership skills in ways that aren't taught in the corporate world. I also explored new practices like lifting weights, breathwork and tantra which helped me reconnect with my body and my deeper wants. I shared a lot of my explorations online and met a lot of wonderful people who are now my mentors and friends. All this while living in six different countries across the world, including six months in Indonesia.
This has been an incredible opportunity to reconnect with what matters most to me, define my own identity, and redefine what ambition looked like for me in both work and life. Something I had been finding impossible to do while working demanding jobs.
Until recently, I was offering 1:1 calls with people who are thinking about going on sabbatical, or who are on sabbatical. Demand has outpaced what I can manage alongside my day job so I am now building an online guided journey to help people who are on sabbatical navigate what often feels like a complex journey.
The journey will be split into five modules, from the moment you start thinking about going on sabbatical to the moment you are in the thick of it, to the moment you start transitioning back into work, whatever form that ends up taking.
I will release the modules progressively over the next few months. They'll be made available independently and as a full package.
The first module I will release is the middle one, 'On sabbatical'. In this module, I will accompany you during the core of your journey on sabbatical, from the moment you step out of your working environment to the moment when you start shaping what the next phase of your life looks like, practically.
Here is the course outline:
In each section, you will find short videos, resources, useful networks and guided exercises to help you reflect on your journey. Altogether, this forms a map that points you in the direction of things that are worth exploring and also points out challenges that you're bound to come up against and how I and others chose to tackle them.
The platform on which I will host this 'guided journey' will also allow you to meet and engage with other fellow sabbatical-takers.
You are not alone!
If you are interested in hearing about the releases, sign up to my Substack here: