From Breakdown to Breakthrough

I often get asked how I moved from working as a pharmacist to becoming a coach and counsellor.

The truth? 
It started with my own breakdown. 

Long before I qualified as a coach and counsellor, I was navigating my own emotional and mental health challenges. For years, I believed I was the only one struggling. I felt ashamed. I stayed silent. I told myself I should be able to “handle it.”

In my 30s, I experienced a breakdown. And in that difficult season, I did something that changed everything — I asked for help.

That moment became a turning point.

Through my own healing process, I became fascinated by what truly creates lasting change. I trained in the very approaches that helped me transform my life.

As people around me began noticing the shift in me, they started reaching out for support with their own challenges. I discovered something powerful:
Supporting others through change felt deeply meaningful.

And I was good at it.

In 2012, I made the decision to leave pharmacy and fully step into my work as a coach and counsellor through my practice, Recipes4Change.

What I didn’t fully realise at the time was how much this experience of transformation and reinvention would shape my work.

Today, many of my clients are internationals who have relocated, often leaving behind established careers, professional identities, support systems, and a sense of certainty.

Relocation involves career shifts, cultural adaptation, rebuilding networks, navigating self-doubt. It can shake your confidence, challenge your identity, and force you to reinvent yourself, sometimes more than once.

Such experiences can sometimes lead a person to:
🔸Feel stuck, overwhelmed, or emotionally exhausted.
🔸Struggle silently and believe they “should” be coping better.
🔸Want change, but don’t know where to start.

I believe that people delay asking for help because they think they’re alone in their struggle, or that needing support is a weakness.

But what I learnt through both my personal and professional journey is this:

💫 Struggle is not failure.
💫 Asking for help is a courageous act. 
💫 You can grow from what you go through.

My journey has taught me that
whether it’s a breakdown that leads to breakthrough, or a relocation that leads to rediscovery — change can lead to transformation.

I’m curious — what led you to the work you do?

✨ 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 — 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.