Boardroom to backstreets

Going from a boardroom to the back streets of Kenya was one of the most liberating experiences of my life. I have always had a real heart for Africa. There is something wholesome about watching people live their daily lives with the most simplistic things, and somehow traffic, animals, children, and market stalls all merge into one moving rhythm. It is chaotic and calm at the same time. A vibrancy of colour, culture and entrepreneurship that feels alive in a way you cannot replicate anywhere else.

I went as part of a train the trainer group, but I also wanted to use art as a way to connect with the communities we were with. Art is a universal language. When cultural differences or language barriers could easily get in the way, art cuts straight through it. You do not need the same words to understand each other. You just need a brush, a colour, a moment of shared expression.

Painting with the children in Nairobi’s informal settlements was one of the most grounding experiences I have ever had. No noise from the outside world. No pressure. No fluff. Just people standing side by side, creating something together. Watching them add their fingerprints to the tree mural, seeing their pride, feeling their excitement, it reminded me that creativity is a connector. It is dignity. It is hope.

Cross cultural connection makes us stronger. Standing with women in leadership there, hearing their stories, seeing their resilience, it shifted something in me. It reminded me that leadership is not about titles or polished presentations. It is about presence. It is about service. It is about showing up with what you have and using it to lift someone else.

That trip still shapes how I work today. It stripped everything back to what actually matters. People. Connection. Purpose. And the belief that creativity, in any form, can change the atmosphere of a room and the direction of a life.