Not Just a Mother, Not Just a Career: Becoming Whole Through Purpose

I am so grateful for how far I have come and how much I have grown. Life has presented me with many opportunities to develop and become a more excellent version of myself, and along the way, I have learnt a lot that I can now share with others to impact their lives for the better. This is worth celebrating! 

Publishing my first book was a huge achievement for me - A Poetic Odyssey of Proclamations: 31 Ways to Sow, Grow and Flow Goodness Into Your Life. I am watching it call out the greatness in many people who engage with it, as they discover the power to change their lives through their words.

Life has also presented me with many challenges that have acted as catalysts, leading me to challenge the status quo. A big one has been in the area of my career - following my passion and purpose, or going down the “safe” route. The safe route, although trusted and celebrated by family and friends, would have led me to become more frustrated and less of who I was created to be. 

I studied Law and Business and then pursued a Master's in International Studies and Diplomacy. Sounds like a safe, secure and worthwhile career, right? But, it was very evident to me that I was not cut out to be a lawyer and as I leaned more into my creative free spirit, I realised that all the skills that I had learnt in university had actually prepared me to fully pursue my passions and purpose - which is healing the world through the power of poetry and storytelling. By boldly pursuing this now, I feel energised and alive, like I am really doing what I was created to do. It is an unbelievable feeling.

“Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Instead, ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive!” This quote, which I heard early on in my career, spoke loud and clear, amidst the voices saying to me that pursuing my creativity as work would only lead to poverty and being left behind in a world focused on facts, solutions and results. 

Life is all about leveraging our experiences to create a positive impact in society. Even though I knew that the law route was not for me, I was clear that empowerment was a golden thread in my purpose. I was passionate about empowering young people to thrive, so I got a job at The Prince’s Trust, equipping the “hardest to reach” young people with the skills to confidently progress into further education, employment and training opportunities. My time in university highlighted the importance of certain soft skills in the workplace, like communication, etiquette and self-awareness, which were not taught in schools, so I was able to leverage this knowledge and bring it into my mentoring sessions with the young people, preparing them better for the next stage of life. 

This opportunity reminded me that nothing we go through is wasted; each experience we learn from can be used to better ourselves and those around us. 

The thread of empowerment then pivoted my work to focus on women. While raising my young children, I saw a gap in my community that I felt drawn to fill and that led me to build a collective of empowered stay-at-home mothers who often felt unseen, unheard and unvalued - despite the fact that they add so much to the betterment of society. As one of these stay-at-home mums, this was a huge challenge - to see ourselves as Disruptors, fulfilling a role that brings stability and security to countless young lives in our circle of influence. 

It would have been easier to plug myself into an already established toddler group, but I knew that I needed more, and I was certain that the women I was encountering also wanted more. We wanted to be more than just a statistic, we wanted to be more than just mothers at the school gate, and we wanted this season of life to be more than just a phase to be endured. 

We wanted to be a FORCE FOR GOOD - right where we were, with all of who we were and what we had to offer. After more than a decade of facilitating this collective of mothers and growing together through workshops called “You Matter”, the word that was used most to describe this group was “lifeline.” 

Leveraging that experience has been pivotal in my current work of coaching female leaders to thrive in all seasons of life, because if you can support women in the trenches on the home front, they will trust you to empower them as they face mountains on the work front. 

I am a Disruptor who speaks up for the marginalised in society. Through poetry, storytelling and spoken word, I bring attention to those among us who are underserved. Humanity works when we lean into genuine care for each other, which makes space for each person to come alive and thrive. 

The greatest wealth of our new age is the currency of connection - we are wired for community, and in a world driven by AI and social media, there is a growing thirst for authentic connections, human touch and the healing that can come with the words we choose to speak.

The greatest wealth of our new age is the currency of connection - we are wired for community and in a world driven by AI and social media, there is a growing thirst for authentic connections, human touch and the healing that can come with the words we choose to speak over ourselves, others and those we live and work with. This is what I bring through my work and my book. 

Disruption doesn’t always need to be loud and destructive; it can also be soothing, unifying and inclusive. This is what I will continue to champion!

Peju "The Spark" Abuchi is committed to healing the world, one stage at a time, through the power of poetry and storytelling. A Speaker, Coach, Author and Educator of over two decades, she is passionate about empowering individuals, leaders, communities and organisations to ignite their inner spark by transforming how they live, love and lead. Infectious energy and spellbinding oratory have led her to feature on platforms like Channels TV, BBC Radio, The London Mayor's Office, Women in Leadership Publication, The Voice and ASPIRE’s Global Unity Conference. She is the author of the 2024 book, A Poetic Odyssey of Proclamations: 31 ways to sow, grow and flow goodness into your life.