Latest news with #reinvention
News24
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News24
‘I don't need to justify my fluidity' – Nirvana Nokwe on prayer, pace and unapologetic authenticity
In a world obsessed with labels and linear career paths, Nirvana Nokwe stands as a refreshing anomaly. The model, actress and singer possesses an ease that defies convention – an unbothered elegance rooted not in striving but in surrender. Beyond the multi-hyphenate label While industry insiders often describe her as a 'multi-hyphenate,' Nirvana sees herself simply as a woman choosing not to limit herself. 'To me, reinvention isn't about changing who you are,' she explains. 'It's about returning to the fullness of who you've always been. We're meant to evolve. It's human.' This philosophy has guided her through an industry that constantly demands definition. Rather than succumb to external pressures, Nirvana has carved out her own path, refusing to be confined to one title or tempo. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nirvana Nokwe (@nirvananokwe) The power of fluidity 'It's seamless when you're doing what you want to do,' she says with characteristic directness. 'I don't need to justify my fluidity. I don't force anything. I work with people who get it – especially where it matters.' This approach isn't just professional strategy – it's deeply personal. Grounded and self-aware, Nirvana leans on prayer as both anchor and compass. 'Prayer holds me. It keeps me rooted through every transformation, every shift. It helps me know when to show up and when to step back,' she says. Embracing the pause For someone with such a dynamic, creative presence, she's refreshingly in tune with her need for stillness. The lesson came through experience, often the hard way. 'Burnout teaches me to pause,' she reflects. 'Sometimes it's not about pushing harder, it's about taking care of yourself, letting silence in and remembering you're more than your output.' The art of not over-explaining Perhaps most striking is Nirvana's evolution beyond the need to justify her existence in professional spaces. 'I don't push back anymore. I just live. I let the work speak. I protect my peace by not over-explaining. There's power in that.' This shift has redefined what success means to her. 'It looks like fun. Joy. Presence. Life is short and long at the same time, so I'm choosing to enjoy it.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by NSPCA (@ A message for the next generation When asked what she hopes young women, especially young Black women, take away from her journey, she pauses, then smiles with the wisdom of someone who's learned to trust the process. 'Just be yourself. That's it. It isn't that deep. Being fully you already shifts things in ways you can't even imagine.' It's a deceptively simple message from a woman who embodies its complexity. Nirvana Nokwe is indeed a woman in motion, but she's moving on her terms – with softness, discernment, and a quiet, unwavering fire that lights the way for others brave enough to embrace their own fluidity.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Business At An Inflection Point: Will You Evolve Or Reinvent?
Business At an Inflection Point: Will You Evolve or Reinvent? I believe we're witnessing a pivotal inflection point in how businesses operate. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not merely a tool for optimization; it stands to reimagine how enterprises function. The question we've been discussing frequently with leaders is: Are you going to add AI to what you're already doing and evolve, or are you going to reinvent how you operate altogether? From what I've seen, AI's influence can be observed along a spectrum. At one end, companies are evolving and implementing AI to improve. It augments existing technology stacks and advances the performance of current systems and platforms. It streamlines workflows and enhances operational throughput. At the individual level, it serves as a co-pilot, amplifying the productivity and decision-making capacity of employees and teams. But it's at the far end of this spectrum – reinvention – where I believe the most profound potential lies. Here, AI surpasses enhancement and becomes transformation. It enables enterprises to fundamentally rethink core business processes, functional domains, and even the structures and strategies that underpin the organization itself. Why Reinvention Is So Hard – and So Important Reinvention is the most daring and potentially the most difficult to carry out. It requires a commitment to doing things differently. One of the significant challenges we encounter in our client discussions is helping leaders envision and anticipate what reinvention will look like. Many executives struggle to picture how transformation will take shape within their specific context. They're often weighing the consequences of taking a more incremental path, evolving existing business processes or functional areas rather than fundamentally rethinking them. This is a natural and important consideration. If there is a viable path to evolve the current structure, it often requires less disruption, carries lower risk, and is generally easier to implement. However, you still need to anticipate what that evolutionary path entails. It requires readiness to make tough calls and to invest capital and effort where needed. Companies will need to navigate complex choices around technology, talent, and change management. And they must be able to justify those decisions through tangible outcomes and sufficient returns. As the old saying goes, the juice has to be worth the squeeze. Still, there's a real risk in avoiding reinvention altogether. If there's potential to completely rethink a process or function – and we ignore it – we're exposing our business to being left behind. In my view, most companies that delay reinvention will eventually be forced into it – under far less favorable conditions. Building Scenarios: A Strategic Imperative At Everest Group, we've uncovered a powerful technique to help leaders navigate this uncertainty: build forward-looking scenarios for both evolution and reinvention. For evolution, we ask a series of key questions to explore this potential path, such as: What would the business model look like? What are the benefits and required investments? How should the tech stack and people model adapt? What would be the consequences of an evolutionary path? And finally, what are the signals that suggest the industry is trending in this direction? For any forward-looking projection, the further we look out into the future, the more uncertainty we face. It's much like standing on a horizon; the closer the objects are, the clearer you see them; the further away, the more indistinct they become, and the more you don't understand the context around them. We must constantly monitor new information and adjust our scenarios as the landscape shifts. These scenarios should be viewed not as a definitive prediction, but as our best current understanding of what the future is likely to hold. As we move forward, it's essential to continuously monitor the signals that reinforce this view, while staying alert to emerging signals that may introduce new variables or shift the trajectory. It's a continuous, forward-looking vehicle that we need to build. The reinvention scenario also forces difficult but necessary conversations. We ask: Why do we believe this business function can be reinvented? What is the evidence supporting it? What technology and talent shifts are needed? What is the impact on our customers and internal stakeholders, and what are the cascading consequences? Developing both scenarios in parallel has helped organizations evaluate which path aligns best with their goals or whether a dual-path approach is warranted. However, every firm, until it moves to a reinvention, will be on an optimization or an evolutionary trajectory. One thing companies will have to answer is whether evolution will become reinvention over time, and whether they will have the time to get there. This approach also allows executives and their teams to make more informed decisions about which path to pursue. And, by continually monitoring key signals, they can build confidence in the direction they're taking and generate the conviction needed to align stakeholders and secure the necessary investment. At Everest Group, we're actively developing forward-looking scenarios across a wide range of business processes and functions, and creating industry-specific forward-looking models tailored to sectors such as healthcare, oil and gas, and banking. These frameworks are proving to be invaluable in helping organizations navigate this critical inflection point with greater clarity and purpose. Considerations for the Path Chosen As businesses look ahead and use these scenarios to guide their strategic choices regarding AI, it's essential to thoughtfully consider the following factors that will influence which path they ultimately pursue. For customer-facing functions, we often see that the existential threat to the company will not come from failing to evolve. It will come from failing to reinvent. If a competitor reimagines the space and successfully brings a disruptive model to market, think the iPhone, they are no longer just losing share. They are at risk of losing the entire business. If, however, reinvention is not the path and the path is evolution, failing to keep pace may result in losing ground, but it is a slow erosion, not a collapse. You can still gain or lose share, but the company is unlikely to be phased out. Likewise, for internal-facing functions, reinvention is less likely to redefine an industry, but it can dramatically shift the economics. If a company's competitors can operate the same functions at a fraction of the cost because they have reimagined how it works, they will widen margins, increase profitability, and potentially shift valuation multiples. This is not an existential threat, but it is a structural one. And over time, it compounds. What's at Stake? AI is going to change how we operate our companies. That's not up for debate. The real question is whether we will meet that change with incrementalism or ambition. In many cases, the answer will be both. We will evolve some functions. We will reinvent others. In my view, the key is knowing which is which – and making that choice deliberately.
Forbes
7 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
The 180° Myth: Why Reinvention Doesn't Require Reinventing You
You've seen the trope in every glossy magazine or conference keynote: The Reinvention Story. A burned-out executive leaves everything behind to open a goat yoga retreat in Bali. A hedge fund manager becomes a mindfulness coach. A lawyer starts a juice company. Cue applause. We celebrate dramatic rebirths, but are they really so great?But what if you don't want to burn it all down? What if your work - or your ambition - isn't the problem? For high-performing leaders who feel that something vital is missing, the solution isn't necessarily to pivot 180 degrees. Often, it's something subtler, and harder: redirecting your fire without losing your spark. This isn't reinvention. It's realignment. And as impact entrepreneur Jared Meyers reminded me in a recent conversation, it can make the difference between a successful life that exhausts you… and one that lights you Everything Looks Right, But Still Feels Wrong Jared is the founder of multiple businesses across hospitality, real estate, and finance, including Climate First Bank and andCo Hospitality (formerly Legacy Vacation Resorts). From the outside, his resume has always looked impressive. But 15 years ago, before finding the B Corp way of doing business, the inside started to unravel. A painful business split with family members led to lawsuits, Chapter 11 proceedings, and a personal reckoning. 'It was disillusioning,' he told me. 'I started to question everything—why business exists, what I was contributing, whether I was even capable of doing good through my work.' He wasn't just burned out. He was lost. For a while, he did what many of us try at that crossroads: slow down. Go to Canyon Ranch. Take meditation classes. Read the Dalai Lama. Try on a quieter version of life. But it didn't quite fit. 'I thought I had to do a total 180,' Jared said. 'But I eventually realized I didn't need to become someone else. I just needed to realign what I was already doing with what I truly care about.' It wasn't about making a 180 for Jared, just realigning his skills and interests with his desired ... More > Reinvention That's when he discovered B Corp certification and stakeholder capitalism—not as PR slogans, but as operating systems that could bring his values into congruence with his businesses. He shifted employee pay structures to reflect a living wage. He helped launch Florida for Good, a network of conscious business leaders. And he co-founded a purpose-driven bank when he couldn't find one to align with his standards. That's a far cry from goat yoga. And yet it's just as radical. Because instead of changing who he was, Jared did something more courageous: he stayed the course—and changed how he walked it. The Myth of the 180 We glorify reinvention because it's dramatic. It makes for a clean arc. And in some cases, it's warranted—especially after trauma, burnout, or values betrayal. But most senior leaders I work with don't need to flee their industries. They don't need to quit their jobs or disavow ambition. They're not broken. They're just misaligned. In fact, it's often their strengths—their fire, their focus, their drive to do more good—that are creating the exhaustion. Not because those traits are flawed, but because they're pointed in the wrong direction. We overinvest in performance (the WE), or impact (the WORLD), at the expense of the self (the ME). Or we isolate personal wellbeing without integrating it back into team or system goals. The result is diminishing returns—where more effort yields less fulfillment. To recover the energy and meaning we've lost, we don't need reinvention. We need what I call the Fulfillment Formula:Stop. Drop. And Roll. When I Tried the 180 I've felt this pull myself. After years of frontline nonprofit work—some of it in refugee communities in the Middle East—I was proud of the impact I was making. But I was also unraveling: I missed my father's funeral. I lost my first marriage. And I kept chasing worthiness through sacrifice. When I left that world to pursue degrees at Cambridge, Columbia, and London Business School, I thought I was reinventing myself as a new kind of leader. For a while, I tried to keep my old purpose out of sight—assuming it didn't 'fit' in corporate spaces. But I quickly learned that the values that fueled me before weren't a weakness. They were the fire. I didn't need to abandon them. I needed to realign them with a new form of influence. The work I do now—coaching high-performing leaders to lead in 3D, through systems thinking and somatic awareness—wouldn't exist if I hadn't stopped trying to become someone Science of Fulfillment This isn't just about vibes and values. It's about what science tells us matters. Psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, founders of Self-Determination Theory, found that humans thrive when three conditions are met: Sound familiar? That's ME (autonomy), WE (mastery), and WORLD (purpose). It's the 3D alignment I teach—and the invisible fire that drives fulfillment. When we lead from this place, energy compounds. When we don't, even 'success' can feel hollow. We look successful to everyone around, but it doesn't feel This Moment Matters The leaders I coach—especially those at the top of their game—aren't craving more productivity hacks. They're craving permission. To stop overperforming in areas that no longer serve. To drop the script that says only reinvention counts as growth. And to roll into a life that feels whole. The reason this moment feels so heavy isn't that we're doing the wrong work. It's that we're doing it out of sequence, or out of sync with ourselves. That's where the Missing 1% lives—not in our calendars, but in our This If you're feeling the pull toward something different, but don't want to give it all up, start here: Alignment doesn't always mean saying yes to a sabbatical or no to your next promotion. Sometimes, it means showing up differently today. Saying what you really mean in a meeting. Making one values-aligned decision before 10 AM. Asking yourself, 'Is this mine to do?' Because once you stop chasing a different life and start showing up more fully in the one you've got? That's when the real 1% magic kicks in. If you're wondering where your leadership system might be out of alignment, this quick diagnostic offers a surprising lens—and helps uncover what's ready to be subtracted. What might you remove to achieve truly sustainable - and sustaining - success?
Condé Nast Traveler
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Condé Nast Traveler
17 Best Things to Do in Athens, From Hitting the Beach to Gazing at Ruins
As one of the world's oldest cities, there's no surprise at the sheer amount of things to do in Athens—the destination is a master of reinvention. After a dark decade on the brink of Grexit, Athens has morphed into southern Europe's capital of cool. Long weekenders are swooping in to check out the exciting food scene and check into the new wave of cool hotels in Athens. Artists and designers are settling in for good, lured by affordable rents, the promise of sunshine, and an anarchic spirit where you don't have to play by the rules. There's nothing orderly about Athens: traffic is chaotic, life is messy, the architecture a mash-up of Byzantine and Bauhaus, neoclassical and nondescript. The Parthenon still dominates the skyline—and will forever be one of the key things to do in Athens—but for most Athenians the antiquities embedded among tightly packed apartment blocks are an afterthought. It's in the graffitied backstreets and café-lined squares, the factories converted into galleries, bars hidden in arcades, and secret coves for skinny dipping where the heartbeat of Athens is racing. Beyond the classics, these are the best things to do in Athens.
Telegraph
21-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Telegraph
My friends died in the Shoreham air crash – so I turned my life around
Reinvention is more than just a positive lifestyle choice; it's a necessity as society changes. The traditional three-stage life model — education, work, retirement – has been replaced by the 'multistage' life. The job for life has gone out of the window. It's time to embrace the many versions of you. Take Angela Rippon. The 80 year old has had a six decade-long career in journalism and broadcasting, full of twists and turns – and including a memorable turn on Strictly Come Dancing. One of the most searched terms about her is 'Can Angela Rippon really still do the splits?' Yes she can – and if like her you want to 'stay young until the day you die', you may need to reinvent yourself along the way. Leslie Kenny, a longevity expert from the Oxford Longevity Project, explains that there is evidence to prove that reinvention is a powerful tool for a healthier, longer life. 'It reawakens curiosity, builds resilience, and helps us shift from surviving to thriving. That shift is what gives us extra years and, more importantly, better years,' she adds. Dr Mohammed Enayat, founder of longevity clinic, HUM2N, agrees. 'Reinvention in midlife, whether through career transitions, dietary improvements, or optimised sleep and movement routines, triggers positive epigenetic changes that directly impact the ageing process,' he adds. 'In clinical practice, we observe that embracing change reduces harmful stress hormones, enhances metabolic function, and significantly improves both health span and lifespan,' he adds. So, if you're planning on living a longer, healthier and happier life, it's time to start reinventing. Need some inspiration? Here's how three brave midlife individuals navigated their big change. 'I was a Headteacher – now I'm a channel swimmer and lifeguard' Married mother of two, Hildi Mitchell, 54, from Brighton traded the demanding world of head teaching for the open water I began my career in academia with a PhD in social anthropology. My first reinvention came in 2003 when I left the university world to become a primary school teacher. I loved to teach and a role for headship came up at my local primary school. It was my dream job. But it wasn't easy. Like many, my husband Jon and I juggled careers and looking after our children, Polly and Elise. I loved my job, but I think many of us sleepwalk through life, ticking off the next task. I kept fit and healthy – running, swimming and cycling. I wasn't fast but always consistent. Then it was 2020, I combined turning 50 with COVID and a surge in stress levels. I led my school through the pandemic and headed the local branch of the national headteachers' union. Parents and staff relied on me and turned to me for answers that I didn't always have. I felt the weight of it in my body. My mum had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in her 50s. She never got to retire and live out her dreams, and that also weighed on my mind as I navigated the pandemic and kept the school afloat. Then in 2021, my friend Izzi died suddenly from COVID due to complications from diabetes. She was five days younger than me. An astrophysicist and serial reinventor, she lived life to the full, and we had such fun taking off on impromptu road trips and swimming holidays. Her death reminded me how fragile life is. I'd trained as a swim teacher 18 years earlier. I always had a dream to swim the Channel, but I'd kept putting it off: 'I'll do it some time' I told myself. It was Jon who said 'some time' may never come. So, I did it. I booked the Channel swim. And then I resigned from my role as head teacher. The day I had to hand in my notice, I sobbed in my car. I had no clear plan, just the North Star of the Channel swim. But I knew I couldn't keep going as I was. I had taught children as part of my role as a part time swim coach, and loved swimming. So I thought I would combine my two passions. I retrained as a beach lifeguard. This was harder than the Ironman I'd done, surrounded by 20-somethings, trying to clamber onto the board. After day two I told my husband Jon I wanted to give up. But I didn't. Now I work at a 50m outdoor pool called Sea Lanes in Brighton. I clean toilets, fish hair out of drains, sit on the lifeguard stool in all weathers, and I love it. I'm working about 30 hours a week and taking home about 40 per cent of what I did before. That was supposed to be a full time job but I worked about 60 hours a week. So in some ways it works out well in the sense of having more time and more joy in my life. I've cut back on spending, cancelled subscriptions, like Amazon Prime, and I feel more mindful about how I spend my time and money. I completed my solo Channel swim in July 2024. And now I'm planning to swim the Bristol Channel – and maybe even the North Channel, for the triple crown. Setting goals is vital, without the Channel Swim, I may never have taken the plunge. I had a vision and now I'm living that out. I'm making sure I enjoy it. Status and money are not important to me, and I'm not worried about what others may or may not think. What does matter is having a choice and living a healthy and happy life. 'My friends died in the Shoreham air crash and it was a catalyst to get fit and change my life' A decade ago, Nigel Lambe, 55, was a father of three caught in the corporate grind. Today, he's reinvented himself as an entrepreneurial fitness coach It's been said that people overestimate what they can achieve in a year, and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade. I'm a natural planner, I set long and short-term goals and it's how I've always lived, but if I went back to 2015, I think I'd be amazed to see the life I have now. Aged 40, I was the classic slightly overweight businessman, married, three kids in private school, commuting to London to my corporate role as the chief executive of eCourier, a London-based logistics company. In 2010 I switched careers to start a successful coffee company and brewery. But the first time I did anything you could call 'sport' was after the 2012 Olympics. Like many others, I got swept up in the Bradley Wiggins hype. It wasn't long after this that I opened a cycling café and started a social cycling club — no egos, no competition, just community and enough activity to justify a few beers. That group became a space for people like me to get together, have some fun, and tick the fitness box. Then, in August 2015, everything changed. Two friends, Dylan and Richard, from the cycling group I'd set up were killed in the Shoreham airshow crash when they were out on a ride. It was devastating. A brutal reminder that time isn't promised. I started a programme of therapy, which had a big impact on how I moved my life forward, and it pushed me to stop and take stock. By 2017, my 18-year marriage had ended. Divorce, stress and three kids depending on me — it cracked something open. The following year, I met my partner, Grace, online – she's lived in the UK for many years but was born in Nairobi. By now, I was doing some parkruns and getting a bit fitter. And after focusing on running during lockdown, the change that had started four years before was accelerated. I put more energy into fitness and began serious training for a duathlon (cycling and running). I set a goal of becoming an age grouper (i.e. representing my country for my age). I qualified and ran my first duathlon race in Irish kit in Bilbao. My goal? Not to come last. I didn't and am now preparing for my fourth race for Ireland, the World Championships in Spain this June. Next up was marathon running. In just two years, I managed to achieve a PB [personal best] of 3.27 at the Brighton Marathon. While training for the marathons, I was set to go on a three-week trip to Kenya, to visit my partner's family. I decided I might need some time away from the new 'in-laws', so I signed up to a two-week running trip with the Kenya Experience who organise training holidays for amateur runners based in Iten, 2,400m at altitude – the 'home of the champions'. I didn't just get fitter from that trip. I was inspired by the small town of Iten and the Kenyan culture. I loved the people and the contrast of their society to ours. At that point, I was working as chief executive of Sussex Innovation, part of the University of Sussex. I didn't wait, I invested in the Kenya Experience as both a runner and a business coach and am now helping to expand the business. And over the last year, I've also worked hard to qualify as a triathlon and endurance running coach (while working full-time). Reinvention isn't what I was consciously doing. I wasn't trying to change who I was, but in always trying something new, I've certainly reconnected with who I'm meant to be. At 55, I feel like I'm just getting started, and I'm looking forward to discovering what's next. 'I ditched wine for Ironmans' In 2020, Myanna Duncan was juggling her full-time career as a scientist, being a new single mum, and grieving her mother. Wine o'clock was firmly fixed in her day, but aged 40, she decided enough was enough My daughter was born in lockdown, and six weeks later, my relationship ended. I was suddenly a single parent, raising her alone while working full-time as a Behavioural Scientist. Just nine months earlier, my mum had died suddenly. I was grieving, overwhelmed and trying to keep everything going. Like many new parents, I slipped into an unhealthy daily habit when Ruby became a toddler. I'd collect her from nursery and pour a glass of wine while making dinner. When I wasn't alone, I was catching up with the girls from my maternity leave 'wine club'. I wasn't drinking excessively – two to three glasses of wine. There were no wild nights or blackouts. But it was a bad habit that affected everything: my sleep, mood, energy and general wellbeing. I was always tired, without really knowing why. Alcohol is sneaky. It slowly wears you down without you noticing. I'd always stayed fit. I did my PhD in 2009 at Loughborough University, the home of sport. But after having a baby and a C-section, my body changed and I felt sluggish. By the time I turned 40 in 2023, I realised how deeply the bad habits had become embedded. Still, it wasn't until March 2024 that I finally gave up alcohol for good. As a scientist, I needed evidence to help shape my 'why'. I read This Naked Mind by Annie Grace. It explained not just the lived experience of quitting, but the science behind why alcohol is so damaging. I'm all or nothing, so I decided to stop, as an experiment. I was amazed by how quickly I felt better. I was sharper, less irritable, my skin was clearer, I lost weight and was leaner all around, and I had more energy. It wasn't easy. Drinking had been my way of coping with stress, and it was central to my social life. My first test was a ski holiday in Austria in April 2023. Ski trips had always been about the après as much as the skiing. I swapped booze for Red Bull and powered through with caffeine. I remember thinking, if I can do this, I can do anything. The first three months were the hardest. If you're thinking of quitting, it's worth having a game plan. Even as someone sporty, alcohol was ingrained in my life. At university, I played water polo and drinking after matches was how we bonded. It's easy to become dependent without realising. In the early days, I used the excuse of 'training for something' to dodge the inevitable question: 'Why aren't you drinking?' The biggest motivation to stay a non-drinker has been how good I feel. Your 40s can be a great time to enjoy the benefits of endurance sport, especially for women. My fitness improved quickly. My Parkrun time dropped from 28 to 20 minutes. At Hyrox Manchester, my training partner Joey and I came second, just behind the world champions. I'm back competing in Olympic triathlons and have an Ironman 70.3 coming up in September. I still have friends who drink, and I don't judge. But now, when I go out, I enjoy the food and the company, not just the drinks menu. My social circle has shifted too. I've got more fit friends, and the Hyrox community is so supportive and inspirational. We train, grab coffee, and go for lunch. I could never have imagined this life four years ago. It's changed beyond recognition, and I've never once wished I hadn't stopped drinking.'
