Shiro was my Sasha Fierce.

I’ve lived most my life as Joan. The serious efficient lawyer who prioritised work at all costs and always had a sound plan for everything. 

In time, I started feeling like she was not the full story. Like I had somehow placed her in a box that curtailed her full potential.

I longed for the freedom to expand that box and allow other aspects of myself to take centre stage. So when I started a podcast, wrote a book and started painting, I did all this as Shiro. Shiro was free to do whatever she wanted.

Joan and Shiro lived in completely separate worlds and knew different sets of people. What took me too long to realize was that my shift in identity had not been rejected by the world, but by myself. I had to decide whether I would allow myself to move forward as a new me, or go back to the safe identity the world had already accepted.

I chose an expansion. 

I married both aspects of myself, using their differences as the pillars of my business. Now, I work with women founders, helping them make the decisions that give their businesses momentum. The analytical legal aspect manoeuvres with logic & structure through complexity, while the grounded, flexible and creative aspect intuits and approaches issues from a place of calm.

What complexity have you faced in navigating your identity shift?