I had plans

"I’m just not a presentation person." If you’ve said this lately, I have a secret for you: You don’t have a capability problem. You have a frame problem. What we’re translating today: The Grooming Premium: The cold, hard statistics on why effort (not DNA) drives competence perception. The Messy Bun Disruption: Why people get genuinely awkward when you upgrade your look and take control o...

"I’m just not a tech person." If you’ve said this lately, I have a secret for you: You don’t have a tech problem. You have a jargon problem. In this episode of I Had Plans , I'm pulling back the curtain on the words the industry uses to make you feel like a guest in your own office. I'm doing a Tech Translation on the "Big Two" that run our lives: The Cloud and SaaS . W...

"The system just doesn’t do that." It’s the most common phrase heard in change management, and it’s almost always a lie. But it’s not a malicious lie - it’s a survival tactic. In this episode, we peel back the corporate curtain to look at the "Human Comedy" of digital transformation. I’m sharing a story from the front lines of a recent project where I walked in as the "con...

Stop building the whole city. Just open the front door! You had plans for a masterpiece—the perfect 10-page website, the 40-video masterclass, the fully-loaded business ecosystem. But while you’re decorating a site that isn't live, your competitors are making sales on a "messy" one. In this episode, I’m breaking down why "Just Launch It" is the only strategy that matters. Stop hiding behind your W...

Most small biz CEOs find me on LinkedIn because they have a gut feeling their business should be running faster. They had plans for a scalable digital system, but they’ve ended up with an expensive digital filing cabinet. In this episode, I share a story from the front lines that left me gobsmacked—watching a team use a premium LMS plan to perform a 1990s manual workflow. Whether you’re using an L...

There’s a version of being “easy” that people don’t talk about enough. It looks like being kind. It looks like being respectful. It looks like staying in your lane. You don’t interrupt. You don’t challenge. You don’t say the thing that might make someone uncomfortable. And on the surface… that sounds like a good thing. But it’s also the easiest way to never be wrong. Because you don’t speak up. Yo...

Q1 is done. Not your goals — your actual work. What you repeated. What slowed you down. What you avoided. That’s your data. In this episode, I’m not going through “lessons learned” or resets. This is about using what actually happened in Q1 to make better decisions for the rest of the year. Tools, systems, and small shifts that remove friction — not motivation.

Most people have never heard of the LMS industry – even though millions of people use learning platforms every day. In this episode, I explain what LMS work actually looks like. From platform setup and migrations to troubleshooting and automation, I share the different roles inside this industry and why I often encourage people to consider it as a career. I also talk about something new I’m trying...

This International Women’s Day, I’m sharing the story behind a simple mantra that’s shaped my career: you don’t know if you don’t try . No perfect plan. No clear roadmap. Just curiosity, long nights, and the willingness to experiment. From working from home before it was mainstream to trying every opportunity, this episode is about how persistence, learning, and taking chances can create your own...

I started posting online almost randomly—on my business page, sometimes on my personal page - without any grand plan. What if I used social media as an extension of my CV and portfolio? What if I swapped a few minutes of scrolling before bed for a quick post or reel? The results surprised me: my leads quadrupled, more discovery calls came in, and opportunities started finding me- all without chasi...

The migrant rule is simple: stay. Stay in the job. Stay grateful. Stay safe. I had plans. But I also grew up with a rule I didn’t choose: keep the job, stay loyal, be grateful, don’t rock the boat. In this episode, I explore the tension between personal ambition and the migrant script many of us inherit. The unspoken expectations around stability, loyalty, and security - and the guilt that shows u...

When work is quiet, you stress and chase. When work is busy, you crave space to build. In this episode, I talk about the tension of running a business when it’s never the “right” time to focus on long-term growth. I share what’s been happening behind the scenes while building my directory, navigating quiet months, and then suddenly hitting a manic February. This is about mindset, structure, and le...

I asked my kids what I should talk about on the podcast. My six-year-old said, “Just talk about something you like.” My eight-year-old agreed. Which was funny… because that’s exactly what I’ve always told them when they prepare for school news day or public speaking. But it got me thinking. What do I actually like? Not my job. Not my roles. Not where I’m from. Just… what do I like? It sounds like...

One of my traits — and vices — is exploring new tools and tech. Understanding what they do, why they’re useful, and when they’re not. That curiosity is a big part of how I built my career and the way I work today. In this episode, I share how I think about using digital tools to support my plans — not to chase productivity, but to reduce mental load. I touch on a few tools I use every day, includi...

A broken dishwasher, an error code, and a growing pile of dishes during school holidays wasn’t part of the plan — but it turned into a perfect reminder of how transferable skills actually work in real life. In this episode, I share how the same troubleshooting process I use in IT and LMS work helped me diagnose and fix a very non-technical problem in the kitchen — and why so many people underestim...

Most people don’t stop learning because they don’t want to. They stop because learning stops fitting their life. In this episode of I Had Plans , I talk about what happens when access, location, timing, and real life get in the way of education - and why that experience shaped how I see learning systems today. I share what it was like trying to learn while living remotely, relying on small librari...

Most of the plans that changed my life didn’t come with approval. No green light. No roadmap. No one saying, “Yes, that’s a good idea.” In this episode of I Had Plans , I talk about curiosity, starting before you feel ready, and doing things without waiting for permission. I share how wanting to “just understand how things work” led me into tech, eLearning, and LMS work long before it felt sensibl...

2026 feels like the year personal branding stops being optional. Not in an influencer sense, but in a practical one. In this episode, I talk about what it really means to put yourself out there, why being seen by people who already know you is the hardest part, and how visibility often comes before confidence. This is about clarity, consistency, and letting yourself evolve in public.

I set out to read 25 books this year. I ended up with 17. In this episode of I Had Plans , I get real about what happens when a hobby turns into a goal, and a goal starts to feel like work. From forcing myself through books I didn’t enjoy to finally finding reading again on my own terms, I share what missing my target taught me - about focus, capacity, and how the lessons carry over into running a...

December makes planning strange. Some days you don’t even know what today looks like, yet somehow this is when the ideas for next year start showing up. In this episode of I Had Plans , I talk about planning when routines disappear, days are unpredictable, and everything feels a bit looser. I share how I hold plans without locking them in, why this season pushes me to think big picture, and what i...

“You can just use the transcript.” I hear this all the time when people see me taking notes in meetings. On the surface, it sounds practical. Helpful, even. But for me, it misses the point entirely. In this episode of I Had Plans , I talk about why I still use paper in a very digital world, how note taking helps me stay focused, and what online meetings don’t show about attention, engagement, and...

School holidays as a self-employed parent come with a special kind of chaos. The routine disappears, the house gets louder, and somehow the important meetings still need to happen. In this episode of I Had Plans , I share one of my not-so-proud parenting moments involving a bowl of popcorn and a very important call, plus what it really looks like to balance work, kids, guilt, and sanity during the...

Launching a podcast is easier said than done. In Episode 9 of I Had Plans , I talk about my experience starting a podcast, the tools that helped, the lessons I’ve learned, and how I balance recording with client work and life. If you’re a freelancer or creative curious about podcasting, this episode is for you.

In this episode of I Had Plans , I’m taking you behind the scenes of a project I’ve been building quietly for months. Instead of sharing the glossy launch version, I’m inviting you into the messy, exciting middle, the part where an idea starts turning into something real. I talk about the brainstorming stage that lights me up, what it’s like building something for a niche community that I’m person...

Ever noticed how we spend all our time fixing everyone else’s stuff and neglect our own? In this episode of I Had Plans, I talk about my neglected website, the classic “cobbler’s children” problem, and why taking even tiny wins for your own projects matters. Honest, relatable, and maybe a little rebellious - just like freelance life.