Kasia Lukaszewska

Senior External Digital Engagement Manager, Unilever

I would describe my time with Women on a Mission as a path of self discovery – one that isn’t over yet, but has well and truly begun.

For over a year, I have felt quite stuck and I didn’t really know how to ‘unstick myself’, so to speak. I knew things needed to change, but I didn’t know how to make that change happen. I was very unsure of what I really wanted. Was it more time with my children? Was it more progression at work? Did it mean changing jobs completely?

Rather than trying to answer them, I would just shoved these questions under the carpet and keep busy with everything else. Eventually I realised, I needed help, so I spoke to Sarah.

I came to the first session of Women on a Mission pretty clueless. I wasn’t quite sure how I would feel talking to six women who I had never met before – I couldn’t see how it would hold my interest and I worried that it would feel forced. I came out of that first workshop thinking, ‘This is amazing’. I was so energised – even though it was in the evening, after a full day of work.

Throughout the programme, Sarah has often told us to ‘trust the process.’ So I did. I asked myself all the questions, did the exercises and threw myself into it – and things started clarifying, opening up and changing. I realised I had let myself get too comfortable and a little scared of change – which is not my natural disposition.

I definitely have more clarity about what I want than I did six months ago. I don’t have my life planned out, but I know my next step and I think that for now, that’s definitely good enough.

Taking part in this programme has opened up a world that I knew existed, but that I had never tapped into before. Now I can’t live without it. Once you start seeing yourself properly, I don’t think I can go back to how it was before.

It has been quite revolutionary for me to focus on myself so much. With small children, a busy job and a busy life in general, I haven’t really been focusing on myself or my needs for a long time. The programme has given me quite a significant chunk of time, just asking myself questions and thinking about what is good for me, as opposed to for everyone else.

I think about myself much more now. I think about my needs and analyse my behaviours. I ask myself questions. I spend time listening to things that inspire me and I’ve stopped listening to and doing things that don’t inspire me.
People might wonder how I found the time, but that’s the beauty of it – I didn’t find any extra time, its all down to a mindset shift.

Taking part in this programme has opened up a world that I knew existed, but that I had never tapped into before. Now I can’t live without it. Once you start seeing yourself properly, I don’t think I can go back to how it was before.

I think that is the biggest difference between this programme and any other training or development courses I’ve done in the past. This is spread across several months and so there is really time to make lasting change. With Women on a Mission, I feel that what we’ve learned and talked about is really embedded in me now. I feel I’ve got the tools to guide me, to help me feel better, to focus more and to find the answers I’ve been looking for.

I think anyone like me who feels a bit stuck and needs help with direction would benefit hugely from Women on a Mission. It offers you the tools to help answer those questions; to guide yourself towards clarity. It also gives you a network of like-minded women who you can always ask for help, for coaching or mentoring.

Most of all though it gives you something that is just yours – not work, not family, but something purely for your own development and your own happiness.