Faye McDonough

Starting a website to share my career and leadership experiences seemed like a wild dream – something other people did, not me.

I’d always dreamed of writing about my experiences. I care about my work and the impact it has on other people – and I’ve learned a lot about myself and others over the years of leading teams and growing businesses. 

I remember a conversation with a friend post-redundancy #2 when she suggested I write about how to lead teams well and everything I’ve learned. Out loud I agreed, inside it seemed like something I couldn’t possibly do.

But then, with a long commute to London for a couple of years, I filled that time with reading and writing. Inspired by others, I learned to embrace the cringe and overcame the fear of clicking ‘post’ and started to write weekly, sometimes more, on LinkedIn. I started to think that it could be possible…

It was the book, Financial Joy by Ken and Mary Okoroafor that finally made me take action and create something. Building something for you is a key part of Ken & Mary’s strategy for financial freedom and I could relate to that in my post-redundancy haze. Maybe this was a way to create some of that career ownership I’d craved through all the change and restructures? – and if there is a financial upside, win-win! 

I bought the domain name in summer 2024 and started to plot out what I’d write about. It took me until June 2025 to finally start sharing what I’m writing, nudged on by a friend and I’ve been writing weekly and publishing every Friday morning since then. 

My aim was to:

1. Share what I wish I’d known from the start of my career and what I’m learning now – with the aim of helping others 
2. Continue to build my writing habit and process my thoughts and ideas
3. Connect with other leaders at all stages of their journey 
4. Write consistently as a way of figuring it out 

Number four is hard to capture and summarise. The dream is to create something with longevity – a search for something. Something I haven’t quite put my finger on! Building something that could outlast any role and would be a perfect representation of who I am and what I’m about. It’s a work in progress. 

There’s something else even crazier to write – the dream that (*whisper it*), I might have a book in me. With 42,000 words on here now, even I can see that’s a possibility. 

It’s crazy to think that I’ve had over 500 readers reading more than 1000 articles since summer. And as I reflect back now, I’m pretty pleased that I finally got going and I’m grateful that it’s been so well received.

Your reflection: What dream have you been telling yourself is ‘for other people, not me’? What’s the project you’ve been calling a ‘wild dream’ instead of just starting?

Several months in, here’s what has surprised me most about this whole experience.

Consistency has been surprisingly easy to maintain, perhaps powered by number four on my list – if I don’t keep at it, how will I figure out where I’m heading? If writing is a means to explore the possible, why would I stop? One article a week with one publishing deadline is surprisingly comfortable to achieve and I’m confident in that rhythm. Don’t get me wrong – there are times that I don’t want to write but for those weeks I focus on something I’m passionate about and it all flows from there. This article is a great example of that! 

It’s difficult to know what resonates and what doesn’t. Naively, I figured writing here would be the same as writing on LinkedIn but it absolutely isn’t. There isn’t the same feedback loop. At first it was easy to assume that my more ‘professional’ articles were less popular but then one unexpectedly takes off without any profiling. My recent article on board positions is an example of that and got a surprising number of readers – even my husband got to the end of that one (HIGH PRAISE, believe me!) 

When I write, I have more to say. It really is a short cut to confidence. I know writing gives me clarity over my thoughts but the help that gives me day-to-day continues to surprise me. It helps me with answering the “what have you been up to?” questions – my monthly wins in particular get me out of small-talk hot spots! 

The creative to-do list can be long and at the top of it is design! The technicalities of putting this together were surprisingly easy but there’s a lot I’d like to do to improve the sophistication of how it looks and is navigated. I’m very much out of my comfort zone there and currently putting that off whilst telling myself “done is better than perfect”. I know I’ll get there eventually. 

I am loving the freedom from The Algorithm. I know my writing would reach more people if it was powered by social media but there’s a wonderful freedom that comes without it. A place to write just for me and with an idea of who would find it valuable. I love having a bit of personal online real estate – I’m learning, it’s pushing me and it feels brave and scary all at the same time. 

I’m wrestling with what’s the ‘right’ kind of article. I know that sometimes I’m asking a lot of my readers. My articles can be long, and in this age of shortened attention spans and with everyone so busy, I wonder if people are getting to the end. I hope that these are bookmarked and returned to, whilst also acknowledging that I could do more to keep my writing tighter.  

Readers come from close to home and far afield. Colleagues, partners, investees, investors, they’ve all taken a look and feedback has come from surprising places. I’ve also had a surprising amount of readers from across the globe. It’s mind-blowing but with that thought, I aim to ground what I’m writing on what we’d be talking about if I bumped into you in town, over coffee or on the way to yoga. Keeping it real.

The ‘this is why I’m doing this’ moments make all the difference. The out-of-the-blue emails, the surprise conversations, the messages sharing ‘yes, I’ve experienced that too’ or how my reflections have helped – these make it all worthwhile. Even my best friend telling me that it’s ‘very Faye’ made me smile – she was obviously ahead of the game. Thanks to everyone who has got in touch. I genuinely appreciate every reader and every message. Keep them coming!

Where I Need Your Help

I’m curious about your experience reading here. If you have thoughts on any of these, I’d love to hear from you:

• Should I keep the monthly wins format into 2025, or evolve it into something else?
• Are posts too long? Too short? Just right?
• Would you change anything about the format or structure?
• Is the Friday morning rhythm working, or would you prefer something different?
• Are the reflection questions useful? More than anything, I’d like my writing to prompt the kind of reflection I find so valuable.
• Which topics would you like to see more of?
• Anything about the website itself – navigation, design, functionality?

You can reach me on LinkedIn or email here – I’d love to hear from you. 

This whole project is a learning process, and I’m genuinely open to feedback as I figure out what works best. Whether you’ve been reading since the beginning or this is your first visit, I’d love to know what resonates with you and what could be better.

Thanks for being part of this journey with me.