Sam’s Journey – Trusting the Why, Designing the Freedom

In this final story in the Kiwi Women in Leadership series, Sam shares how trusting her values, staying self-led, and choosing aligned support enabled her to design sustainable leadership on her own terms – grounded in love, freedom, and clarity.

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Are you leading in a way you’ve intentionally designed to support the life you want to live?

This is the sixth and final story in our New Zealand-based Women in Leadership series.

Across these stories, I haven’t been trying to define leadership or prescribe a model; I’ve been leaning in and listening. Paying attention to how leadership actually forms for women – over time, through pressure, through choice, and often through moments that require courage without certainty.

We’ve met female leaders who:

• found their voice after years of being capable but unseen,
• stepped into authority when growth demanded more than goodwill,
• carried invisible responsibility until it became unsustainable,
• rebuilt work around creativity, family, and identity,
• and chose clarity and excellence over scale for scale’s sake.

Different women. Different industries. Different expressions of leadership.

What I believe connects them isn’t confidence or certainty. It’s self-leadership – the point at which each woman stopped waiting for permission and began making intentional choices about how she would lead, what she would prioritise, and taking ownership of her version of success.

Sam’s story belongs here not because it follows a different arc, but because it reflects the same self-led pattern – expressed through a deep commitment to alignment, values, and designing a life that is sustainable, not performative.

Knowing Sam

I knew nothing about ANZCAL (supporting high-quality coaching across New Zealand and Australia) or Sam when we first connected, and I couldn’t even stalk her on LinkedIn because she’d lost her profile to hackers.  Yet after just a few conversations (in-depth, amusing, at times fanciful, though accentuating our yearning for change in the coaching field), I felt I knew who Sam was, and, blowing caution to the wind, we became business partners even before we had met in person.

Some leaders announce themselves. Others reveal themselves quietly, through how they think, how they listen, and how they hold complexity without rushing to resolution. Sam had that quality, and for me, there was an immediate sense of trust. Not because she had everything figured out, but because she was internally aligned. Her words, values, and decisions pointed in the same direction. You could see the why clearly, even while the how was still forming.

That kind of coherence matters, and research published in Harvard Business Review shows that values-led leadership builds trust and follow-through precisely because it reduces dissonance – people experience consistency rather than necessarily performance. Sam embodies this and practically oozes trust.

Today, Sam is CEO and co-director of ANZCAL. Though her leadership journey didn’t begin there. It began long ago with how she chose to live and work, and it is her philosophy that will support her success today.

Freedom by Design — as a lived philosophy

For Sam, Freedom by Design isn’t an aspiration. It’s a way of being.

“Freedom by Design is about creating a business that supports the life I want to live. It allows me to honour my non-negotiables each morning and intentionally shape my day around them.”

At the centre of this are two values: love and freedom. Not as language, but as filters for decision-making. They’ve guided every meaningful transition in her working life – from years of voluntary netball coaching and rising as a high-performance coach in this sphere, to a successful chapter as an Image Consultant working across television and magazine platforms, through wellbeing and mental-health coaching, and ultimately into leading ANZCAL.

None of these moves was rushed. None were reactive. Each reflected a deep trust in her why, and a willingness to stay open about how it would unfold.

McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace research consistently shows that women who sustain leadership over time actively design roles and boundaries that align with their values, rather than forcing themselves to fit inherited systems. Sam’s choices reflect that reality in practice.

Choosing support without losing self-leadership

When Sam stepped into ownership of ANZCAL, what was clear was conviction – about the profession, about standards, and about impact.

“I could see ANZCAL’s potential for growth and impact. I wanted to strengthen the coaching community and lead a standard of whole-person coaching that elevates our profession.”

What was equally clear was realism. Ideas, passion, and belief were necessary – but not sufficient to realise her why.

“I had no shortage of ideas – but I knew ideas alone wouldn’t be enough. I needed support to bring a clear vision into execution.”

This wasn’t about reassurance, nor about handing over authority. Sam was already self-led. What she was looking for was something different – structure, commercial discipline, and strategic translation. Someone who not only believed in the vision but was prepared to stand alongside it, challenge it where needed, and help turn intent into rhythm and vision into something that could actually be held, measured, and sustained.

This is where we work well together. Sam brings instinct, values, and a deep commitment to the why. I am fully aligned with that purpose and direction, and I bring structure, challenge, the discipline of execution, and coaching aplenty. I ask the harder questions, set the frame, and ensure that what matters most doesn’t get lost in good intentions. It’s not sameness that makes the partnership work; it’s contrast. Yin and yang.

Research from McKinsey on effective leadership teams shows that shared purpose and clearly defined accountability create stronger outcomes than individual effort alone. Sam’s choice to work this way reflects maturity – an understanding that freedom isn’t lost through structure when it’s designed consciously.

What has evolved — and what it’s made possible

Sam has always been thoughtful, creative, and committed. What has evolved most visibly is clarity – and the ease that comes with it.

“Having a clear direction mapped out, supported by a defined growth plan and broken into manageable, intentional sprints, has been transformative.”

There’s a common assumption – particularly for women – that structure constrains freedom. The evidence suggests the opposite. Harvard Business Review reports that clear priorities reduce decision fatigue and cognitive load, creating space for more strategic thinking and presence.

Sam experienced this directly.

“Interestingly, this structure has created more freedom in my life, not less.”

What I’m watching change in Sam isn’t effort, ambition, or commitment – it’s where energy goes. What gets carried and what doesn’t. This enables her leadership to become calmer, more spacious, and more sustainable precisely because it no longer relies on her personally holding everything.

An inspiration

Sam reminds me that leadership doesn’t need to be forceful to be effective, and that growth doesn’t need to come at the cost of self.

She feels into connection without losing rigour. She commits deeply without burning out. She evolves without abandoning what matters. She trusts herself enough to pause –  and that restraint often makes the next decision the right one.

Our partnership works because it is grounded in shared beliefs, mutual respect, and a clear understanding that freedom – when intentionally designed – is sustainable.

The common thread

Across all six women in this leadership series, the pattern is consistent.

Each woman:

• became self-led before being externally affirmed,
• made intentional choices rather than reactive ones,
• invested in support and structure earlier than felt comfortable,
• refused to equate leadership with self-sacrifice,
• and designed work that could support life, not consume it.

Sam’s story reflects this same arc –  not as an exception, but as another honest expression of what self-led leadership looks like when values are taken seriously.

A closing reflection

There is no single way for a female to lead well. But there is a pattern emerging across these stories – one that many women will recognise instinctively.

Leadership doesn’t ask you to become louder, harder, or more certain. It asks you to become more self-led. More intentional. More willing to trust your values – even when the path isn’t fully mapped. More at ease leaning into others without the echo of insecurity – to seek coaching, advice, and a plan to help you achieve your version of success, faster and with less effort.

In Sam’s words, it’s about trusting the why.  It’s about designing freedom – that is what these women have done in this series – that is Freedom by Design.

So, I ask again, are you leading in a way you’ve intentionally designed to support the life you want to live?  If not, is now the time to design your road to success and freedom?