Choosing to Rise: Purpose-Driven Leadership in Practice
This was the powerful message shared by Tinolla Rodgers, Managing Director of African Monarch Journeys, at the Namibian Businesswomen Association’s first Breakfast for 2026, held on 13 February at the Hilton Windhoek.
The breakfast, themed “Healing Leadership: How Nature Becomes Strategy,” featured Rodgers alongside consciousness pioneer Brett Shuttleworth and rugby legend and warrior healer Joe van Niekerk. Together, they explored how nature, resilience and restorative practices can help leaders reset, recharge and thrive — enhancing clarity, creativity and sustainable impact in their professional lives.
Purpose Forged Through Adversity
Rodgers’ leadership journey was shaped by profound personal loss. Just five months after her wedding, her husband was diagnosed with leukaemia and stage four cancer. In search of alternative treatment options, they travelled to Thailand for holistic and natural therapies before returning home to Namibia’s restorative natural environment.
Back in Namibia, they created a healing space for others facing trauma and life-altering challenges. While her husband experienced physical healing for a time, Rodgers says the deeper transformation was spiritual. Through retreats, the energy of the land, carefully selected facilitators and the Sijwa Project, he rebuilt his relationship with God.
That period clarified their mission: to give back meaningfully to their community. Remarkably, during the COVID-19 pandemic — when many businesses retrenched staff — their operation expanded and created employment opportunities.
“But this is what I understand,” Rodgers shared. “If you live your purpose, God provides and the answers come through. And the right people step into your life.”
Leading Beyond Judgement
After her husband’s passing, Rodgers faced intense scrutiny — from within her own community and the tourism sector — with many questioning whether she could lead alone. In a space where women do not always prosper, she chose not to retreat.
Despite her grief, she remained committed to building both her husband’s legacy and her own. Standing alongside her staff, she continued to operate and grow the lodge they had started together, supported by the very community some believed would doubt her.
“Because I just lived from my heart, I understood why we are here,” she reflected. “I’m going to continue with my husband’s legacy which, in a sense, also reinforces my own legacy. A woman can do that, especially when she is supported by the community.”
A Ripple Effect of Conscious Leadership
Today, Rodgers collaborates with Shuttleworth and van Niekerk to facilitate what she describes as a “ripple effect of love.” Their retreats — hosted in Namibia and internationally — focus on consciousness, connection and healing leadership.
Recently, Rodgers gathered all 93 of her staff for a retreat centred on conscious practices, including sustained eye contact — a simple but challenging exercise in a culture where direct eye contact, particularly with elders, is often discouraged. The aim was to cultivate presence, empathy and deeper human connection.
Her vision extends further. Through a partnership with the chairperson of the Chief’s Council of Namibia, she plans to dedicate one day of every Namibian retreat to working with community elders in the Mayuni Conservancy to shift mindsets and strengthen conscious leadership at grassroots level. There are also plans to expand the initiative into schools, equipping young people with tools to practise awareness and emotional resilience.
Her message to the breakfast guests was clear: adversity can either define you as a victim or refine you as a leader.
“So sometimes our greatest adversity and struggle — which could make you become a victim — can actually set you free, and be your greatest gift,” she concluded. “If you sit back, go within, and ask what is this meant to teach me? What is the lesson in this? And then you get yourself up from that floor. You stand up, you stand tall and you walk with purpose and let your life be your message.”
A Morning of Authentic Connection
The atmosphere at the breakfast reflected that message. Attendees described the morning as inspiring, authentic and unexpectedly impactful.
One guest shared, “I absolutely enjoyed it and met amazing people. The atmosphere, the speakers’ authenticity and their approach to life and leadership was beyond inspiring.”
Another remarked simply, “Thanks for a great morning. Did not know what to expect — and it was good.”
As the Namibian Businesswomen Association sets the tone for 2026, the first breakfast served as a reminder that leadership is not only about strategy and performance — it is also about healing, purpose and the courage to rise.