Why This Story Matters
From Peaks to Petals is my personal record of the years that shaped me and Soaperoni. It covers the highs, the challenges, and the steps in between, written in a way that’s simple to read and easy to follow.
I share what it was like to move from a 365‑day restless life into a slower, more intentional way of creating, to do what you love and love what you do. Just be who you are, be bold, be you, and be beautiful.
Awakening & Release (2018 – 2019)
🏔️ 2018 – Awakening the Climb
In 2018, work consumed most of my hours, often from sunrise to well past sunset. That rhythm had become my normal.
Late in the year, a few people sought me out for help and told me I gave them hope. One conversation with our corporate lawyer stayed in my thoughts. It reminded me that influence can reach beyond the work itself.
I began meditating and exploring Bazi, QiMen, and Numerology. All of these felt completely unfamiliar, almost odd and strange to me. I had no background in such things, yet they seemed to arrive like downloaded knowledge from somewhere I could not explain. It was as if someone was calling me and someone else was whispering guidance I could just barely hear. Even though each system was different, they all carried the same message. Change was coming.
Quiet moments brought phrases that felt like anchors:
You are much more than you could think of.
We don’t know what we don’t know.
Resources are always within our reach.
Doing nothing is also an action.
It made me notice how uncomfortable I was when I was not “doing” something, and how my mind kept reaching for tasks to fill the space. Learning to sit in that stillness became a quiet practice in itself, one that would prepare me for changes I could not yet see.
🚪 2019 – Closing One Door, Opening Another
If 2018 was an awakening, 2019 was the slow opening of a new chapter. I began to release ways of working and thinking that no longer fit. Some doors closed quietly. One stood slightly open, inviting me forward without yet showing where it led.
Reflection:
These two years taught me more than I expected. They showed me that transformation is not easy, but it is never impossible. They reminded me that everything happens for a reason, even when it is hard to see in the moment. I learned that sometimes you need to surrender and, for once, follow the natural flow instead of pushing against it. In that flow there is room to be creative, adaptable, and flexible. Change can hold its own kind of beauty.
It also showed me that what feels like an ending can be the soil for a new beginning, even if it takes time for those seeds to break through the surface.
Pivot & Craft (2020 – 2022)
🌱 2020 – Fresh Soil
The year opened with joy, a sense of finally in our shared life together. A new furry family member, Fei Fei was born and joining our journey. That happiness sat alongside deep loss, each arriving within weeks of the other and changing how I moved through the months.
By mid‑year we had let go of our office and shifted to working fully from home. Every day was a lesson in adaptability, each corner of the house becoming part of the workspace. It was like planting into soil I had never worked with before, unfamiliar but rich with possibility.
Some mornings I found myself wondering what shape my work would take in this new environment. The lack of a fixed structure was strange, but it also allowed me to listen more closely to my own pace and the needs of the people I was creating for.
🏮 2021 – Lantern Bridge
By 2021, I had settled into the rhythm of remote work. Systems were refined, processes felt smoother, and my focus returned to creative planning.
I taught myself how to build websites and set up cloud servers, skills completely new to me after years in finance. Every step into that unfamiliar territory was challenging yet energising. I reorganised files, ensured my tools were secure, and began working with new clients who trusted me to create and maintain what I had just learned myself.
It felt like crossing a bridge lit with steady lanterns. Each new skill and each finished project cast its own glow along the way.
Looking back, that glow was also a reflection of my own growth. Every time I mastered a new tool or solved a problem for a client, it reinforced that self‑teaching was not just possible but deeply rewarding.
🧵 2022 – Loom Threads
A change in my own skin health shifted my focus to what I was using every day. Curiosity led me to study ingredients, blend oils, herbs, and natural colourants, and start making soap.
Each batch was a thread, a test, a refinement, a piece of a fabric I could not yet see in full. The first soaps I made for myself were humble, but they carried the beginnings of everything Soaperoni would become.
It amazed me how something so small, like a change in my skin, could redirect the whole course of my creative life. Those first bars carried more than fragrance; they carried a story of listening to change and letting it guide me.
Reflection:
From 2020 to 2023, I learned how to adapt in ways I had never experienced before. Letting go of the office, working from home, and moving into completely new skill sets was uncomfortable at first, but it opened doors I had never imagined.
I discovered that challenges can be valuable resources. Learning to build websites, set up cloud servers, and manage projects for new clients, all while developing my craft, showed me that we are capable of more than we think when we decide to try. These years proved that progress can be steady and still meaningful. The path forward often reveals itself only after you begin walking.
It was in these steps that I realised “From Peaks to Petals” was not just the title of my journey but the pattern of it, moving from intensity to gentleness, from the climb to the bloom.
Foundations & Flourish (2023 – 2025)
🪨 2023 – Stone Path
In 2023, Soaperoni took its official step into the world with registration complete. It felt like laying smooth stones in a garden, each one giving me firmer footing.
I marked the moment by gifting soaps to people who had been part of my journey. Each bar was more than a product. It was a message of care and an invitation to walk this new path with me.
That act of gifting also reminded me that generosity is part of a foundation. It built trust and warmth around the brand before a single sale was made.
⛵ 2024 – Small Boat
The Soaperoni website launched in 2024, a small boat setting out from shore. Private sales became the current, moving me forward at a steady pace.
Each order was a quiet connection. Packaging and sending these soaps felt like placing a note in a bottle. It was a personal exchange across distance. Each time a message came back with thanks or a photo of the soap in its new home, it felt like the boat had safely reached another shore.
🍅 2025 – Tomato Pergola
By 2025, Soaperoni had grown into a space for gathering, much like my own tomato pergola at home — a structure built for nurturing, supporting, and giving. Corporate and community soap projects brought fresh energy, while a sponsorship in the proptech space opened an unexpected bridge between industries.
This was also the year of creative buddy chats, those light‑filled conversations that nourished ideas as much as the soaps themselves. Under the shade of the tomato vines, I felt the same sense of abundance and connection. The pergola was more than a frame for plants. It became a living symbol of growth that feeds both body and spirit.
Reflection:
The path, the boat, and the pergola showed me that once roots are strong, growth can be both outward and upward. Flourish is not rushing. It is sustaining the bloom.
Closing Thoughts
From Peaks to Petals has been a mountain climb, a doorway, fresh soil, a lantern bridge, a loom, a stone path, a small boat, and a tomato pergola. Each image holds a truth about how I work and live. Stillness is a choice as valuable as movement. Change can be fertile. Shared spaces bring new kinds of growth.
The tomato pergola reminds me that good structures, whether in gardens or in life. It support others as well as ourselves. It is a living frame for patience, care, and connection. Just as the vines weave themselves through its beams, the threads of my journey weave together work, creativity, and the relationships that make it meaningful.
The garden is still open to new seeds. The story continues.
