Stephanie Woodward

Author Stephanie Woodward describes how she ‘scaled back’ her life in business to find fun, happiness and love.

Author Stephanie Woodward excelled in business, and climbed the ladder to the very top. But, her drive and dedication to work eventually took its toll on her mind and body. Woodward describes how she sacrificed herself and her relationships to achieve success. But the success she was striving for was based on other people’s standards of productivity, long hours, loyalty, dedication and self-sacrifice. Woodward describes how she was conditioned at a very young age to enter the world of business, suppressing her inner desires and love of reading, writing and creativity. When her father sadly passed away from a terminal brain tumour, Woodward reflects on her father’s life as a businessman, and her own life as a self-described ‘loyal workhorse’. Exhausted, burnt out, and grief stricken, Woodward receives support from a coach and therapist. She begins to question her role in the workplace, and seeks to make changes in her life, to restore balance and find happiness.

The Big Scale Back: Success and Balance by Your Own Design is an engaging and insightful memoir and self-help book by author Stephanie Woodward, a life and leadership coach.

Woodward shares her own personal journey, from her school days, through university, and into the corporate world. She describes how her work was all encompassing, impacting all areas of her life, and how she managed to step ‘off the ramp’ to find fun, happiness and love. She explains the many obstacles and challenges she faced, and how she eventually identified four measures of success: having fun, paying bills, moving her body and love. She provides a useful framework for others who might want to embark on personal change, based on the concept of ‘conscious productivity’, which defines success on understanding the self. This is a real and honest book about how one woman found fulfilment, personally and professionally. With resources, worksheets and reflective questions, this book may encourage readers to start their own journey to find work-life fulfilment.

Star rating: 5 Stars

Summary: An engaging and insightful non-fiction book, which will appeal to readers looking for a real and honest book about leadership, management, and personal development.