Votre plus grande victoire reste à venir
Last year, I started taking ice skating lessons.
I grew up in Central Africa, so safe to say Ice rinks were not part of our reality. Ice skates were fictional objects we saw in movies or the Olympic games.
And yet here I am.
I am still a beginner. I still wobble. I still fall sometimes.
But I can now glide backwards (kind of, lol).
I can do swizzles.
I can feel the rhythm of the ice under my feet.
And more importantly, I feel joy.
There is something deeply grounding about being a beginner again, especially later in life.
This new skating chapter reminded me of something else: I have always had an atypical rhythm.
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I learned how to swim later than most of my classmates.
I learned how to ride a bike later too.
In many ways, I have always entered life’s chapters slightly out of the expected timelines..
In Miracles Beyond Borders, (availble on Amazon globally)I share how a painful season of my life led me to leave everything behind and start over abroad.
That decision eventually brought me to ESSEC, a prestigious Business School in France.
But when I arrived at ESSEC, something felt… off.
I was older.
Some students around me had just completed undergraduate studies. For many of them, life had mostly been classrooms.
I, on the other hand, had already worked.
I had other degrees.
I had experienced life, grief and the exhaustion of uprooting everything I knew.
People my age back home were in their second promotion.
Some had their first or second child.
Some were buying property.
Some were firmly established.
And I was sitting on student benches.
Starting again with nothing but a mix of fear and hope.
My intention was to reposition myself and get a better chance at life, but yet inside, it felt like regression and uncertainty.
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*If you have watched The Pursuit of Happyness, you remember Will Smith playing Chris Gardner,a financially unstable father desperately trying to make money selling medical scanners he can barely afford to keep, let alone sell.
After a chance encounter with a successful trader, he was inspired to apply for an unpaid internship.
He sat in a room filled with younger, sharper candidates.
He did not look impressive.
He did not look established.
He looked vulnerable.
And yet he entered the room.
And was willing to begin again, publicly.
Years later, he becomes a successful entrepreneur, a millionaire, a symbol of resilience.
But that outcome was built on the humility of that beginning.
The confidence came later. The stability came later. First came the decision to sit in that room.
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If you remember the DreamWorks animated movie The Prince of Egypt (or simply if you have read the Bible), you may know the fascinating story of Moses.
He was adopted, raised in privilege, exiled, and then a shepherd for decades.
The part of his life that history remembers (confronting Pharaoh, leading a nation out of slavery, crossing the Red Sea) begins when he is 80 years old.
Eighty.
He had already lived an entire life before stepping into the assignment that would define him.
And yet when he was called, he doubted himself.
He questioned his eloquence. He questioned his legitimacy.
But the call did not disappear because he was “late”.
His “second act” became the foundation of a people’s future.
He freed them from slavery.
He navigated the wilderness for forty years
He shaped their laws.
He transmitted vision.
He prepared the next generation of leaders like Joshua to continue the journey.
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Five years after graduating from ESSEC, I returned to my home country.
A headhunter contacted me to become the country director of an e-commerce startup.
The following year, I was ranked #1 in a Forbes list of African change-makers.
I later joined the inaugural Obama Leaders Africa cohort.
I became a coach for Stanford University.
I worked at the United Nations.
I spoke across continents, alongside world leaders.
None of those chapters would have happened if I had refused to sit in that classroom.
My journey has been a living testament to the ancient wisdom: ‘Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.’ — Zechariah 4:10
Whether you are a believer or not, I love the universal wisdom behind it: the idea that the quietest, most humble starts are the seeds of our greatest victories.
But I’ve also learned that after the conquest, our heart needs to find its home.
For me, that home is the quiet stability I’ve found here in Switzerland. It’s the freedom to be creative, to learn to skate (and now, ski), and the peace that comes with being grounded in a community rather than being a never-ending shooting star. It is the confidence that comes from knowing you are worthy of being loved for who you are (on the mountains and in the valleys) regardless of the titles you may have carried.
I wish for everyone that their small beginnings lead them to great victories—but even more, I wish for you to find the ‘home’ and the peace that makes those victories worth it.
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Sometimes the season that feels like a step backwards may actually be the launchpad.
The ice rink.
The unpaid internship.
The shepherd field.
The student bench.
The single years
They are not proof that you are behind, but rather that It is never too late to:
Learn something new
Shift your direction
Return to the classroom
Begin again
Step into a dormant calling
Find love in a new season
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If you are navigating:
a career shift
a leadership challenge
a relocation
a reinvention
or simply the quiet sense that something new is calling you
You do not need more thinking or more pressure.
You need clarity.
You need courage.
You need perspective.
If you would like to work with me 1:1, click here
And if you would like to stay informed about our next Next Chapter group coaching session, stay subscribed and check your emails! You are already exactly where you need to be.
A bientôt,
Candace
Coach • Facilitator • Speaker
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