As I celebrate 10 years of Adaptaa this year, I’m honouring 10 people who shaped this journey for me. The ones who showed up when it mattered most. The ones who believed before there was proof. One story. One insight. One challenge for you.
Shona, Our Story
I met Shona almost 20 years ago at the school gates. Our kids started primary school the same year and we’d cross paths most mornings, both of us in coats, coffee in hand, trying to look more awake than we were.
We became proper friends when we both became single mums. That was our bond. A shared reality that not many people around us understood. Shona became my anchor.
We were in completely different worlds professionally. I was an investment banker. She was a book publicist, doing the publicity for some of the most famous authors in the world. Arianna Huffington. Sheryl Sandberg. Amongst many others. Her world seemed … sexy. Creative. Full of ideas and big personalities. Worlds apart from my intense financial markets.
Books have always been my passion. To me, Shona was living the dream. Except she wasn’t. Not entirely.
What Shona actually wanted, her long-held dream was to become a literary agent. When I left banking and became a coach, I did what coaches do: I kept encouraging her. “Just do it, Shona.” She’d laugh. “It’s not that simple, Alina.” She tried, a little. Nothing came of it.
Then I wrote my book.
I gave myself 12 months to find a traditional publisher. If nothing happened, I’d self-publish. I had faith, but I’ve never been accused of excessive patience. Zena (my Audacious 10 in March) connected me with a reputable publisher who was genuinely interested. We courted over the summer. Back and forth. Then in August, they came back with a condition: change the title.
A clear no for me. If it’s not the right fit, No means Next One. A whole chapter in my book.
That’s when the audacious idea arrived. What if Shona became my agent? She’d always wanted to try. I could be her first client. A win-win experiment.
I rang her. “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, Alina. I don’t even have a contract.”
The least of my worries. I asked my book coach for a template. We were off.
I handed Shona my book proposal in September 2021, and left for a month in Transylvania, for our first retreat there and more time working with a Shaman in the mountains. Completely normal
While I was there, my phone rang. Shona had been to a party a few nights before and bumped into her old boss, Andrew Franklin, the founder of Profile Books. She pitched my idea on the spot. He was interested.
A month later, the three of us had a call. Andrew and his publishing house felt like my kind of audacious. A few months after that, I had an offer. My book was published in August 2024.
Shona was a literary agent for the very first time. My book was her first!
The Insight
Five years ago, at our first Audacious Leaders Retreat in Transylvania, I planted a dream: find a traditional publisher for my book.
I also planted a slightly wilder idea: give Shona a chance to step into the role she always wanted, even without the experience. She had something better. Passion. And a network built over two decades in publishing.
If it didn’t work? At least we’d both have learned something. Grown something. Tried something.
It worked.
Today, I’m travelling back to Romania for our sixth retreat. And this year, Shona is joining me. It only took eight years of convincing. (We’d had retreats in Italy and the UK first. Romania takes a little more selling. Worth every conversation.)
This year, she’ll plant her own dream in that land. She’s been talking about writing a book for years. Maybe this is the moment.
Helen Wada joined our retreat in May 2025. Her book Human Wise was published in March 2026.
Miracles happen. Especially in Transylvania!
This is Audacious Leadership.
Follow your dream.
Plant the seed, even before you know how it grows.
Have the most audacious conversation with the person who might just say yes.
Your Audacious Challenge
Find the dream you keep returning to. The one that excites you and scares you in equal measure. The one you haven’t quite said out loud.
Who in your world has the passion, the experience, or the connection to help you shape it?
What is the smallest, most audacious step you could take this week?
And if you’re ready for the full experience — join us in Transylvania. Our Audacious Leaders Retreat returns in April 2027. That’s where impossible becomes possible.
Small shifts change everything.
This is four of ten. Next month, another person who shaped my last decade. Another moment of courage, care, and nonconformity.
Thank you for being here.
Alina x