Trusting The Call And Landing Among The Stars

How to turn your 'impossible' dream into reality.

Landing on the strip at Londolozi

One year ago today, I stepped out of a tiny 12-seater Cessna onto the dusty tarmac at the Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. I’d finally arrived on my bucket-list trip-of-a-lifetime.

Trusting the Call You Can’t Explain

Hosted by one of the most impactful mentors in my life, bestselling author Martha Beck, and her co-hosts Boyd Varty and his sister Bronwyn—the fourth-generation custodians of Londolozi—the African Self-Transformation Adventure Retreat (STAR) had once seemed like an entirely impossible pipe dream.

I can't fully explain it, but twelve years earlier when I'd first heard Martha talk about gathering 'The Team', something deep inside me whispered, “You’re part of this.”

A Dream As Distant As The Stars

The only problem was, at the time I was the single mom of a 13-year old boy, still trying to find my way after a divorce, my mom's suicide, and the end a long-term relationship with a man who I'd thought (at the time) might actually be The One. I'd gone to work in his business too, so—knowing that any return to my previous adequate-but-unfulfilling finance career would mean death to my soul—the breakup also meant I was back to square one on the career (and income) front.

Somehow I managed to jerry-rig together enough work to keep the roof over our heads while I began the earliest iterations of Dreamsmith, but I was living paycheque-to-paycheque and at the time, had a grand total of $0 saved for my future.

So the idea of getting myself into a luxury safari in Africa led by this personal-development superstar—Oprah's life coach, no less—seemed like nothing more than wishful thinking.

Following The Path Even When It Means "Going Off-Course"

But the idea stayed with me as I continued to bushwhack my way through life: taking contract jobs to pay the bills, studying and learning from every source of wisdom I could find, and trusting my deepest intuition as best I could.

More than once, that intuition took me down paths that made little if any 'logical' sense, or that sent me through metaphorical swamps, potholes, and detours along the way: to jobs that paid the bills but drained my soul; work that filled my soul but not my bank account; and then, to one contract where my client might have actually been the Devil incarnate. (I’m only half-kidding; the coach in me knows he was just a tortured soul of sorts. But he sure did make life hell for everyone).

But it was after deciding to exit that role when an opportunity appeared, in what seemed to be an entirely different direction from the motivational work that I still felt called to do at Dreamsmith. Yet this 'entirely different direction' had also called to me for some time, although in a very different way...

When Callings Converge

It was a role with a company whose owners I had a lot of respect for, teaching people how to invest in real estate. I had always wanted to learn this avenue of investing, ever since starting to rent out my basement many years earlier to help make ends meet.

So this opportunity, combined with my finance industry knowledge—while not exactly what I'd wanted at the time (which was for Dreamsmith to have gained enough traction to sustain my financial needs)—turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Different Path, Same Message

In addition to teaching our students the mechanics of investing in real estate, my role was also to invite students to invest into a membership which included additional coaching and resources to help bring their real estate dreams to life.

But I soon discovered that what the role really required of me was to help people believe in themselves. I mentored people to help them believe in their ability to create the life of their dreams: by tapping into the wisdom of others who'd gone before them; getting coaching and guidance; leveraging the power of their mindset and the support of a connected community; and by taking action every single day.

Their successes warmed my heart and reminded me again and again that dreams really can, and do, come true.

Which is exactly what I teach and advocate here at Dreamsmith.

When Paths Come Full-Circle

By tapping into the exact same package of 'ingredients for success' that I was advocating to others in that role, I created a brand-new life for myself. Fueled by my determination to carve out a better future for my son and I, the courage to take some enormous leaps of faith even though I didn’t have a single supportive family member left to lean on, plus my careful stewardship of the limited funds I'd started with—and maybe just a handful of magic and miracles 😉—slowly but surely, I did manage to carve my own path...

...all the way to sharing meals and personal stories while sitting around a South African campfire, beside a legend who'd shone a light that had helped me find my way through countless dark times.

It was nothing short of magical.💫

Inspired Action Guided By Intuitive Intelligence = Dreamsmithing

Here’s what I've learned: trusting your gut alone isn’t enough—you must also take action. Intuition guides the way, but baby steps build the road. If you feel called to something big—a new career, a soul-stirring adventure, a deeper purpose—but you never move your feet, your dream will stay just a dream.

• Listen Deeply: Notice the ideas and nudges that feel like “home” in your heart, even if they don't calculate as entirely "logical" in your head. Follow those nudges.

• Persist Daily: Even a tiny step forward—a phone call, a journal entry, a free workshop—is one step closer.

• Act Boldly: Trust is a muscle you strengthen with each brave decision. Draw courage from the whispers of your inner knowing.

• Course-Correct: If a path doesn’t go as planned, look for the lessons and adjust accordingly. Detours are often lessons in disguise.

• Enlist Support: Surround yourself with people who support you and who've had success with the things you aspire to. All the better with people who do both.

The Magic Under the Stars

Martha Beck and me at Londolozi

Tuning into my soul's calling, laying in a circle beneath a grand tree on a starry night with a small, curated group of beautiful souls, including Martha Beck directly beside me, all of us enveloped by the magic of the Londolozi soundscape out in the middle of the South African bushveld didn’t come from wishful thinking.

It came from twelve years—although really, a lifetime—of trusting my intuition and taking action, day after day, even when I couldn’t see the whole path...and even when my intuition seemed to be taking me on a giant detour.

Your Turn: Dream + Do

What’s your “impossible” dream? Even it feels out of reach right now, hold onto that vision. Notice the whispers in your gut. Follow their direction.

Start today. Take baby steps every single day. Send that email. Sign up for that free class. Write down your next move.

Then do the next small step. Then the next. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Because dreams aren’t destinations; they’re journeys. And every baby step, guided by your intuition, leads you closer to the life you once thought impossible.

Your future self is waiting just beyond the next step. Trust your gut, take that step, and watch your magic unfold.💫

xo

Kelly

For recommended books written by Martha Beck and Boyd Varty, visit my Bookshelf page.