I am a sociologist and an organisational development practitioner. When I was young, I thought that a life of equality, wisdom and justice would be my birthright if only I worked hard at school, excelled, got a good job and a good salary. I was wrong. My first job was in the corporate sector where I worked as a human resources officer in a leather company. There was extreme abuse of women’s rights in this company. Sexual harassment was taken for granted, our jobs were devalued and the language used to address us was abusive and derogatory. My understanding of feminism was limited but I knew there was something wrong. My conscious process of transformation was catalysed by reading the the Women’s Room by Marilyn French. The story follows the transformation of a woman, Mira Ward, and her circle of friends, as the women’s movement begins to have an impact on their lives. Throughout, the women characters talk about their relationships with men and children, complete with aggrieved, savage humour. I shared the book with my friends and in it we found our “cave” of enlightenment. From then on I chose to work for women and with women. I joined the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Zimbabwe as a changed woman, a feminist. Even though we mostly used the Women in Development framework, working in this Ministry was an empowering experience that exposed me to the daily hassles and grit of rural women. I grew to appreciate the importance of knowing how governments work and whom to lobby if you want change. I realised the importance of grassroots political mobilisation and having a presence at the negotiating table. I appreciated how personal issues are impacted by policy decisions from abortion to access to primary health care, free education and the cleanliness of the air that we breathe. During the same period, I realised the need for women to have their own spaces. Together with a few friends, we started a women’s resource centre in Harare. I left the Ministry to become a gender programme officer at an international non-governmental organisation. Once again, I was exposed to the grinding poverty of rural women. During the same period, I joined a women’s reading group and read more about women’s issues, gender and feminism. It was a period of flowering and flourishing. I joined the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, working once again in the leather sector, but this time addressing gender. It was a difficult experience that showed me that there is a sector out there which we, as feminists, are not reaching. However I found the UN environment disempowering and draining. I worked with my bags packed (metaphorically speaking) and after four years, I actually carried my bags and left. Having done the rounds, it was time to set up my own consultancy firm, Hope Africa, and share whatever I had learnt with other organisations. This is where I am, trying to bring my feminism, emotional and spiritual intelligence to the work that I do.