A friend recently asked me to share my “word for 2026” for a business Instagram reel. I paused for a moment and offered a phrase instead, inspired by something I saw on LinkedIn: “to be a magnet for good and to repel negativity.” After all, this was my mantra for 2025.

That felt right at first. Because who doesn’t want to attract positive energy into every area of their life: health, friendships, business?

But the more I thought about it, the more I realised I wanted something deeper. Something that captures not just attraction, but action.

And that word is impact. And here’s what I’ll be doing to create it.

My journey so far

When I started my business, The Mini Project, in early 2020, just as the world was about to change, I was fuelled by optimism and purpose. I had three projects lined up before I even resigned from my former full-time job.

My first client was a dental company with an ambitious vision of growing into a holistic health and wellness ecosystem. What began as a short-term marketing consultancy evolved into a four-year journey, building their digital presence, developing thought leadership, launching multiple new brands, and training a communications team from scratch.

Alongside, I continued to grow The Mini Project. What started as a consultancy soon became a boutique content agency focused on one thing: storytelling that cuts through the noise. While most agencies sold “360-degree” marketing, I wanted ours to master the power of words and how they shape identity, perception, and connection.

Pivoting (cringe!), learning, building

2021 and 2022 were pivotal to my little agency’s growth. I took on short-term projects, led communication teams, and accepted a challenging fractional role helping one of Prudential’s largest agencies set up an entire marketing function. Insurance was new territory for me, but building teams, designing systems, and creating strategy from the ground up was not.

That’s when I discovered something vital about myself: I’m a builder. I come alive when I’m creating from scratch, whether it’s a brand, a team, or a community.

Over six years, I’ve worked with more than 130 clients, each project adding a new dimension to my craft. 2020’s clichéd word “pivot” inadvertently became my personal mantra. Whenever a model didn’t serve growth, I reinvented it. When AI reshaped content creation, I adapted early, expanding into branding, SEO, and corporate communications. And my once “mini” project grew substantially.

A shift toward meaning

But my most critical transformation wasn’t structural; it was personal.

In recent years, I began anchoring my work around social impact. From early sustainability projects like Circular Cities Asia to recent initiatives such as Microsoft’s Code; Without Barriers, to mentoring young women and startup founders, I’ve found deep pride and purpose in helping purpose-driven organisations tell their stories and build communities around them.

Through this shift, one brutal and poignant truth surfaced clearly: entrepreneurship didn’t feel like my forever home. Yes, it gave me autonomy, freedom, and endless learning, but it also brought instability, fractured focus, and moments of fatigue. After six years of running my own business, the reality of juggling multiple projects and wearing too many hats became hard to ignore.

For the past three years, I’ve found myself at a juncture, torn between building independently and rejoining a larger, mission-driven structure where I could focus deeply and create impact at scale.

The moment of clarity

Then, one small coincidence grounded it all. Just yesterday, as I was tidying up after the holidays in Sri Lanka, I looked for a new notebook to begin the year. My previous one was a Mini Project-branded diary my project manager thoughtfully gifted me in 2025, but the printer couldn’t produce a new one this year.

I found an unused notebook tucked away on a shelf. Its cover had one word printed boldly across it: Impact. It felt symbolic, almost as if the universe had been trying to spell it out for me all along. That word perfectly captures what I’ve been seeking these past few years. The reason I’ve felt restless, despite success. The reason I’ve kept pushing through uncertainty.

This one word will shape my focus for 2026

So, this year, I’m stepping into alignment, with clarity, intention, and courage. I’m redefining success to mean creating meaningful impact at scale, in work that blends purpose, creativity, and community.

I want to bring all of me – the communications strategist, storyteller, builder, and mentor – into a role or project (be it full-time, contract, or collaboration) where I can contribute to something bigger than myself.

✅ To design narratives that drive change.

✅ To build ecosystems that connect people.

✅ To mentor and move ideas forward.

✅ And, of course, to be compensated fairly for the value and outcomes I know I can deliver.

If the past six years were about building breadth, this year is about building depth. Because for me, the word ‘impact’ transcends what I create and boldly ventures into the conditions I create it within.

I’m ready to reclaim space, stability, and focus, not as luxuries, but as enablers of purpose. Here’s to a year of meaningful impact, deeper connections, and doing work that truly moves the needle.

2026, the year of impact!