Today, PurposePhil Career turns one.
I want to be honest about what that means. The numbers are not yet where I want them to be. The path forward is not perfectly clear. And I have absolutely not figured it all out. What I can say is that one year ago I decided to build something, namely a curated talent platform for professionals in education, philanthropy, and MEL, and I kept going even when it was uncomfortable, unclear, and sometimes quietly humbling.
I believe in learning in public. The honest middle of a journey is more useful than the polished retrospective at the end. So here, on this first anniversary, are the things I have actually learned: the ones that changed how I think, not just how I work.
1. Go out before it's ready
I launched PurposePhil Career when it was maybe 70% of what I imagined it could be. Every instinct told me to wait: refine the positioning, perfect the job posting format, finalize the pricing. What I discovered is that the missing 30% can only be shaped by real feedback from real people. The platform today looks different from what I designed in my head, and it is better for it. Waiting for perfect is a way of staying invisible and to be stuck in procrastination.
2. Learn in public, because others are living your questions too
This newsletter is part of that practice. When I share what's working, what isn't, and what I'm still figuring out, I consistently hear back from people in the community who are navigating the same things. The education and philanthropy sector is full of experienced, thoughtful professionals who carry enormous expertise and very little ego. They are hungry for honest reflection, as opposed to curated success stories. Being open about the process has built more trust than any polished piece of content I've published.
3. Stay open to emergence
Mentoring was never in the original plan. It grew from conversations, from people asking for help with career transitions, from me realizing I had something useful to offer beyond job listings. It has become the most meaningful part of this work, and one of the most financially significant. While I have planned something else and focused on job ads, I noticed it. Some of the best things in a new venture are allowed rather than planned. Build the structure, but leave space for what wants to emerge.
4. Your niche is your leverage
The temptation when building something small is to broaden: more sectors, more roles, more types of candidates. I went the other direction, and it made all the difference. The professionals in my talent pool are rare combinations: someone who understands private philanthropy and US government contracting and has led complex programmes in East Africa. That specificity is genuinely hard to find elsewhere. Knowing your niche deeply means you solve problems that generalist platforms simply cannot.
5. Underpricing is self-doubt with a price tag
This one stings a little to admit. For much of this year, I priced my services well below their value. I told myself it was strategy, building market share, lowering barriers to entry, but when I looked honestly at the data, it was fear. Fear that the market would say no. When I raised prices, I found mostly silence and acceptance where I expected resistance or a disaster. Charging what your work is worth is a form of respect: for the work itself, and for the people paying for it.
6. Relationships and value before the ask
Direct pitches to foundations and consulting firms have rarely led anywhere meaningful. Showing up with something useful, sharing a relevant job posting, writing something that names a real problem in the sector, making a warm introduction, those conversations have opened doors. Trust is built through repeated genuine acts of care and of providing real value. People work with people they already trust, and that trust accumulates long before any proposal is written.
7. Track your hours, ruthlessly and honestly
Building a platform consumes time in ways that are easy to underestimate and hard to see clearly without data. I started tracking my hours systematically, and it changed how I make decisions. Some activities that felt productive turned out to be expensive in time relative to their return, which includes not only financial income but also my joy and human connections. Others I had been undervaluing were carrying more weight than I realized. For anyone building something alongside a full life, honest time tracking is the only way to ask the real question: is this still worth it, and is it moving me toward the freedom and joy I am building it for?
8. The portfolio life needs deliberate design
I live and teach the portfolio career model. I also know firsthand how easily it becomes scattered attention rather than intentional multiplicity. Running PurposePhil alongside consulting work, a family hotel in Kefalonia, and ongoing research into rested leadership for trusted partnerships in the sector means I am rarely doing just one thing. The periods of greatest progress this year were the ones where I was most deliberate about focus, where I gave one thread sustained attention before picking up another. A portfolio life is a design choice you have to keep making actively.
9. Build for scale earlier than feels necessary
Automations, a proper CRM, the right tools for managing a growing talent pool: these feel like luxuries when you are just getting started, and urgent problems once you have grown past your manual processes. Every hour spent on tasks that could be automated is an hour not spent on the work only I can do: the curation, the relationships, the mentoring. Building for time independence means building systems that work without you, and the earlier you start, the better.
10. I evolved beyond the role I had planned for myself
I came into this as a content specialist, someone with deep expertise in partnerships, philanthropy, education, and migration. What I have evolved into is something I did not anticipate: an ecosystem builder with a strong human touch. The thing that energizes me most about this work is the people. The programme officer navigating a mid-career pivot. The MEL specialist wondering if consulting is the right next step. The foundation director who has given everything to the sector and is searching for what comes next.
These are the people who make impact work happen, often invisibly, often without the recognition they deserve. Being able to support them, to see them clearly and help them move forward, is the part of this year I am most proud of. The platform was always a means. The people were always the point.
To everyone who has trusted PurposePhil Career this year, be it as a job seeker, as an employer, as a mentoring client, or simply as a reader of this newsletter, thank you. Year two starts now.
Nora