When Valerie Bowden volunteered in Africa, she thought she was helping. What she discovered instead would shatter her view of charity forever.

After uncovering heartbreaking corruption in the aid industry, Valerie made a bold choice — to stop “helping” and start building. From that moment, she dedicated her life to creating meaningful impact through entrepreneurship. Today, she’s the founder and CEO of CRDLE, an outsourcing company connecting US businesses with world-class African talent and giving hundreds of women the chance to thrive.

In this powerful conversation, we dive into how Valerie turned pain into purpose and built a business that proves impact and profit can truly coexist.

This episode is a reminder that even when systems are broken, one person’s conviction can rewrite the rules — and spark hope for thousands.

If this episode moved you or gave you a different lens on adversity and growth, I want to invite you to go deeper.

I wrote Step Back and Leap for people exactly like us. People building through chaos. People trying to find meaning inside uncertainty. People choosing purpose over comfort. You can get it here:
https://a.co/d/e4nd8RT

And if you want practical tools you can use today to strengthen your resilience, I created a short, tactical guide you can download immediately. It’s called The Mork Guide to Resilience and it is designed to help you build inner strength, recover faster, and lead from a grounded place:
https://aa5c-ea.systeme.io/resilience

Because sometimes the most powerful leaps forward start with stepping back, grounding yourself, and reconnecting to why you are here in the first place.

— Patrick