What if everything in your life right now — the career, the exhaustion, the feeling that something needs to change — is simply the result of choices you made? And what if that's actually the best news you've ever heard?

In this episode I'm joined by Tamsyn Signe — former Chief Merchandise Officer at Walmart South Africa with a career in retails spanning over 20 years, wingsuit acrobatics world championship competitor, professional freediving safety diver, and now a certified Enneagram practitioner and peak performance coach based in Cape Town.

Her story is not a straight line. It starts as a newly divorced single mother doing an MBL part-time while working two jobs, stumbling into retail by accident — and climbing to the very top of it. Then comes the moment that changed everything: a corporate coach looks her in the eye and tells her an unexpected truth. And that changed everything.

In this episode we talk about:

• How a people skills assessment became the turning point of her entire career
• How she was competing at wingsuit acrobatics World Championships while running a C-suite retail role — and what living in "little boxes" was costing her
• The Enneagram as a practical operating manual — not another personality test, but a map of why you do what you do
• The psychology of risk and fear — and why failing at something makes the next attempt feel even scarier
• Life curation: why radical change starts with removing things, not adding more
• Why you are one decision away from a completely different life — and what's actually stopping you from making it

Whether you're navigating a career crossroads, feeling stuck in a version of yourself that no longer fits, or simply ready to understand yourself at a deeper level — this episode will give you both the framework and the permission.

🎧 Substack subscribers get the full Enneagram breakdown — Tamsyn walks through all nine types in depth, including which patterns show up most in corporate, and how to work with (not against) the people around you.

Connect with Tamsyn:

Email: [email protected]

Website: performancealchemy.co.za

Social Media: Instagram or LinkedIn

Work with Hristina:

1-1 Sessions now Open! To find out more:

Subscribe to the Business as Poetry Substack: https://businessaspoetry.substack.com/

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/business_as_poetry/

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hristina-vaceva-cfa-4245901a/

(00:00) Intro to Tamsyn

(01:27) A Multifaceted Career — For Real

(07:13) The Corporate Pattern That Runs Your Life

(09:37) On Jumping Out of Planes and Leadership

(13:42) What Are You Hiding From Your Colleagues?

(22:38) Your Life Is Already Designed — Just Maybe Not By You

(24:17) Integrating Opposites for Transformation

(29:10) The 9 Types of the Enneagram (Substack exclusive — link in bio)

(30:56) Curating the Life You Want — a 3-Step Process

(38:58) What's Next for Business as Poetry