I have two sisters, and we all spent a significant part of our early adulthood working for the family business, which our mother ran. At that stage in our lives, we each had our own families to tend to, husbands and children. We weren’t the best at choosing the “right” husband (if there even is such a thing), and so we all carried our own unique set of challenges. Working together helped me manage domestic struggles because it pulled me away from dwelling on them.

We had a thriving business. We worked in the same space, travelled together for deliveries and purchases, and we had fun along the way. Afternoon coffee breaks were joined by my aunts and grandmother, who all lived in the same village. It never really felt like work. It felt more like a tea party, a gathering of women who talked about everything! From mundane things to politics, gossip (always on the agenda) and stories. Conversations seem ordinary, but there was always that seed for thought that eventually flourished into wisdom.

Forty years on, my grandmother and mother are long gone, but now I have my daughters to share these years with. We don’t have the same business set-up, but we collaborate on many projects and activities. Their childhood and teenage years were difficult and often turbulent, with emotions running through every colour of the rainbow. Our relationships swung between extremes – from deep love to moments of anger. We tested each other’s limits. It broke as much as it nourished, frustrated as much as it comforted. And yet, being together always carried an undercurrent of safety. Beneath the disagreements and misunderstandings, a stronger bond held us through the worst of times.

We have weathered storms, not without asking the “whys” and the “hows.” My youngest daughter, in particular, had to do a lot of work to pull through, and in doing so she ultimately cemented the invisible bond between the three of us.

It’s a powerful thing to look back and see the influences that shaped our beliefs, and to realise how lived experience allows us to evolve and let go of those beliefs that no longer serve us.

In many ways, that is the legacy of the women before us – resilience, reflection, and the courage to grow. And perhaps that is what binds us most of all: the unspoken thread that connects generations of women, reminding us that we are never walking this path alone.