Unexpected Lessons from Roald Dahl for Sensitive Women in Business: Building a Sustainable Business That Honours Your True Nature
I never imagined I'd empathise with those grizzly witches from Roald Dahl's story, yet here I am... (I was going to say, "warts and all" … but more the metaphorical ones than big hairy facial ones)!
The connection to The Witches started for me when I was exploring my feelings and insights following a moving conversation I'd been involved in with some of my peers at a Barefoot Businesswomen's Network event I hosted recently.
One woman opened up about something that had been weighing on her for months. We'd been exploring purpose that day, not just the what of our work, but the deeper why behind it. As we went around the table sharing our stories, she revealed her struggle with fully embracing and expressing her true purpose.
The challenge wasn't scandalous or shocking, it was actually quite beautiful.
Her deepest sense of purpose involved integrating her spiritual side into her wisdom sharing. But in her circles, this felt dangerous.
Would people think less of her? Would it bring shame to her husband and affect his reputation and career?
These weren't hypothetical worries, they felt very real to her. What seemed natural to many of us around the table represented a genuine precipice for her, a choice between expressing her authentic purpose and maintaining the safety of who she thought she should be.
This is exactly why I do what I do. I believe authenticity, while sometimes hard, is the key to emotional and physical health freedom.
There's something profound about finding the courage to speak your truth as it becomes clearer to you. It takes time for us to come to know ourselves and what our true purpose is. It's iterative, the more we tune into our own inner knowing, the more clear our most desired path becomes. And here's the thing: women like us need to bring ourselves to ourselves and to the world, because nobody else is doing it for us.
While she was sharing what had been weighing on her, I grew concerned that we were going down a rabbit hole with one person's story.
But then I realised what was actually happening.
We weren't just being polite listeners. We were all leaning in because we recognised something of ourselves in what she was saying. Her courage to be vulnerable gave the rest of us permission to drop our guards too. We got her. We saw her. We wanted so much for her to find safety in bringing and being her full self in her business.
What’s Roald Dahl got to do with it?
There's a scene in the 1990 film version of Roald Dahl's "The Witches," directed by Nicolas Roeg, where seemingly proper ladies gather for their annual conference. On the surface, they appear completely normal with their coiffed hair, elegant gloves, and sensible shoes. Then the Grand High Witch (played with delicious menace by Anjelica Huston) locks the doors and announces, "You may... remove your wigs!"
What follows is a gloriously grotesque unveiling as these women literally peel off their masks to reveal their true selves: bald, scabby headed, claw fingered, and absolutely exhilarated to finally be free of pretence.
The film positions us to be horrified. After all, we're meant to identify with the humans these creatures despise. But lately, I've been wondering about this scene from the witches' perspective.
Oh the relief! After months of pretending to be and to like humans, when everything about them felt so wrong, finally they get to breathe. No more itchy wigs (a bit like throwing your bra off!). No more uncomfortable shoes hiding their square feet. No more restraining their true nature.
They get to be among their professional peers. They get to be themselves.
The witch metaphor didn't click for me until later, when I was reflecting on how that day had felt. I realised my feelings were connected to how real I'd been and how safe I'd felt in that space. Unmasked, unguarded, with no performance or protective golden bubble. No later burnout or exhaustion or questioning anything I'd said. I was safe with these people. We made that space happen because we saw each other's humanity.
There was something about the way we communicated during this Barefoot event that felt different.
I had consciously created this space to be gentler and more thoughtful, where sensitive people could feel safe from intensity or judgment. But what I hadn't expected was just how profound the experience of being truly seen would feel - not in an attention-seeking way, but in that deeper sense of being recognised and accepted for who you actually are.
The professional masks we wear in business
We all wear masks in our professional lives. Some are subtle, a slightly more polished version of ourselves for client calls. Others are more elaborate constructions, entire personas built around what we think a "successful business owner" should look like.
I've tried them all. The "professional expert" mask with perfect lighting and scripted responses. The "I've got this all figured out" persona when really I'm still growing and developing. The "everything's perfectly polished" presentation when actually I'm still creating and refining as I go. I've even practiced in the mirror, trying to make my face show feelings it wasn't naturally displaying!
That's what happens when we try to force ourselves into containers that weren't designed for us.
We crack. We leak. We break down. Not because we're failing, but because our authentic selves are fighting to breathe.
We create online courses that follow the expected formula because that's what we've been told works.
We structure our business offers in ways that feel foreign to us because that's what the gurus recommend.
Honestly, it's exhausting, right? Like wearing shoes that pinch all day long and smiling through the pain.
What if there's another way to do business?
What if the most powerful thing we could do is design our business approach to actually align with who we are, so when we show up, our people can look at our authentic style and say, "Ah, there you are. I've been waiting for you!”?
What your body already knows (and how to act on it)
You're probably already picking up on the signals that tell you when something's aligned or when you're forcing it. The challenge isn't learning new awareness skills, you likely have those in spades. It's trusting what you're already sensing and giving yourself permission to act on it.
When you're forcing yourself into the wrong mould:
That subtle tension in your chest or stomach that you've learned to ignore
The mental rehearsing and re-rehearsing before client calls because nothing feels natural
Needing recovery time after networking events that "should" have been energising
Second-guessing everything you said afterward, replaying conversations on loop
That flat feeling when you read your own website copy back to yourself
When you're in alignment:
Ideas flow without forcing, even if they don't follow the "rules"
You forget to monitor how you're coming across because you're genuinely engaged
Time moves differently, conversations feel shorter even when they run longer
Your nervous system stays regulated; you're alert but not activated
You think "I could do this all day" rather than watching the clock
The tricky bit is that many of us have been told our sensitivity is "too much" for so long that we've learned to override these signals. But what if that sensitivity is actually valuable information for recognising misalignment before it becomes burnout?
From awareness to designing your own way
Recognising these signals is powerful, but it's only the beginning. The real question becomes: what do you do when you realise the conventional business advice doesn't fit your wiring?
Most business strategies assume you can just push through discomfort, that feeling awkward or drained is part of "putting yourself out there." But for sensitive women, that approach often leads to burnout rather than breakthrough.
What if instead of forcing yourself into existing moulds, you designed your own way of sharing your wisdom? One that actually works with your nervous system, honours your capacity, and feels sustainable?
This means starting with where you are right now:
What's your actual energy capacity right now? (Not what you wish it was)
What format genuinely excites you when you think about creating it? (Even if it seems unconventional)
What topics could you talk about without scripts because you're genuinely passionate?
What size audience feels energising rather than overwhelming?
Then using visibility as your feedback loop: When you share from genuine alignment, your body will tell you. You'll feel energised rather than drained. You'll attract people who see you rather than a performance. The conversations that follow will feel nourishing instead of transactional.
This is exactly why I created the Wisdom Sharing Deep Dive, to help you design approaches to sharing your wisdom that work with your unique strengths and wiring, not against them. Normally $47 AUD, I'm offering it for just $7 AUD as an introductory price. It's also a prerequisite to joining my upcoming Misfits UnCourse Creation Circle, where we'll work together to create teaching approaches that actually feel like you.
Because when you're operating from authentic alignment, visibility stops feeling like exposure and starts feeling like coming home to your people.
Join the Wisdom Sharing Deep Dive here
Your professional people are waiting for you. Just as you are. Wig optional.
(The playbook shown above is from the original 5 day challenge which was adapted to form the Wisdom Sharing Deep Dive)
