When I was 26, I had a breakdown on a tram in Amsterdam. I was working my "dream job" and couldn't stop crying. My body was telling me something my mind refused to hear: I was living someone else's life.

That breakdown started a decade of searching. I changed jobs, started a blog interviewing people who'd left conventional paths, and eventually took a solo trip to Greece.

On a terrace in Athens, near the Acropolis, a word arrived in my mind that I'd never heard before:

Meraki

It's Greek. It means to do something with your soul, to pour yourself into what you do.

That word became my compass.

I moved to Greece. Started a business that failed. Started another one that didn't. Built Meraki Branding into a global agency. Learned that soul and profit aren't enemies.

I now am writing a handbook about all the lessons and findings on building life in a different way. I am also launching a podcast where I talk with others on how they do it and what they found on their quest.