Sometimes reinvention begins with a bold idea. And sometimes it begins because the life you’ve been living has simply taken too much out of you.
That was one of the things that stayed with me after my conversation with Kim Schofield, owner of Dancing Water Winery in North Canterbury, New Zealand.
Kim had built a successful corporate career. She’d held senior leadership roles, managed significant responsibility, and was used to operating at a high level. But eventually, there wasn’t much left in the tank.
She described burnout as something that gradually showed up in her body, her energy and her ability to find joy. She had been trying to be everything to everyone - at work, at home, in her relationships - until she realised she had given too much of herself away.
Then came the vineyard.
Not a glossy, picture-perfect vineyard.
Kim arrived at a neglected North Canterbury property where the weeds were higher than the vines, famously wearing a full-length Trelise Cooper faux-fur coat. It didn’t look like the beginning of an extraordinary new chapter. In fact, she described it as more of a horror show than a dream.
But over time, something shifted.
The vineyard gave Kim a place to bring together the skills she had built over decades, leadership, sales, strategy, people and business. It gave her purpose again. And as the vines began to recover, so did she.
That really struck me.
Because we often talk about reinvention as though we need to have the answer first.
A plan.
A strategy.
A clear vision.
But that isn’t always how it happens.
Sometimes the next chapter reveals itself slowly.
Sometimes it begins with curiosity.
Sometimes with necessity.
Sometimes with something that, from the outside, doesn’t make much sense at all.
Kim didn’t come from a traditional wine background. She has spoken openly about imposter syndrome and stepping into an industry she didn’t fully understand. And yet, she set herself a big goal, to make the best Pinot Noir in New Zealand.
She was told that goal wasn’t realistic.
What I loved about this part of our conversation wasn’t simply that she proved people wrong. It was the bigger question underneath it:
How often do we make our dreams smaller because somebody else can’t see what we can see?
Kim spoke about the value of naivety, sometimes not knowing all the reasons something supposedly “can’t” be done gives us more freedom to ask, why not?
And then, as is often the case, the journey took an unexpected turn.
Her rosé developed almost organically after friends began asking her to create a French-style rosé during COVID. That eventually became a major part of the Dancing Water story and helped take the winery onto the international stage.
Her original vision led her somewhere she hadn’t necessarily planned to go.
There is something powerful in that.
We don’t always need to know exactly what the next 20 or 30 years are going to look like.
But perhaps we do need to stay open enough to notice what starts to light us up again.
One of the questions Kim’s mentor asked her was:
"What would a magnificent life look like?"
At first, Kim admitted the question almost felt too big.
And I understood that.
Many women have spent decades being practical. Meeting responsibilities. Looking after other people. Building careers. Keeping life moving.
The idea of asking, What would make my life magnificent? can almost feel indulgent.
But why should it?
Kim reflected that we may actually be better placed to ask these questions now because we have the experience behind us. We know more about ourselves, we know more about what matters, and perhaps we are more willing to trust our instincts.
Her story is a reminder that reinvention doesn’t always arrive neatly packaged.
Sometimes it begins in the mess, before you know where it is leading.
In our conversation, we talk about burnout, imposter syndrome, big goals, the people we choose to surround ourselves with, mentorship, and what a “magnificent life” can look like in the years ahead.
You can hear the full conversation with Kim Schofield on the Menopause: Through & Beyond podcast via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or the Simply Nourish website.
If this has you thinking about your own vision for the years ahead, I’d love to help you turn that into practical, sustainable action. You can learn more about working with me through Simply Nourish here.
