From the outside looking in, it seemed Jo Kane had it all – successful job, flash car, big bonuses and amazing holidays.

But the reality was far from perfect. Stressed about work, with a number of niggling health worries and a general sense of unhappiness, Jo realised something had to change.

It was while taking stock after quitting her job on the board of a London-based search and selection company that Jo was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and her world changed forever.

At the age of 36, Jo was not only facing a battle with a life-threatening disease, she was told she would never have children.

“When these things happen in our lives I think they’re life’s wake-up calls,” explains Jo, who moved to Talbot Woods in Bournemouth three years ago with her partner Seb.

“Everything came into sharp focus – what was really important? It wasn’t the job or the bonuses, the success. It was a different type of success.

“I realised somewhere along the line I’d been too focused on what I call the extrinsic factors of success, the things that the world can see – the money, the car, the holidays etc – and I had negated what I call the intrinsic factors – the well being, the balance in my life, some modicum of inner peace and calm.”

Having already begun to question what made her happy before her diagnosis, Jo continued down that path during and following her cancer treatment.

“What I realised from doing that was that balance was really important to me,” she says.

“Having time to nurture the relationships around me, to look after my health and well being and to do work that was meaningful, but to do it in a way that was sustainable, to make a difference in a way that was sustainable.

“I looked at what I was putting into my body, at the emotional side of things, my biggest stresses, what did I believe about myself, and the spiritual, which is about what gives my life meaning, what’s important to me, what nurtures my spirit.

“I just thought ‘this is not my time. I can get through this and I can still be a mum’. I am now a mum to two children Tyler, five, and Zac, three – one is adopted, and one was through surrogacy.”

Having made this realisation, Jo was keen to spread her message to others and, in 2004 she and Seb set up Trailblazers, “to help companies unleash the potential of their people”.

Jo now spends her time coaching corporate leaders and teams to develop their full potential, while retaining that balance between success both in the workplace and on a personal level.

“I love it,” she smiles.

“And people listen because I’ve learned the hard way, I’m honest about it. Even now I don’t pretend I’ve got it all stitched up. I still have challenges to deal with, there’s always going to be challenges.

“But I do have an inner sat nav, I know the trigger signs now.”

Trailblazers is now in its tenth year – a fitting time for Jo to have received the Lifetime Achievement award at the 2014 Venus Awards Dorset.

But her desire to reach a wider audience burns on. Her latest brainchild is a book she and Seb have produced, titled The Suited Hippy And The Stress Junkie, a fictional story, about defining the kind of success you want to achieve.

“For a number of years, Seb and I have had this belief that people learn through story,” explains Jo.

“We wanted to write something that would be inspiring for people that was in the form of a story. Our key message from the book is that you can have success, but what sort of success do you want? The sort that burns you out or the sort that enables you to go to bed at night and sleep with a bit of peace in your heart and to have time to appreciate the preciousness of life?

“We believe that’s possible and we are living proof of that.”

  • thetrailblazers.co.uk