When I look back, I can see it now that every turning point in my life, every leap of growth, every breakthrough, was orchestrated perfectly by God’s timing. Even the moments I thought were failures, breakdowns, or detours, were actually stepping stones to something greater.
For years, I looked confident on the outside. I ran my business, built teams, and achieved results. But inside, I doubted my value. I chased validation, thinking external success would fill the emptiness I felt. I gave to everyone… except myself.
It wasn’t until my soul awakening that everything began to shift.
I realized I’d been pushing from effort alone from strategy, doing more, controlling outcomes; and yet something always felt blocked. My business, my energy, my life felt heavy, misaligned. And it was in that heaviness that God quietly whispered:
“You’re not meant to build alone.”
I didn’t understand it at first. But slowly, everything began to change. I stopped chasing validation. I stopped leading from fear. I started aligning my intention with love, curiosity, and awareness. I started listening; not just giving directions, but listening to my team, my clients, myself ... and most importantly, listen to God!
During my early business journey I realized something huge: financial planning, the career I had devoted myself for many years wasn’t my zone of genius. It was something I could do well, but it didn’t light me up. And when I admitted that aloud, I discovered what truly was missing: alignment, creativity, and the support to build something bigger than myself.
In trying to fix the chaos, I began hiring virtual assistants. At first, it was messy! Miscommunication, turnover, trial and error. But little by little, I built a dream team that people who could handle the things I wasn’t meant to do. And through that process, a new vision was born.
The Operations Genius emerged, the world’s first Fractional VA service, designed to help leaders stay in their zone of genius, supported by systems and people who make things flow. It wasn’t the business I had planned, but it was exactly the business I was meant to build.
Every breakthrough in my life has followed a moment of surrender. Every leap began with fear, the kind that whispers:
“Come on, trust me. You’re ready.”
God’s timing wasn’t just perfect; it was protective. He didn’t just open doors; he rebuilt the entire hallway. Opportunities arrived naturally. Teams responded differently. Clients felt the shift. And I finally learned that leading with love, alignment, and awareness is far more powerful than control or effort alone.
Now, everything I do in business, in leadership, and in life flows from that alignment. From love, not pressure. From awareness, not fear. From soul, not just strategy.
My journey has taught me this: what feels like a breakdown may actually be a breakthrough. What feels like a detour may actually be a divine redirection. And the miracles? They’re already happening, we just need to open our hearts to receive them.
Because truly, the possibilities were always there. I just had to grow into the version of myself who could see them, trust them, and step fully into them.
By Joanna Zhang. She is the founder of The Operations Genius, the world’s first Fractional VA service, helping founders and leaders scale their businesses while staying in their zone of genius. Joanna is a tought leader in conscious leadership, soul awakening advocate and recipient of the 2024 Stevie International Business Award for Innovation (World First Fractional VA Service) and 2025 Best in Business Award (Company of the Year in Australia Region).