What If the Roadblock Was the Redirection?
By Julie Condliffe
You had a plan. A strategy. A launch timeline. The pitch was polished, the website live, the business cards printed. You told yourself, “If I just stay focused, if I do the work, success will follow.” You mapped your milestones, rallied your team, and stepped out with purpose. And then—everything changed. The client pulled out. The investor ghosted. The market shifted. The partner walked away. The product flopped. The roadmap that once felt so certain disappeared overnight. And what was left? Confusion. Fear. Maybe even shame. You started to wonder: “Did I get it all wrong?” But what if you did not? What if the disruption was not the end of your vision but the beginning of its evolution? Too often in business, we view setbacks as signs of failure. We are conditioned to believe that if things fall apart, we must have fallen short. But some roadblocks are not rejections—they’re redirections. They are not there to defeat you but to deliver you to deeper alignment, to wiser strategy, to bolder leadership. What if that closed door was protecting your purpose? What if that failed launch was saving your sanity? What if that silence was not a signal to quit, but to listen differently? We do not always recognise protection when it shows up wearing disappointment. But behind every detour, there may be a deeper calling—one you did not plan for, but one you were made for.
When the road disappeared
I remember the morning everything fell apart. I was in my office, fully booked, inbox overflowing, team on standby. From the outside, it was a picture of success. But inside, I was unraveling. My legal career, once my identity, was collapsing. Headlines, rumours, and losses came one after another. Every email chipped away at a reputation I had spent over a decade building.
What followed was not a strategy. It was silence. There were no immediate pivots, no slick comebacks. Just pain, stillness, and one relentless question: “Who am I now?”
It took time, and it took tears, but eventually something began to rise from the ashes. Not a business plan. Not a reinvention. But something deeper. A whisper of truth. A flicker of purpose. And from that space, the rubble—not the résumé—ARISE was born.
Not from ambition.
From agony.
Not during the applause.
But in the absence of it.
The obstacle was not the end. It was the invitation.
The power of redirection
The second pillar in the ARISE journey is Redirection, a concept every founder, leader, and visionary woman needs to master. Because in the world of startups, redirection is inevitable. Markets shift. Algorithms change. People pivot. But redirection is not defeat—it is divine design. It demands one of the rarest entrepreneurial skills: trusting what you cannot yet see.
When my legal career ended, I mourned it like a death. I had spent years climbing, only to be pushed off the mountain. And for a while, all I could feel was the fall.
But it was in the wilderness that followed—the dust, the silence—that something new took root. I didn’t find a rebound career. I found myself. The public fallout may have looked like failure. But the real tragedy would have been missing who I became because of it.
Redirection was not a downgrade. It was a divine rewrite. A new blueprint. A fresh canvas. One built not around status or approval, but around vision, alignment, and impact.
Three truths every startup woman must embrace
In my own entrepreneurial rebirth, I discovered three powerful truths about redirection—truths that can transform how we navigate failure and build resilience.
- A closed door is not the end — it’s a boundary with purpose
In startup life, closed doors feel personal. A “no” from a funder. A delay in product delivery. A team member quitting. It can feel like everything is crumbling. But not every opportunity is meant for you. Some doors are closed to preserve your mission, your peace, and your power. Ask: “What is this saving me from?”
That door you begged to open might have led you down a path that cost your health, your values, or your voice. One day, you will look back and whisper: “Thank God that door didn’t open.” - Rejection is often redirection in disguise
We live in a world where rejection stings. A lost deal, an unfunded pitch, a lack of traction—it all feels like a verdict. But what if it’s guidance? What if the dream that died was simply making space for the one that’s truly yours? You’re not being dismissed. You’re being repositioned for a higher version of your calling—one that requires you to release what no longer fits. The loss isn’t your failure. It’s your pivot point. - The unfamiliar path is the one that builds you
Detours are rarely part of the pitch deck. But they are often where the real transformation happens. The long way, the harder way, the winding way—it teaches you things the fast track never could. Trust the terrain. Even if it’s rocky. Even if it doesn’t look like anyone else’s. It’s growing muscles you didn’t know you needed: grit, grace, and the ability to adapt under pressure. You are not lost. You’re being forged.
Final reflection
If you’re standing at the edge of something that no longer works—if you’re grieving a business that didn’t grow or a vision that feels out of reach—let me remind you: this is not the end. It’s the beginning of something wiser, deeper, and more authentically you.
You may not see it clearly now. You may be navigating dust, silence, or even despair. But one day, you’ll look back and say:
“That roadblock didn’t break me. It built me.”
You, my love, are unbreakable.
