I revived my broken dream

My name is Anna-Marie Philander and I am a single, divorced mother of the two most amazing kids in the world- and I am a dreamer. My daughter Odile Madeline Muller, a former Miss Namibia and now married; and my son Franz Duncan Gertze, a petrol/diesel mechanic in training- are the reason why I am alive today.

When I was little, I had this dream to have the perfect, save marraige, 2 beautiful children, a dream job/and/or my own business. Yip, I indeed had it all, but it failed, ended up in broken pieces.

See, God gave me a second change in life. Once I had it all. ... A ''perfect marraige'', a ''perfect job'' and the ''ideal family''. But due to wrong choices (my job,as senior Cabin Attentant at the local airline, Air Namibia; was my idol); and lots of reasons why marraiges fail today; I've lost it all through a sad divorce.

Followed my divorce, I went into a deep, dark pool of depression, which robbed me from my self-confidence and ability to perform on the job. I had suicidal thoughts, low self-esteem, and felt restless and inadequate most of the time. Employee wellness at my workplace mainly focused on the physical side and not much attention was given to emotional health, where I was suffering the most.

After several months of struggle, I finally realized that only with the help of God, I could get healing. I relied heavily on my faith, got a life coach, a counselor, and prayer partner all of whom played a part in helping me to overcome my depression, balanced out my life, and craft my personal mission: to launch her own life coach and personal development consultancy.

As I emerged from my depression, I enrolled in an MBA program with the goal of retraining myself to enter my new found field to launch my own life coaching business. Degree in hand, I resigned, after 19 years of service; from Air Namibia and took early pension, all of which I invested in my new business. Using my life savings, resulted in many sleepless nights and worry over whether I've had made a mistake. The money was definitely a challenge in the beginning, but having recovered from my depression I was confident and – importantly – surrounded myself with people who believed in me and reminded me to be patient … that good things would come.

I knew if I could overcome my giants, God would enable me to help others to do the same. I named my business Dun Dile after my children, Duncan and Odile. The company trades as ‘’Done Deal’’ and our slogan is ‘’IT IS DONE’.’ So, daily when I pray for my company, I actually pray for my children!

I use my own experience to help clients overcome their obstacles, deal with stress,andbuild confidence. I had to revive a broken dream and I feared that I would fail again, but decided to do it again; to make use of the second chance God gave me.

Remember, courage will make you stand out from the crowd.Courage can be the master of fear. Use that to your advantage. My past was dark and unkwnown, but I am embracing my bright promising future.

I am a motivational speaker and life purpose coach and work with companies doing team-building and personal development initiatives. While the “always on” of being self-employed can be tough, I know this is my God-ordained calling.

I see Dun Dile evolving into a well-known brand in Namibia and even outside its borders of Namibia. I believe God wired us to dream big dreams and instilled greatness within each one of us. All we need to do is to search ourselves and find it.