When Everything You’ve Built Outgrows You

I’ve never been in this position before.

There are opportunities coming in from every direction. Podcasts, filming, partnerships, tours, projects through the trust, shows through the production company, TV ideas to pitch, schools wanting programmes, funding applications, new connections forming. It sounds incredible. And it is. But I’ve never felt this stretched in my life.

I’ve never had this many things moving at once. I’ve never felt this torn between wanting to deliver everything well and realising I actually cannot carry it all alone anymore.

What hit me recently is that everything I’ve built has grown beyond what I can hold on my own. Maia Dreams, Wahanui Productions, the shows, the relationships, the vision. It has outgrown the way I used to run things. And it has taken me a while to catch up with that. I currently contract and employee 29 people and that's a lot to manage and learn.

The part that people don’t always see is how much time and energy I’ve poured into this. The early mornings. The late nights. The years of doing it all myself. Sending the emails. Booking the shows. Writing the work. Touring. Performing. Applying. Planning. Rebuilding when things fell through. I’ve been putting in the hours for a long time with no guarantee that anything would ever grow.

There were seasons where I thought maybe it was just going to stay small forever. Where it felt like nothing would shift. But I kept going anyway. And now I’m standing inside the very thing I prayed for. And it is bigger than me.

Now I’m learning a new kind of leadership. I’m learning how to step back. How to trust people to carry what they’ve been given. How to build systems that work. How to let go of micromanaging. How to hold the vision without holding every single task.

Letting go is hard. Being judged from the outside is hard. People see what they want to see, but they don’t always understand the weight of what I’m carrying. And I get it. I used to think I could do it all too.

But this is what it actually takes. Growth. Delegation. Structure. Support. The ability to release control and build something that can hold more than just your hustle.

Everything I’ve created is bigger than me now. And I’m no longer trying to shrink it down. I’m growing into it. With the right people, the right strategy, and the right mindset. I’m building something that will last.

I’m not there yet. But I’m on my way.