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Belle Guaran

For those curious about what it's like to leave a C-suite role and dive headfirst into the unknown, you'll receive regular updates from my journey to build something new - at the bottom of the ocean.

Featured Post

Hello from nearly 40m deep!

DIVE DEEP The start of a leap into the unknown. 40m is big to me. 40m is about as high as the Sydney Harbour Bridge sits off the water. It takes two seconds for a skydiver to cover that distance falling out of a plane. It’s almost as deep as the Niagara Falls is high. After I booked the trip to the Philippines and left my job, my marriage ended. It was unexpected - I can be like a guard dog whose jaw locks on despite the blows, committed to a purpose even when commitment stops being sane. I...

DIVE DEEP Hello from corporate detox! It's been nearly two months since I've worked for anyone. My days are gorgeously varied. I can wake, walk the dog, gather rosemary and oranges growing over fences, make a syrup from them to steep overnight. I can teach my friend's baby to say “cheers”, I can cook eggplant curry 3 times until it tastes like the one I had when I was in school. I can go for hikes in the middle of the week, explore the food markets of Western Sydney, and listen to friends...

DIVE DEEP The start of a leap into the unknown I’m in the ladies shower rooms on a remote island in the Philippines. I’ve rinsed off the saltwater from my dive but it’s 40 degrees so I’ve all I’ve done is replaced the saltwater with sweat. The German freediver next to me asks if I achieved my dive goals that morning. I tell her I am inching closer each day but that I will be excited if I can reach 40m and she asks “Why only 40m?” I explain that the internal component of my cochlear implant is...

SURFACE INTERVAL The start of a leap into the unknown I’m about to pack up my life and head to the Philippines to try and dive 40m into the ocean. Let’s rewind. At the start of 2026 I quit a job I loved. Actually, let’s rewind some more. After a decade in community services I was working as a People & Culture Executive, trying to be a good leader for other people. Someone asked me, “But Belle, what do you want” and I couldn’t answer that question. Trying to do something for myself, I booked a...