Gayle’s story is about making positive change.
GITH Woman
Gayle Murphy is a calm, composed, charismatic and uninhibited individual on a mission to make the world a better place. She’s a Coach in the truest sense of the word, a Consultant on Sustainability, and runs a string of successful sustainability businesses on Malta whilst attentively maintaining her inner hobo and staying present.
She’s kind of superhuman. Not only does she run Sustainable Eats & Treats, a restaurant, cafe and bar certification company, she also runs Strategic Roots, a Consultancy outfit working on strategies and policies with companies and organisations in Malta, plus Global Green Events which looks after a whole catalogue of clients within the tourism sector. She is also an in-demand Business & Personal Coach and travels the globe doing workshops helping people to change their lives for the better. Doffs hat.
Gayle and I met and chatted over a lengthy Zoom call whilst sharing a glorious Maltese sunset in January. She’d just had a successful day certifying new restaurants for Sustainable Eats & Treats and I on the other hand, was feeling overwhelmed that day, blaming the full moon. Within the first five minutes of our conversation, I welcomed an indirect reminder to slow down and take some time out.
She’s gooooood.
Gayle grew up in nature, in the countryside near Brighton and Cambridge, and wanted to travel for as long as she could remember but she entered the corporate workforce young. She distinctly remembers going back home at the age of 21 as her grandfather had passed away and that day will be etched in her mind forever. It was the day she decided to really live. And that meant travelling. It meant following her heart without compromise. It meant not wasting time and it meant starting now. So she swapped the corporate gig for working on a farm, growing courgettes, and driving a tractor before moving over to Malta. The next decade was spent split between here and New Zealand where she decided to learn more about her passion driver, sustainability.
Her coaching and consulting has walked hand in hand with her love for rambling the globe and sustainability and she learns something new every day. As a Business and Personal Coach, Gayle is all about teaching people to change and showing them that they can change. Uncovering passion-lead possibilities, and turning those passions into functional and sustainable business models is her forte. She also understands that collaboration and inspiring each other go hand in hand.
Gayle is a changemaker and an explorer. She is an investigator and a peacemaker and a guardian of Gaia. She puts her success down to her attitude and her approach. She has a self-confessed willingness to show up, openly and support. She’s not about criticism or demotivation. She’s all about understanding and finding solutions to problems and putting in policies that are relevant, achievable, and that work. She believes in surrender, being humble, getting out your own way, listening, and being guided and switches off listening to anything from Sci-Trance, Jazz to really rootsy indigenous music.
| I asked Gayle, if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? Her reply was simple as we both took in that super special sunset. ‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than exactly where I am right now.’ |
What drives you to do what you do?
Making change. For myself, for others and for the planet.
What INspires you?
Nature inspires me. Learning to live sustainably, being on the land. It’s about surrender, being humble, getting out of your own way, listening and being guided.
What has been your biggest lesson?
My biggest lesson has definitely been surrendering. Letting the divine work through us. To move myself and my fears and my doubts out the way and be guided. Then allowing that energy to flow through me and following it no matter what.
‘There are as many forms as love as there are moments in time.’
Mansfield Park (Jane Austin)
What is your proudest achievement?
There are so many things I have gone through that have been real gems in my life. I am working a lot with the Ministries, with national stakeholders, with the Malta Tourism Authority creating policy and strategy and national sustainability directories which are all in line with my values. But ultimately, I am where I am now and that is my proudest achievement. I have travelled around the world, truly, deeply lived and felt, and experienced, and followed my heart along the way. I feel so blessed.
What’s your tip for life-work balance?
It’s taken me a long time to get here but over the years I have learned to regular myself so my biggest tip would be to listen to yourself. Tune into yourself on a daily basis (more if you can) and if you’re feeling frazzled or tired, or anything – take time out. Ask yourself these questions;
What is it that’s driven me to this space? Am I working under somebody else’s expectations rather than my own? Have I taken on too much? Am I worried that I’ll miss out? Can I choose to do one or two things or even stop for a bit? What is best for me?
What advice would you give your younger self?
To know that following your dream is the right path. Don’t doubt yourself. Be humble and don’t be swayed by others telling you to ‘get a proper career’. Listen to your heart and everything is going to be OK, you don’t need to worry about anything.
What book changed your life in some way?
Gayle Murphy
The Takeaway. Be inspired by Gayle’s desire to make the world a better place. Learn from her humility and drive, understand the power of surrender, and champion her work and her devotion to resolution.
This is some of the ways that Gayle shows up in the world: Sustainable Eats & Treats | Strategic Roots | Global Green Events
Author: Andrea Britton
Andrea is the Creative Director and Editor at GITH. Tweet her at @andreabritton or send stories to hello@gozointhehouse.com.
