This is for those in the messy middle of business

I sat down at my computer with every intention of writing an empowering article about the neuroscience behind getting outdoors, and the difference that would make to your business.

But life is kicking my butt today, so I’ll hope you forgive me a raw, genuine piece from the heart, about what life really looks like when you’re building a business.

And I want to start with an apology, if you’ve been here for a while in either mine, or Ant’s worlds. One of the toughest things we’re facing is trying to find WildEdge’s voice - we know what we’re building, and why we’re doing it - and we are INCREDIBLY passionate about the difference our approach is making to business leaders - but it’s been a learning curve trying to articulate this, usually on the fly, so thank you for sticking around while we figure it out.

I want to tell you a story…

One sunny Saturday morning, about 8 months ago, I declared I was having a morning in bed. My business had put me through the wringer that week, and I was craving multiple coffees, watching the sun rise over the woods and the latest Fourth Wing book (don’t judge me). But of course, as is always the way, by 8:30am I jumped out of bed, declaring I’d just had our £multi-million idea.

I grabbed a roll of IKEA craft paper and unrolled it on the bedroom floor, using the kids’ discarded detritus to hold down the corners, and mapped out a business plan…

That’s the moment WildEdge Worx was born.

Indulge me a flashback…

Since Ant and I had got together, in 2013, we had always dreamed of moving to the Lake District and opening a retreat centre for business leaders. On our second date Ant sent me GPS co-ordinates and told me to meet him up the Dark Peak (not a euphemism). We have always spent our holidays out hiking - as a couple, as a family and solo.

(I’ll save the story of my 40th for another time, where Ant dragged me up Helvellyn via Striding Edge in 6 feet of snow, because he thought I might want to ‘see if I’ve still got it’. Reader: we both survived, but he won’t try that again).

Any time we’ve had a challenge, or a question to figure out or something has gone wrong, we’ve taken ourselves off for a hike. Getting out in nature, the kinaesthetic thinking, the returning to truth - it’s always worked for us like a charm.

But as the years went by, and life (mainly kids’ activities TBF) got in the way of the Lake District move, the dream seemed to be slipping further and further away.

But in truth, everything was quietly aligning in the background, to pave the way for WildEdge Worx.

We escaped from a Golden Cage. Our first business, Adesse Recruitment, looked awesome on paper - we had the team, our accountant was happy with us, we had an amazing client list, I was being invited on the BBC as their careers expert… Everything changed when we gave ourselves permission to admit we hated recruitment, to stop living somebody else’s version of success, and go out and claim our own.

That led to Mountain Boardroom for Ant - taking leaders up mountains for strategy days and running corporate charity events. He trained as a Coach, utilising over 20 years of strategic and operational experience to help brilliant business owners, plus did all the necessary outdoor leader certifications to offer an exceptional service; Hill & Moorland Leader, Mountain Leader, Outdoor First Aid.

I built Claire Ackers Coaching, helping values-led entrepreneurs build aligned and authentic businesses, through programmes like Audacity: Limitless You Academy and Imposter to Impact. I also launched The Rewilding retreat, now in its 4th year, with retreat no. 10 happening in 2026. I also did my outdoor training; Hill & Moorland Leader, First Aid, Wild Swim Leader, Open Water Lifeguard.

We were taking this stuff pretty seriously!

But in 2025 we hit a wall. It was like we were both running a million miles an hour, but working in silos. I was terrible at anything involving an SOP, so my business was creaking around the edges. Ant was banging his head against a brick wall, trying to build a repeatable sales engine. We were trying to help each other, but were too stretched. Chuck in the mix moving TWICE in 2024 (I’ll save that story for another day, but it was HORRIBLE), and three kids who were needing us more as they got older, not less… something had to give.

And that what was led to that golden Eureka moment on that Saturday morning.

Fast forward to present day and we have a fully-formed, living, breathing business, offering a range of services to business leaders; Trailblazer Days, The Rewilding retreat and a full suite of 1:1 coaching programmes.

We’ve burned down the bridges of our old businesses; Mountain Boardroom and Claire Ackers Coaching - all our eggs are in the WildEdge basket.

We have no family support, no safety net, no Plan B. No alternate income stream for a rainy day

We 100% believe this is the future of entrepreneurship, the Gold Standard of how purpose and impact-led business leaders become the leaders their businesses need them to be, by having breakthroughs they’d never get in the boardroom.

It’s scary AF, but Ant and I just know we’re building our legacy.

Which brings us to the ‘messy middle’.

This is the part when you’re not a newbie, you’ve got a few battle scars, but you’ve also got some momentum behind you.

The part where you know you’ve got something special, and there are glimmers that you’re on the right path, but you’ve not quite reached the green pastures yet.

The bit where you’re constantly out of your comfort zone, and putting out fires, and some days fighting to keep your head above water.

And the part where Imposter Syndrome creeps in, or self-doubt, and you catch yourself looking around for the boss to tell you what to do, before realising, shit, it’s you.

Ant and I aren’t claiming to have the perfect business. We won’t try to tell you that we have the secret blueprint that will help you scale. We’re messy, raw individuals who have come together to build something we believe in, because it’s worked for us.

What we can do is walk by your side, and teach you how we do it, so you can have your own breakthroughs.

We’re calling ourselves Business Leadership Growth Engineers. It’s a self-first, strategy second approach, with a bit of soul thrown in.

We can help you be the leader your business needs you to be.