How Indigenous Wisdom Transforms Trauma Into Purpose-Driven Leadership

in Sep 7, 2025

From PTSD to Purpose: An Indigenous Leader's Journey Through Trauma-Informed Business

There's a truth about trauma recovery that no business school teaches: healing isn't linear, and PTSD doesn't disappear—it transforms into something more powerful. Like a smoker who becomes someone who chooses not to smoke, those of us living with PTSD carry invisible markers in our cells. We build thriving businesses, create meaningful impact, develop strong leadership capabilities—and then something happens. A trigger. An uninvited presence. A moment that resurrects trauma we thought we'd conquered.

When Leadership Meets Vulnerability

Last week, I experienced my first PTSD episode in years. A man entered my hotel room uninvited, unannounced, using a key I never shared. Nothing happened, but everything shifted. The familiar darkness returned—that bone-deep recognition of vulnerability that rewrites your nervous system in real-time.

The Power of Community in Business

We navigate these challenges with our mudyigalang (friends). This is what Jo has offered me over decades of sisterhood, exemplifying this truth: healing happens in community, not isolation. This mirrors how Indigenous businesses thrive—through connection, Cultural support, and shared resilience.

I can see the haggardness that comes from the helter skelter of emotional upheaval accompanying a trigger in this photo. It's deeper than an ageing face, it's a dullness, it's a 'I'm on the edge' but I will prevail.

I'm grateful to the women who surrounded me that day... to Shannon and Stevie for your kindness and care, the Aboriginal women gathered to celebrate leadership and community and showed me sisterhood as they immersed themselves in my Indigenous Chocolate Tasting Experience, and my mudyibang (great friend), Jo... you are always there for me. And thank you Tara Stanley for your patience, you're an amazing photographer.

Two women, one Aboriginal and the other Sicilian, with white ochre face paint and feather headdresses, smiling together in friendship against dark background

Indigenous Wisdom Meets Modern Leadership

This truth echoes through 60,000+ years of First Nations history. Just as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have weathered colonisation with extraordinary resilience, we understand that business success isn't about avoiding challenges—it's about transforming them into opportunities for growth.

Like the budyabudya (butterfly) emerging from its chrysalis, we transform through adversity, carrying forward ancestral strength whilst nurturing future generations. This is the foundation of trauma-informed Indigenous business philosophy.

From PTSD to Purpose-Driven Enterprise

The PTSD isn't separate from my mission to build Australia's first 100% Indigenous-owned chocolate business. It's integral to it. When you've felt powerless, you understand power differently. When you've survived, you create pathways for others to thrive. 

Aboriginal woman in traditional ceremonial dress with white ochre face paint, feather headdress, and possum skin cloak, holding native wattle flowers with traditional Aboriginal dot painting artwork visible, photographed against dark background

Key Leadership Insights:

  • Your scars don't disqualify you from leadership—they qualify you for authentic impact
  • Trauma-informed approaches create more inclusive, productive workplaces
  • Indigenous wisdom offers unique perspectives on resilience and recovery
  • Social enterprise models transform personal healing into community empowerment
  • Cultural knowledge systems provide frameworks for sustainable business growth

The Business Case for Resilience

The traumatic event doesn't define us, but it does form us. Sometimes, memory-shadows return to remind us why our work matters—both personally and collectively. For Indigenous business leaders, this connection between personal healing and community empowerment isn't just philosophy—it's practical strategy.

To Business Leaders Reading This

Your resilience isn't measured by the absence of triggers—it's measured by how you rise each time they surface. To anyone carrying invisible wounds: your survival story is your leadership credential. The DNA of trauma may be permanent, but so is the DNA of resilience. And that's what transforms businesses, communities, and creates lasting change.

 

About Chocolate On Purpose®

Fiona Harrison is founder of Chocolate On Purpose®, Australia's first 100% Indigenous-owned chocolate business and certified Social Enterprise. Through Supply Nation certification and trauma-informed leadership approaches, she transforms personal healing into community empowerment, creating pathways for Indigenous economic development whilst preserving Cultural knowledge systems.

Discover our range of native botanical chocolates and learn more about our Cultural storytelling approach to ethical chocolate making.

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