If you’d told me 23 years ago that I’d be leading a global movement of love, community, and contribution, not from a boardroom in the City of London, but from the heart of relationships and connection, I’m not sure I would have believed you. And yet, here I am. This is the story of how I left behind a corporate career to build a purpose-led life, and how saying yes to love changed everything.
I began my career as a project finance lawyer, living life in fast-forward in the City. It was a world of late nights, sharp suits, endless pressure, and very little room for softness or soul. Then, unexpectedly, I became pregnant with my beautiful daughter Emily. The moment she arrived, everything changed. I fell deeply, irreversibly in love, and I knew instantly I couldn’t live a life where I was expected to sacrifice those early years for a big salary
So I made a radical decision: I left the law and started a small business from my front room. Just me, two local parents, and a vision to bring more love, nurture, and connection into the world through baby massage and parent wellness.
That was the beginning of Blossom & Berry, and over the next two decades, I poured everything I had into growing that tiny seed into a flourishing global family of thousands of teachers, reaching millions of people around the world. I learned how to balance babies and business, often without a rulebook, but with a deep commitment to building a model that felt sustainable, expansive, and heart-led. I gave TEDx talks, published books, collaborated with leading brands, ran retreats, and expanded into a product range. I built a million-pound business from love not hustle.
And yet, as I approached my forties, I felt another nudge from within. A call not to do more, but to give more. I wanted to honour everything I’d been given, the lessons, the love, the community, by giving back in a way that felt powerful and personal. I knew, from my years in baby wellness, that what happens in the first 1,001 days of life sets the trajectory for the next 30,000. I also knew that simple, somatic tools like touch, massage, eye contact, and presence could transform outcomes for babies everywhere. So I began searching for a way to share this knowledge in places where love and nurture were in short supply, in orphanages, in vulnerable communities, in places where connection could be a life-saving medicine.
I looked for months, sending out emails, making connections, but nothing quite fit. Then one day, at a festival, I stumbled across a pair of magical sunglasses called Love Specs. These glasses transformed every point of light into a heart. I was enchanted. A quick Google search led me to the creators, a UK charity called Love Support Unite, founded by two sisters who had given up their lives in the UK to create sustainable, community-led development projects in Malawi.
I emailed them on a whim, asking if they had any contacts in Malawi who might welcome a project on nurturing touch and connection in early childhood. To my surprise, they said yes, and invited me to visit. So, without a second thought, I booked a flight and flew to Malawi with one of my students.
I arrived at the airport in Lilongwe not knowing what to expect. I’d never met Nina and Alice, the founders, in real life, and yet, when I saw them, it was like love at first sight. These women were the real deal: living in humble conditions, raising money through love specs, running an orphanage for girls, and setting up sustainable farming and education projects with almost no budget. Their integrity, devotion, and courage humbled me.
Over the next 10 days, we trained nine orphanage staff, visited outreach centres, taught in special needs schools, and witnessed Malawi’s first sustainable school funded by agriculture and permaculture. I was deeply moved. This wasn’t charity, this was community empowerment. And I knew I couldn’t just walk away. I made a vow to stay involved.
That trip changed the trajectory of my life. I became a UK director of Love Support Unite and helped lead a campaign that raised over £100,000 in our first year. We built schools, launched Family Future Farms (a co-op project supporting food security and sustainable land use), funded adult education, and expanded medical outreach. One of our most beautiful projects was the Mother & Baby Health Initiative, which trained women in local communities to become wellness leaders, teaching hygiene, menstrual health, baby massage, and developmental play.
The ripple effect was extraordinary, not because we had raised money, but because we had millions of moments of love, shared in solidarity. That’s the ethos of Love Support Unite, love, support, unity, and it’s a model that’s shown me what’s possible when we come together, heart first.
Since then, philanthropy has been a golden thread woven through everything I do. At Blossom & Berry, I founded The Mother Tree Foundation, an internal fund that donates £100 a month to community-led initiatives from within our teacher network. These may not be grand gestures, but they are deeply intentional acts of care. One teacher used the fund to create a ‘welly boot library’ so that parents could bring their children into nature regardless of income. Another used it to run free baby massage classes in underserved communities. We also recently co-founded Little Pips, a nature-based nursery in Palestine that offers a safe, nurturing space for play amid unimaginable trauma.
To me, this is what it means to be in business as a woman, as a mother, as a leader: not just creating success for ourselves, but turning around and saying, Who else can I bring with me?
The principles I live by in all my work, whether it’s Blossom & Berry, Love Support Unite, or Love Millions Academy, are simple: connection, community, and contribution. And I believe contribution is the most underestimated superpower in business. We talk a lot about visibility, revenue, and growth but contribution brings meaning. It grounds success in service and turns profit into purpose.
I want every woman reading this to know: you can build a thriving business and be a philanthropist. You can raise a family and raise funds. You can be both fierce and gentle, strategic and soulful. You don’t have to choose between success and service. In fact, your deepest joy may lie in weaving them together.
Philanthropy isn’t just about giving money. It’s about showing up. Saying yes. Using what you have to create more beauty in the world. Whether it’s a skill, a connection, or an hour of your time it all counts.
And if you’re looking for a sign to begin, let this be it.
You don’t need millions to make a difference.
Just a heart full of love, a vision for change
and the courage to act.
Gayle Berry Bio;
Gayle Berry is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and founder of Blossom & Berry and Love Millions Academy. With over 23 years of experience, she has built a million-pound global wellness brand, trained thousands of practitioners worldwide, authored multiple books, and mentors visionary women to scale purpose-led businesses into global movements.
| Phone | +447958626933 |
| gayle@iamgayleberry.com | |
| Website | www.iamgayleberry.com |
