The Many Faces of Love: A Valentine’s Reflection for Women Who Lead at Work and at Home

By Hayley McDonnell.

Valentine’s Day often brings us images of roses, candlelight, and heart-shaped cards. However, for women who lead, build, and create - the entrepreneurs, the executives, the change-makers - love shows up in so many more places than romance alone. Love, in its many forms, can be a powerful driver of success, fulfilment, and resilience.

There’s a well-worn saying: “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” For many women building businesses or leading in their fields, that love is not found but forged. It’s in the late nights spent refining a vision, the joy of solving a problem that once felt insurmountable, and the freedom of working for yourself. This is not about living to work, a trap so many ambitious women know well, but rather about allowing work to enrich your life, to give you purpose, confidence, and autonomy, whilst inspiring others who see this work in action. 

True entrepreneurial love is not blind devotion. It’s a conscious choice to nurture something meaningful that reflects your values and ambitions. Like any relationship, it takes effort, honesty, self-care and a willingness to do more and be more. 

For women leaders, love is also about connection - with clients, teams, and communities. It’s in mentoring another woman to step into her own power. It’s in building workplaces where female progression isn’t an exception but the expectation. It’s in celebrating not only our own wins but those of other women who dare to rise. I truly believe this, having worked with female alumnae from one institution I have worked in who speak honestly about the impact of knowing that other women have not merely talked the talk but done the walking, let's call it stomping, before then. These are women who are at the forefront of science (think NASA) who speak of teachers who guided, supported and encouraged, or female leaders in the British Army who speak of the camaraderie amongst girlfriends who offer the same. The list is probably endless. 

This form of love is expansive. It challenges societal norms, reshapes industries, and brings compassion into commerce. Gratitude sits at the heart of it: gratitude for the opportunities earned, the lessons learned, and the people who support us along the way, alongside the sacrifices other women have made in the past to allow this denied progression now slowly becoming more the norm. We all know there is still much work to do. 

When you work for yourself, you hold both freedom and responsibility. The joy is not just in the results but in the ownership - the sense that your work, whatever that is, aligns with who you are. This alignment is profoundly protective of mental health. It allows women to reject the burnout culture of “more, faster, now” and instead lean into a more sustainable rhythm of ambition. Not always easy for so many, as ‘imposter syndrome’ quite often sits on the shoulders of women. Support for adopting and applying the right mindset is available through the community and from other women, of course. 

This, in turn, creates a ripple effect. A woman at peace with her work and herself brings stability, creativity, and resilience to her teams, families, and communities.

At its core, love is an act of empowerment. To love yourself enough means you set boundaries. If you love your vision enough, you will see it through. If you love your sisters in business enough, you lift them up rather than compete with them.

Valentine’s Day is not only a celebration of romantic love, but of the fierce, quiet, everyday love that women leaders live out in boardrooms, start-ups, coffee shops, kitchen tables and studios around the world.

Love, in all its forms, can be the quiet force that sustains us, the bold spark that empowers us, and the shared thread that connects women leading change around the world.

A Final Reflection

This Valentine’s Day, take a moment to ask yourself:

• Socially – How do I show love in the way I collaborate, connect, and contribute to my community?
• Morally – In what ways does love guide the fairness, inclusion, and ethics of my leadership?
• Spiritually – Where do I find love in the passion and purpose that give me strength in my work?
• Culturally – How do I express love through creativity, diversity, and the values I bring into both my work and life?

Lead with love—and the world will follow.

Hayley McDonnell is a passionate advocate of the just Hygge philosophy, living each day with intention and ease and flow at its core. A former teacher/middle manager of 24+ years, she has worked through several transitions and continues to do so. 

Oulton Lowe Living is where she shares reflections on home, seasons, slow living, creativity, and the shaping of a life with intention. It’s thoughtful, gentle, and rooted in lived experience — and that ethos carries through everything she writes and creates.