The Ortigia Effect: Rebuilding Big Dreams, One Brick at a Time
I’ve just come back from a week in Ortigia, the historic heart of Syracuse in Sicily and I’ve fallen completely in love.
It’s one of those places that wraps itself around you. Pale stone streets. Balconies dripping with flowers. Cafés that spill onto sun-washed squares. You can feel centuries of stories under your feet.
But chatting with taxi drivers and locals over coffee, I learned that it wasn’t always this beautiful.
After World War II, Ortigia was on its knees.
Families left for the mainland. Buildings fell into ruin. For decades, people said it was too far gone, too poor, too complicated, too broken to fix.
Yet a handful of people refused to give up.
Architects, business owners, and local leaders started quietly rebuilding. They saw potential in the cracks, not failure.
They didn’t start with grand gestures. They started with one street, one building, one conversation at a time.
They brought others into the vision convincing, cajoling, and sometimes just stubbornly showing up until people could see what they saw.
It took years. Funding dried up. Projects stalled. But they kept going.
And now? Ortigia is thriving. The narrow lanes are alive with music and movement. The buildings glow in the evening light. It’s a living example of how patience, collaboration, and belief can bring even the most fragile dream back to life.
Why this matters for business (and for you)
Walking those streets, I couldn’t help thinking: every business has its Ortigia moment.
The time when everything feels too hard, too uncertain, too expensive. When you look at your plans and think, maybe I should just move on to something easier.
That’s the moment when leadership really counts.
Not the spreadsheets or the strategy but the quiet belief that what you’re building still matters.
Like those early rebuilders in Sicily, you don’t have to fix everything at once.
You just need to start. One small section of your business. One process. One brave conversation.
And you need people who can see the bigger picture with you because big dreams only work when others catch the vision too.
Clarity before momentum
If your 2025 feels a bit like Ortigia before the rebuild; messy, confusing, maybe even a little neglected — this is the time to pause and plan.
Before you rush into another year, get clear on what you actually want to build.
What you’ll protect. What you’ll rebuild. What you’ll finally let go of.
That’s exactly what we’ll do together at my Clarity Planning Day.
It’s a focused, supportive morning designed to help you step back from the noise, reconnect with your bigger picture, and leave with a practical plan that makes sense for you.
You’ll walk away knowing what to prioritise, what to delegate, and what to stop doing altogether — so you can start 2026 with confidence and direction, not chaos and guesswork.
🗓 Date: Wednesday 10th December
📍 Location: Malvern
🫘 £125
🎟 Book your place: https://onlinemediaworks.co.uk/b/planningparty
A final thought
Ortigia didn’t come back to life through one grand project.
It came back through steady effort, clear vision, and people who believed in something better.
That’s how businesses grow too not overnight, but brick by brick, guided by people who see the beauty before everyone else does.
So, here’s my question for you:
What part of your business or your dream needs rebuilding next year?
Come and find your clarity before 2026 begins.
et’s turn your vision into something solid, step by step.
Because big dreams do work, when you build them with heart, patience, and a plan.