Big Energy: A conversation with Folake on the launch of her book.

For Folake, that moment came during a profound health crisis—what she now calls her awakening. It was in the thick of uncertainty and pain that something powerful began to stir. Not just healing, but a return. A return to herself.

Today, she’s the author of Big Energy, a bold, soulful guide to empowerment—particularly for women navigating midlife, where clarity, courage and inner strength can feel just out of reach. But according to Folake, they’re not. In fact, they’ve been with us all along.

I sat down with her to talk about her story, her spiritual transformation, and what it means to live a life from the inside out.

When I ask Folake where this journey began, she pauses. “A life-changing experience woke me up,” she says quietly. “I knew I had to address my lifestyle. Something had to shift.”

That something turned out to be everything.

What followed was a deep dive into meditation, breathwork, and healing practices that felt, as she puts it, “a little woo-woo at first.” But the results were undeniable. “We all have the ability to find our power,” she explains. “We just need to remember how to connect to it.”

Healing from the inside

While her tone is calm and grounded, the story Folake tells is nothing short of extraordinary. At one point, she was living with a brain tumour—dependent on daily medication to manage excruciating headaches. But as she deepened her connection to her body and spirit, something shifted.

“I became so in tune with myself that the tumour… it was just gone. And I didn’t need the medication anymore.”

She shares this not as a miracle cure or medical claim—but as a personal truth. “It was the beginning of understanding that real power lives inside us. We’re just never taught to look there.”

The birth of Big Energy

The book, she tells me, began almost accidentally. Journals filled with her thoughts and reflections became a resource. “I wanted to help women understand themselves. I wanted them to see that there’s another way to live.”

As a lecturer and mentor for women in leadership, Big Energy became a natural extension of that work—a guide for those feeling lost, stuck, or simply burned out by the demands of modern life.

“So many of us are led by external forces,” she says. “What we ‘should’ do, who we ‘should’ be. But when we begin channelling the energy inside us, things shift. We start creating our lives instead of reacting to them.”

On vulnerability, finances, and starting over

I ask Folake if she ever felt exposed while writing the book.

She nods. “Absolutely. It was very difficult at times. You don’t know how people will receive what you write—especially when it’s this personal.”

There’s a moment of stillness as she describes some of her darkest days—facing financial pressure after years of running a successful film and video production company. “It was terrifying to go from being in control to needing help,” she admits.

But even then, her message is clear: “Nothing changes externally until we change internally.”

It’s a powerful statement—one born not from theory, but lived experience. She talks openly about the importance of forgiveness, of reclaiming autonomy from controlling environments, of choosing to do the inner work even when the outer world feels unmanageable.

There’s a particular section in Big Energy that feels like it could resonate with most of us. It’s about how we forget ourselves, especially as women.

“Mothers, carers, organisers… we’re so used to putting everyone else first. But how often do we stop and ask: ‘Do I love myself? Do I come first for me?’”

The silence that follows is loud.

“When we start working on ourselves,” she continues, “we develop boundaries. And yes, that can be lonely. But eventually, the people who stay—those are the real ones. And that’s all that matters.”

Slowing down. Tuning in. Rising up.

I ask her what the first step is for someone who wants to reconnect with their energy.

“Slow down,” she says. “Relax the body. Open up. Get quiet. You can’t access your energy when you’re running on empty.”

She recommends meditation, breathwork, even shamanic healing—but insists the path is unique for everyone. “The key is to come home to yourself.”

We talk about how society teaches us to seek everything outside of us—success, love, validation. But Big Energy is about reversing that pattern.

“We’ve been conditioned to look outward,” she says. “But real power? It’s always been inward.”

The takeaway

As we wrap up, I ask Folake what she wants readers to walk away with.

Her answer is immediate:
“To know they can create the life they want. Nothing is impossible.”

In a world that often rushes us, drains us, and demands our energy, Big Energy feels like an invitation to reclaim it—for ourselves.

https://folakebalogun.com/