You've ticked all the boxes. Climbed the ladder. Built the business. So why do you feel exhausted all the time?

You're caught in a battle between constantly striving for more and never feeling enough. You're 'successful' on paper, yet you feel empty inside. You know something needs to shift, but you're not sure where to start.

Start with you.

This book shows you how to transform from the inside out – not by doing more, but by becoming more of who you were born to be.

No more playing small. Own your magic. Your message matters. 

Hi, I'm Marilise – the person behind MOAR!

I wrote my first book, ROAR! How to Tame the Bully Inside and Out, in 2019 after my own reckoning with workplace abuse and the inner bully I'd carried for decades. I thought the work was done.

I was wrong.

In January 2023, we began moving back to South Africa – I returned first with our youngest son Andreas while Heinie and Heinrich stayed in London for another six months so Heinrich could finish school. 

We spent that year building our barn-style house in Jamestown, on a half-hectare plot of agricultural land called watererven – long, narrow plots on the south bank of the Blouklip River at the foot of the Stellenbosch mountain. We moved in on 19 December 2023. What should have been the happiest day of my life, turned out to be stressful and overwhelming.

I hit burnout again. Different circumstances, same pattern. This time I couldn't blame a toxic boss. I was the only constant.

As I lived this experience, two truths crystallised: 'Marilise, yes, you are meant for more, but you're also more than enough. You have nothing to prove.' I recognised that I'd been living mostly in the feeling of 'I'm meant for more' – constantly striving – and rarely sat in the energy of 'I'm more than enough' – taking time to rest and reconnect with myself. That's what was exhausting me.

Learning to hold both truths changed everything. Now I help driven professionals and leaders do the same – pursuing big dreams from a place of wholeness, not emptiness.

ROAR! and MOAR! are the books I wish I'd had when I was running on fumes but couldn't admit it.

'Marilise has done something rare in the wellbeing space - she's written a book that actually works. Not only another collection of feel-good platitudes or quick fixes, but a genuine roadmap for transformation that honours the messy, non-linear reality of how real change happens.

MOAR! cuts through the noise of workplace wellbeing programmes that treat symptoms while ignoring root causes. Marilise understands what I've seen in hundreds of organisations: you can't create mentally healthy cultures from the outside in. Leaders can't champion wellbeing while running on empty themselves. The system has to shift, and that shift starts with individuals brave enough to do the inner work.

This book brilliantly weaves ancient wisdom with modern workplace challenges, giving you practical tools you can actually use. At its heart, the ROAR! Blueprint isn't theory - it's lived experience distilled into actionable steps. If you’re serious about thriving at work rather than just surviving it, read this book. Then do the work. That's where the magic happens. ’

– Petra Velzeboer, Author of Digital Wellbeing and Begin With You

Once you've read this book, you will: 

• Understand the wellbeing crisis and why traditional wellbeing programmes fail
• Be familiar with the Wellbeing Trio and each member's role in work wellbeing
• Know how to show up as the leader you want to be and know how to create thriving work cultures
• Use the four-step ROAR process to have courageous conversations with yourself and others
• Be guided by the ROAR for MOAR Hero’s Journey as you embark on a daring adventure
• Feel ready to own your unique story and share it with the world. 

Marilise de Villiers Basson is the founder and CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer) of ROAR! Coaching & Consulting. She's a workplace wellbeing expert who specialises in burnout recovery – helping leaders and organisations create thriving cultures by first doing the inner work.

Find out more at www.marilise-de-villiers.com

Her coaching, training and public talks help corporate professionals and entrepreneurs bridge the gap between outer success and inner fulfilment. She works with high achievers who've attained success, but feel empty inside, and leaders who realise they can't create thriving cultures while running on fumes themselves. Marilise's ROAR for MOAR curriculum takes them from firefighting to leading with authentic purpose, discovering the person they want to become and the legacy they want to leave – not through doing more, but through becoming more of who they were born to be.

Her cybersecurity consulting practice transforms tick-box compliance into vibrant, risk-aware cultures where people become the strongest security asset rather than the weakest link – people are the link. She equips teams with the skills to spot risks and speak up about them, while helping leaders create the psychological safety that makes those courageous conversations possible – because courageous conversations are where real security transformation begins.

When she's not coaching, consulting or speaking, you'll find Marilise enjoying a glass of South African wine, lifting weights, cycling (where her best ideas flow!) or dreaming about her future flower farm. Recently returned to South Africa after eighteen years in the UK – a journey she shares throughout this book – she's embracing life back home with her husband and two sons.

'MOAR! is an uplifting and practical guide that genuinely reshapes how we approach our work and our wider lives. Marilise uses the Hero's Journey to shine a light on the everyday challenges we all face, and she does it in a way that encourages each of us to step forward with courage, resilience and a clearer sense of purpose.

What struck me most is the way the book combines thoughtful reflection with exercises that help readers put those insights into practice. It does more than inspire: it gives readers the tools to act. Whether you are building stronger relationships, strengthening your own confidence or working to create a healthier workplace culture, MOAR! provides a roadmap that feels both personal and practical.

I think it's the kind of book that stays with you, prompting you to keep choosing your own Hero's Journey every single day.'

– Rob May, Founder of ramsac and Thought Provoked