From Immigration Denial to $1 Billion in Flow: What Happens When You Trust the Universe Over the Hustle

The Moment Everything Changed

Easter 2022. Brussels immigration denied me entry to the UK.

I stood there with nothing but a weekend bag and my phone. My London life, director of multiple companies, business partnerships, and material achievements, was gone in an instant. I thought it was devastating. The Universe knew it was liberation.

What followed was the most unconventional business education of my life. It didn't come from boardrooms or business schools. It came from 67 countries of soul-led travel, healing ceremonies, and learning to listen beyond logic.

Building Success by the Old Rules

For over a decade, I had operated at high levels of real estate and finance. Starting at Colliers International as Team Head, I founded Mortgage Focus where I secured over $100 million in loans for clients. As a founding partner at Tarian Real Estate, I led the firm’s expansion into overseas property markets and grew a network of over 50 realtors under our license, building cross-border relationships across Asia.

By the time I joined DWG as Director, I was managing significant property portfolios spanning the UK, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia. Later at Jones Lang LaSalle as Senior Director Private Office, I worked with high-net-worth clients on bespoke commercial real estate solutions. I had titles, metrics, and the external markers of success.

But beneath it all, I carried anxiety, perfectionism, and a relentlessly critical inner voice. My value was measured in outcomes. My worth was tied to achievement. I believed success meant control - wake up early, be efficient, perfect planning prevents problems, hustle harder to achieve more.

I was exhausted from holding it all together.

The Awakening Journey

After Brussels, I returned to Singapore with no plan besides listening to the whisper that said "move." I pulled out a world map and booked tickets without logic, following intuition instead of itineraries. At first, the silence was terrifying. Then it became the portal. 

In Laos, silent meditation retreats taught me that decision-making improves when you can hear your own breath. For someone who thrived on constant communication, sitting in silence for four days without speaking was revolutionary.

The real transformation came in Peru. Through a healing ceremony facilitated by Suraya Sam's mother Kiki, a woman who had literally died and returned to life, I experienced what it meant to see reality through unconditioned eyes. During the ceremony, I purged years of achievement-addiction and self-criticism. Kiki looked at me and said, "You were born in the wrong family" and called me a "baby goddess," seeing something in me I had forgotten existed.

I felt grass on my skin like it was the first time. Colors became more vivid. I was literally coming back to life in my body.

The Unexpected Birth of Vis Magna

I wasn't trying to build a business. I was trying to build a life. But as I healed and aligned more deeply with myself, opportunities began flowing toward me. I found myself naturally connecting founders, visionaries, and businesses with aligned partners, from investors and family offices to developers and creators, across three continents.

These "small favors" compounded until Vis Magna emerged as a living ecosystem - not through force or strategy, but through energy and resonance. While I was traveling the world and healing generational patterns, I had "accidentally" built the most aligned business of my life.

Cosmic Love and Perfect Timing

The Universe wasn't finished orchestrating. On August 22, 2023, I met Derek in Seattle during what astrologers call an "Eros love portal activation." Our meeting required every possible travel disaster to align the timing perfectly.

My flight from São Paulo was canceled due to a pilot's medical emergency. After rebooking and delays, I landed in Chicago only to face another delay when the customs system crashed. Meanwhile, Derek's Range Rover windshield dislodged on the highway, which he taped together with blue painter's tape and kept driving.

We finally met after midnight Seattle time, stepping together into this cosmic love portal while Venus and Jupiter were in exact square alignment. Everything that went wrong had actually gone right to bring us to that exact moment.

From Force to Flow: The New Paradigm

The contrast between my former beliefs and awakened understanding is profound:

The old me believed:

• Hustle harder to achieve more

• Perfect planning prevents problems

• Money doesn't fall from trees

• Control everything or lose everything

• Never show weakness or vulnerability

The awakened me discovered:

• Flow creates more than force

• The Universe has better timing than my calendar

• Abundance comes through alignment, not anxiety

• Redirections are course corrections, not failures

• Authenticity is the ultimate competitive advantage

Vis Magna Today

Through this aligned approach, Vis Magna has become a global network that bridges the practical and mystical.

Vis Magna is a living ecosystem that has now:

• Facilitated over $1 billion in transactions

• Managed 2,000+ properties across 8 countries

• Closed 17 M&A deals for listed companies

But beyond the metrics, we've created something deeper. Through our Human Design Academy, we guide leadership teams to understand their energetic blueprints to reduce absenteeism, increase productivity and unlock their energy to create cultures where people thrive.

Every aspect emerged through energy, not effort. Through resonance, not resistance.

A Message for Conscious Entrepreneurs

To my fellow entrepreneurs, founders, CEOs and team leaders who are tired of the old paradigm: Your intuition is not "woo-woo" - it's your most sophisticated business intelligence. Your need for meaning is not a weakness - it's your superpower. Your desire for both success and alignment is not unrealistic - it's the future.

What if the breakdown is actually the breakthrough? What if the detour is actually the path?

What if trusting your soul creates more wealth than crushing your spirit ever could?

I am living proof that you can build an empire through energy, manifest millions through consciousness, and create lasting impact by honoring both achievement and alignment. The greatest force of all is love - in business, in life, in everything.

The Invitation

If this resonates, I invite you to explore how energetic intelligence might transform your venture. Through Vis Magna and our Human Design Academy, we support leaders and companies that feel the tension between profit and purpose.

The next wave of business will be built by those who trust flow over force, clarity over speed, and love over fear.

Joan Lim is the founder of Vis Magna, a global network that has facilitated over $1 billion in conscious business transactions, and Vis Magna Academy, which provides Human Design-based leadership development for progressive organizations worldwide.