When energy is limited, systems matter more

In this edition of the Serenichron Business Insights Series, I reconnect with Sally Callow, the founder of Stripy Lightbulb CIC. Sally isn’t your typical entrepreneur. She lives with ME/CFS, a condition that drastically limits energy and cognitive resources. And yet, she’s managing to lead a not-for-profit dedicated to educating professionals about ME/CFS and building systems that actually move the needle.

If you read our previous article, “Pushing forward through the fog: From Awareness to Action,” you’ll remember Sally’s resilience and the birth of Stripy Lightbulb from her advocacy and lived experience. That piece explored the roots of her work: how she transformed personal challenge into systemic momentum, challenging outdated medical norms and making space for patient-led reform.

This article picks up where we left off. But now, we dive into the infrastructure behind the impact: the spreadsheets, AI tools, volunteer networks, and purpose-driven decision-making that help Sally keep going, even on the hard days. It’s about what it takes to build something durable when time, energy, and cognitive clarity are all in short supply.

What follows is a conversation about sustainable impact, values-driven strategy, and how tech can serve, not overwhelm, those doing critical work.

Making Purpose the Priority

Sally’s journey began not with ambition, but with necessity. Living with ME/CFS meant that the traditional definitions of success were no longer accessible. Sally shifted her focus from traditional career milestones to something far more personal and profound, reclaiming purpose in a world that often overlooks people with chronic illnesses.

“When you get ME, you kind of realise that all of your skills, your knowledge, your qualifications don’t mean anything, because you can’t put them towards a full-time job anymore, your career’s gone.”

That quote stayed with me. It’s a stark reminder of how quickly your professional identity can vanish when your health is compromised. But rather than retreat, Sally looked for what she could do, and built something of lasting value.

She didn’t wait for perfect conditions. With limited energy and experience, she tapped into what she knew best: social research, advocacy, and the lived experience of ME/CFS. From that, she created a social enterprise with a unique mission: educating professionals who should have known more, and giving voice to patients who had been sidelined for too long.

“Money is not my motivation. My priority is training people about ME/CFS and possibly having it as an income stream for me.”

She made clear that profit was never the goal, impact was. That clarity guided every decision, from the structure of Stripy Lightbulb to the way she engages her audience. She even ensures that 50% of any surplus goes directly to ME/CFS research, underscoring her commitment to ethical business practices. It’s business shaped by values, guided by conscience, and anchored in a community-first compass.

Systems as Survival Tools

We talk a lot at Serenichron about using systems to reduce friction. For Sally, it’s even more fundamental. Systems are how she gets anything done. Without them, the daily logistics of running a social enterprise, emails, meetings, content planning, advocacy, and follow-ups, would be impossible to maintain.

“When I have the thought to do something, I have to do it there and then, or it doesn’t get done.”

Her window of opportunity is narrow. When she gets an idea or remembers a task, she must act immediately or risk it slipping away. What might seem like a personal preference is, in Sally’s case, a crucial survival mechanism for working with cognitive dysfunction. Forgetfulness plays a constant role in her process: one she’s learned to anticipate and work around with careful systems and timing.

She doesn’t operate with detailed strategic plans or productivity dashboards. Instead, she relies on what’s within her control: spreadsheets, short notes, and sheer determination.

“The most organized I am is with the charter. I’ve now got a spreadsheet and every conversation gets logged manually.”

That kind of manual system works, for now, but it comes at a cost. Every ounce of effort spent logging a call or chasing a follow-up is energy that can’t be used elsewhere. Which is why there’s so much potential in evolving this infrastructure. Automation, CRM tools, and intuitive project management platforms could help her reclaim some of that cognitive bandwidth and shift her focus to high-value, mission-critical work.

And here’s where AI becomes more than just a buzzword. For Sally, it’s like having an extra team member.

“AI gives me the nudge in the right direction… It’s almost like having another member of staff.”

She doesn’t use AI to replace thinking but to enable it, especially during cognitive fog. It’s a strategic partner in the background, suggesting, reminding, and nudging her toward action when clarity feels out of reach. This detail often gets lost in the AI conversation. For Sally, capability takes precedence over efficiency, sometimes it’s simply about making it through the day with something tangible to show for it.

Turning Thought into Action, Systematically

A big theme emerged around building leverage through tools and systems. Sally manages nearly every aspect of the operation herself, from strategic decisions and partnerships to communications and content development. That’s a lot of intellectual and emotional labor for anyone, let alone someone navigating a fluctuating chronic illness.

The core challenge lies in translating her unique knowledge and ideas into action reliably. Without a structured way to capture and act on her thoughts, great insights risk slipping through the cracks during low-energy periods. So we explored how technology could serve as a gentle bridge between vision and execution.

“Automation would help… it would allow me to scale up and do other things because less of my time would be taken up.”

Imagine Sally being able to offload 30% of her mental load to an AI-powered assistant that helps log ideas, track conversations, and suggest next steps. This kind of support is no longer a distant dream; it’s accessible with the tools available today. CRM systems that auto-log emails, project trackers that prioritize tasks, and AI platforms that generate summaries or blog drafts, these can function like a part-time operations partner.

There’s a significant opportunity for Sally to integrate AI tools for task management, communication, and even content planning. From CRM integration to AI-assisted project tracking, these systems can help ensure nothing slips through the cracks, and that Sally’s voice remains front and center, without exhausting her in the process.

From Protocol to Policy: The ME-Friendly Hospital Charter

The ME-Friendly Hospital Charter is Sally’s masterstroke. The charter goes beyond being a document; it acts as a bridge between patients and professionals, offering a proactive safeguard for a medical system still catching up on ME/CFS education.

“Whether you know what ME CFS is or not, if you implement the hospital charter, it will make sure that no patients are harmed while we wait for people to pull their finger out and learn about ME.”

That line captures the urgency and simplicity of the charter. Healthcare professionals don’t need to be ME experts to use it, they just need to follow it. It provides a framework of respectful, evidence-based practices that prioritize patient safety and dignity. It empowers hospitals to support ME/CFS patients without waiting for broad curriculum changes or formal training rollouts.

The charter is also free by design. Sally didn’t want cost to become an excuse for inaction. She’s removed as many barriers as possible to get hospitals to take the first step.

Sally’s charter represents patient-driven advocacy in action. Research shows that such approaches are increasingly effective because they “attempt to influence healthcare system change through individual and collective advocacy” and “harness patient involvement to create systems and structures that genuinely place the patient at the centre of care“.

“I said, seriously, the charter is free… because the difficult bit is getting them to want to implement it.”

And that’s the crux of the challenge. Implementation often depends less on available funding and more on the mindset and willingness to embrace change. Sally’s already had successful engagement in Wales, where the charter has sparked productive conversations with health officials. It’s a proof of concept that patient-led frameworks can influence institutional policy.

By offering low-friction, high-impact solutions, Sally is modeling how change can happen from the ground up. Her approach is both radical and refreshingly practical: meet people where they are, give them tools they can use today, and push for the systems to catch up tomorrow.

Doing Strategy Without a Strategy

When I asked Sally if she had a formal strategy, she laughed.

“I wouldn’t call it a strategy. I just use every single available opportunity.”

That honesty says everything. Sally doesn’t operate off a 10-year vision document or neatly color-coded goal trackers. Her strategy is fluid, reactive, and deeply rooted in lived experience. Momentum builds whenever there’s a window of clarity; Sally acts swiftly in those moments and conserves energy when needed.

Rather than following a rigid roadmap, she leans into instinct, a strong network, and sharp focus on the problem at hand. The doors of opportunity don’t stay open long, but she’s skilled at noticing them, and making the most of them while they are.

In many ways, this improvisational approach is her superpower. It’s helped her build unexpected relationships, adapt to shifting health or political landscapes, and keep Stripy Lightbulb relevant. But as we talked, it became clear that this intuitive style could be complemented, not replaced, by just enough structure to protect her energy and memory.

Research on intuitive leadership shows that “businesses led by intuitive decision-making in their strategic planning are 20% more likely to experience growth compared to those relying solely on analytical methods“. Fluid business planning enables organisations to “adapt to changes” when “new market trends and consumer requirements change” and helps “stay a step ahead of competition“.

That said, our conversation opened up the possibility of structuring that momentum. Of creating repeatable actions with AI’s help. Of using smart workflows and contact systems to follow through without burning out.

“If it’s important, if I don’t do it and I forget it, then it’s an issue.”

That’s the danger zone we want to avoid. Important actions deserve a consistent, sustainable system to ensure they’re followed through, especially when energy levels vary. Sally isn’t aiming to simply expand her to-do list, her focus is on doing what matters with greater consistency and less strain. And that’s where Serenichron’s expertise can support her, with CRM, volunteer management systems, scalable training solutions, and ongoing strategic guidance that respects her pace and amplifies her mission.

Conclusion: Strategy with a Human Face

What struck me most about Sally’s story is how personal resilience becomes public value. Stripy Lightbulb CIC represents the culmination of Sally’s advocacy, vision, and values in action. She’s building systems not just to survive, but to shape a future where no ME/CFS patient is left behind. That takes more than motivation, it takes clarity, courage, and a commitment to doing what’s possible, even when the world feels indifferent.

The magic in Sally’s work isn’t just in what she’s building, but in how she’s building it: slowly, ethically, and sustainably. She’s not chasing scale for the sake of it. She’s optimizing for relevance, dignity, and long-term support for a community that is too often misunderstood. And along the way, she’s proving that systems don’t have to be complex to be transformative, they just have to fit the people they’re meant to serve.

There are lessons here for all of us, especially those of us with more energy than sense (me included). Sometimes the most effective systems are designed for endurance and dependability, not just for growth.

If you’re a business owner or leader facing your own version of complexity and overload, let’s talk. There’s no shame in needing support. There’s strength in building systems that match your reality. Systems can be your ally.