Alexis Bean reached a crossroads somewhere near the end of her university years.

She’d excelled in track and field but decided to turn in her sneakers to focus on a career in the corporate world.

“I was sitting in my university counsellor’s office bawling my eyes out and just thinking, ‘What if I’m not good at anything else or no one knows me for anything else other than track?’.

“I had been running for over a decade and that’s all I had ever tried and lived for, so to try to do something else completely scared me.”

The 24-year-old has been on a journey of self-discovery since then.

She’s a reinsurance analyst at Validus Re, has gone on a solo trip through Europe, tried new sports and exercise classes and was published in an online magazine, VURB.

The experiences have helped her to build more confidence and feel more fulfilled overall.

“Last year I wanted to go somewhere new and ended up going on a two-week trip to Europe by myself,” she said. “I started in Barcelona, then went to Nice, France, Switzerland, Florence and Rome in Italy. It was amazing and that’s something a lot of people are shocked about me doing.”

She links her newly found courage to the online platform she started with a good friend, Karee Luna, in 2014.

Resolution Women Encourage supports women so they’re able to meet their goals.

“We were both thinking about New Year’s resolutions because she went to school for fashion and the arts and I always loved writing and both of us had strayed away from those skills,” Ms Bean said.

“We wanted our New Year’s resolutions to be getting back into those things and Karee thought, ‘Why don’t we set a new goal for each month’?

“It’s so cool how it started off with just us sharing what we are working on each month to now where we can see what other women are doing and how they’ve taken what they love and are really turning it into something big.”

Ms Bean didn’t share her travel plans with anyone on her online platform.

“I didn’t tell anyone until after I booked the trip. I didn’t think I would do anything like that, but this whole Resolution WE experience is really teaching me about how to be a leader and just not to be afraid.

“If you feel led to do something, why not try it? I figure what’s the worst thing that could happen? Someone can tell us ‘no’, but in that case you can just try again.”

There’s still plenty on her list she hasn’t tackled. Ms Bean wants to do something selfless this month. She also plans to try something that scares her, attend a pole fitness class and go someplace new before the year is up.

Last October she and Ms Luna took part in the American Cancer Society fundraising walk through Central Park in New York.

This month Revolution WE members will participate in the 24-hour Relay For Life to raise money for Bermuda Cancer and Health.

They will also host a brunch in the next few weeks to help women inspire and encourage each other.

“I’ve found a new passion for helping people and women,” she said. “I really love to hear other people’s stories. A lot of people don’t think their lives or stories will be an encouragement to others or what they’re doing is important enough, but it can be.

“I have one friend who has since signed up to do a photography class at Bermuda College.

“And there was another woman who used to be very quiet and reserved, but over the past year she decided she wanted to do bodybuilding and just competed in her first competition in the States.

“Overall it’s just an attitude that we’re trying to share and the more people who pick up on it then the more people we’ll inspire.”

• Anyone interested in joining the group can e-mail resolutionwe@gmail.com or visit www.resolutionwe.com