My journey as a Business Coach
Crazy ambitions
I'm not sure when I really decided I wanted to be a business coach. I do remember thinking I was going to be a famous rock guitarist when I was quite young. Unfortunately, my less than stellar performance on an actual guitar soon disabused me of that notion. I also thought about becoming a beauty therapist for a while and, although I never went down that road, I still have a keen interest in all things beauty and makeup, which is coming in handy now I'm at the age where the person staring back at me in the mirror needs all the help she can get.
I didn't do that well in school. From my teens onwards, I thought the opposite sex was way more interesting than anything they could throw at me in a classroom, so I barely limped through my 'O' Levels and managed to get some truly uninspiring grades in my 'A' Levels. After that,everything changed.
All grown up
I enrolled at a college to study a Higher National Diploma in Business. I had found my calling! Suddenly, I actually found staying in to do my assignments more interesting than going out. I loved every minute of it and was part of a fantastic, small group at college where I was amazed any of us ever managed to even walk down the corridor without the rest of the group alongside. It was bliss. My ambition then, was to become business consultant and my tutors advised me to go straight from there onto an MBA but I was too young so, from there, I went off to Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University) as a second year direct entry on their BSc (Hons) Business Studies course.
I will admit that things took a detour after that as I decided it would be sensible to go into accountancy rather than more general business consultancy. Why? I was interested in it; it would dovetail nicely into the then family business and it seemed safe. So, I went into accountancy and eventually qualified with ACCA.
During all this, I somehow managed to get married and then divorced, so nothing to write home about there. Being single again gave me more opportunity to focus on what I wanted to do but also brought with it the responsibility of being a single bill payer, so it was very much a mixed bag.
Lightbulb moment
I never forgot my business consultancy dreams though and,
many years later, I finally got the opportunity to study for my MBA. Again, I
loved it. It wasn't easy doing a part time masters degree while holding down a
full time job and, at that time, having quite a serious illness, but getting
the email that I'd passed and now, finally, had my MBA was one of the best
things of my life and still gives me that sparkly, warm feeling when I think of
it.
Fast forward a few years and guess what? I'd done nothing
with it. I was caught in the trap that accounts still seemed safer, but it wasn’t
and my business wasn't doing that well.
It took a couple of sessions with a coach to make me realise that I was in the wrong job. My passion had always been for business consulting but I also realised I needed to switch that to business coaching because I love helping people and I’m really passionate about small businesses, plus coaching gives you the opportunity to help someone on their own journey whereas consultancy would probably only give me the chance of a time limited, static solution, but first, I needed to figure a few things out!
Striving for brilliance
It took me a long time and a lot of angst figuring out why so many small businesses don't do well, especially considering the huge amount of information out there that's supposed to help. I watched reels and videos and tried out what they said to do. I analysed what I'd learned from working for some very large companies and some very small ones and compared the differences between them. I finally made good use of my accountancy and business qualifications and experience to do something really worthwhile. I went to sleep thinking about it and woke up thinking about it. I pored over spreadsheets and charts and statistics and documents. Over time, I highlighted some main areas (and a few more smaller ones) that I believe small businesses miss out on and which can be the difference between success and failure.
Then, another thing really struck me. The more time I spent working with clients in business coaching, the more I realised that it's really not just about business coaching! Businesses, large or small, are made up of people and those people have all the fears about their businesses that we have about other areas of life - "What if it doesn't work?" or "What if I'm not good enough?". We all know the devestating effect the mind monkeys can have on whether or not we even really try to achieve our ambitions and dreams. Now, a lot of coaches can show you how to choose and implement a particular model but, let's be honest, so can Professor Google! That's why I also became an certified Life Coach, NLP Practioner and Human Design Practitioner because I believe that the true path to success lies in combining these two elements. So, yes, I can show you how to choose and implement business models but I can also help you to work through your fears and your hangups and help you to move forward from a place of overwhelm and confusion.
I'm now almost fanatical about sharing what I've learned, and what I know works, with you. As exciting as that part of my journey was, it was long, often frustrating and hard work. You don't have to go through that because I can show you tried and tested methods that will make that part of your journey so much shorter and more enjoyable, so head to the Services and Courses page to see what I'm offering - there will always be a mixture of coaching and courses to help you fullfil your dreams!
I'm loving this part of my journey and hope you'll be part of it as I hope to be part of yours.
Until then and as always, be happy, healthy and wealthy, and don't forget to shine! x
