Reflections On 1 Year In Business

A year ago I founded my business and started offering coaching services for professionals and companies based in Ireland.

What started as a side hustle quickly turned into my new profession, allowing me to finally leave my corporate job behind. It was scary and daunting at first. But it quickly provided me with the biggest rewards of my life: I now have a direct positive impact on others, I learn and grow every day and I know now that I can achieve anything I set my mind to!

In the past year, I have coached 31 clients from all walks of life, hosted various open group coaching events, secured two speaker engagements and worked with 3 organisations to bring the power of Positive Psychology & Coaching to their teams.

Yes, I have been busy! In fact, in some months I worked more hours than in my corporate job before, but I loved every minute of it. Seeing the impact my work has on my clients careers and lives is the greatest reward of all times.

The top 5 coaching goals that my clients brought to their journey

Reflecting on the goals my clients have brought to their coaching journey, here are the top 5 they have achieved:

⭐️ Making a career transition in the midst of their lives to find more meaning and fulfilment. Definitely a goal pushing you completely out of your comfort zone while offering some of the greatest rewards of your life.

⭐️ Become a better, more confident leader. Good leaders think beyond themselves and often describe what they do in terms of supporting others. Coaching is the space for you to deepen your own personal development and widen the impact you have on others.

⭐️ Creating a sustainable balance between the different roles in life. How many roles do you currently juggle? Where is the space for you in all this? Modern life is demanding. Coaching can help you create a balance that works for you and your life.

⭐️ Define a new path forward that supports future growth and learning. Sometimes we are stuck. The path that used to support us doesn't feel right anymore. So many people are currently creating new pathways for themselves - often triggered by the pandemic.

⭐️ Improving confidence & finding their authentic self. Confidence is at the centre stage of every coaching conversation. We don't speak about this often enough, but let me tell you: everyone around you battles with their confidence in some part of their lives. You can find your inner superhero and shine!

My personal top 5 learnings from 1 year in business

I have also learned a lot over the past 12 months. Becoming a business owner is a journey of self-discovery, stretching out of my comfort zone, and growing on a personal and professional level every day.

Here are my personal top 5 learnings:

💡I am not starting from scratch, even though it sometimes feels like it.

I am building on 20 years of work experience, merging all that I know with new knowledge that I am acquiring through my Master’s degree in Positive Psychology & Coaching Psychology. I am creating something new and meaningful every day, that allows me and my clients to grow and learn together.

💡Money will come when you don’t worry about it. OR: Money will come - don’t worry about it!

For the first 6 months after founding my business I worked two jobs - my corporate job during the day, and my coaching work in the evenings and weekends. It was exhausting. But I had this thing with financial security. I hesitated to let go of it. In the end, something had to go to protect my mental wellbeing. I had to learn to trust. Trust that the money will come, when I make space for my new profession. And it did. The less I worry about it, the more there is at the end of the month.

💡I can do anything I set my mind to.

I have always had a high sense of self-efficacy and confidence. I contribute this to the many life experiences that I had where I proved myself that I can do things. However, I had become comfortable in my comfort zone over the past years. My academic journey kicked off a process of personal growth that took me out of this comfort zone again and with that boosted my confidence, self-belief and self-efficacy to new heights. Leaving my corporate job behind and with that financial security elevated this even further. I now have a deep inner belief that I can do anything I set my mind to. I am more balanced as a result.

💡I am not on my own even though I am a soletrader.

A surprising and unexpected learning comes from the community of fellow coaches that I became part of in the past 12 months. I found so many wonderful women that are supportive, open to collaboration and willing to share their own experiences to help novice coaches and entrepreneurs like myself. I have never experienced this level of support and openness in the IT industry and I know now that this was one thing that I was missing. Even though I sit on my own in my office at home, creating, learning and teaching by myself, I am not on my own. I am part of a growing community of fellow coaches, all with the mission to make the world a better place - one client a time.

💡I am learning to pull in help when needed.

My I-can-do-anything-attitude is not always helpful. I have a thing for proving myself that I can do anything - on my own, by myself, no help needed. I decided early on in my transition to self-employment that I need to pull in support where I can, to help me deliver the best service to my clients. Having a supervisor is a requirement for accredited coaches to ensure a safe and ethical practice. I have worked with 3 different supervisors over the past 12 months to widen my learning and to invite different viewpoints. I have also had my own coach to help me setup some of my reflective practice and to work on letting that financial security blocker go. On the business side of things, I hired a brand photographer and designer to help me transport my identity and values to you - my clients. Oh, and I hired an accountant, so someone looks after the money and makes sure I pay all my taxes :)

I hope this blog post inspires at least one person to go and start working towards their goal - no matter how scary it seems!

I am not saying every day is rosy and easy-peasy. I still have days where I doubt myself and wonder if I can pull this off long term. But I learned that this is normal. This is a driver and motivator to continue to grow and learn. The rewards are more than worth it and everlasting.

To the next year of learning, growth and success in business and beyond!