The best and worst times

The first thing I decided, thankfully, was to have another child, something I really wanted deep down but had been putting off, fearing the impact on my career and my ability to cope.

However, I also made the decision to walk away from my corporate career and follow my husband in his dream of setting up his own gastronomic restaurant in a small village in the South of France.  Now you may be asking, what on earth could be so bad about that?  Following your husband’s dream, all being together as a family, starting your own family business in the South of France?  Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it?

Although the restaurant was a huge success financially and we saw more of each other (as we lived above the restaurant), I can honestly say it was the worst time of my life.  For the first time ever I felt lost, trapped, and overwhelmed.

Wasn’t I at least seeing more of my family?  Yes, but therein laid the problem; ‘seeing’ my family, was not ‘being’ with my family. I was so frustrated, stressed and overwhelmed that when I did spend time with my children, I was far from being the best version of myself and actually had very little left to give them.

I’ve often reflected on this period, trying to figure out why it was such a difficult time for me.  I’d always worked, was used to working very hard while juggling everything, so I knew the problem wasn’t the work itself.

After two years of pushing myself to continue down this path, I eventually burned out...physically, mentally, emotionally.  I had nothing left to give.

With all the alarm bells ringing, we sold the business and my biggest life lesson had been well and truly learned…there was more to this 'success formula' than I thought.

The lesson that changed my life forever

It took me 18 months to fully recover. I attempted to make up for ‘lost time’ with my children and returned to my 'own path’ with a deepened passion for self-development and self-discovery, and to pin down this illusive formula for successful combining our professional fulfilment and personal happiness we all seek as working women.

What I came to understand, is that my decision to leave my job and start up a business wasn’t a choice I made from a sense of passion or purpose, it was a ‘way out’ driven by fear, guilt and a sense of what I ought to be doing.

With a renewed understanding of the importance of pursuing my own dreams, purpose and passions, I spent the next 10 years living and working all over the world with my family; five countries over three continents. I enjoyed working in various senior leadership roles, running voluntary projects, and starting and running my own businesses.  Always continuing to deepen my understanding and practice of the formula for achieving my own definition of success, balance and fulfillment.

In 2010, my world was shattered when my 17-year marriage ended over night. I felt like life had suddenly been shattered into a million pieces.

At the age of 37, I returned to the UK with two broken suitcases, two broken children, and a broken heart.  I had no credit history (having lived abroad for so many years), and nowhere to live. For the first six months we lived with my parents.  The children bunked down with their cousins (raised by my parents) and I slept on the floor of my grandmother’s front room (my Nan lived with my parents for over 20 years).  It was a busy house, to say the least!

We were literally starting from scratch.

After a year of getting back on my feet and rebuilding our life and new home, I was ready to pursue something deeper and bigger.

I remember hearing a quote from the Dalai Lama at the Vancouver Peace Summit in 2009 saying ‘The World will be saved by the Western Woman’. And with the birth of social media I could see a wave of women just like me, keen to make a great living doing what they love, without sacrificing a life they can love too. I  knew what my next and most important job had to be.

My vision from the beginning was to empower women 'both sides of the fence' - in both the entrepreunerial and corporate worlds.  Not everyone wants to become an entrepreneur, and I'd experienced how great it is to be in a career you love when its right for you. 

Initally, my work took off in the entrepreneurial arena and within the year I was fully booked out with high-value 1:1 clients.  I began to receive requests to work with me from other coaches who wanted to build a successful coaching business, as I'd done with Mpower.

I feel both blessed and proud that within two years of starting my coaching business:

• I got my first VIP client before I’d even had time to launch my website.
  
• I won multiple awards including “Most inspiring Coach/Mentor,” “New Business of the Year” and national finalist for “Best Supporting Business”
• My work was featured on international TV
• I am regularly invited to give talks to amazing audiences - and I overcame my life-long fear of public speaking giving a TEDx Women talk in Crete.

And I went on to smash my goal of replacing my salary at the peak of my corporate career.

In 2018 my work expanded to supporting professional, career-committed women and running women in leadership development programmes.  As I mentioned above, this is something that had always felt important to me, not least because part of my believes that if I'd have had coaching support all those years ago, I may not have felt the need to walk away from the successful business consultancy career I had taken so many years to build.