Hello! Did you miss me?!?! (I sang that in my head like in that Robbie Williams song)….
It’s been a while since I graced you with my presence LIVE and on the blog train… and I wanted to let you know why…
But first… I remembered when I worked for The Big Red W (One of the big 4 banks here in Aus), I had third child and was on maternity leave. They asked me to come back earlier than planned, which I did…. But my baby ended up in hospital for 5 days, which was a big-slap-in-the-face-wake-up-call for me.
Almost the very day we got home from our stint in the paeds ward, I was in contact with my manager and requested my mat leave be reinstated to the 2 year mark. They agreed and I went back on maternity leave.
I was particularly IntraPreneurial at The Bank… I was always looking for ways to engage locals and bring them into the bank. I put on information nights with other guest speakers, educating on First Home Buyers, building Investment property portfolios, along with Real Estate Agents, Conveyancers and Builders.
These were super successful! It was a great way to cut through the competition out there and I’d be booked solid most days with back to back clients.
This is both a good thing and a bad thing, though, right? There was no room for sick days – for myself or my children. There was not much room for juggling. There was a lot of obligation, and the organisation was constantly shifting the goal posts (as most corporates do).
I was looking for ways to create more freedom and flexibility without actually looking for it…. I had three children under 8. I was working full time. My husband was working full time and a half. I really needed a way to LIVE… not just survive and give the best parts of me to a job. Yes, a job I LOVED and felt like I was put on earth to do… but a job nonetheless.
I had started a jewellery-importing-retail-and-wholesale-micro-business. I loved that! It led me to learning more about style.
I was juggling all the things.
After returning to work following the re-instatement of maternity leave, I ended up going to a style and branding course (introduced to that through a friend of mine), that really opened my eyes to so much more. I started being aware of people building business in the advice-market. I started seeing that I could do this from the middle of nowhere, by working online. This was 2010.
I was working in the jewellery business. I was working in The Bank. And I was trying to build my side-hustle coaching style and branding and how you market yourself by building your personal brand.
It was hard. Something had to give, so I resigned from the bank in Feb 2011 and was doing ‘this’ without the safety net of a bank job.
I was so scared it wouldn’t work.
Things did work, though (I mean, I’m still here, essentially doing the same thing!!!). They were great guns, actually… and when my daughter “hit the skids” at one point in her young teenage years, I had to reassess what I wanted and I wanted to run this business in order to be here and be available for her. This was around 2015….
Again, things picked up, because that’s what happens, right?!?! And we’re going great guns … and then my son this past 2 weeks has had a couple of weeks from hell… extreme 9/10 pain levels in his abdomen that has seen us in and out of ED and hospital stays over the past couple of weeks.
It’s been a lot.
I guess the reason I’m sharing this with you today, is that when I first started this business, I was very 1:1 client focussed. I would have back to back clients all day long, which was great for my bank balance, great for my ego, but with a slight upset at home, I’d be thrown into massive stress and anxiety about how to manage all the people and my family.
So I started doing more group work and masterminds. I loved them! It was great, with fewer 1:1’s I had more flexibility and more freedom, which was important to me.
I was doing a lot of travel prior to Rona which I loved. I was running a mastermind, I had 1:1 clients, I was doing groups… I was having a blast!
Rona knocked the wind out of me.. but I am pleased to say I feel like I’M BACK!!!!!
Having my son in hospital on and off throughout these past two weeks has also given me some perspective about what I want and how I want it.
There’s always a silver lining, right?
The thing is, I love what I do. I truly love it. And I feel like I am more than ready to (again) kick things up a notch.
So keep your eyes open over the next week for things that will be a-happening!!!!!
THE WORLD IS READY FOR YOUR BRAND OF AWESOME.
And I feel it’s MY job, to push you, guide you, teach you, mentor you, bribe you if I must… to make you get out there.
To help you to see that there is a way for you to create MASSIVE IMPACT with what you do and how you do it.
For to change, shape and influence the lives of those that you want to help…
WITHOUT burning yourself out.
With doing things in the way you want. Groups, programs, events, online, offline, in the room (when we can), 1:1, masterminding, core focus groups, small groups and large..
You can do this.
I believe in you.
So I’ll be pulling out all stops to help you do more of THAT!!!!
Xo Love, Nicola x
