***Gifted sessions***

As business owners, there will always be times where we feel stuck, and finding a safe and effective space where we can talk about how to overcome any  challenges we’re facing can be tricky. 

When I first started my own business, back in 2016, I underestimated how different the change from being an employee to a business owner would be. Not just the practical side of business but the mindset shifts that would be necessary to build a business I loved and thrived in. I had been an employee since I started working at the age of eighteen and, in order to change that employee mindset that I feared was holding me back from doing brilliant things, I sought the expertise of an executive coach. Those sessions showed me the real power and value business / life coaching could bring to make a positive change for myself and my business.

When I started my eco-blog in January 2020, my intention wasn’t to build a business from it, I wanted a place to write about what I was doing and to share how I was changing my own habits in order to become more sustainable. I didn’t consider myself a blogger/writer and it was only ever meant to be a little side project. I never expected my blog to attract the attention it has but I have to admit, this fuelled the passion I already had to share my journey to sustainability and help others to begin and continue theirs.  

Within my working career, I have been a PA/Executive Assistant. I’m comfortable being a ‘behind the scenes’ person, some refer to it as ‘working in the engine room’. As an introvert, it worked really well for me. I like to make sure all the moving parts work the way they are supposed to so the end result is flawless. So, the idea of being a blogger was perfect for me, I get to stay in my comfort zone, and I get to make sure that everything behind the scenes runs as it should.

As my blog grew in popularity and I gained more subscribers , I felt inspired to take it to the next level and start working with brands who share the same values and ethics I have when it comes to sustainable living.

But I was stuck not knowing where to begin. 

Yet I realised that in order to do this ‘new thing’ , I needed to put myself out there, and come out of my comfort zone. Argh! 

This reminded me of a scene from The Big Bang Theory

Penny: Okay, that’s fine, but let’s try and get you out of your comfort zone.

Sheldon: Why would we want to do that? It’s called the comfort zone for a reason.

Because of my comfort zone, I was stopping myself from taking the necessary next steps in order to move my business forward and achieve professional growth. It was frustrating, my brain was in knots and it was doing nothing  for my mental health.

I knew I needed some support. It was the only way I’d be able to move forward without the overwhelm and self-sabotage that I knew would soon be on the horizon! So my search for a coach began…

From my own experience, I knew that I would need to find the right fit. Not just for me, but for the coach too. It works both ways.

A fellow blogger had previously worked with Lauren Jane Coaching, and some others mentioned how great she was.

Lauren first asked me to send her a hand drawn picture of how I felt about my business; pictures, no words. I won’t post the image here because, as someone who got a B in GCSE art, it’s absolutely shocking! What I will say is that I drew different versions of being stuck, hurdles, and going round and round in circles.

During our first session, I quickly picked up on Lauren’s keen ability to ask the right questions, which continued during our further sessions together. Lauren’s website states she is a highly intuitive listener, and she’s not wrong. With Lauren’s help, I could hit the pause button, take a step back, and we drilled down to some key issues which allowed me to get a better handle on what was going through my head.

I was having really bad issues with pitching to brands. Writing the pitch wasn’t the problem; sending it was. There was something stopping me from hitting the ‘send’ button. As business owners, if there’s something we don’t want to do, we will find every excuse under the sun to avoid doing it. The email would sit in my drafts, and I would busy myself with something else. During my call with Lauren, it was like a eureka moment; why don’t I schedule the email so I don’t actually have to hit the ‘send’ button! I remember smiling at myself for a while after our session because I leapt over a huge hurdle! I found something that would work for me, and I knew it would help me to lead to better outcomes.

Lauren asked me to talk about someone who I think really highly about; someone who understands me, my ‘go to’ person, someone who gets what I’m trying to achieve in my business. I spoke about my friend and business buddy, Louise Harman. After telling Lauren about Louise, Lauren said “why can’t you say that about yourself?”. She commented about how my face lit up when I talked about Louise. Which uncovered another issue…I’ve always had a bad habit of not saying nice things about myself; “I can’t do this”, “I’m too thick”, “why can’t I get this”. I made myself believe these things and turned out I had a victim mindset. This was the biggest revelation for me and I was determined to change this status quo. Lauren said I needed to identify when I did this and turn it around; instead of ‘I can’t do this’, change it to ‘yeah I can’.

Recently, I was approaching a milestone number of views on my website. I thought I would hit a certain figure by the end of the month but I didn’t. The old me would have said ‘You’re rubbish at that’. Nope, not the new me. I celebrated the figure because, for me, it was an amazing achievement, and I’m really proud of myself for that. To celebrate, I got myself a chocolate and vanilla cheesecake and had it all to myself while everyone was at work/school. I felt totally sick afterwards but totally worth it! #NoRegrets

Something else that I’ve realised from our sessions is that the person I was when I launched my blog back in 2020, would love to be where I am now.

It’s only been a couple of months since I worked with Lauren and I’m still doing the inner work, and I can say this with absolute certainty, I am in a better place since working with Lauren than I was beforehand.

Those who know me know that I would never recommend a business or a product unless I genuinely believed in it myself. If you’re stuck in your business, and you can’t figure out what the issue is or you’re trying to get to the next level, I highly recommend getting in touch with Lauren. You can follow her on Instagram and she also has a monthly newsletter with some great tips, and words of wisdom.

Coaching is a powerful tool and can help us to uncover our true selves, this certainly has been the case for me.