Working with a Career Coach

Being a small business owner has always been a dream of mine. Creating and producing my very own apparel line often felt like a far-off dream when I was building out my career as a Technical Designer within other companies, but it always felt like a shiny North Star toward which to reach. Something about being the primary decision maker and bringing a vision of mine to life was also a huge draw for me.

So last year, when I left corporate apparel life, I set up my home office with all the intentions of making my business work no matter what! And while I had a little traction in the first couple of months, it was nowhere near the monthly revenue that I’d been really hoping to achieve. It was only about 30% of what I’d estimated for my first year’s goals and I suddenly realized that I was going to need some help.

When you work for yourself, the freedom you can create is balanced by a serious lack of accountability. I could spend an entire day working on a puzzle, which might have been relaxing and rejuvenating, but I made absolutely no money by making that choice. (I did this quite often in my first month as a very purposeful 30 days of not working, but it soon became apparent that I would need to adjust). I was already reaching out to all of my industry connections and was starting up my social media channels, but it was clearly going to take time to organically grow to the numbers I wanted to see.

I was only three months into being a new entrepreneur when I started to panic. How was I ever going to figure out how to make this work, let alone grow? How was I going to push myself out of my own comfort zone to make sales, be visible and learn all about marketing when I had no idea where to start? Had I just made the worst decision of my life?! Was the world going to implode on me?? 

Ok, I didn’t go that far. But I was experiencing a lot of stress and anxiety because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I knew I needed a teacher or a mentor to guide me through this new endeavor, and the first place I searched was for free content on the internet. I watched so many free videos and tutorials, but so many of those options only scratched the surface of what I was needing.

That was when I decided to search for a career coach. I’d done some group coaching work with a wonderful group of female entrepreneurs as I was trying to set up my company, and I’d been given the opportunity to work with a 1:1 career coach at my last full-time job. So I knew that they were out there, and I knew how incredibly valuable they were! But I was pinching pennies and I feared that I was looking for something that didn’t exist.

I am a highly ambitious person. When people hear about my true company ambitions for the next 10-15 years, they all look at me like I’m crazy. I’ve been told countless times that I’ll never reach the goals I’ve put in place, and that I need to think more realistically. I’ve been told that I’m trying to do too much, take on too many dreams at once, and I need to pull everything back. And while this advice is warranted to a certain extent, the people who really think I’m going to settle for anything less than extreme success don’t know me. I had to find a coaching company and a coach who understood that, and would help me reach those goals, not change them. And I’m so pleased to tell you that I did indeed find a coach, a company and a community that truly encourages me to set big goals and then teaches me how to go out and achieve them.

Interested in knowing more about the company I work with for coaching and mentorship? It’s not for everyone! But if you’re ambitious like me, and you’re looking for accountability and guidance to reach the stars, I’d be happy to give you some information and details. Just send me a message and we can set up some time to talk!