“It’s the impact that I can make out there in the world that drives me"

I really wanted to change my life. I wasn't happy with where I'd landed at that point in time. I wanted something different, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I changed my trajectory, and now work as a money coach with women in business. That is something that I am passionate about. It is about breaking cycles.

There's something within me that says, if I can go through what I've gone through, and if I can create wealth for myself, I've got something really special to share to change other people's lives.

Q: How long ago did you actually join The International Coaching Institute and why did you become a coach? I had a change in my structure at work. I went back to an old job that I hated. I'd been doing a leadership program where we got to meet people who were so passionate about what they did. And I realized that I actually was no longer passionate about what I did. Then towards the end of that year, I had a relationship I'd been in that I just thought was my favorite person and that ended really suddenly. So I kind of had a pity party for quite some months and I just felt like I needed to do something different. I'd been in my job for 15 years and I could just blink an eye on it'd be another 10 years. So it was serendipitous. I was at a party and a lady mentioned a book and right at the end, in the last chapter, it talks about coaching and I thought, maybe that's what I could do. So I searched online to find places to go and learn from and there was such a strong values match to the school (The International Coaching Institute). So I jumped into my first course, very trepidatiously, but very excited, in 2014.

Q: What was it like for you in that moment where you're like, okay, I'm looking for the next phase of my life. I'm going to try coaching out? It was scary. It was scary because, I had to enter a room with a complete bunch of strangers and I just felt really vulnerable to turn up and say, here I am! I was in my early forties, my life wasn't where I wanted it to be. I wanted to do something different so badly, but I still had a lot of doubt around whether this could be it. I wanted it to be!

So I think in my view, something had to change. And if I didn't step into this, then would I have the courage to do anything else? And what I found was it was just an amazingly supportive environment. I felt like I was in the right place by the first morning!

Q: Something that you said really stood out for me, which was, if I don't do this, will I have the courage to do something else? Tell me more about that. Well, I really wanted to change my life. I wasn't happy with where I'd landed at that point in time. I wanted something different, but I couldn't figure out what it was. And because I'd sort of been bouncing from one thing to another before arriving at this decision to come and try out the school. If I chickened out of that, then I felt like, you know, what's going to happen? I'm just going to be, in this job for the next 10 years and wake up one day and go, I'm still unhappy with my life and I could have done so much more and I could have, you know, just had a whole different experience and I knew that I just had to lean into it, even though I didn't even understand what that meant! So it was just that determination to me to do something. Q: What was your why back then? Has it evolved? Remembering back to that very first weekend that I came in it was Joe Pane back then and he talked about how the top 5% go on and make an amazing career out of coaching and in that moment, I decided I'm going to be in that 5%. I didn't know how that was going to happen, but that was a driving force because I knew once I'd made the choice to leave my job there was no turning back. So I had to make it work. And I felt that the more I got into the course, the more I got to know my mentors and my peers, the more I trusted the system and trusted that if I keep going and I keep applying. I will make it. And I just had to truly believe in myself.

I think the other thing that was a driving motivator for me and has been all this time is that I have two young children. I wanted to demonstrate to them that it doesn't matter if you finish your 12 and you flunk, you know, or you don't know what you want to do with your life; look at your mom. I’m in my forties and I've just completely changed from this whole job for life, into a business. And I wanted to do them proud because they really had to support me through all the study and all the craziness of starting. So, I started with a dual purpose, partly my determination to be in the 5% and I didn't lose sight of that and then I wanted my kids to be proud!

Q: What is your motivator now?

So when I first started my business six years ago I was doing leadership coaching. Then we had COVID and things changed. I changed my trajectory, and now work as a money coach with women in business. That is something that I am passionate about. It is about breaking cycles. There's something within me that says, if I can go through what I've gone through, and if I can create wealth for myself, I've got something really special to share to change other people's lives. That totally has become the new driver. It's the impact that I can make out there in the world! That drives me.

Q: What advice would you give year one you? If you could go back then? It's funny you say that, you know, like it felt like a rocket ship getting a rocket ship off the ground! And you might call me crazy, but I started a new business last year, so I feel like I've been going through that again! There’s two things that have given me the confidence to do that. One is that I'm now in partnership with another person who went to the same school. So I know that our foundations are super strong.

Secondly, it's I know there's a system. I know there's a structure. So for me, what I'd be saying to somebody who's just sitting on the precipice going, do I want to be doing this as a business? Everything you need to start and all the support and mentoring you need is already given to you. You've just got to take the step and then ask for help. So if I could go back to that, which is something I'm really proud of, because that's what I did. I was absolutely not sure. I didn’t know how to make sales. Clearly, I had no money coming in, so it's leaning into the gaps and the strengths and, trusting and backing yourself because I think you can really back yourself knowing you've got a whole cheer squad back over here in the corner that are going to support you.

Q. What would you say to someone who's thinking about starting today?

My biggest thing that I've learned is you just need to take the next step. What we often do is try to solve a problem that's way out there in the future. Like, oh my God, how am I going to sign a hundred thousand dollar contract?

Well, let's think about. Starting the business first.

So what's the one thing you can do. And that's something that I learned and leaned into. You’ve just got to put one step in front of the other. So don't, worry about what's going to happen further down the track. Back yourself to make the next step, because the one after is going to become very obvious to you. Once you've started that and once you just build momentum.