By Laura Dixon
5
33 ratings
The podcast currently has 38 episodes available.
As it's Halloween this week I'm sharing scary stories!
I'm sharing stories about things that have scared me - including climbing to the crown in the Statue of Liberty and to the top of St Peter's Basilica in Rome.
I'm also talking about how our fears can make us keep our words really small and really limit the choices we think we have.
I'm sharing a story about how I broke through my fears and then had a huge a-ha moment about how small I had been keeping my world when I realised all of the possibilities that were actually out there for me!
Guess how I broke through my fears? I left the job I hated!
I'm also sharing details of an exciting workshop that I'm running in November to help you bust through your fears and find out just how many possibilities you have waiting for you - it's going to be epic and leave you feeling so excited and so powerful!
You can join the waitlist and claim your free gift here >>>
https://myjourneytofearless.com/possibilities/
I can't wait to help you expand your choices and find the courage to live a much bigger life than you are now!
I'm excited to bring the podcast back and share why I've been awol for a few months!
In this episode:
*I'm getting vulnerable and I'm sharing what's been happening with me for the past few months
*I'm talking about how courage is the antidote to fear and how I am making a decision to be courageous in all of my decisions going forward
*I'm sharing the new direction of my business (hint above!)
*I'm sharing some of my client's wins from the past couple of months!
But mostly I am opening up a conversation about courage and fear, and about mental health. If you would like to chat more about any of this after the episode then I would love to hear from you: [email protected]
Are you fed up with being stuck in a job you hate because no matter what you do you just can’t find your passion or purpose?
Then this episode is for you my friend!
So get a cup of tea and sit down and relax for 10 minutes while I help you get back on track!
Links mentioned in the episode:
If you would like to find out more about my 10-week coaching program which I’ve designed to be life-changing and to literally take you from feeling stuck to stepping into your purpose in just 10 weeks then email me at [email protected] with the subject line Purpose and I’ll send you some more information.
Welcome to episode 8 of the “How She Did it” mini-series where I’m interviewing 8 inspiring women who have kindly agreed to share their stories about how they found their passion and purpose, started their businesses, and left their day jobs.
Today I’m speaking to Kelli Femrite and Kelli is telling us how she started her business and left her corporate job. We talk about so many important topics such as:
There are so many golden nuggets in this episode that you can’t afford to miss - especially if you’re unhappy in your job and you’re looking for a way out!
Timestamps:
2:27: Kelli shares how as a child she was so creative, but she lost this when she became an adult and started to follow the path she was “expected” to follow by society. She was set for life with a pension etc…
3:57: When Kelli had her daughter in 2015 she had to return to work after 7 or 8 weeks. And her perspective on everything changed. It reignited her creativity, as her daughter is so spirited and creative and Kelli also embraced this energy.
5:12: Kelli thought about what she could do that was creative and she remembered she loved writing so she started a blog.
6:22: Kelli’s daughter actually inspired her business and now Kelli is working to create an amazing life for her family.
7:27: This summer they are taking a 3 week-long vacation together as a family for the first time. This is a major accomplishment for Kelli and she can’t believe she’s made it here!
8:42: Kelli used her existing skills from her job to start doing some work as a virtual assistant.
9:42: Freedom and flexibility are two of the things Kelli values most about having her own business. Kelli is able to create her own schedule over the summer so she can spend every Friday-Monday with her daughter.
12:27: Kelli is planning to offer “done in a day” services for web design so that she can work around her family.
13:02: If Kelli had taken 3 weeks off from her day job she would have come back to a huge pile of work and all of the relaxation she had from her holiday would go straight out of the window.
14:17: Kelli takes us back to when she was unhappy at work and shares how it affected her life. Kelli would often feel like she didn’t have anything left to give to her family after a day at work. She constantly felt like she was behind and couldn’t catch up because the work never stopped and if you left work on time you would have to find time to catch up on the work that was left.
16:12: Kelli explains how it’s hard to see things in perspective when you hate your job and how it’s really hard to think positively in this situation. You can also be draining yourself by the things you do at work - so you need to be really aware of where your energy is going. Overthinking your situation is the biggest drain on your energy.
19:12: When you stand in the office and complain with your coworkers every day you’re just attracting more of what you complain about. Be careful about what your topics of conversation are with your colleagues.
22:37: When Kelli was stuck in her corporate job she knew there was a bigger purpose for her, but she wasn’t sure what it was - now she has found her purpose and she’s living it!
23:12: Kelli explains how she felt when she finally made the decision to leave her job. In 2020 Kelli was working from home during the pandemic, but the expectations and workload were the same, even though she and her colleagues had their children at home with them. Her mindset was already on leaving and the pandemic pushed this to the front.
25:27: Kelli left her job during the pandemic as she re-evaluated her priorities and what she wanted from her life. She got a little glimpse into what life would be like working from home and spending more time with her daughter. Kelli got to think about what she wanted from her life in the future and what she wanted her life to look like.
28:37: Kelli talks about the differences between working for an employer from home and working for yourself at home.
29:47: Kelli tells us how she felt when she handed in her notice at her job. One day she just knew that it was the right time to write her resignation letter, so she did it! She had almost done it a few times before but had backed out of it. This time felt different and her mind had decided.
31:47: Kelli had fears about whether her business would be successful or whether she would need to go and get another job in a few months. But remaining positive and keeping the negative thoughts at bay has really helped her. She works on this every day to keep herself in a place of forward progress.
33:42: Listening to something positive every day really starts to reprogram your brain.
34:42: Kelli shares the biggest fear she’s had to overcome on her journey so far. It’s the fear that once she quit her job she would fail somehow and be forced to go back to a career that didn’t make her happy. She shares how she’s moving past this and gives some great tips!
39:02: Take messy action - it doesn’t have to be perfect.
39:43: Kelli shares her biggest piece of advice for you if you’re currently stuck in a job you hate. Creativity will lead you out of your day job - but we often box this up when we take certain jobs.
45:57: Clarity comes from action. You’ll hear this a lot - but it is SO true!
47:27: Kelli tells us all about her business and how you can find out more about what she does.
Links
Free resources to find your passion and start your business
Find out more about Kelli here:
The Working Mom Collective - Blog + Podcast The Business Launchpad Course waitlist Web Design business Limited time offer for a VIP Day Rate Design: Mompreneur Web Kit Instagram: @theworkingmomcollective @kf_webdesign Facebook: The Working Mom Collective Web DesignWelcome to episode 7 of the “How She Did it” mini-series where I’m interviewing 8 inspiring women who have kindly agreed to share their stories about how they found their passion and purpose, started their businesses and left their day jobs.
Today I’m speaking to Charlotte Jenkyn and Charlotte is telling us about the journey she’s been on over the past year. We talk about how she was unhappy in her job, how she became aware of the idea that she could work for herself - which is something she hadn’t ever considered before, and how she was finally pushed to breaking point in her job and had to make the decision to leave. Charlotte is on a really exciting journey and she’s shown huge courage over the past year to choose her own path and follow her dreams. I know you’ll find her story really inspiring!
Timestamps
2:17: Charlotte explains how her entrepreneurial journey began when she was feeling a bit disheartened in her day job. She was questioning whether she had chosen the right career so she started her first business on the side of her job - just as lockdown hit!
4:17: Charlotte started to learn about mindset, personal development, and passive income, and her thinking started to change. She started to wonder whether a 9-5 was for her. The entrepreneurial switch was flicked on in her brain!
5:37: If you’re unhappy in your job try looking at life in an opportunistic way instead and find out about all of the possibilities that are open to you.
6:25: Charlotte threw herself into personal development and listened to every podcast people recommended, and every book too! She wanted to learn as much as she can and set off on her journey of self-discovery.
7:37: Charlotte began to dislike the new job she had started and she knew that she needed to decide whether this career was what she wanted to be doing - she was starting to have doubts. She started to listen to her thoughts about starting a business and wondered if she could work for herself instead.
9:22: Charlotte started a travel blog and tried to find out how to monetise it, and thought she could make money from this alongside her network marketing role.
10:17: having a creative outlet alongside your day job is such a great thing to do - as so many jobs don’t allow us to be creative.
11:02: Charlotte reached a breaking point in her day job and had to make a decision on whether to stay or to go. There was a voice deep down inside of her that said you can’t do this anymore.
12:17: As soon as you get breathing space from your job things start to become clearer and you can make decisions and see the bigger picture. Hitting this breaking point pushes us to decide what we want.
13:17: When Charlotte turned 30 she felt like she was questioning everything - and what she wanted her future to be. She felt she couldn’t get the life she wanted with the job she had.
15:02: Charlotte started to just dream more and she realised she had been surprising her creative side and had followed a path she was almost told to follow by society. Climbing the corporate ladder wasn’t what she was interested in doing. It didn’t give her control over her life. She wanted the freedom to express herself.
16:47: Charlotte wants to travel the world and having her own business will allow her the freedom to do this.
17:35: Charlotte pivoted her business ideas, left the network marketing company, and decided to create a course instead! She didn’t like the cold messaging that came with network marketing. She wanted to do something that was more authentic, more her.
19:27: Charlotte started to create her own brand and learn everything she needed to know about starting a business.
20:07: Charlotte shares about her new course to help people travel more around their 9-5 jobs. Charlotte traveled abroad 8 times in 2019 - within the leave she had in her day job. She was being really smart with her time and money. She wants to show other people how to do it too!
21:37: Travel makes people feel good. It’s a great source of wellbeing and can be so beneficial to our mental health too.
26:02: Charlotte shares her biggest piece of advice for you if you currently feel stuck in a job that makes you miserable or affects your mental health.
28:42: You need to believe in yourself because you can do incredible things! Don’t give up on finding what you are passionate about.
31:25: Charlotte shares that her biggest fear is not feeling enough, and what she’s doing to overcome this.
32:07: Charlotte is always working through her money blocks too - such as it’s hard to make money, and you can’t spend too much or it will run out, or why would anyone pay for her help.
35:32: How you can connect with Charlotte and find out more about her course.
Links
Follow Charlotte on Instagram (and send her a message to find out more about her course)
Check out Charlotte’s quiz to find out which word describes how travel makes you feel
Grab your free tools to help you discover what your perfect business idea is
Welcome to episode 6 of the “How She Did it” mini-series where I’m interviewing 8 inspiring women who have kindly agreed to share their stories about how they found their passion and purpose, started their businesses and left their day jobs.
Today I’m speaking to Victoria Rothwell and Victoria is sharing her story of how she had her dream job traveling the world for 10 years, but later, severe post-natal depression meant she had to close her business to focus on herself and her family. We talk about how she overcame postnatal depression, built herself back up, and started the most amazing new business that not only supports her family but so many other mums too. This is one strong and inspiring lady!
Timestamps:
1:57: Victoria explains how she has always been a creative person and she went to uni and got her dream job and traveled the world for 10 years!
3:15: Things changed when Victoria started a family and had a very traumatic birth. Victoria suffered really bad PND after having her son and how she has very few memories from this time.
5:00: Victoria tried to go back to work when her son was 18 months old, but she knew something wasn’t right when being away from her son felt wrong. So she took some time out to spend that with her son.
6:10: One day Victoria knew she needed something else to work on so she started a Cashmere brand which allowed her to balance her time as a mum with doing something for herself.
6:50: Victoria decided to have another baby and found out she was expecting twins! When the twins came it was great and Victoria felt completely different.
8:05: When the twins were around 5 months old Victoria was diagnosed with PND again and her whole world fell apart, her business folded. She knew at this time she needed to focus on her mental health and on being the best mum she could be, so she got rid of everything in her life that wasn’t needed to concentrate on her and her children.
9:25: Victoria few more positive and more connected to herself and her children, and she knew she needed more than being a mum, so she decided to start a new business!
12:45: Victoria started a new business to help other mums. She realised there was a gap in support for families so she decided to create a business to fit it. She wanted to start a business employing other mums and giving them a secure job and income, so they didn’t have to choose between having a job and being a mum.
15:00: Victoria’s business also allows other mums to gain time back with their families because their household tasks are taken care of.
15:55: Victoria has turned her own difficult experience into something really positive for lots of other mums!
18:05: Victoria is taking her business a step further by creating a franchise to allow other mums to start their business.
24:29: Victoria shares her biggest piece of advice for people who are unhappy in their jobs. How do you want to spend your days? You can start a business even if you have anxiety or you lack confidence.
27:15: Being in a network of other women lets you see what other women are doing and it gives you so many ideas! You can take the journey with other people. You don’t have to go it alone.
28:37: We talk about the fears Victoria has had to overcome on her journey. We talk about confidence, making that first decision to just start, and how mindset work is so important. Victoria works on her confidence every day.
30:55: How doing this podcast interview is part of Victoria building her confidence!
33:25: Victoria shares more about how you can find out about her and her business.
Find out more about Victoria:
Website
Get help with starting your own business:
Freebies to help you get started
Welcome to episode 5 of the “How She Did it” mini-series where I’m interviewing 8 inspiring women who have kindly agreed to share their stories about how they found their passion and purpose, started their businesses and left their day jobs.
Today I’m speaking to Brianna Wilkerson and Brianna is sharing her story of how she found her purpose through healing her own relationship to food and her body, and how this inspired her to want to help other women with these struggles.
We talk about:
It’s such a great conversation and I know you will take away so much from it.
Links
Find out more about Brianna here:
Facebook Group
Food Freedom Journal
Need help to start your business?
Get your free tools here
Timestamps:
1:59: Brianna explains how she went into her career because she was good at it and it seemed like the best choice.
2:54: While in college Brianna realised that this wasn’t her passion. She realised she had a passion for coaching. But she had to work for the firm for three years after college.
3:39: Brianna struggled with her own health and body issues, and as she began to heal she realised that she could help so many other women with their relationship with food, their body, and themselves.
4:39: Brianna realised that she could offer support to other women experiencing these issues. One day on her lunch break she googled health coaching and this is where her journey began.
5:39: Brianna waited to take the course until she could pay for the whole thing up front and started doing the course in her lunch hour and evenings.
6:24: As soon as she started to coach women she knew this was what she was meant to do.
6:49: Brianna explains how the journey to starting a business isn’t always simple - she still had her job for a while and then went part-time, and she explored different options with different jobs alongside her business until she could do it full time.
7:49: If you’ve found your calling and you’re doing it then that is a success! Don’t compare yourself to others.
8:34: Businesses have different seasons, but stay in it if you feel called to do it. You have to keep going.
9:09: Juggling a business and a baby and scaling back for the season you’re in. You can still focus on one or two things you can do now with the time you have.
10:14: Brianna talks more about her health problems and how she overcame them. She was exposed to a lot of diets growing up and she describes the mindset she developed around her body when she was a teenager - specifically around wanting to control food and exercise, and then comfort eating in later years.
13:09: Brianna started to see her own value and realised her worth wasn’t in her weight. She started to check in with herself holistically and decided to take care of herself, rather than focus on losing weight.
14:24: Brianna felt the calling to blog, so she did! It was so exciting to be able to offer something to the world.
15:09: Everybody has a business inside of them that they can start from their own story. People forget to look at their life experiences when they are trying to find their passion and purpose.
16:04: Brianna never saw herself as an entrepreneur, but her purpose kept welling up inside of her and she had to take action.
16:49: Brianna talks about how she was feeling when she took her first steps into coaching.
18:09: Once women start taking care of their bodies they also start to grow in other areas and find their passion and start their own businesses.
18:49: I’m not an expert - who am I to help other people? Social media leads to comparing yourself to others, just stay focused on helping your clients.
20:29: Brianna talks about the fears she’s encountered and how she overcame them. Here we dive into money worries and blocks, the thoughts of “do I have what it takes to run a business?”, and the fear of making the wrong decision.
22:09: The differences between an employee and entrepreneur mindset. Brianna became obsessed with personal development books.
23:09: Having a coach and journalling helped Brianna get clear on a lot of things, and how we constantly need to up-level ourselves and our mindset to be able to up-level our businesses.
25:24: Brianna’s biggest piece of advice for you if you’re stuck in a job you’re not happy in.
26:54: How people try to find their passion and purpose by consuming more and more information, but it’s when you take a step back that the ideas and the clarity come.
27:39: How nothing we do is wasted. Everything leads us to where we are now, and it’s taking action that brings clarity.
28:09: Don’t get stuck in planning and overthinking everything - just start and it will all become clear. The clarity comes so fast once you start. It doesn’t have to be perfect. People will connect to you - just trust that you’re enough.
30:24: If you hide away and let your fear of visibility take over then nobody will know about you and how you can help them. Let people see who you are and the rest naturally happens.
32:09: People aren’t thinking about us as much as we think they are - they are thinking about themselves!
32:54: Know that you don’t have to do this alone - find someone to help you.
33:09: Brianna tells us what she does in her business and shares how you can find out more about her.
Welcome to episode 4 of the “How She Did it” mini-series where I’m interviewing 8 inspiring women who have kindly agreed to share their stories about how they found their passion and purpose, started their businesses, and left their day jobs.
Today I’m speaking to Rachel Aiken and Rachel is sharing her story of how she actually knew what her passion and purpose were from the age of 4, and how it’s always been there with her throughout the challenges she’s experienced in her life, to guide her and help set her back on the right track. Rachel has taken her passion for teaching and created her own business so that she can fulfill her passion and purpose in a way that works beautifully with her life as a mum.
We also talk about:
It’s such a great conversation and I know you will take away so much from it.
Links
Rachel’s website
Rachel’s Instagram
Freebies
Your Passion, Purpose & Potential Course
Timestamps
3:11: How Rachel has known her purpose and passion since she was 4 years old! She’s lost it at different times in her life, but she’s always come back to it.
6:21: How most of us know at the age of 6 what we want to be when we grow up. But most of us get told we can’t do that. So we start to lower our expectations.
7:36: One of Rachel’s students who was in the bottom sets at school had always known he wanted to be a builder. He picked construction for his GCSE year and came in to tell Rachel that for the first time in his life he was top of the class! He was finally doing what he was meant to do!
9:36 How Rachel’s Grandad was the one who encouraged her to follow her dreams of becoming a teacher.
10:31: Rachel tells us that her parents got divorced when she was 15 and how this was a turning point for her. She doubted whether she should go to university as her mum depended on her a lot.
11:31: Rachel’s mum met a new partner who moved in with them and he was violent towards one of Rachel’s sisters. This resulted in Rachel being kicked out of home at the age of 17.
12:41: Rachel had a choice - she could either do what she had planned or she could follow her instinct and get out. She made the decision to go to university. She got her degree and she hasn’t lived back in that town since.
15:36: Rachel describes hearing her mum saying that she didn’t want her to be in the house and how she didn’t speak to her mum for 20 years. And how she asked her dad if she could stay with him and he told her there was no room.
18:51: Looking back Rachel can see how these events led her to have an element of risk in her life that’s led her to go on some big adventures.
20:06: How Rachel didn’t feel like she had enough life experience to support the students yet, so she took a job in a university, gaining experience, but keeping with the education theme.
21:36: Every job Rachel has done she has only stayed 3 years. She always knew when it was time to move on to the next thing. She needed to have a challenge.
22:46: Rachel decided to move to China and teach English as a foreign language at 25 years old. Because she had already gone it alone when she went to uni going to China didn’t phase her. She knew she could fend for herself.
26:06: When Rachel came back to the UK she did her teacher training, met her husband, and got a great job.
26:36: Rachel had her first child and this is when things started to change for her. She had to ask herself what kind of mum she wanted to be.
27:21: Rachel started counseling to make sure she didn’t become the mum that she’d had.
27:36: Rachel moved to Hong Kong while pregnant. This didn’t phase her as she didn’t have a support network in the UK, so it didn’t matter where in the world she was. She left 25 weeks pregnant and came back with two children.
30:51: When Rachel came back to the UK she missed teaching, so she got a new job, and things went a bit pear-shaped. Teaching didn’t work with her schedule. She was never seeing her children. She felt like she was doing a rubbish job of being a teacher and a rubbish job of being a mum.
33:36: Rachel quit her job at the same time she was offered a promotion to head of department, even though she had no idea what she was going to do.
35:36: How Rachel was in tears when she left her job because she loved it. But she had to choose how she wanted to be as a mum, over how she wanted to be in a career. She knew her career would always be there if she wanted to go back.
37:36: Rachel took her first steps into starting her own business as a virtual assistant. She soon realised that she could be an Online Business Manager and started to explore this idea. Soon she had her first client and then her second, and it was great for a while! Until she realised that she was still working in a way that didn’t really work for her life.
40:51: Rachel decided to reduce the number of clients she had while she figured out what to do next. She had the urge to teach again and her passion for education came back. So she set off to try and work out how her skills could work as a business to allow her to teach.
42:31: She has always had a way of understanding people’s potential that they can’t see. So she decided to become a Minimalist Business Strategist. She helps six-figure and above business owners simplify their businesses and get focused on the right things. So she gets to teach while having her own business.
45:36: Rachel found out she is 80% teacher through a human design reading.
47:06: Rachel was going to do a Ted Talk last year and the title was “women are going to save the world, but only when they know their purpose”. There are so many women who have given up their careers and set up a business so they can balance work and home. They’ve thought outside the box and are their own boss. It’s us as women who have taken that leap and we’re forced to think of other solutions because of the demands on us.
49:56: Rachel hopes her journey will give her children a different perspective on what they can do for their careers.
50:21: If you’re on furlough and you’ve always had something niggling at you then now is a good time to explore that. Or if you’ve loved working from home and you’re dreading going back, now is the time to come up with a plan so you don’t have to!
51:51: Life is too short. Rachel has always made decisions based on how she wants to feel when she is 80 years old. She wants to reel off a huge list of adventures when her Grandkids ask her what her favourite memories are. Life is short and it can be extraordinary and we have that choice: is it going to be ordinary or extraordinary.
54:21: We can put too much pressure on ourselves. It’s ok to make mistakes. It’s not about being perfect - it’s just about doing things well.
55:36: Rachel shares her biggest piece of advice for you if you are stuck in a job you hate and you don’t know what else to do.
58:36: We always worry about what could go wrong - but we don’t ask ourselves what it would be like if it was amazing.
59:28: Rachel shares her biggest fear and how she overcame it. Wondering whether she’s made the right decision is still Rachel’s biggest fear to this day.
1:00:36: Success isn’t something you want to look at for 20 years time - what does success look like for you right now? Because you can feel successful right now.
1:04:11: How you can find out more about Rachel and the work she does.
Welcome to episode 3 of the “How She Did it” mini-series where I’m interviewing 8 inspiring women who have kindly agreed to share their stories about how they found their passion and purpose, started their businesses, and left their day jobs.
Today I’m speaking to Kylee Nelson and Kylee is sharing her story of how she went from feeling burned out in her day job, to having her son and realising that 9-5 life just wasn’t going to work for her anymore, to starting her own business and designing her life in the exact way she wanted to. This allowed her to thrive and to make sure her own needs were fulfilled so she could be there as her best self for her family and her clients.
We also talk about:
*How Kylee realised that she is a highly sensitive person (this is a great discussion) and what this meant for her, her family, and her business and how she realised there were certain things she needed to do to look after herself
*How we all have the knowledge and experience within us to start a coaching business by sharing our story of a journey we’ve been on with our health, or a medical journey, or a parenting journey and you feel like you’ve overcome something then you can help other people to get to that place too. Your story is powerful!
*Kylee gives us an insight into how she has designed her life to balance everything for herself, her family and her business. There’s one idea in here she’s given me that I’m definitely going to adopt!
*Kylee shares the biggest fear she had to overcome on her journey and how she overcame it - this is for you if you have imposter syndrome or if you don’t feel qualified enough to help other people.
It was such an interesting and insightful discussion and I know you will take so much from it.
Links
Links:
How to find out more about Kylee:
Kylee's website
Join Kylee's community calls
Follow Kylee on Instagram
Tools to help you start your coaching business: www.myjourneytofearless.com/yourstoryispowerful
Timestamps
2:04: When Kylee had her son she realised the 9-5 life wasn’t working for her. She had a passion to help other moms with their mental health and wellness so she decided to start her business.
3:09: Kylee describes her toxic work environment. The work she enjoyed doing was overshadowed by meetings, paperwork and led her to burnout.
4:23: How Kylee decided to use the skills she had from her day job to start her own business. She began doing the same work, but for herself, and learning new skills in business at the same time. Then she transitioned into coaching work which allowed her to build amazing relationships with her clients.
6:54: Kylee’s journey of self-discovery. Her story begins right after the birth of her son when she went to therapy herself and discovered she is a highly sensitive person. This can make you more sensitive to noise, lack of sleep, other people’s emotions. And this combined with being in a toxic workplace and being a new mom was a recipe for disaster. Being a highly sensitive person gives Kylee the skills to be amazing at her job, but she also needed to put boundaries in place to care for herself.
10:04: Kylee talks about how she realised she had the power to create the life she needed, and how society today isn’t really set up for highly sensitive people.
12:19: Kylee’s advice for you if you’re at burnout and don’t know what else you could do apart from your day job.
12:53: How we all have the knowledge and experience within us to start a coaching business by sharing our story of a journey we’ve been on with our health, or a medical journey, or a parenting journey and you feel like you’ve overcome something then you can help other people to get to that place too. Your story is powerful!
14:44: Don’t get stuck because of the tech side of your business idea - you can find the support and you can learn it as you go. Just start.
15:49: Kylee describes her life, working at home, before and after the pandemic. She works around her son’s schedule, just a few days a week.
17:04: How Kylee carved out one day a week to do all her errands, and another day of the week when she could just be by herself, with no expectations and just breathe, which is needed as a highly sensitive person. The ultimate work-life balance, where everyone’s needs are met.
23:29: Kylee shares her best piece of advice with us for people who are at burnout or who think they might be highly sensitive.
26:19: Kylee shares the biggest fear she had to overcome on her journey and how she overcame it - this is for you if you have imposter syndrome or if you don’t feel qualified enough to help other people.
30:49: How Kylee was selective about who she shared her new little business dream with, so that she was surrounded with supportive people and that she didn’t let other people’s opinions affect her. Sometimes other people’s opinions can send you into a spiral of doubt.
33:19: How you can find out more about Kylee and her business and how she could help you.
Welcome to episode 2 of the “How She Did it” mini-series where I’m interviewing 8 inspiring women who have kindly agreed to share their stories about how they found their passion and purpose, started their businesses, and left their day jobs.
Today I’m speaking to Kirsty Waite and Kirsty is sharing her story about how she spent years trying to figure out her passion and purpose and always knew she was made for more but didn’t know what more was. She knew she felt out of alignment, but she couldn’t work out how to fix that. Kirsty eventually became exhausted by having to put so much energy into a job she wasn’t aligned with that she hit burnout and was told by her Psychiatrist that she couldn’t carry on like this or she would end up not being able to work.
So she set off on her personal development journey to soak in as many books and podcasts as she could, and learn as much as she could. And she realised she had been looking for her passion and purpose in the wrong place all along!
In this episode, we have great conversations about:
So listen now to enjoy this conversation that’s filled with golden nuggets!
Links
You can find out more about Kirsty, her journey and her business here:
If you would like help to find your passion and purpose then take a look at the links below:
Timestamps
2:40: How Kirsty spent years trying to figure out her passion and purpose and always knew she was made for more but didn’t know what more was.
4:40: How Kirsty ended up in a 9-5 corporate role even though her passion was travel and she was a freedom seeker.
5:30: When Kirsty turned 25 she had an overwhelming feeling that this wasn’t for her and she felt like she was a different person at work, something who didn’t feel aligned with who she was.
6:40: What happened in Kirsty’s personal development conversations at work - her main answer to where do you want to be in 5 years time was “not here!” Luckily her manager got it and was really supportive.
7:14: What was the thing that prompted Kirsty to do something about the fact she didn’t feel aligned? Everything in her home and work life came to a head and she eventually realised that she hit burnout.
8:40: When you’re out of alignment with what you do you end up having to put 110% in to get 100% back and it’s exhausting. It was only a matter of time before it had a detrimental impact on her.
11:10: How Kirsty went to see a Psychiatrist who introduced her to mindfulness and meditation. He told her she couldn’t carry on like this or you’re going to end up not being able to work.
12:02: Kirsty embarked on a huge personal development journey, reading books, exploring her passion.
12:25: Kirsty never knew her passion and she would always look externally for it - asking her friends and family thought what she was good at. Until she realised that she needed to look internally at what brought her joy. This was never talked about in her corporate world.
14:25: How we’re not told everything we need to know at school and university age to be able to choose our subjects, degrees and careers. There’s too much pressure to make a decision and stick with it when we actually have so much time to change direction no matter how old we are.
17:03: The expectations that society puts on us to follow a set path. And how we upgrade our lives based on job promotions and this actually makes us trapped by an expensive lifestyle and a big mortgage. The gap you need to make up with your business is then much bigger and feels so much harder.
18:20: How Kirsty is changing her life to look at it from a creative and intentional perspective and not live on default.
18:40: How you have probably ended up where you are by following the default path - not by choice.
19:25: Having children while in a corporate job and the expectations that come with this.
20:05: Kirsty shares the note she wrote in her notebook when she started working with a coach back in 2018 and how she forgot all about this until the end of 2020. When she read it she was amazed how everything had come true and it gave her goosebumps.
23:25: How things Dudley start to work in your favour once you decide what you want. You don’t need to know how.
24:15: Kirsty talks about her personal development journey - how she surrounded herself with books and podcasts and started to learn as much as she could. Then she introduced meditation and affirmations and started learning about the law of attraction.
25:40: How Kirsty committed to be curious and explore what else was out there for her.
26:00: How surrounding yourself with the right people is so important. It changes your outlook on the world and your life.
26:55: How Kirsty was so sick of hearing herself say "I don’t know what I want". "What's my passion"….so she just decided to take one little step every day and see where it led her.
27:40: How a growth mindset is so different from how we’re taught to think in a corporate job. How Kirsty focused on connecting and relationships both in her job and business.
30:00: How Kirsty left her job and started her business within a few months, but the actual journey began 8 years earlier.
31:10: The snowball effect. How all of the pieces of the puzzle just fall into place once you begin your journey. Just pick something and start.
32:25: How Kirsty took the pressure off herself and tried not to focus on “I need to get out, I need to get out” and gave herself the space to be creative.
33:22: The pressure of time and how it stops us from being free and creative and blocks the ideas we so desperately want.
35:40: How finding your passion is like a jigsaw puzzle - but all of the pieces are scattered around your brain and you can’t find them or see them because you’re cramming your brain full of so much other stuff. You need to take a step back and find each piece one at a time so you can get the pieces out of our heads and put the puzzle together.
36:40: Why can’t I find my passion when I can figure all this stuff out for everyone else?
37:10: There is a way out of this. You’re not the only one who feels like this.
37:40: Your purpose is you! It’s what you bring to the world. Whose lives are you going to change? It’s about being confident to share your authentic self and your true voice so that you can create a life that’s aligned to you.
39:05: Ask yourself what do you want to do? And do that.
42:00: How Laura would talk about her business at work and she was asked not to - because she might influence other people to quit! How jobs try to keep us trapped and not seeing our true potential.
43:40: How the Public Sector needs a big shake-up to change the way it operates and to allow people to reach their potential.
44:50: How it’s my job to switch a lightbulb on in people’s heads to show them just what is possible for them.
45:45: Kirsty shares her one piece of advice for you.
47:10: Kirsty shares the biggest fear she had on her journey and how she overcame this. It’s all about money!
53:40: How to know when it’s time to leave your day job.
54:40: How you can find out more about Kirsty and how she may be able to help you.
The podcast currently has 38 episodes available.