Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
As my boys are all older now, it is a lot easier to balance work and family than it otherwise would have been. My eldest lives away from home at university, and although my 19- and 17-year-olds are still at home, between their studies and their part-time work, I don’t see much of them. They are typical teenage boys and don’t really want to spend much time with their old mum (except when they need something of course!!!)
My biggest challenge is probably trying to balance work and taking time for myself. I am so passionate about what I am growing that I find I am often still thinking about ideas for the business even when I am taking time out and watching Netflix or reading.
This is something that I am actively working on now – taking my own advice and ensuring that I make time for my own self-care, as well as making sure I spend some quality time with my husband when our work schedules allow.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
There have been certain life events which have shaped me into who I am – such as the death of my father when I was only four years old and being bullied both as a teenager and as an adult. These events (and others) were a huge part of where my lack of self-esteem and confidence came from, and moving past over 30 years of feeling “not good enough” has been one of my biggest challenges and one of my greatest achievements.
I also have a condition called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) which has been something that I have had to learn how to manage over the years. One of the great things about having my own business is that for a lot of the time I can work to my own schedule depending on when I am feeling tired. For example, I know that mornings are a real struggle for me, so where possible I schedule appointments for my afternoons and evenings. I have also discovered that the combination of a driving passion for what I am building and the ability to set my own hours has really helped me in overcoming the challenge of CFS.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
To be honest, there are so many that I can’t list them all, but here are a few that stand out for me:
As I mentioned earlier, I have discovered that I have a huge passion for learning, and building my business from the ground up has certainly been a massive learning curve and has given me the opportunity to learn so many new things. In addition to training in Life Coaching, NLP and Root Cause Therapy, I have learned so much about social media marketing and how to use different software. I am also just so completely in love with what I do, and knowing that I am helping other women to navigate their self-growth journeys and witnessing the transformations that they achieve is by far the biggest pro of running my business.
The hardest part for me, and therefore what I see as the biggest con in running my own business, has been trying to get my name out there and build the business up from scratch. It is not easy to get known as an expert in your field, and it takes time, perseverance and lots of marketing know-how. I have made mistakes, worked with a coach whose methods didn’t align with me, and I spend hours every week creating engaging and promotional content to grow and nurture my audience. I am not a marketing expert, and marketing is not my passion, so the amount of time that I have to spend on marketing is definitely the biggest con to running my business.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
Quite simply – growth!
I am working on creating a scalable business which will ultimately allow me to pass on the jobs that I don’t enjoy as much to others. I would love to be able to focus purely on delivering the coaching and therapy programmes as well as continuing to grow and learn additional tools and modalities. In creating a scalable business I can employ others to do the majority of the marketing and administrative tasks while I focus on what I am passionate about and what I am the expert in.
Visit the Kites and Angels Life Coaching & Root Cause Therapy website to find our more about the wonderful services they offer. Follow them on Facebook and join their Goal-Driven Women Making Changes Facebook group. You can also connect with them on Instagram.
