‘I don’t care about making money, I want to make a difference with this.’

This stopped my coach training mentor in her flow and she paused to repeat back what I’d just said. This resonated and really stuck with me. I’d had a feeling for a while that coaching was my calling – that moment confirmed it.

This conversation was a few months prior to really considering what my business and brand could be aside to from the coaching world.

I worked with trusted coaches, mentors and peers along with hours of self-reflection and research – all helped along by the fact that I’m someone who is obsessed with inspiration.

Sometimes I seek it out, sometimes it comes to me in the middle of a conversation, TV show, song, book or talk. These inspirations give me meaning and guidance and help me bring my goals to life.

When you become a coach, you quickly get focused on goals

The are key in solution focused coaching and the models I was becoming familiar with. If the client has a goal for the session and we successfully work towards achieving it, then we can safely say that the session has been useful.

A few hundred more hours along, my coaching is no longer just about the goal… Sometimes there is other work to do too.

Along with my coaching practice, I was starting to build some goals for myself and the business.

A trusted mentor began gently guiding me to future focused achievements. There was some amusement in some of these sessions too. When I bound excitedly into my online mentoring session with my new logo and branding colours, excited to put it out to the world on social media, Jane’s reaction was priceless…

‘Oh, I don’t think we’re connected on Linked In yet, let me check’.

She pulled out her phone and after finding me, she paused and looked up at the screen to me over her glasses with a warm but firm honesty – ‘Well, you only have 30 connections, so don’t launch anything yet because no one is going to see it!’.

This moment still makes me smile when I look back but it made me realise the power of people in your corner, who you trust to tell you the truth and back you all the way. 

While we are never in full ‘tell’ mode in mentoring, there was a certainty in the message from this session – go and make some worthwhile connections. ‘When you’re at 100 – we’ll launch!’.

The accountability along with the consistent, supportive drive and championing of my success markers from Jane got me there and beyond within about 3 weeks!

Along with Jane’s sessions, some excellent peer coaching introduced me to the power of visualisation: When I’m successful…

• Where am I standing?
• How am I standing?
• What am I wearing?
• How am I feeling?

One particular session around this work led to the infamous pink jacket that has become a staple of my brand. From the visualisation, I knew that when I was successful, I would be wearing a pink jacket.

Not long after the business launched, I saw a candy pink blazer hanging in H&M on a London visit with my husband. We were a couple of wines in on our way to dinner and with our mutual adoration of Michael Portillo, we grabbed it for a fun photo op.

But as I looked in the store mirror, that visualisation came back to me…

this is the jacket that is going to help me bring my vision to life!

The first photo I picked when creating my bio and website was of me in the jacket – it somehow represented success – even though at this point I had no paying clients!

But with goals and achievements, it of course takes work. And the achievement of a goal doesn’t always bring the desired effect. The business being a success felt huge – unbelievable even. Would people ever pay me?

So, like with coaching and visualisation, we need to figure out what the goal is and work things back from there.

Big goals like this take focused action over a long period of time. Sounds scary but if you break it down into small steps of progress you can see it clearer. You can then start.

• Success depends on action…
• Action leads to momentum…
• Before you know it, you’re halfway there.

Speaking of Bon Jovi (how long have you got?!)… Thanks to mum, I’ve been in love with Jon and the band from around age 8! Mum and I have a matching Bon Jovi tattoo and I have their music notes around it too. I carry their inspiration with me as a part of my canvas.

Watching their documentary ‘Thank You, Goodnight’ in late 2024 was planned as just a girls night with mum and sister, but with the business and all this goal setting world growing, something landed from the man himself when talking about the early days of the band.

He spent years as a runner prior to his success, sweeping the floors and making the coffee in the recording studios and watching the greats such as Queen and Springsteen at work.

His commitment to observing and learning the craft was inspiring.

And after years of success as a platinum selling musician, the pivot into action was again approached in that same way – start by learning the craft, know it inside out and grow with continuous improvement. Don’t just take the big paid job because of your name.

This took me back to that mentoring conversation. This wasn’t just to build a business to make money. This was me learning a craft and building a grounding to a whole different type of success – personal and professional excellence.

So, feeling inspired that even the greats start way before the starting line, and realising there is possibly some truth in the term ‘It takes 10 years to become an overnight success’, I settled into a sense of pride for the work I was putting in.

But it really resonated when Jon Bon Jovi talked about overcoming his vocal surgery and the way it could have easily the end of his career. For someone with less tenacity, it  may well have been, but the mindset work it took was probably more of a challenge than relearning a new way to sing those incredible hits we all know and love.

Clearly a difficult road to travel, his simple phrase stuck with me and caused me to pause the TV and make everyone wait while I wrote it down!

‘Not every day you’re going to win, but every day is an opportunity to participate in the process and measure the progress’.

Knowing one day, there’ll be something in that quote to come back to, I kept it safe.

More recently, I knew I wanted to write this blog but I wanted to wait until I’d witnessed Jon’s return to the stadium stage. And wow, last week did I do just that!

After 15 years away from UK stadiums and any shows of that magnitude, Bon Jovi walked out and delivered 2.5 hours of amazing entertainment, with a presence that simply said ‘we’re not done yet’.

For mum, me and sister (along with the other 65,000 people!), it was the best night we could imagine, but I kind of think it was an ever better one for Jon and the band.

• Goals are set.
• Visions are brought to life.
• Barriers can show up unexpectedly in the shape of huge boulders…

But from what I can see after my years in leadership and L&D and now in business ownership, the sure way to success, to the next achievement or goal (or Linked In connection!) is hard flippin’ work (and a lot of coaching!).

So, learn the craft, put in the hours, find your network, do the practice, and that’s the way there’ll be longevity.

I was right in that mentoring session, I’m not just here to make money. I’m here to make an impact, to craft moments of reflection, emotion and connection that endure long after the session ends.