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Success Stories
I'm always proud of the things my clients achieve with the aid of life coaching. And from time to time I share them with you. Below are just a few stories which might inspire you to make positive change in your life.
MEET EMELINE...
I had the pleasure of meeting Emeline at last year’s Vitality Show, Earls Court. Emeline had recently been made redundant from a career in Software Testing, but she used this opportunity to diversify and try something new, something she felt totally passionate about. She decided she wanted to set up her own practice as a massage therapist. Together we outlined a plan of action for the forthcoming year and slowly but surely Emeline started working through her plan. Emeline’s journey consisted of training, exams, tons of research, late nights, laughter and even a few tears along the way, it was certainly a challenging year for her. But, what amazed me about Emeline, was her determination and optimism, always bright and bubbly. She really is an inspiration! I’m pleased to say that on the 14th December Emeline opened the doors to her new practice, ‘Hibiscus Holistic Massage’ in Dorking, Surrey. Well done! Emeline offers Swedish and deep tissue massage, along with Indian head and Kansa Vatki foot massage, if you fancy treating yourself or a loved one or if you can help Emeline in any way to further her business visit www.hibiscusholisticmassage.co.uk
Emeline says:
"When I met Louise at the vitality show, I was unsure of myself and saddened by bereavement but ready for a new challenge. I knew that I wanted to change my life, but couldn’t imagine what to do to get there, I was lost. That first session with Louise felt so right.
One year on, I have my own practice and I have set up my company. I am a fully qualified and insured practitioner with an ITEC level 3 diploma in Holistic Massage; I also have an FHT approved Deep Tissue Diploma. This was a very difficult year, while training, research, exams and case studies, my mum died. Louise helped me stay afloat and focused when all I wanted was to drown in my sorrow. I am grateful for her support, and her way of helping and encouraging me to achieve even one task at a time. But this was also a very interesting year, I’ve learn so much about my chosen field, as well as myself.
Of course there is still so much to do, my training has only just started, and I am still grieving. I feel now more equipped and determined. Thanks Louise so much for your help and support this over the past year."
MEET CAROLINE...
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Caroline’s a huge animal lover and has many pets at home. And her one true ambition in life was to own her own llamas - an animal she’s always loved and admired. Although she insisted it was a pipe dream and gave copious reasons why she’s couldn't own llama’s, I could sense that this dream really was important to Caroline and something she felt extremely passionate about. With a little encouragement, Caroline set herself the goal of owning her own llama’s.
With my coaching guidance, she started off by booking a llama trekking day for herself and her family, she then proceeded to research where llamas where bred, what kind of care they needed, land, the logistics of transporting them and so on. There was a lot to find out and lots to organise. But the more research she did the more confident she became that this wonderful dream was in actual fact achievable.
Caroline and I worked together for a few months and when we parted company she had a solid plan of action under her belt. She promised she’d keep in contact and would let me know how she was progressing. About 10 months later I received an e-mail saying that she’d just picked up her beautiful llamas, Comet and Mercury. I was so thrilled that Caroline had brought her dream to fruition and I couldn’t wait to meet them. So many people have these so called ‘pipe dreams’ and spend years day dreaming about how wonderful their life would be if only they had more time, money, resource, support or whatever to make their dreams come true. Caroline’s story is testament to the fact that dreams can come true BUT YOU have to make it happen! Both Comet and Mercury are still very young but Caroline plans in the future to run local trekking days and I intend to be her first customer!
Caroline says:
"I don’t know what made me want llamas. I had always been mad on animals and then my neighbour talked about llama trekking. It coincided with my trying to do my shopping without using a car and I started to dream about shopping with a llama and panniers. When you have a dream like that the problems of making it come true seem to be insurmountable to begin with. Louise was invaluable in making me realise that it was possible and in getting me to set an achievable goal (just being ready to buy my first llamas). She responded with enthusiasm to my ramblings. She listened and helped me solve my own problems. More than anything else, she made me believe that I could do it. On a practical level, Louise got me to break down the goal into steps that were all possible… and somehow it just happened! The day I actually had my llamas was as momentous as the day my children had been born. I kept having to pinch myself to make sure it was real. Now, it’s five months later and I’m so glad that I didn’t sit back and let my dream be just that, a dream."
MEET SARAH...
Sarah has worked as an assistant buyer for the last 5 years. Whist she thoroughly enjoys her work, she has always felt a pull towards helping others in some way. Initially Sarah’s goal was to work on her self-confidence and esteem, but whilst working with her it materialized that Sarah had an ambition to set up her own business working with the elderly to make day-to-day life easier for them, helping with things such as errands, coordinating home repairs, form filling, dog walking and the like. A job where she could give something back and add real value. Sarah is one of the friendliest easy-going, positive people I have met as a coach and without doubt is perfect for such a role in the community. During our time working together we created an action plan to launch Sarah business, comprising of lots of research, networking and number crunching. Sarah is now in the final throws of launching her business and aims to take on her first clients by the summer. Watch this space.
Sarah says:
"Many thanks for all your help over the past few months. I am now achieving things I would have never thought possible and compared to where I was this time last year, my confidence has gone through the roof!!! It has been great having you there for me for every step of the way as well as being someone to speak to without any other influences on your opinion. If I had known about you I would have called years ago!!"
MEET EVE...
I met Eve in March 2009 and I think it’s fair to say that she has been on an incredible journey during this time. On meeting Eve she was working as a Library Assistant in a Solicitors, a job she didn’t particularly enjoy. It wasn’t fulfilling and it certainly didn’t meet with her values in life. Eve’s goal was to find a job she was truly passionate about, something that would make her jump out of bed in the morning. Together we set about digging deep to find out what was going to float Eve’s boat. We looked at her core life values, likes and dislikes, talents, passions and came to the conclusion that without doubt, Eve was a creative soul at heart and needed to be in a line of work that utilized her natural skills and abilities. From the age of six Eve has been repairing, altering and making things such as skirts, dresses, shirts and soft furnishings. I’ve seen some of her work – it’s amazing! She really does have a gift. Eve set about finding a job that would make use of her gift and she eventually found a perfect job at JosyRose, an online Haberdashery shop as the Marketing and PR Manager. But, unfortunately five months later she was made redundant! But during these few short months, Eve had found a new lease for life, a confidence and self-belief that had been lacking for so many years. This newly found zest for life gave Eve the courage to go-it-alone and set up her own professional repair and alternation service - a dream Eve had had for many years. Eve now runs a successful business from home called ‘Eve ‘n’ Stitches’. If you’re looking to have something repaired or would like something bespoke making, Eve’s certainly your gal. http://evenstitches.vpweb.co.uk/
Eve says:
"I spent years reading articles about people who had their "dream job" - about how they had turned their hobby into a business and they were working from home and they were happy. To me that seemed incredibly daunting... how could you make the leap from a full time job to working for yourself? After many years of constant soul searching I found Louise's website. I signed up for the newsletters, encouraged by what Louise was saying in them I decided to call her on one of her phone-in Discovery Sessions. After the session I felt that this was the right route to take, so I called her again to ask some questions. I felt very relaxed talking to Louise, it was like talking to a friend. We decided on a number of sessions and started straight away. Setting the goals was hard for me because although I knew I had to make some serious changes to my life I didn't know what they were or where to start!
Louise asked me questions and sent me some assignments to help me to start thinking about what I wanted to change. These were really helpful and I started to think in a different way than I had before, I guess I was starting to take control on my life! At the start I didn't think I would be able to change that much. I didn't think that those closest to me would agree with or support what I wanted to do, so I wouldn't tell them everything straight away because I knew if I got negative feed back then it would send me crashing back to where I had started and I'd give up. So I worked hard at saying my affirmations and visualising a better, happier life. As this all started to come naturally things started to happen that at first I wasn't really aware of.
My job at the solicitors was getting worse and I knew I had to start planning to leave before things got worse. My stress levels were really high and I thought I had the start of a serious illness. All I could think about was leaving this horrible place and getting my health back. Then out of the blue an advert for the perfect job came to me, my dream job! I applied straight away, within minutes of receiving it. It was the best application letter I had ever sent. I truely believe that if Louise hadn't worked with me to gain confidence I wouldn't have gone for this job, I wouldn't have written my application letter the way I had, I would have read the ad and said "well that would be great but I wouldn't get it". Within a couple of weeks I had a phone call from the company, they loved my letter and wanted very much to see me! I had goosebumps all over and I couldn't stop smiling, I felt amazing. I visualised and said all my affirmations with maximum effort following my interview with them and was offered the job a week later. I can't put into words how wonderful it felt to hand in my notice and accept my new job.
Things were really looking up now. I was given 5 weeks paid gardening leave, so I decorated our bedroom (which was one of my goals), and found myself in a much happier place, a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Although, 5 months later I was made redundant from this "dream job" I learnt a lot. I learnt that money wasn't everything, the job paid for my bills and my travel - I didn't actually earn any pocket money from it, but I was happy to be doing something that I loved. I was very upset at losing the job but ultimately I learnt that it was one of my stepping stones to the ultimate goal. I found another job locally, 10 minutes walk from my house, and this had benefits too. I walked our dog before work, allowing my husband an extra 30 mins in bed, I made new friends and contacts and I learnt new sewing skills - this job was another stepping stone because it was only temporary until Xmas.
It was then that I hatched my plans to go self-empolyed and start a sewing repair business from home - ticking lots of boxes for my ultimate goal - working from home, working for myself, being happy, becoming confident. I am SO grateful to Louise for her encouragement and the skills she has passed on to me. A year ago Louise asked me "How would I feel if I was in this same position, doing the same things, a year down the line?" I cried, to think that I would still be so unhappy and in a job that I hated and made me feel so stressed 12 months later - that was my wake-up call.Louise is amazing, she's been through very similar things herself and came out the other side and she's now showing others that it truely can be done, you can change your life. I still have work to do, there are other things I want to change and improve but I don't feel so stressed about it now, I know I have the skills to make these things happen. I visualise and say my affirmations most days...and Louise will always be by my side in spirit encouraging me along. Thank you."
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