Hello Reader, In 2024, I wiped the slate clean and recommitted to putting focused attention on building my business. I've had side hustles on and off since my 20s, selling services, online courses, coaching, freelancing and even a brick-and-mortar café. They never got the traction I'd hoped for. In 2023, I 'gave up'. After years of trying and failing, I was disillusioned and tired. So I scaled back a lot of my business activities in 2023. By the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, the itch to work on my business started again. Somehow that hope and desire never died out. As the Japanese proverb goes,
'Fall down 7 times, stand up 8.' There were a number of serendipities happening at the time that nudged me:
And my passion and purpose were reignited. After all, what was the alternative?
My goals for starting a business in the first place kept ringing in my head. I wanted to
It was a no brainer. I revisited all the programs I bought and coaches I had engaged before and realized I already had everything I needed and more. What was missing was my ability to objectively evaluate the results of my actions - so I started working on this in 2024. I practiced diligently reviewing all my business indicators without the biased stories and meanings I was assigning about myself. Even more important, I forgave and gave myself permission, grace and compassion for where I am and mistakes I've made. I stopped beating myself up for not making the millions of dollars I wanted to when I started. I acknowledged I was having a real life, working a full-time job to provide for the family, raising kids, plus building a business. All of it had taken a toll on my health so that was a wake-up call too. Not to throw a pity party, but here's what I've learned and realized:
A lot of people give up because there's a misalignment between the results they want in their business and the amount of effort they're willing to put in. Most of the entrepreneurs at the level I aspire to work really, really hard. If they say they don't, it's because the don't see it as work since they enjoy the process so much. But I'm unwilling to put in the intensity, pace and amount of work they do. Because there are other priorities in my life which are more important to me. Releasing all this pressure on myself was possible because of my decade long practice that's now encapsulated by the MAP Method. MAP comprises 5 parts, and up until 2023, I was doing 4 of these parts. The 5th missing element has been the total game changer. It's enabled me to come to this place of clarity, calm, and certainty about my business. I want every woman business owner to be equipped with the MAP Method and learn how to use it in your business. Because when it comes to building and growing your business, the show stopper isn't what you don't know. It's all the mindset and emotional drama that goes on in your unconscious self-talk as you go through this roller coaster ride. Especially women - we continue to put ourselves last, berate ourselves and be our own worst critic when things don't work out. We'd never say the things we say to yourself to our kids. Yet we don't hesitate to play that on repeat mode in the back of our minds. We need to stop that now. So, I'm opening up a 6-week live all-women cohort to handhold you to apply MAP into your daily life and business. I'm so convinced of this that I'm giving you a 100% money back guarantee if you don't experience any changes after the 6 weeks. Registration opens on 15 October. Click here to get on the waitlist to receive details when it does. See you inside. Sharon |
Reader, Here's a stat that stopped me in my tracks: 73% of working mothers are planning a career change within the next 12 months. But here's what the research doesn't tell you: Most of them will make the same mistake I made for years - they'll change their job, not their approach. Different company, same exhaustion. New role, same feeling that something's missing. What if I told you the women who actually create careers they love aren't just changing jobs - they're changing how they make...
The Weekly Newsletter CAREER COACH FOR WORKING MOMS I've always been the person who makes career decisions that look crazy from the outside. Pay cut for a smaller role? ✅ Leaving stable jobs for unknown opportunities? ✅ Following gut instincts over spreadsheet logic? ✅ People thought I was either brave or reckless. Turns out, I was just being myself. Last week I discovered Human Design - basically a personality system that creates your 'user manual for life' based on your birth details....
Reader, It's begun. Retrenchment talks. Even though the company I work at has announced 'restructuring' after the acquisition, up to this point, this was only happening at the global and regional level, and the top folks in our country. Last week, the first trickle has landed in country. As someone in HR, conducting these conversations is the part of my job I hate most. Watching people cry. Seeing the shock, anger, and helplessness wash over their faces. Knowing that in an instant, their...