G-BLLC06DBK9 520165642414387 133 | Six Years In: How June Hogan Turned a £200 Start into a Thriving Coaching Business - Women in The Coaching Arena

Episode 133

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Published on:

4th Sep 2025

133 | Six Years In: How June Hogan Turned a £200 Start into a Thriving Coaching Business

When June Hogan started her coaching business, she earned just £200 in her first six months. No clients, no niche, and no real idea how to make it work. Fast forward six years, and June has built a thriving outplacement practice supporting values-led organisations through redundancy, with a strong network, a team of associates, and a business that truly makes an impact.

Key Timestamps

[00:00:00] Welcome and June’s Introduction

[00:03:21] Early Struggles – £200 in Six Months

[00:07:40] The Power of Niching

[00:13:05] Key Lessons Learned

[00:20:44] Why June Joined the Mastermind

[00:28:15] Achievements and Growth

[00:34:09] What’s Next for June

June wanted accountability, community, and inspiration.

“Running a business can be lonely. The Mastermind gave me a safe space to share ideas, launch my podcast, and grow alongside generous, curious fellow coaches.”

This episode is for every coach who feels stuck, lost in comparison, or unsure how to find their footing, because June’s story proves that clarity, consistency, and community can transform everything.

✨ Start showing up today, even if it feels small. The seeds you plant now will grow into the business you dream of.

Useful Links

June Hogan at Wildwood Coaching

Learn about The Next Level Mastermind

The Business of Coaching programme

Signature Solution Course

Download the Free Digital version of Coaches' Planner (edition 2025)

Grow Your Business Without the Tech Overwhelm - One Stop Coach Shop

Join the Let’s-Coach Circle for free

How to secure more coaching clients' free training

Download the 12 ways to get clients now

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn

Rate and Review the Podcast

If you found this episode of Women in the Coaching Arena helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you’re kind enough to leave a review, please do let Jo know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: joanna@joannalottcoaching.com

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Transcript
Speaker:

Today's episode is a really special one

because I am joined by June Hogan, who

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has been part of my next level mastermind.

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June's story is one I know that

will resonate with so many of you.

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I could honestly listen to this episode

all day because she shares so many gems.

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She honestly shares about starting

her business with no network earning

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just 200 pounds in her first six

months, and the lesson she has learned

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along the way to building a hugely

successful business now six years in.

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What I love most about our conversation

is how clear and grounded June has

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become in her niche and how her

business truly reflects her values

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and everything she stands for.

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If you have ever wondered whether

specializing is worth it or if you have

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moments of doubt of whether to keep going.

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This episode will give you both

inspiration and reassurance.

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Hi, June.

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I'm so excited you've agreed to

reflect on your journey with me.

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You've been in my next level Mastermind,

which has been an absolute joy, and

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I'm excited today to reflect on your

business growth journey to date.

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So please share a bit about you.

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Oh, thanks Jo.

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Yeah, it's really nice to

be here talking about this.

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So, I'm June Hogan and I specialize

in outplacement support, working with

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values led organizations who want to do

the right thing and support people who

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are leaving as a result of redundancies.

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But I didn't always do that.

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I've been doing this

for the past, six years.

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Before that I had a corporate career

in HR, so a generalist career in HR.

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And during that time I was made redundant

a couple of times along the way.

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And I also had to manage

redundancy programs.

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I never thought that

I would be doing this.

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I never wanted to be a business owner.

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It wasn't anything on my bucket list,

and I certainly didn't think I'd be

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specializing in, in what I do now.

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My kind of corporate background, my

personal experience of redundancy,

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and then my, coaching qualification,

which I undertook back in:

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All those things kind of combined and

helped me to decide that this is something

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I wanted to specialize in back in 2019.

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Yeah, totally.

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And so you joined my program well

into your business growth, so

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I would love to first start by.

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Thinking back to when you first started

your business and how you felt then

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and how that initial growth was.

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'cause I think a lot of my

podcast listeners are in the early

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stages and it feels really hard.

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And what I found really interesting when

we had a mastermind call, and I think I

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said to everyone, how much did you earn

within your first six months of business?

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And we all laughed out loud and you

had your specific figure to mind

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of exactly how much you earned.

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So please reflect back on where you

were when you started your business and

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tell us more about those early stages.

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Yeah, so I had returned, to the UK from

a three year career break overseas.

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Our family and I, we went to North

America with my husband's job.

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That was back in 2015 and I

couldn't work during that time.

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We didn't have a working visa, so I

decided to train to become a coach,

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and that was really when the whole idea

of, well, maybe when we go back to the

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uk I could turn this into business,

but it wasn't something that I was

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completely committed to, because when we

returned to the uk, I didn't have a job.

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I was kind of organizing the children,

organizing everyone else's lives.

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And when everyone kind of got

settled back in, I suddenly kind

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of sat there and thought I have no

idea how to start a business, how

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to run a business, what to even do.

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And so I carried on applying for proper

jobs as I might call them, but my

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heart wasn't really in that because

I wanted to work flexibly because I'd

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always worked flexibly since my eldest

son was born, at the time he was 14.

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So I wasn't really prepared to give

that up and thought, well, after all

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those years of working part-time, why

would you go back to work full-time now?

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So that was a real driver at the time.

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My kids are older now and they couldn't

care what hours I work really, but at the

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time they were younger and it made sense.

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When I then kind of decided, never

stop thinking about getting a job.

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You've got to think

about one or the other.

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So I decided to put all my efforts into

thinking about starting a business.

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I was hugely naive about what that meant.

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I didn't know anyone who'd

done anything like this.

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There weren't the programs like

yours and other people's that were

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around at the moment to help people.

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And I didn't have a budget

to invest in, in anything.

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I hadn't worked for three

years, which was significant.

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So it wasn't a great time to

think about starting a business.

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And I remember my husband said,

right, well, we've got six months,

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you know, we've got six months for

you to you know earn some money.

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And to your point that I did, I

earned 200 pounds in the six month.

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Probably wasn't quite what my

husband was thinking that we

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would do, but I said I did it.

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I, I earned that 200 pounds.

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That was kinda like my first client.

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So those first six months, they were,

they were just very confusing for me.

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I, I didn't really have any focus.

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I was a coach.

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And as we know.

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Everyone's a coach, and I just assumed

that people would find me, that people

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would know that, people used to work with,

and that network was relatively small.

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I wasn't on social media, so

my network wasn't even cold.

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It was like frozen.

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It was nothing.

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So those early months were difficult and

I look back now and think, well, I know

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so much now that I didn't know then.

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That contributed to that feeling of

not really knowing where I was heading.

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And so tell us about what you've learned.

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What do you know now that

you wish you'd known then?

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What I've learned, oh, crikey.

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What have I learned?

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So back in those early days, I

didn't realize that, you know, I

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was gonna have to be the marketing

director, the finance director.

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The CEO, responsible for

everything and I underestimated

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what it meant to be visible.

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And so I went onto LinkedIn and I

didn't have a social media profile

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anywhere, so it was my first kind

of dip into social media, and I

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realized that when I decided to niche.

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When I decided to specialize in

outplacement support and no longer

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just be a coach, that was the

turning point for my business.

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And I remember changing my LinkedIn

profile with my headline and everything

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to sort of reflect what I was doing.

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And, we were on holiday and I got

this phone call from someone who

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said, oh, I see on LinkedIn that

you provide out placement support.

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I was like, completely just

dumbfounded going, oh yes.

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That's what I do.

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And that was my first client because

I'd been specific about what I

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was doing and who I was helping.

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So that for me changed everything.

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I know you're a big fan of niching.

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There's different views on niching.

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I totally get it and I understand the

different perspectives, but for me, that

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changed my business completely, because

I was known for solving a problem.

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I knew whose problems I wanted to solve.

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I knew the audience I wanted

to reach, and therefore it made

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writing content and connecting with

people just a whole lot easier.

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So everything just fell into

place and felt like, it wasn't

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quite so scatter gun anymore.

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It was more focused.

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So that was one of the biggest learnings.

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And if I'd have known that

when I first started out, that

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would've made a huge difference.

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But it took me about maybe like

nine months to figure that out,

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which looking back, I'm thinking,

my goodness, that took a long time.

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But when you're in it, and I had all the

other stuff going on in my life having,

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returned from an overseas assignment

and that brings its own challenges.

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So yeah, there was a lot going on, but, I

think I could have done it a bit quicker.

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Honestly, I don't think nine

months is bad for nicheing.

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I've worked with people maybe eight

years plus in their business who

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are still searching for their niche.

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So well done.

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And so you've built a really successful

business over the past six years.

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Share more about what you feel like

the key turning points were in building

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the success and the relationships

you've got given that you started

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from a zero LinkedIn network,

which I didn't realize until now.

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Yeah, so I think there's,

consistency consistently showing up.

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So I consistently showed up on LinkedIn

and I authentically showed up as well.

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It was sharing kind of insights and maybe

my story and client stories, obviously

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protecting confidentiality, et cetera.

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But the consistency and also just

knowing that people might not be,

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actively looking at what you're doing.

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You know, don't, don't be worried

about likes and impressions and

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all of that craziness, but it's

the consistency of showing up.

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And I think for me, one of

the things, that I will never

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do is let anyone else down.

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I've got a list of things to do that

are there, and I'll regularly let myself

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down, but I'll never let anyone else down.

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Once I'd put this idea of running

a business out into the world.

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I had to keep going and I

haven't stopped ever since.

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So I think that consistency

is really important.

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And also knowing that you are not

certainly my experience, your business

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isn't necessarily gonna always

be on this trajectory of growth.

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It's not just gonna keep on growing.

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And if you have a good month,

one month, then wonderful.

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But the nature of business, certainly

with the work that I do is it can go up

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and down and to feel that's okay and to

accept that because when business goes

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quiet and, and it still does, now that

I have quiet times and in the quiet

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times, I'm now more readily able to say

to myself, right, stick to the plan.

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You know what you're doing.

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You know, these things work.

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Just keep going and don't

kind of get spooked by it.

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So I think that's one

of my biggest learnings.

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And again, over the years, I've never got

spooked and I've never sort of thought,

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oh, that's a shiny thing over there.

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Maybe I'll go and do that

instead, I've just stayed in

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my lane and just kept going.

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So I think that's something

which, yeah, with going back to

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the niching, I suppose I've got a

clear idea and a clear direction.

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So that's important.

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Oh, it really is.

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People go, I'm multi-passionate.

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It's like, that's okay, but if

your priority is to earn an income.

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Then you might wanna focus on one thing

to start and then expand from there.

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It's amazing that you've stuck with it.

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'cause I think the problem is if

you're constantly reinventing,

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you are basically starting your

business from scratch every month.

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Yeah.

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Oh, that would just be exhausting.

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And that notion of, social media

does this in terms of don't

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compare yourself to others.

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It's nice to know what other people

are doing, don't get me wrong.

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But it's not about that comparison

because as we all know, the piece

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that you see on social media is just

the shiny things and not everything

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that goes on behind the scenes.

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I've never wanted to compete with some

of the bigger, outplacement providers.

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I know what they do.

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It would be foolish for me to

sit in a hole and pretend that

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I don't look at, competitors.

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I do.

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I think that's important for business,

but I don't look at them with the

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view to, oh, I must be more like them.

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It's just about having that

awareness as opposed to comparison.

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Yeah.

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Love it.

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And so when you joined the Next

Level Mastermind, tell us more about

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what was going on for you at that

time and why you chose to join.

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Running a business can be lonely.

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And again, you see the post

particularly at the moment, it's

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like, yeah, I'm on the beach.

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And I'm having all this great fun.

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And yes, there are benefits

to running a business.

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One of the downsides is

that it can be lonely.

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And I'd followed you for a while,

and we'd had interactions, hadn't we?

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And when I saw the Mastermind, I was

really drawn to the idea finding that

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tribe or finding another tribe we

all have different tribes, don't we?

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And so for me, that opportunity to

interact with other business owners on a

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similar journey, doing different things,

but on a similar journey and feeling

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like you can share those things as a

business owner with people who get it.

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Because when you are, working with

clients, clearly you are working and

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you're not gonna share with them.

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When you are working with associates

or other people that work for you.

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You are the boss kind

of thing, aren't you?

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So there's not an

opportunity to do that then.

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And of course I have friends and fellow

coaches and we interact and that's

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lovely and I appreciate their support.

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But for me, the Business Mastermind was

an opportunity to really have that safe

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space with other business owners and

also to have the ability to share ideas

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and bounce ideas and get inspiration,

which I found hugely beneficial because

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again, you can kind of sit at your desk.

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Well, I do some days and I think.

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What am I supposed to be doing today?

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And you have to be hugely self-motivated,

and look to yourself for inspiration.

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You're kind of the source of inspiration.

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So that was really what I was looking for.

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Yeah.

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I love it.

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Totally agree with all of it.

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What was most useful for

you from the mastermind?

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I launched my podcast during the

Mastermind and I know that I wouldn't

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have done that as quickly if I hadn't

have had the accountability within

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the program, because again, I'd

announced that to you guys, right?

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I'm gonna launch on whatever date it was.

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And I knew that I had you guys

kind of checking in going, how

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are things going with the podcast?

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So the accountability.

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The generosity of fellow business owners

who've been through something similar.

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But the fact that we are all coaches is

one of the things that I loved because.

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As a coach we all have that curiosity,

we all have that ability to support

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others and to just hold that space.

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It wasn't about, if you shared

something, somebody would jump in

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and go, oh, you should do it like

this 'cause I've done it that way.

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It was just that gentle support and

offering perspectives, observations,

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ideas, challenge, because when you're with

coaches I think that just comes naturally.

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And so that I really appreciated that.

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And the space that you created for us

all in being able to do that, whether

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that's online or in person, and also

knowing that you were there for support

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as well, whether it be on the Slack group

or whether connecting on a one-to-one.

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Yeah, totally.

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And, excited.

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You are continuing on in the Mastermind.

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I can't wait to get

back to it in September.

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So tell us what's next for

you and your business growth?

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So I've got season two of the

podcast, coming out so that's

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coming out in September.

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So I've been interviewing some guests

to get different perspectives on

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redundancy and, I'm looking forward

to sharing that with my audience.

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In terms of business growth, looking

ahead, the last quarter of the year

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can be challenging for businesses.

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Traditionally, it's been quite a busy

time for outplacemeent, unfortunately,

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because, we're heading to the year end.

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So it's really making sure

that I'm positioned, for that.

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And I've also got some new materials and

resources that I'm looking at, launching.

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And I'm also looking at doing a

video based lead magnet, which if

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you know me, video is my nemesis.

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But I think that the idea that

I've got could really help people

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who are planning redundancies.

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I would love to think that people

were downloading that and then maybe

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playing meet their line managers

to help set them up for success

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in managing those consultations.

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So a few things in the fire, but

fundamentally just making sure that we

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are ready for, what could be, a busy time.

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Yeah.

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Love it.

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So we talked a lot in the beginning

about how your business started and

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what it looked like six months in.

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Tell us what it looks

like now, six years in.

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Oh wow.

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Yeah, six years in.

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I was thinking about it.

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'cause my business birthday

is the 1st of September.

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It normally involves some sort

of cake and obviously a post on

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LinkedIn because everyone likes cake.

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So I should be doing that.

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And also the opportunity to reflect,

because when I was employed, I didn't

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really count my anniversaries or

know how long I'd been somewhere.

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But each year as a business owner

feels like such an achievement.

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And so I do reflect on that

and I do think to myself, six

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years, that is an achievement.

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And then, you know,

just carry on as you do.

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So I want to take some time to reflect.

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But the business now, it

feels like a business.

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I've got systems in place,

there's a structure to what I do.

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I've got clients who will return,

when they're making restructures.

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Some I won't hear from for years.

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Some will come back,

with one or two people.

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Some will have restructures

that are sizable.

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So I feel like I've got that network

there of, people who've worked with me.

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It's lovely to have people who've worked

with me, supporting me on social media

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and making recommendations, that's

always so, valued and really appreciated.

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So it feels like a business that

I know what I'm doing and I feel

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like offering value to my audience

as well as something that I enjoy.

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So I was just working another one

of our lunch and Learns before

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we came on the call, for example.

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I do those every month, show up for

an hour, offer some value, offer

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some support to the HR community.

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So it feels like I've got

lots of things in place.

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And the reason why.

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I'm continuing with the Mastermind

is because I'm sure there are other

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things that I could be doing and

things I could be doing differently

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or improving, and that's one of the

benefits of being in that kind of group.

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So yeah, looking forward

to what Year Seven Brings.

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Oh yes.

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Year seven.

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Yeah, totally.

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And you hired your first team member?

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Yes.

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I've got my lovely niece.

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Who's working for me, so she does some

VA work for me, which is fantastic.

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And, yeah, sort of giving that

work to someone else, really makes

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you realize how you can improve

things and streamline things.

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And my associate team are hugely

important to me, helped me to deliver

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the work out into organizations.

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So I think between us, yeah,

we do make a good team.

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And I guess reflecting on that over the

six years I've found people who I know

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share my values and who I know, are

hugely passionate about this work as well.

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And that makes a big difference

for us to be able to go out into

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organizations as a team, and support

people on, on a small or a large scale.

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Thank you.

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June, you have built an amazing business.

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So what's one parting piece of advice

you would give to a coach who is

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earlier on in their business journey?

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I would say to really spend some

time reflecting on the work you

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enjoy doing, the sorts of people that

you want to help and thinking about

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what really lights you up so that

that helps to guide your business.

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And that will make life easier if you

can really narrow things down and focus

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on the kind of work you want to do, the

kind of clients you want to attract,

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and the people that you want to support.

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And once you've got clear on that,

just don't give up and just continue

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to show up and be consistent.

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Love it.

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Thank you, June.

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I promise I didn't pay June to say that.

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Choose a niche and be consistent the

two things it takes to build a business.

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And I think from working with the

Mastermind, it's the things that you

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notice so clearly is that we stick to

the brief and you just keep doing it.

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Thank you and I cannot

wait to see what's next.

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I hope you loved hearing June's story.

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She is a huge inspiration.

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If you want to connect with her, you'll

find her as June Hogan on LinkedIn or

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her website is Wildwoodcoaching.co.uk.

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If you know of anyone requiring

outplacement services,

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then June is your person.

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I wanted to let you know that this

is the very last week to join my

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next Level Mastermind, which starts

on Thursday, the 11th of September.

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At the time of recording,

there are just two spaces left.

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If you are already established

in your business with consistent

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clients, and you are ready for more

income, more freedom, more authority

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than this is the container for you.

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We won't be opening the doors

again for another six months.

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So if this is on your heart and you want

to be surrounded by amazing business

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owners like June, then now is the time.

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You will find the details for the next

level Mastermind in the show notes.

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Or you can drop me an email at

joanna@joannalottcoaching.com

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with the words next level, and we can

chat about whether it's what you need

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right now to move to your next level.

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Thank you for listening to today's

episode, and like I say at the end

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of every episode, trust yourself.

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Believe in yourself, and be the wise

gardener who keeps on watering the seed.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.

Show artwork for Women in The Coaching Arena

About the Podcast

Women in The Coaching Arena
Helping compassionate coaches to grow their coaching businesses with practical and emotional tools so that more brilliant coaches build brilliant coaching businesses
Are you a coach who's passionate about making a difference and building a thriving coaching business? Join Joanna Lott, a business mentor and ICF certified coach, as she shares practical and emotional tools to help you succeed in the coaching arena.

In each weekly Thursday episode of The Women in the Coaching Arena Podcast, Joanna provides valuable insights and actionable advice on various topics, such as business strategy, marketing, mindset, energy and entrepreneurship. Whether you're just starting or have years of experience, this podcast is for you.

You have a gift that needs to be shared and Joanna is here to help you do it.

About your host

Profile picture for Joanna Lott

Joanna Lott

Joanna Lott helps coaches stand out and get clients - with honesty not hype.

She has 20 years’ experience of working within HR and Governance in trade unions and financial services.

After qualifying as an ICF Executive Coach she set about learning everything she could about business, sales and marketing and quickly built a profitable career and executive coaching business around her young family.

Other coaches started asking her how she did it, so she’s supported 35 coaches in the last year alone to help them to build their business and get clients so they can make a living doing work they love.