Name: Sue Donnelly Age: 48 My big leap: Business Development Manager to Image Coach.
What I have achieved since Making The Big Leap: In the last 15 months,I have written and had 3 books published, become a Director of The Federation of Image Consultants, was given my own monthly style column for Health Plus magazine, been featured in Essentials, Prima and Psychologies magazines, been invited onto the Trisha show, have a TV trial for BBC 3 pending, became the style expert on expertsonline TV, guested on 2 teleclasses and have spoken at The Vitality Show at Olympia. These are all on top of a healthily growing business and lots of local press coverage.
My top tips for making the big leap:
1. Do it your way. Lots of people told me that I would have to formally network, pay for lots of advertising, cold call and basically do all the things I hate to make my business work. My instinct told me differently so I've ignored all of them. I only do what I really enjoy, such as giving presentations, writing, offering help to other people and constantly learning about my craft. In fact I've gained more clients when I've been on unrelated training courses, such as yoga, than I have from advertising. If it's your own business why fill it with tasks you loathe? Make it a happy place to work and grow, so you love to go there every day.
2. Feel the fear and do it anyway. I know that's a title of a fabulous book by Susan Jeffers but it's true. Life is for living. I was so miserable in my last job that it was a relief when I handed in my notice. The previous months I had been so down and life was passing me by as I couldn't think of anything else. It didn't help that I had only been married for 6 months and my husband saw his bubbly and energetic wife turn into a recluse. Making this leap has been the best thing that I have ever done. We worry too much about status, money, failure, what people might think and so on when we should just go with our gut instinct. What have you got to lose? The scariest thing is that the longer you leave it the lower your confidence goes which means it's harder to make the decision and you're likely to end up even more unhappy.
3. Choose your support team wisely. This is the first job I've ever had when I'm truly on my own. An extravert by nature, I knew I would miss other members of a team and people to call when I was low or high. I asked 6 other people in sole traders to join my 'Zest' group. Every fortnight we would make a bridge call and talk about what we'd achieved ( or not) as the case may be. We really helped each other through the highs and lows. As a result, we've became great friends and, although Zest no longer exists, we continue to support each other and often work together too.
My scariest moment and how I overcame it:
Speaking at The Vitality Show. I was asked by Health Plus to speak as their style expert but apart from the date and time, I had no other details. This was a nightmare for me as I like to know who my audience is, how many people, what sex , what age etc. Anyway, after stressing for what seemed like weeks ( or it did to my husband ) I wrote my outline, practised and felt quite happy with it. I then sat down and made a conscious decision to 'let go of the outcome', having decided that there was nothing else I could do to change anything. Catching the train with me that day were 5 women also going to Olympia. The train was packed and one of the ladies saw my map of the arena and asked if me if I was working there. When I told her I was a speaker on style, I think most of the train perked up. The passenegers asked so many questions, I almost gave my whole presentation there and then. The result, I was so relaxed when I arrived that my actual performance went brilliantly and, even better, 3 of the ladies on the train became personal clients. The moral of the tale - when you have something new crop up, do as much as you can, feel happy with your achievement and then just leave it. You cannot control everything.
The highlight of the journey so far: I'm sorry but I've had two so I'll have to mention them both. When I was asked to write the Health Plus style column and when my first book was published. I never even realised that I had a talent for writing prior to becoming an Image Coach and I LOVE it.
How Big Leap Coaching Company has helped me: Suzy gives you faith in your abilities to do whatever you choose. Who would have thought 2 years ago, when I was 46 years old, that I would have written books, appeared on TV, become a member of a board!!! Suzy is amazing and so is making the big leap. I am so glad I did it.
