From Blindside to Business Growth

This time last year I shared this blog about being blindsided. 2016 was an extremely tough year where I found myself faced with a very unexpected event that forced me to re-think my approach.

Today I am sharing with you a celebration of the incredible ride that I’ve been on in 2017 and the excitement I feel for all of the plans that I have for my business and its continued growth in 2018.

Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

Have you heard of the concept of ‘stretch’? It reminds me of Inspector Gadget, a popular cartoon character from the 1980s. Inspector Gadget’s arms would stretch out in front of him in order to help him meet one of the many challenges in his path. For me, the ‘stretch’ has meant learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

What I have learnt this year is that where there is discomfort there is growth.

Being Strategic About Who’s on My Team

By developing stronger relationships with key people that empowered me, motivated me and scared me I have grown in my business and my business has grown.

It was Jim Rohn who said you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with and it has been a number of key collaborations this year that have helped me stretch my capabilities well beyond what I believed I was capable of.

By choosing to surround myself with certain people, I’ve been encouraged to take on projects that I initially felt I was neither prepared for or skilled in. And what I have learnt about myself in the process of accepting the challenges and climbing a number of very steep learning curves, is that I am capable of great things.

I know, I know. I tell my clients that they are capable of great things all the time . . . . so you may think it’s strange that I ever doubted myself. It’s because I am human and the self saboteur is a very real mindset challenge that we all face.

With the encouragement of supporters and colleagues I have become much more visible, both online and by taking on a guest speaking opportunity for a local city council. Saying ‘yes’ to opportunities (even though I wanted to run and hide) has been an essential part of 2017.

Increased my Online Presence

I’ve continued to enjoy a close collaboration with Karen Hollenbach who is the Founding Director of Think Bespoke. Karen is affectionately known by many as the ‘LinkedIn Lady’ and one of Australia’s leading independent LinkedIn consultants. From the moment I met Karen (a number of years ago now), I took an instant liking to her passion and enthusiasm. She is a deep thinker and I’ve enjoyed watching her blossom as Think Bespoke has grown. We both care deeply about our client’s happiness and have collaborated on the development of Career Grow, a supportive online community to help you reflect, learn and succeed in your career.

Having mentored, coached and trained hundreds of professionals in Melbourne and across Australia our aim is to provide you with helpful resources and thought starters to assist your professional development. This is a comfortable and safe place to access useful resources, learn, reflect, ask questions, seek professional development guidance and understand how to achieve greater job satisfaction.

And so here I am, moderating an online Facebook group! I never would have predicted this at the end of 2016.

I’ve also invested in updated photography and have recently refreshed the Letz Create website. Please take a look around and let me know what you think.

Learning to Become Tech Friendly

I’ve also had to learn so many new systems, set up webinars and use different IT products to make running my business more efficient. If you’ve tuned into my Facebook Lives or Career Grow Webinars this year, you’ll have heard me talk about the concept of needing to ‘get out of your own way’. I’ve certainly learnt to do that for myself this year and pinch myself when I think about some of the plans I have for embracing technology even more in 2018. Watch this space!

In this Facebook Live interview Karen Hollenbach and I discuss the Future of Work and I share my insights based on a webinar I was asked to run for fellow Career Practitioners. Please check back in and let me know what you think.

Falling in Love with My Business

The most significant milestone I am celebrating as I reflect on 2017 is becoming much clearer on my business services and scoping out many new opportunities. I have backed myself more, learnt to have greater faith in my abilities and strengths and appreciate the power I’ve really always had to help others in the job hunting arena.

Over the past 12 months I have helped many clients secure job interviews at prominent organisations in a diverse range of industries. My approach to interview preparation ensures my clients navigate phone and recruiter interviews with much greater confidence. By being able to clearly state their unique skills and experience in a more succinct and relevant way, means they are much stronger candidates when they interview and so have a very high success rate.

Achieving these results and really tapping into my ‘super powers’ (this is what Karen calls my job hunting and interview preparation techniques) has helped me fall in love with my business once again. The key for me has been taking a more strategic approach and striving for a bigger goal. I ask my clients to set high standards and shoot for the stars and am now beginning to reap the rewards of doing this for myself too.

As we all prepare for a well earned break over Christmas I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading my blog posts and articles this year. I hope 2018 is everything you hope for and looking forward to celebrating your success in the year to follow.