June 2019, I got a call from a company I was an associate for. Little did I know this call would change my life forever. My belief of working with integrity was challenged because shortly after answering the phone I was being shouted at.
Now to give you a bit of context, I had been working on a huge contract for 2 years with this caller. This was the main source of income in my business. And I was about to go from 6 figures to barely 5 figures in a 15-minute phone call. Something had gone wrong, they had lost the client contract and needed to blame someone. That, someone, was me.
Now, normally I would have negotiated, bargained, and found a way to continue. But these past 2 years had been a shit show already.
Just when I thought the world couldn’t throw anything else at me. I had been made redundant, lost my aunt to cancer, supported my cousin through his wedding without his mom, got married, lost my gran to a heart attack, watched my sister in law get married, almost lost my grandfather to a heart attack, lost my cousin in a car accident, and lost my gran due to a broken heart.
This was the last thing I needed. Especially after supporting this client over the past 2 years regardless of my pain.
How it hit me.
I remember the shouting, the shock, and then getting off the phone, the tears. My husband had been sitting next to me and had heard the shouting through the phone. He was mad.
I was sad.
This relationship I had built, this business. this income, this lifestyle- while not perfect. It was all gone.
But there was a tiny bit of relief.
It meant no more traveling for work, no more clients that didn’t want the learning. No more late nights with 24-hour teams. No more flights, airports, and waiting.
I was free.
But what now?
I was already doing the maths. How long could we survive? What did we need to change? I knew with all the recent outlays of funerals and weddings our pot was low.
So something new needed to happen. But I didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes.
Some key mistakes I made:
- Taking work I don’t love
- Saying yes to clients that don’t align with me
- Not thinking long term
- Putting all my eggs in 1 basket
- Not having boundaries
- Not having clarity or confidence to niche down
So instead of rush, I thought.
The thinking that got me on track
These were keys. I started thinking, writing and listening to myself. Instead of the “keep moving” approach, I started a slow down approach. And these were some of the questions I worked through:
- What does the life I want to create look like?
- How do I want to live and do business?
- What do I want my business to look like?
- What are my boundaries in life and business?
- Who do I want to work with?
- Who do I NOT want to work with?
- What brings me joy?
- Who do I want to become in the next 5 years?
- What would I love to do more of?
- What would I love to do less of?
Pulling out my old journal now, some of the original answers were not deep enough. But they started me on my journey.
They made me question enough that I knew I needed to do some dramatically different.
By the end of 2019, I had a plan, my business would move online and become something I truly loved. In 5 years I would be a published author, keynote speaker, and seen as an expert in my field.
I would achieve this through my signature group coaching program.
I got myself a coach, a community, and an audible subscription and came into 2020 ready for anything. (We all know how that went 🤣)
Why a program?
I hugely believe that there is not one best way to do business. As a strategist I get so mad when people try scare new business owners into buying “their sure way” of doing business.
For me (a qualified teacher and corporate trainer of 10 years) teaching others how to do business was a complete no-brainer. Not only had a been a 6 figure business owner, I had lost it all and rebuilt something better.
The program had a two core fundamental aims.
- Teach small business owners to believe in themselves and take action.
- Teach small business owners the tech and strategy they need to make informed, aligned decisions.
I went on to launch in lockdown, then I run 2 more programs in 2020 and continue to grow my reach, impact, and income. All from home, mostly in my pj’s, but better yet on my own terms.
What next?
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If you were triggered by my post for any reason my mailboxes always open – just drop me an email – jacky@jackyclarke.co.uk