The Story behind how everything started for the company with, the name, the brand, social media including the logo and the website is before the 2 year mark, in December 2019. A few of you that have lived or still live abroad will probably recognise themselves in my story.
In December 2019, Bart and I left Singapore to go meet my birth family in Brazil before moving to Australia at the end of that same month. When we landed in Sao Paulo, about 35+ hours later, I found myself without a project to look forward to. I’m sure that a few of you will relate to that stage during a move {horrible for the one that leaves their job behind, with no prospect if you ask me}. I had a coaching training in hand but no real idea of what services I could offer, prices or how I should even consider the job search in Oz: creating my own company or becoming an internal coach ? I had no clue but I thought I should try to create my own brand anyway as I was in a new country, doing something new.
From Sao Paulo, Bart helped me get a website on Wix and I contacted my bestie, Anne-Charlotte so she could create a logo for me. I gave her my favorite colors, the name of the brand, I asked her to come up with something when she could. Honestly we were travelling and you think I would have waited to get things done but I needed to have that project started somehow. Anne-Cha was very reactive and in 24 hours I had various logos in my mailbox. Suuuch an exciting time where I had to obviously think about the name of the company and my brand. Marie The Coach became the name of the business on 30th of April 2020 but the brand that I thought of in December 2019 was "Marie's International Coaching". I wanted something that explained my background and who I would work with and where, in the name.
After having the website paid for and ready to be drafted, the logo at hand and once I pushed myself through my grief, I was finally ready to set everything up.
The last 2 years have been amazing, when I look back, I see a lot of learnings and cannot believe that when I arrived in Oz at the end of 2019, I had no network and managed to build what I have now from scratch, again. I was asked 2 weeks ago by Nick Goldberg, CEO of Ezra, how much work is my own company and how much work is other consultancies. I told him that for now 20% was my own business and the rest consultancies as this is how I set up to work in a new market and get my name out there.
Last week, I grabbed lunch with a friend who bravely left her job last December, in order to create her own business. I asked her how she was doing and she told me that it was tough at times and that she had a down moment the week before and applied to a job and even got an offer. After discussing it with her partner, finally doing her own stuff was what she was meant to be and she turned the job down. I listened, laughed, and told her "Girl, call me when you freak out and feel like applying to jobs, it happens, I myself, in the 1st year, applied a few times to internal coach roles and then after chatting to Bart and my mentor, I realised that I was where I'm supposed to be" her answer was "OMG I thought it was just me, I'll give you call if it ever happens again" and we had a good laugh.
Becoming an entrepreneur is a tough road, accepting to not earn right away what you earned, not knowing what will come and if you will be successful is mentally draining... I remember that once, my mentor told me "When I started, every time I thought about giving up, my husband told me to keep going", this stayed with me as Bart always supported me to do the same, do new trainings, go networking, etc, as did my mom, my friends and my family. I guess that having the right support network is such a big help mentally. I remember telling all of them that I was thinking about launching my own business and becoming a career coach and no one told me that it was a bad idea. People's faces always lit up and the answer always was "gosh Marie what a great idea! We can sooo see you in that role!". They all took time to check my website and gave me feedback within my given time frame. Guys, thank you ALL again!
I guess that my summary of the last 2 years is: "get comfortable at being uncomfortable as there is no learning in the comfort zone" & "success is what you think being successful means to you, not to others". I will talk to you about what being successful means in the next article.
For me, 2 years down the line, I feel successful as I managed to reach the daily rate I wanted and increased it, over the last months and years. I start my days feeling happy to see my clients and knowing that together, we will make a difference in their careers.
I had my drivers that pushed me to go over and beyond:
- If tomorrow Bart isn't here, can I sustain myself? How much do I need per month ?
- I want to be a mom in the 2 year mark of my company, what would I have wanted to achieve by then?
- I want to have a successful company that allows me, to be flexible
2 years later, both of my babies are doing great and I am feeling happy where I am in my life.
See you soon?
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