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The first rule for managing your own website is “You must keep it relevant, keep it up to date” yes, I can concur that is an absolute fail on my part, considering I last updated my case studies during covid and the website as a whole in 2020!!!

I have not however been sat on my hands, or twiddling my thumbs since 2020 (nearly 4 years) I have in fact been spinning plates in my master plan to join a circus someday.

Ok, so that is not strictly true, I would be absolutly rubbish in a circus, I’m way too clumsy, but I have been spinning plates.

2020 for me, like most was the most surreal experience. In the January I was filled with hope, ambition and drive to turn around the failing salon I had just used all of my savings to purchase. It was so exciting. I had been a customer of this Salon/Tanning Studio since my late teens and always had in the back of my mind, that, if, by some miracle, I was able to get my hands on it I could make this a success.

When the opportunity arose I jumped at it, I got it for a reasonable price that I was sure it was the perfect investment.

It all started to go a little awry in the February, my father passed away – on the most part unexpectedly, and there was this whirling media around Covid 19. Like most I didn’t think too much of it. Much like the slogan says “keep Calm and Carry On”. So I did,I pushed forward where I could with the Salon knowing in my heart of hearts a lockdown was coming, but just plough through everything will be fine.

It wasn’t.

As standard I didn’t get many before pictures – the old imposter syndrome was very much present but these pictures were not far where I started from. But the biggest challenge was this, a room, previously used for sunbeds, although for 5 years prior it was just a place to store the rubbish they didn’t have the means to dispose of.

So you may ask what have you been up to since – It is 2024!

Well I have had multiple contracts across lots of different areas. Software Implementation, Care Home Improvements, and even a stint with the Government at DCMS but my spare time has largely been taken up with management and marketing of the salon.

For those who know me, know I am determined, I will not be beaten easily and a global pandemic is just a little blip, the situation around the salon has been challenging but as far as hobbies go, its a pretty cool one to have.

For the last 2+ years I have been enjoying a role designing and implementing a new housing software solution at Great Yarmouth Borough Council, and despite it being on the furthest part of the UK east of Bristol I have worked with some amazing inspirational people I will never forget and will hope to visit regularly (only during spring and summer though, its way to cold for me in autumn and winter).

You see, that’s the very best thing about being a freelancer, you get to meet lots of people who you wouldn’t normally cross paths with and that is why I will continue to do what I do. Owning 360 enables me to support this little known local salon that employs multiple local ladies, provides a great service to men and women and is a safe haven for those who may feel self conscious but want to try something new. Yes, we have a way to go before we make a profit but I am proud of my team and the commitment they show, to not just our customers but also the local community.

Today as I write this Beauty Within, a small salon on Regent Street, in the little known town of Kingswood, Bristol is now award winning, and considered highly recommended by the booking platform that can claim 100,000’s of beauty and wellbeing businesses across the UK.

Yes, the hair studio is the very same room that was filled with rubbish. To know more visit http://beautywithinbs15.salon

This was how a colleague referred to me when they found out I had purchased a Beauty Salon. I guess for someone who doesn’t know me it would seem a little odd but for me it all makes perfect sense.

I have been a customer of Beauty Within for around 20 years and it was always in my mind whenever I visited I saw things I wanted to improve, change and implement. There was so much potential and I felt all it needed was the right person to bring it into the 21st century.

Last summer I heard the current owner was selling but when I spoke to her she was already in talks with someone else. My feeling was it just wasn’t meant to be. Then in November it all changed.

Out of the blue I received a text saying the sale had fallen through asking if I was still interested. Bet your bananas I was still interested.

With a background of improving services for others I knew I was capable of the processes, service and income improvements making the business profitable again however maybe not so much the physical building improvements.

DIY is not something I have ever tried, I’ve been lucky enough to know enough people to do these things for me but a 2 storey 12 room salon? This would be an ask too far from friends. DONT get me wrong friends have helped but I also had to jump in and get involved. For 6 months everyday was a school day.

I am now an experienced decorator and removed on anything stuck together with no nails.

The Salon itself has been around for 30 years and it is now up together to last another 30. I didn’t buy the salon to work there or to even manage it, I bought it for a lifetime of free (well technically) treatments. I am lucky to have an amazing office team who manage the salon and talented beauticians who deliver the treatments. My work at the salon is now done it just runs.

So you see it is not really that strange, it just provides a bit of variety to my life and I’ve even learned new skills !

It is really important for me to take time to regroup after each contract to ensure I am recharged and ready for the next one.

This contract was more challenging than most, the work did push me out of my comfort zone and help me develop new skills but it was the fact that in the first month I suffered a herniated disk that really challenged me. Whilst undergoing physio and on a stupid amount of pain killer it was important to me to dig in and get the job done. I have always been the sort of person (possibly a tiny bit stubborn) to see things through to the end, I do not quit.

I am glad I stuck it out until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Royal Borough Kensington and Chelsea, I learned so many news skills, met many fabulous and talented people and worked on numerous projects – But now……………

I finally had the injection in my back on the last day of my contract, which you could say was a coincidence however I feel personally the universe had a plan. As I am now out of contract it means I can really take a few weeks to regroup and focus on my wellbeing.

For me this means catching up on the list of todo’s around the house, undertaking puzzles and now thankfully getting back to running for the first time in nearly a year.

When you work for yourself it is very easy to get caught up in the rat race and never take time off but then how much use would I be? I will always recommend to others to have that break even if its just 2 weeks. Debrief from the last project, do some additional learning, and take time for guilt free recharging. I promise you it will make you a better consultant, friend or family member for it.

When I first heard about Coaching (not in the sense that involved me running around being yelled at by someone who has clearly spotted sports are not my forte) in a personal development sense, it was a couple of years back, however it was only in the summer of 2017 that I started to see this in action for real with my very own eyes.

I guess that means my personal coaching journey started with Bromford. Some readers may have heard of them, others will not have the foggiest. So here is a whilstle stop tour the Housing Provider that opened up my eyes to a whole new world (nope I’m not talking about Aladdin).

A couple of years ago a bright spark in the Bromford world had an idea to move away from the traditional style of housing management and suggested trying something new, unique, innovative even – although it is fair to say some may have said insane, proposturous or even darn right bonkers!

They moved from housing officers to neighbourhood coaches and flipped the approach to customers and colleagues on its head. Coaching at Bromford is now no longer something colleagues think about doing everyday it is just the way they do it, and boy do they do it well. Without my time there I would not be who I am now personally or professionally.

I hope you have enjoyed part 1 of my blog, be sure to come back – same time, same place for part 2
when I will start to share more about how coaching makes a difference in my life and of those around me ……………..

Welcome back for the second instalment of my new blog, you have been eagerly awaiting this I am sure!

In my last blog I focused mainly on the Bromford coaching revolution but with hindsight (which they do say “is a wonderful thing”) after learning more about what coaching is, and how it works from Bromford I realised I had been being coach for a while but someone else.

Nope I it wasn’t Tim my long suffering PT who only trains me on a Saturday morning because he finds my sarcastic wit the only way to start his weekend – well that and that I continue to pay him.

It was in fact my acupuncturist Sue and her listening ear.

Several months before I started at Bromford I began visiting Sue as an alternative way to help manage my depression, anxiety and low energy levels. That was going fantastically well and I was feeling much more confident, positive, and excited about the future. I just put it down to the acupuncture, that was what it was meant to do right? It is only more recently I realised that yes it was doing what it was supposed to do but there was definitely more to it.

We always have a chat before the needles, the usual, how the weeks been, how I’d been managing, any stand out moments, that kind of thing. Thing is, looking back, I can see it, NOW it’s obvious.

Sue never told me what to do to resolve an issue, we talked about options, we talked about how I could approach a situation and eventually I would come up with a way to overcome my obstacles.

That is, in the rawest sense, exactly what coaching is. Listening and asking the right questions that enables someone to discover the answers are actually hidden from view within themselves.

I’d love to hear if any readers have too been “coached by stealth” in a positive way of course! You can share in the comments or drop me a message or alternatively send a carrier pigeon, I’m not fussy as long as I get to know your story too.

When I think back over recent years of my own life I can identify times when I have been coaching others but at the time there was no label on it, I was just being me.  I’ve always been passionate about seeing others succeed but since I have developed my understanding of coaching I realise sometimes I have been a bit too directive in my approach in the past, hindsight huh!

I am sure it is something that comes with age and experience but I’m not sure when exactly I got old and wise, part of my brain is still convinced I am 21 living for the moment.  I know I am not alone in that – the travelling grandma (my mum) proves age is just a number.  However, the ability to help people reach their own conclusions on what is right for them is something I wish I’d know how to do sooner!!  It’s the most rewarding thing, watching that ‘penny drop’ moment.

The other week I caught myself coaching my friends 7 year old son – one of my many coaching by stealth moments.  Nope I’m not kidding it was madness.  Poor J was in the garden swinging around a flower necklace, he was catching it on the bin. Instead of telling him to stop the conversation went like this…..

Me: do you think that is a good idea?
J: (looks at me quizzically): ummmmm no
Me: why not bud?
J: I might break it
Me: you might, and then what could happen?
J: I’ll cry cos I can’t wear it
Me: so what have we learnt?
J: I’m going to wear it

To that end, he walked off with a smile like he’d just won the lottery and myself and his mum just looked at each other as if to say “what the Jiminey Cricket just happened there” it had worked!!!

Fact is young or old, lots of life experience or none, everyone can be coached to find their own solutions that work for them, there is no right or wrong………