Email to a FriendTo celebrate International Women's Day 2022 we are shining a light on our fabulous members and their stories.
Each and every single one of them has an inspiring story about starting their own business. So read on to find out more.
Sarah Loddick, Personal Business Coach at Leaders In Flow Ltd.
What first drew you to starting your business?
I had a high pressure, fascinating and rewarding corporate role, an amazing job. I loved part of it, but not all of it. I also didn’t love the fact that I felt torn as a mum. It felt like I was trying to squeeze in being a parent.
A defining moment came one morning when our daughter wasn’t well and my husband and I realised one of us needed to stay home. We started to “compete” as to who had the most important things on that day. Who really needed to be in work. Not because we didn’t want to spend time with our daughter, but because we wanted to avoid the pressure that would follow having missed a day at work. It wasn’t what I wanted at all.
Life then threw a few things my way. The opportunity to train to be a coach, and just as that was finishing, a way out. My husbands job moved to Sweden, so we did too, and we decided to change.
I gave up work and became a stay at home mum. I did some coaching, some volunteering and had a lot of fun! I also spent a lot of time re-discovering who I was and who I wanted to be. Moving back to England five years later was the time I was going to start my coaching business “for real”. I loved being there for my daughter, but after several years of not working much I was ready for something more. Starting my own business was the obvious step to allow me to choose my working hours, and choose who I worked with! But our daughter then became ill in a way that meant my business took a huge back seat. But I managed to keep it going and the experience proved how important it was for me to have the flexibility being my own boss provides.
What is the best thing about being your own boss?
It’s so hard to pick one thing! I love being able to choose who I work with and how I work. I’ve also met some truly incredible and inspiring people through networking that I would never have done as an employee in corporate. But my WHY is all about my daughter and so the best thing for me has to be flexibility and control. To a large extent I can dial my work up and down as my available time changes. If I want I can switch off completely for weeks at a time and not worry about how much I will have to catch up on when I return. It means I can be totally present for my daughter when she and I want and that is priceless.
What's your advice to other women going into business?
Be really clear on your WHY. By that I mean think about all the reasons you are choosing to do this and what it is you want to achieve. So don’t stop at the freedom of time, for example, ask yourself what you will do with the time, and then ask what doing that will mean. Keep asking questions until you hit the real core. For me it’s being there for my daughter. This is so important because it can be hard – there’s your motivation. It can be difficult to say no sometimes – remind yourself what your most important goal is and ask if it’s moving you towards that or not. Sometimes we have to do things that feel scary or hard – remind yourself what doing that scary thing will mean to you and your big WHY! This brings me to my next piece of advice; Join a women’s networking group of course! Even if you think it sounds a bit boring or elitist, visit one to try it. You will need support and encouragement and inspiration and you can get this from all sorts of different places but there is something very special about a group of women when they come together. You will be inspired and supported. You will be comforted when things are tough and cheered on when things go well.
What is your top tip for success?
Be clear on YOUR WHY, as I described above. We are all doing this for different reasons. Be sure you know what your reason is and be comfortable with that. It’s easy to get distracted and carried along with people who may have very different ambitions from you. Other coaches may have bigger or smaller businesses than me, some work with lots of different people, some are very specialised. They have their reasons and I have mine. I have to reign in my tendency to believe I should “compete” because that’s the world I used to live in. I can do this because I know what it is that’s important to me and I protect that like a lion!
Tell us something about yourself we might not expect?
I have a PhD in neuroscience!