102. Doing Business Differently
I’ve got something a little different on the podcast this week, folks, as I’m joined by some incredible, talented women who took part in the first business coaching group I ran recently, and they’re joining me to share their experiences and talk about doing business differently.
I had some thoughts and hopes about what this business coaching program would be like, and these women have surpassed my expectations in so many ways. Whether you have your own business, you’re a self-employed coach or practitioner, or you are employed by somebody else, you will be sure to find value in what we’re sharing this week.
Tune in this week as we talk all about the behind-the-scenes of our journeys as entrepreneurs and the importance of recognising what works for you in your business. Hear what made them apply for the coaching programme, some of the key learnings they’ve taken from their experiences, and what’s next for them in their businesses.
If you want to get involved in the next round of business coaching, we start on January 23rd, 2023. Applications are open until December 8th 2022. Click here for more information and to apply!
The waitlist for The Flow Collective is open, so click the link to get yourself on it and be the first to hear when the doors reopen.
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
Why you can always choose to trust yourself in your business and life.
A valuable way of growing a business.
Why it is safe to make money and be seen as successful.
How the concept of a successful business can look a variety of ways.
What is different for all four guests now that they have gone through the programme.
One of the most common places people trip themselves up in business.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Full Episode Transcript:
If you are in the horrors with menstrual cycle issues or you want to learn how to harness your hormones, then you are in the right place.
Welcome to the Period Power podcast. I’m your host Maisie Hill menstrual health expert, acupuncturist, certified life coach and author of Period Power. I’m on a mission to help you get your cycle working for you so that you can use it to get what you want out of life. Are you ready? Let’s go.
Hello everyone and welcome to today’s podcast. I’ve got some lovely faces in front of me, some incredible women, very talented, all very beautiful as well. I’m just really basking in all of your presence. Look at you all squirming. I love it. Because today I wanted to do something a bit different to how we usually do things on the podcast. And it’s different in many ways because I have multiple guests with me today which I was explaining before we started recording, that is a first for me on the podcast.
But also, we’re going to be talking about business and talking about doing business differently. And sometimes I talk on the podcast about the behind the scenes of my business or my journey as an entrepreneur and as a coach. But I thought it would be really fun to have my guests on to talk about their journeys as well. And this is going to be super interesting I think whether you are someone who has your own business, if you’re self-employed, if you are a coach or practitioner like my guests are today.
But even if you are employed and you work for someone else or maybe in your unpaid work around your home. I want to invite you to still listen to today’s episode from the point of view of you being in charge of your experience. So maybe you have a boss that’s someone else and you’re employed by an organisation or company, I think if you are in those situations, you’re still going to get a lot out of hearing about the things that we talk about today because I would bet my house on there being a lot of similarities.
So today I have with me some of the women who have taken part in my first business coaching group. And we started in September, and we just finished this week, although we’re kind of continuing with quite a fun thing for the next couple of months. So, let’s hear about who you all are. So why don’t you tell us your name, what you do and how you came to do this work. Rachel, why don’t you kick us off.
Rachel: Hello, so happy to be here. My name is Rachel Root and I’m an integrative women’s health coach. I specialise in fertility, menstrual cycle health and perimenopause. I was formerly an acupuncturist and herbalist. And I’m currently on cycle base seven and I’m a Gemini.
Maisie: Love it.
Rachel: I got into this because I had a lot of health issues myself in my teens and 20s. And the only options given to me were birth control or antibiotics which made my health worse, and I just wanted to be a part of changing that for women so kind of how I got here.
Maisie: Amazing. Okay, Hannah, what about you?
Hannah: Hello. My name’s Hannah. I am a fertility acupuncturist and a fertility awareness teacher trainer. And I am going to say it, I am a businesswoman.
Maisie: Yes.
Hannah: And I’m going to own it because for a long time I’d never saw myself as that. And I run two clinics in South London, and we’ve now got a team. We have a team of practitioners which I’ve developed and grown over the last couple of years, and we specialise in fertility and women’s health. And I don’t know how I got into this. I honestly don’t know. It kind of found me rather than the other way. I had acupuncture when I was pregnant with my daughter who is now 18 and that blew my mind. And I’ve been on that journey ever since.
Maisie: That’s amazing. And I love that you made that point because I think often when we’re thinking about our work and our careers, the kind of the weight of that is often on us searching for something, finding something but is the yin and the yang of everything. It’s also about being open and receptive to things. And sometimes things do kind of arrive on your doorstep although you all know my thoughts about how ultimately, we are all in charge of that. But I love that you made that point. Okay, Susan, how about you?
Susan: So, I’m Susan Charlesworth. I’m director of Oxford Human Performance. So, I am a human factors expert in the space sector. I train people in all the human skills that are required for people to work well together, so teamwork, good communication, excellent leadership skills, problem solving. But also, how they can work well with the technology that they interact with, so good designers in places and displays and things like that so that it can be safe, and reliable, and perform at they’re very best.
I also train astronauts. So, I’m training the next European Space Agency astronauts who were announced on Wednesday. We have three Brits, two women, two women this time. So, I will be training them next year in all the human factor skills that they need.
Maisie: Amazing. I have to say when your application came through it really blew my mind. You just don’t think of something’s happening. You have, I very much had a sense of what I wanted this group to be like and as I’ve told you all multiple times, you have surpassed my expectations in so many ways. I never considered that someone in the aerospace industry would end up applying. When I saw your application come in, I was like, “Oh my goodness.” And then I read it well, I was like, “She’s definitely in. We want her in.”
Susan: I think that’s it because people often say to me, “Wow, but astronauts are some kind of unique, amazing special being”, which they are. But also, all the skills they need are the same that people in any organisation need. So yeah, I mean it’s quite niche. It’s certainly not something I ever thought I would be doing but also very exciting as well.
Maisie: Yeah. And it just goes to prove we’re all humans even if we’re in outer space, yeah. Sue, what about you, tell us all about you.
Sue: Hello. I am Sue Cheung and I’m a yoga teacher. And I teach yoga to students through a trauma informed and social justice lens. And I really stepped into my yoga teaching after redundancy in 2000. And it was really after the Black Lives Matter and the anti-Asian racism that was happening in the US that made me want to bring that lens into my yoga teaching. So that’s a really important element in terms of how it influences the way I teach.
And then also whilst I’m teaching full-time, I’ve been noticing that a lot of yoga teachers seems to be struggling. There’s a feeling of scarcity. And so, I’m hoping to create a marketing course for yoga teachers so that they can really hone in their messages to the people they want to reach. Because I do think that the world needs more yoga teachers because it’s a very healing practice. And yoga works, yoga works.
Maisie: Agreed. I love it. Okay, so let’s talk about what brought you, what made you all apply?
Rachel: I love what I do but I don’t necessarily love being a businessowner or at least I didn’t in the beginning. The business part wasn’t my thing. I just wanted to be able to do what I do in the way that I do it. But Maisie’s been really a big inspiration to me about how she’s able to show up in the world and still take great care of herself and be so enthusiastic about women in business and women in business making money. So, I just couldn’t say no, it was impossible.
Maisie: I love it. I’m just over here grinning.
Susan: Yeah. So, I set up my business a year ago and then quit my day job so to speak at the beginning of this year. And I’d found lots of traditional business courses and even memberships. And I kind of was getting to learn all the business side of things because obviously it’s not something I’d ever done before certainly not in terms of sales and marketing, that was all really new to me. And I kind of had all the templates and these processes and that’s how I kind of work but just especially over summer I was just like, there was something missing.
And I’ve read Period Power, I’ve listened to your podcast, I think every single episode. I had a very good friend in The Flow Collective who was raving about you, Maisie. And I just kind of thought there was just something I needed, I needed something else. And so, when I saw on your Instagram about the business coaching, I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is it.” And I think especially when I saw that you said, “There’s not going to be loads of resources and courses to listen to and read.” And I do not have time, I have young children as well as running my business.
And so, when it was just the kind of coaching sessions and obviously the fantastic Facebook group as well to support in between the coaching sessions. I was just like, “This is exactly what I need.” Just getting to the point of it with the coaching. And yeah, and just doing things differently, I think that was the big thing as well. It wasn’t the traditional business way of doing things, which I absolutely love.
Maisie: Yeah. I was very intentional with I don’t want to be teaching, providing loads of modules for you all to watch because I know because I have been this person, that it’s very easy to hide in learning. And particularly I think in our industry when you are a practitioner, a coach, when you are invested in professional development and self-development of all kinds. Then we can hide in the books, and the modules, and all of that. And I wanted everyone out there doing stuff, getting coached and applying what you were learning and just getting going with it. Yeah, I love it. Hannah.
Hannah: I applied because I find it quite a lonely place to be. And I think it’s really good to be in a group and it’s good to have the accountability because it just means you get stuff done. And it’s also, it’s really great to see you, Maisie as a successful going for it, businesswoman because that’s what we need is really, really good role models because I’ve been in business for 10 years. And I reckon seven of those I spent thinking, well, I’m just going to be a practitioner on my own. This is as good as it gets. And if I get my diary full then I’ve made it.
And it’s opening your brain to actually I could bloody nail this and I could do whatever I wanted to. And just having that brain change is revolutionary because you think big. And I’m fed up of thinking small.
Maisie: Yes. And I think it’s like the power of a decision. Well, first of all it’s like the power of awareness. And I think that’s why I’ve wanted to be more vocal about myself as a businessowner and as an entrepreneur because that’s been so impactful for me to be on the receiving end of and to see my mentors, whether they’re people I have relationships with personally and professionally or they’re just people that I’m aware of because I listen to their podcasts.
It’s just so helpful to have that modelled, to have people talking about how they’re doing things, why they’re doing things, how they are doing things in a different way, maybe just a bit unexpected and a way that works for them. Talking about the revenue they’re making, the profits that they’re making. We really need those examples because they’re actually few and far between. There’s not many people, there’s more now but certainly a few years ago, there were very few people in my world who were setting that example for me.
And it was only once I’d started to have awareness of those people that I was like, “We can do that? That’s allowed?” So, it’s knowing that that’s an option and then just deciding I want that for me. I want that for my clients. I want that for my business, so cool. Sue, how about you, how did you end up coming to this group?
Sue: Well, I was listening to some of your podcasts, and I felt so inspired and just to sort of riff on Hannah’s point. It’s growth. I wanted to experience that discomfort of growth and I sensed that you would be asking uncomfortable questions.
Maisie: You’ve had your fair share of uncomfortable questions.
Sue: Yeah. And I’m up for it. That’s where the growth happens is when we can sort of go outside our comfort zone. And to your point about having an example and mirroring as someone who identifies as Asian, Chinese Asian especially in the yoga world. I haven’t seen too many people mirroring me. And so, I, again, going into that growth zone of being somebody that someone can say, “Look, there’s someone who I can relate to on that level.”
Maisie: How has it been for you to step into that?
Sue: Well, I mean credit to you, you’ve really created an environment where I feel safe to do that and that’s linked to your work with the nervous system, which is something, I use it in my own life. And even as I speak, I feel my heart pounding. But it’s more than me, it’s more than my own individual experience. And so, I’m up for it.
Maisie: Yeah. But the thing is, we say things like that and it’s like I’m just up for it. And it sounds like there should be more to it. But I really want everyone who’s listening to hear that, that this is, you can just decide that you are up for it. You can decide that this is something that you want. And just take it from there. But it is, it’s often I think what has been so significant for me in our group is we all recognise the importance of being businessowners and entrepreneurs, and modelling what we have probably all wanted to see and experience and to do that for others.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy and that there aren’t things that need to be overcome and worked through in order to do it. So, I’d love to hear what that’s been like for some of you and what are the things that you have kind of needed to sort through and explore, or kind of make peace with in some way? Susan, tell us.
Susan: So, I started to call myself a recovery perfectionist because I mean even with your coaching, Maisie, I came in September. I had my brand-new clean notebook and my pen. And I was ready to take all the learnings and write everything down and get my to-do lists and my actions and everything. And I actually ended spending most of September, I was going to say doing nothing. I was doing things and stuff that I was already doing. But I kind of really slowed down actually which was the complete opposite of what I was expecting.
I just had a long stressful summer holiday with my children, I thought I was kind of raring to go in the business again. And actually, it really made me – you made me stop, and think, and take time. And you kept saying, I kept saying, “But I need work by December. I need work for next year.” And you, “Can’t you just trust yourself that that will happen, that you will know the answer? Just test yourself.” And I think that’s been the biggest thing for me is actually I can just trust myself.
I don’t need to write pages of to-do lists like I used to and be ticking stuff off every day to think I’ve been successful. I’ve been productive. And actually, spending some time just thinking and dare I say daydreaming and coming up with all these ideas. And some of them are completely bonkers and that was absolutely fine. But I think one of the things you say to us the most, you often say, “I’m curious, can you tell me more.” But also, for us to be curious about certain things.
We don’t have to have everything figured out and we can just spend some time thinking about it, figuring it out, deciding to do things, or deciding to do nothing. And that’s all fine.
Maisie: It’s so interesting, isn’t it? Because I think I’ve had that experience as well of I’m going to go all in. And we make all in about the things that we do and the actions that we take rather than going all in on ourselves and believing in ourselves and dreaming, going all in on dreaming and thinking about what’s possible. And it’s really interesting because for me it just comes down to, well, are you creating results?
Are you getting the things, you know, when we look at that from that point of view it’s like, yeah, maybe I don’t need to be doing all of those things that I thought I would in order to have a successful business. And I’ve had to watch my mind with that as well as we grow and scale because I can often think, well, now I need a different strategy in order to create a different set of results. And oftentimes that’s very true. But then I’m like, wait a minute, this is still working. What we’re doing is working, why do we need to change that?
But we’re just so conditioned to see what other businessowners are doing because there’s a dominant culture and conversation around what having a successful business is.
Susan: Yeah, definitely. I think in one of our sessions as well you told us to take out all the things, we have been told we should be doing and just to trust ourselves to do the things we need to do. But that really, really helped me.
Maisie: Yeah, that’s a big learning that one, yeah. Anyone else want to chime in? I can’t remember what the original question was. Yeah, Rachel, jump in?
Rachel: Something that really helped me was the fact that quite a few of us in this group are what Maisie called orchids. We need a lot of care and rest in order to do the amazing things that we want to do. But to be in a group of orchids who are doing really big brave things and getting results and needing to take a step back sometimes and being okay with that. And just normalizing, that that’s possible even if you feel like somebody who can’t go 100 miles an hour all the time. But you can still do big things and create big results.
Maisie: Yeah, because that’s really important as well because often all of us at some point are going to have challenges in life, whether there’s practical things that need tending to, if we’ve got health issues, mental health challenges, all sorts of things going on. And I’m a really big believer in creating a business that supports those things rather than the idea that everything’s going to fall apart if you need to take a week off or whatever the situation may be. But I love that orchid analogy and that was offered to me by my friend and former coach, Victoria Albina who’s been on the podcast.
And it was just so helpful to me because she was like, “Maisie, some people are succulents. And you can pretty much stick them anywhere and they do really well. And then some people are orchids, and they need very particular things but when they get those things they bloom and they’re really magnificent and everyone gets to bask in their beauty.” And it was just such great coaching for me to receive. So, I love being able to pass it on. I don’t know if everyone’s an orchid in the group.
Hannah: I’m a succulent.
Maisie: I’ve been looking at you, Hannah. I don’t think Hannah would classify herself as one.
Hannah: And it really made me laugh because I was like, “Oh, shit, I’m a succulent. What does that mean?”
Maisie: It’s so funny, isn’t it, how quickly we are to make who we are a problem? Yeah.
Hannah: Yeah. It really made me laugh. And it is what it is. That is also sometimes it is a good thing because what I’ve realised, coming away from this is that I do actually know what I’m doing quite a lot of the time which is always really helpful. And I just could get stuff done. I didn’t realise that actually because it’s hard to know because you work on your own all the time, you don’t know these things. You don’t know much about the way that you do things. And I realised, yeah, I decide something, and I just get on and do it and I don’t think about it too much.
And I’ve always sort of thought that is a bit annoying because sometimes I do end up in places and I think I’m not quite sure how I got there. But in other ways it’s that taking a risk and trying stuff has actually been a really valuable way of growing a business. And sometimes I was a bit too quick to think I’m criticising myself for not thinking and planning things through. But what I’ve realised actually, that is also a gift as well.
Maisie: Yes. This is why however we tend to work, how our brains work, the conditions that allow us to thrive and do well in or just our approach to life. And I think that’s where so many people really trip themselves up particularly in business is thinking there’s a way to do it and it’s not their way, whatever their way is.
Susan: Yeah, I remember one of the first things you said to us, which I literally think about nearly every day, you said, “Don’t become a problem in your business or don’t become the problem in your business.” And I think about that all the time when I’m making problems for myself thinking I need to do things a certain way. And you said to us about kind of making our own business standards I think it was. And that can be whatever we like and you role modelled that for us perfectly with the coaching sessions.
Sometimes they were exactly an hour, sometimes they went on for nearly two hours because that was your choice and your decision, and it wasn’t a problem. And I really think about that quite a lot when you said that.
Maisie: Yeah, because I wanted to do business coaching in this kind of formal way for years and years, from before I had Nelson. But whilst I was growing my own business, writing the book, starting The Flow Collective, I just wanted to really nourish and grow those things. And then this year I was like, “Okay, it’s time to unleash Maisie and do the business coaching because I just love it so much.” And so, for me I was like, “Well, I don’t know what I want this to be. I just know I want to coach.”
And I could have slowed myself down and made myself the problem by thinking, it needs to be a particular way. It needs to be for a certain type of person. It needs to be for a business that has a particular type of revenue. And what’s really fascinating with all of you is everyone, you’ve all got very different businesses. Some of you are just at the beginning of this part of your career. Others of you are more established, the revenue is hugely variable from people signing their first clients to people who are making multiple six figures.
But to me and I’d love to hear about how it’s been for you all, it’s felt very cohesive because of the commonalities amongst you, no matter kind of what you kind of do and where you are at with your business. You’re all nodding, I’m glad to see that. Sue, jump in.
Sue: A big throughline throughout the whole 12 weeks was humanness. You always invited us to be in our process and take note of it. And allow it to be a part of our business journey. And yeah, that was really powerful. And it sort of took down the idea of how or where we should be at a particular point of what a businessperson should look like.
Maisie: Yes. It’s really fun, isn’t it? This is what I find really beneficial about being in a group with other businessowners and really for any type of coaching is you get to see, okay, I’m trying to make my first 10,000 let’s say. And then there’s someone else here who is making 300,000 and their brain is coming up with the same crap that mine is. And it’s like, yeah, these things just don’t go away once you create a certain set of results. And you have a certain number of clients or you’re making a certain amount of money. You still have your brain, that’s not going to go away. Rachel, what did you want to say?
Rachel: Yeah, I was just thinking too, when you have a coach that it’s nice because you get to hear how their brain problem solves and the way that they work through things that you’re trying to work through. And what’s nice about having a coach in this way is that I feel like they kind of come with you even when you’re not with them. You have their voice in your head kind of tap into you. And this is something that I’m so excited that I get to take with me. Because I just can kind of hear the way that you might talk through something when I’m problem solving myself.
Maisie: Yes, I know exactly what you mean because I have this myself as well. And even when I think back to my former yoga teacher, Naomi Absalom who’s incredible. And I haven’t done a yoga class with her in years. I think I did one with her when Nelson was about six months old. So, it’s been six or so years. But any time I do yoga she is in my head. It doesn’t matter what the teacher and it doesn’t matter how amazing they are at facilitating the class, it’s Naomi I have in my head adjusting me.
And I remember I did yoga a little while ago after not doing it for years. And the yoga teacher was like, “I can tell you’ve got a really strong home practice and self-practicing on your own because you’re so good at adjusting yourself.” And I was like, “I haven’t done yoga in at least two years.” But I have Naomi in my head. And it is like that, you get to know, and I think that’s a really great thing about coaching is you by getting coached by someone else, you start to know how to coach yourself. And once you have that skill it doesn’t go away.
Susan: And I think also even when you were coaching other people I got just as much from that as when you were coaching me. Like you said, all our businesses are different and we’re all obviously different people. But the questions you were asking and the way you were asking it, the type of question. And then the way the other person was answering, you had all those kinds of different elements that then really made my brain kind of tick over and look at things differently from a different perspective.
And I think just also the way you coach. One of the other things that isn’t kind of normal business that you said to us a few times, “How does that feel in your body?” And I could, even when you were coaching someone else, I could feel things too. I think you also made us cry a few times as well which is quite unusual in the normal business world, in a good way. In a good way.
Maisie: Yeah, it is and that’s what I wanted. I was just like, “Do I think I can help these people? Is the group going to work?” And I didn’t have any calls with any of you or anything like that. It was just by the applications. And I have to give credit to all of you, not everyone’s with us on this call but for everyone who signed up because you all jumped in with very little information. And you jumped in quickly. And you were like, “Yes, I’m in.” Which is incredible because I didn’t really promote it, I didn’t talk about it much. I mentioned it briefly in a couple of places.
So, I kept it quiet for good reason. I only wanted the people who were going to jump on it.
Hannah: When you know you know,
Maisie: Yeah, exactly, totally. So, I’d love to hear about some of the things that you have taken away from our time together and what’s had an impact on you. So that might have been coaching that you got or something you saw someone else get coached on, or one of the stories that I shared with you from things that are going on. I love that Rachel, what did you call it towards the end when I start off my…
Rachel: My opening act.
Maisie: My opening act, yeah, because sometimes I would come to, I’d be thinking about our call and I’d be like, “There’s something that I want to talk about.” So, although there wasn’t set modules and things that you need to go through, sometimes I would start the call off with some prompts or some things to consider. So, who wants to share what you’ve been learning?
Hannah: I think that I have learnt and become really, really clear on what we do and how we can help. And that is a really amazing place to be because it just makes all the decisions so much easier because I’m so confident and grounded, and believing in that the business is a really good business, and it can really help people. And I think you said, “Even if help one person, even if my podcast is listened to and it helps one person, then that is enough.” And that really resonated with me because I do a lot of stuff online and doing all kinds of stuff.
And sometimes I think, God, you’re an idiot. And then other times I think, no, if it’s helped one person then that is brilliant. And having that as your bottom line and being really clear about, there are people out there who need and want this information and that is going to enable them to be better, to live their lives better, to feel happier. I’m like, job done, happy with that.
Maisie: When you have that clarity, it makes everything so much simpler.
Hannah: Yeah, because I’m not questioning, I’m not wondering, I’m just like, yeah. It’s like now there is a clear path of light and I’m just walking towards it.
Maisie: That’s such a great imagery. But yeah, it’s so true and you’re just like, “This is what we do, come and get it if you want it, and if you don’t that’s cool.”
Hannah: Yeah. And it’s one of those things that you could read all the marketing books. I’ve spent years trying to work out what my bio is in the Instagram thing like what’s your message line. What’s your tagline? Years, and I’ve put too much source into it, and I just thought, we help people who are trying to conceive. It’s really straightforward, and simple, and powerful. And that is just gold for me going forward.
Maisie: Yeah. Just think about the impact of that, not just in terms of how you show up but kind of the vibe that you’re putting out into the world. Not necessarily, yes, in an explicit way when you’re saying, “We help people who want to conceive.” But it will just come through in so many other ways. And that means that you’re going to help the people who really need your help. And I think that’s the thing is when we’re thinking about a lot of these things in business, we’re just so focused on how we are being seen. I know that’s been the case for me in the past.
Because when we’re thinking, well, if I do a workshop and one person signs up that’s only a problem if you make it mean something about you, that one person has shown up. So, the focus in that case is all on you rather than there’s one person in front of me who wants and needs my help and they’re here. How am I going to show up to that experience? It’s so powerful, I love it. Okay, who else?
Sue: So, during our last call I wrote a few things, so that they all happen to be the letter C. And the first word is courage. So, you instilled courage to again, go outside my comfort zone. And then capacity, that when I go outside my comfort zone, I have the capacity to handle it. I can handle it. And then community, we have just gathered a great group of women that are really inspiring, and a reminder of how important it is. We are social creatures and to be in this space together, polyvagal theory, Maisie.
Maisie: Yes, exactly. And that’s the thing, when we’re thinking about courage, it sounded like there’s discomfort in courage. It sounds great but it means having a relationship with fear as well and being willing to step into that which you have just done so beautifully, Sue. So, I give you so much credit and acknowledge you for that. It’s been really powerful to see your journey. It’s been great having you in the group.
Sue: It’s been such a privilege, thank you, everyone.
Maisie: Susan?
Susan: I just think following on from that actually, you said confidence and self-doubt can exist at the same time which is just so true. So many things I feel confident at, but I still can doubt myself and that’s absolutely fine. But as I said earlier as well, you saying be curious about things. So now I don’t see it as self-doubt but it’s me being curious. I may not be 100% sure of what I’m doing all the time. I’m definitely not but I can be curious about it and that gives me confidence.
Maisie: Yeah, it’s interesting though, I think there’s a difference because as you were saying that I was thinking, do I do that as well? And I think I’m a 100% sure about my vision and what I want and the foundation for that in terms of values and how I want to go about things. But that doesn’t mean that I’m sure about the practicalities of that. And I think that’s really a fun place to play in business because rather than thinking, I need to follow a script of some kind where I do this, and I do this. And then that’s going to create a certain result.
I mean I know people want that. I don’t think it’s the way to create a resilient business, let me put it that way. It might be a successful business in some ways but is it resilient enough to move with the times and to evolve with you and your work, and to be in relationship with your clients as well? It can become this kind of hardened way of doing things, very fixed. And then when something happens in your life or happens in the world like a pandemic, suddenly you’re victim to the consequences of whatever’s going on in your life rather than being able to adjust. I love that you brought that up.
Okay, so I’d love to hear about what’s different now for you about your relationship and that might be your relationship with yourself, or with the work you do, with your clients, or with your business, what’s shifted for you?
Rachel: I think some people have mentioned this word already but I’m going to just say me too on just trusting myself more because I think it was a big shift for me for working hands on with people and then kind of moving things online. And I didn’t really have a lot of trust in myself. But I can figure out the tech or there was a lot of perfectionism kind of keeping me from doing some of the things that I wanted to do. And Maisie sort of just helped me get on with it. “Just get over it, you’ll figure it out. You’re smart enough to handle it.”
And so, I think just getting on with it and trusting myself and it not being exactly how I imagined it to be but still focusing on who can I help and who am I not helping if I don’t do this.
Maisie: Yes, that’s such a powerful question to ask is yeah, well, I’m over here getting tangled up in knots in my head about this, who are the people on the other side waiting for this and in need of it. Because we all do this in various ways including me. Whilst I’m indulging in my own thoughts about myself and how I do things, what about the people who are in need of my help, who want my help, who are waiting for me to get my act together basically.
And that’s not to say that there are times when we need to rest and do all of those things, of course, that’s true. So often we just go around in circles in our heads.
Susan: Yeah. One of the things that I asked you to coach me on was nerves about public speaking and things. But I really felt like I had a good message, and story and that to deliver. And so, we had a really good session where you coached me through that and why that might be the case. And then this week I delivered my first kind of proper keynote speech at a conference and whereas before I would have done it and I don’t think anyone else would have noticed any difference. But for me it was the night before I actually slept.
I didn’t tie myself up in knots over it. I didn’t have the normal kind of anxiety and all the rest of it. And I obviously still had the normal nerves, but it really felt different this time.
Maisie: Congratulations. On the keynote but also, I know all the elements of this that you have worked through in order to get to this. And I know just how significant it was for you. And these things can get in the way of a good time, and us really thriving and well, you knew yourself, you’re so great when you are presenting and giving those talks and things like that. But yeah, if we can skip all the…
Susan: That’s it. I’ve done public speaking before. And as I said, I don’t know if the audience would have noticed any difference, but it was for me, not to have to experience all that beforehand, before going up on stage was just such a big difference to me. That made a big difference, yeah.
Maisie: Nicely done.
Hannah: I feel like going forward that – well, I think I said it at the beginning that I feel like a businesswoman, and I feel like I have got choices of how to run my business. And I feel very passionate about running it in a way, for example, I’ve got practitioners who work in the team now. And what I’ve realised is that now I can run my business how I would have wanted to be in a team of practitioners when I was first starting out. So, investing in my team, having a team, cross referring, all that sort of support that as solo therapists when you come out of practice you are just left on your own.
And I sort of feel really empowered to pass that on and work with people and bring practitioners into working with us so that we can work together and just have that support because it’s a really lonely place when you’re a solo practitioner. And it’s really, really difficult. You spent a lot of money training, you really want to do it, you really want to be a practitioner but then there’s always this kind of how do you make a living and be a practitioner? How do you ask for money and practice? It’s so confusing and so complicated.
And it feels to me like lots of people leave the business, they leave the profession. And so, I’ve really thought, how do I want to run my business and how do I want my team to feel in my business? And that has been a really good thing going forward because it’s a really powerful position to be in and to use that beneficially and make those choices. And make them in a really conscious way of I can make my business to be a good business. Business does not necessarily – I’ve always associated business with capitalism, and all those words that kind of are a bit uncomfortable.
Maisie: All the dirty words, the dirty words.
Hannah: Yeah, dirty words, that’s exactly it, dirty words and I’ve suddenly realised actually you can do business and you can do it really bloody well and really empowering for people. It doesn’t have to be you’re not a nice boss or all of those things. You can do it in an empowering way. And I think going forward it’s great. I’m absolutely loving that.
Maisie: Yeah, I can tell. Your team are so lucky. But it’s true because you go from being when you do your training and you’re highly supervised and acupuncture, I mean for me it was four years full-time. It can be three years full-time as well, it really depends. But for all of us here on the call we would have invested a lot of time, energy and money into the various trainings that we’ve done to become the experts that we all are, so much, yeah, exactly, so much. So many people do leave the industry because they can’t pay themselves and they literally can’t keep the lights on.
And what you’re doing, Hannah, is just really, you’re not just contributing to your business, your team and the lives of your clients, you’re also contributing, and this is true of all of you, you’re all contributing to the industry as well because you’re just providing another example that you can be successful. You can be successful as a practitioner, as a coach and it’s safe to make money. It’s safe to be seen as successful because often we have a lot of success intolerance because we don’t want to be seen. And what does it mean about me if I’m this or I’m that.
But the more we can all step into that then the more we’re showing that we can. I’m getting all fired up over here.
Sue: The big one, being seen is a really big one that I have taken away from this. Naturally I’m always the last person to put my hand up or I don’t participate at all. And I have just been really given the opportunity to be seen, be heard and to know that it’s safe. And if it’s not safe that I have the tools and the resources to come back to a place of safety and that can be really helpful as we step out and I’m going to say it, a businessowner.
Maisie: Yeah. And I think that’s partly why I wanted it to be a group because for a while I was like, “Do I want to take some one-on-one clients or how do I want to do this?” And I was like, “No, I want a group.” Because I kind of had in mind who I might work with, who might be drawn to working with me. And I just know that even my colleagues who are making millions, who are extraverts and not much holds them back, I still know from coaching them myself that there’s places and times where success feels unsafe. And it feels unsafe to be seen and to be visible.
So that was kind of partially why I wanted to have a group is because it means that even on our calls you are being seen. And then when you do that in an environment like the one that we have then that means that you’re kind of preparing to go out into the wild to do it as well.
Sue: And then doing this.
Maisie: Exactly. I know, I was like, “It’s going to be fun. I’m going to get them on the podcast.” Okay, before we finish up, I would love for you to just share what’s next for you, what have you got coming up? How can people find you so they can follow you and hire you? Because I get asked all the time. Someone recently asked me if I would be a doula for them which was just the sweetest thing. And I was like, “And no, it’s not happening.” So, I get a lot of emails from people who are like, “Can you do this workshop? Do you know any practitioners? Can you do this?”
And so many of those things are things that I would love to do but that I say no to. And so, you all need to hire my guests, they’re amazing. They’re really good at what they do, truly. I know they’re great at what they do. And I am a real snob when it comes to recommending people. The list of people who I’m willing to recommend is pretty short. And I can confidently say that if you work with any of the women on this call you’re going to be very, very happy that you did.
So let them know where to find you and maybe what you offer. And we’ll always put all the links in the show notes as well so that everyone can find your websites and follow you on social media. So, who wants to jump in and go first? Hannah, the succulent, come on.
Hannah: I was really holding back then, Maisie.
Maisie: Give the orchids a bit of time.
Hannah: Okay. So we are in South London, we’ve got two clinics in South London, but we also do a lot of online events that are free. So, we’ve got an event coming up for Christmas about navigating Christmas when you’re going through fertility struggles. And just going to be doing some tools about how to get through that. It’s free, it’s online so anyone can join. I’m also going to be doing a course in the new year on IVF about preparing for IVF because I know again there’s a lot of struggles and anxiety around that.
So, I’m going to be bringing together some people to really talk about that, so you feel really prepared before you’re going into IVF. So, they’re all events that are free and online. And if you’re looking for acupuncture, reflexology, nutrition, fertility, massage or Chinese herbs then please do come and visit us, get in touch because I’m not just saying that. But the team of practitioners that work in my clinic they are amazing, they are so passionate, they’re so bloody brilliant at what they do, and they will really look after you, so yeah.
Maisie: So how do they find you?
Hannah: My face is always on Instagram so if you need to find me, I’ll be doing a dance on there.
Maisie: Great. And I forget what your handle is on Instagram.
Hannah: Hannah Pearn.
Maisie: Hannah Pearn, okay, we’ll put the link in the show notes. Okay, who’s going to jump in next? Rachel.
Rachel: You can find me also on Instagram, it’s root_care with an underscore at the end or on my website at rachelroot.com. I’m just about to have a huge facelift so I’m excited to launch my new website soon. Also doing the Ovary Care Club next month. And again, in the new year, which is a group of women getting together, learning about how to care for their reproductive health and their sex hormones and what they can do as they age. And then supporting each other through making some changes.
I work one-on-one mostly in a six-month coaching program for people who are trying to heal their hormone health.
Maisie: Amazing. So good. Okay, Sue.
Sue: So, you can find me at Sue Cheung Yoga. That’s C-H-E-U-N-G Yoga, so suecheungyoga.com. And I have an email marketing workshop coming up in mid-December, the way to prepare for the influx of students coming to the studios in January. So that’s going to be really helpful for teachers to get involved in that. And I teach at various studios across London.
Maisie: And you run retreats sometimes as well, don’t you?
Sue: I do run retreats sometimes, I do. And the next one is in May. So, it’ll be posted on my website in due time. Thanks, Maisie.
Maisie: I love it. I love it. Susan.
Susan: Yeah. So, I mainly work with organisations doing training in human skills, soft skills. So, if anyone works for a company that’s interested in that, not just in the space sector, but obviously I have a lot of fun stories about working with the people in the space sector and in space. And yeah, I’m definitely up for any keynote talking about the space sector, about astronaut training and also something that I’m going into more is coaching women working in quite technical male dominated sectors as well. So, I’m really interested in individuals, do some coaching there as well.
I’m really old school. I did try Instagram. I clearly need more coaching on being visible.
Maisie: Well, we can approach that in the next group.
Susan: So, you can find me on LinkedIn though, that’s where I’m most active. And that’s Susan Buckle Charlesworth, you can follow me or connect with me there or look on my website which is oxfordhumanperformance.com.
Maisie: I love it. But this is just such good evidence of depending on your business who you serve through your business and what just works for you, some people won’t be on social media at all. And I know people who have very successful businesses, and they aren’t on social media at all. And it’s just really about what works for you. And some platforms are more suited to others. And I can completely see why you’re on LinkedIn, not InkedIn, that sounds like a social media for tattooists, but why you’re on LinkedIn versus being on Instagram.
But we’re going to get to continue that in the next round so I love that. Okay, so go and follow them people, they’re fantastic. Hire them, they have my seal of approval. They’re just so good at what they do. If you want to get involved in the next round of business coaching, we start on January 23rd which is the day after the lunar new moon. And applications are open until December 8th, yes, it is, because I decided on my birthday, so I’d remember it.
So, if you’re listening to this now you can apply. Application date closes on December 8th. And then we’ll be sending out emails the following week to offer places. So, get your applications in. I can’t wait to read them and thank you to all of you for coming on today. This has been such a wonderful conversation. Just lovely to spend time with you all. Alright, that’s it for this week, everyone. We’ll see you next time.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of the Period Power podcast. If you enjoyed learning how to make your cycle work for you, head over to maisiehill.com for more.
Welcome to the Period Power podcast. I’m your host Maisie Hill menstrual health expert, acupuncturist, certified life coach and author of Period Power. I’m on a mission to help you get your cycle working for you so that you can use it to get what you want out of life. Are you ready? Let’s go.
Hello everyone and welcome to today’s podcast. I’ve got some lovely faces in front of me, some incredible women, very talented, all very beautiful as well. I’m just really basking in all of your presence. Look at you all squirming. I love it. Because today I wanted to do something a bit different to how we usually do things on the podcast. And it’s different in many ways because I have multiple guests with me today which I was explaining before we started recording, that is a first for me on the podcast.
But also, we’re going to be talking about business and talking about doing business differently. And sometimes I talk on the podcast about the behind the scenes of my business or my journey as an entrepreneur and as a coach. But I thought it would be really fun to have my guests on to talk about their journeys as well. And this is going to be super interesting I think whether you are someone who has your own business, if you’re self-employed, if you are a coach or practitioner like my guests are today.
But even if you are employed and you work for someone else or maybe in your unpaid work around your home. I want to invite you to still listen to today’s episode from the point of view of you being in charge of your experience. So maybe you have a boss that’s someone else and you’re employed by an organisation or company, I think if you are in those situations, you’re still going to get a lot out of hearing about the things that we talk about today because I would bet my house on there being a lot of similarities.
So today I have with me some of the women who have taken part in my first business coaching group. And we started in September, and we just finished this week, although we’re kind of continuing with quite a fun thing for the next couple of months. So, let’s hear about who you all are. So why don’t you tell us your name, what you do and how you came to do this work. Rachel, why don’t you kick us off.
Rachel: Hello, so happy to be here. My name is Rachel Root and I’m an integrative women’s health coach. I specialise in fertility, menstrual cycle health and perimenopause. I was formerly an acupuncturist and herbalist. And I’m currently on cycle base seven and I’m a Gemini.
Maisie: Love it.
Rachel: I got into this because I had a lot of health issues myself in my teens and 20s. And the only options given to me were birth control or antibiotics which made my health worse, and I just wanted to be a part of changing that for women so kind of how I got here.
Maisie: Amazing. Okay, Hannah, what about you?
Hannah: Hello. My name’s Hannah. I am a fertility acupuncturist and a fertility awareness teacher trainer. And I am going to say it, I am a businesswoman.
Maisie: Yes.
Hannah: And I’m going to own it because for a long time I’d never saw myself as that. And I run two clinics in South London, and we’ve now got a team. We have a team of practitioners which I’ve developed and grown over the last couple of years, and we specialise in fertility and women’s health. And I don’t know how I got into this. I honestly don’t know. It kind of found me rather than the other way. I had acupuncture when I was pregnant with my daughter who is now 18 and that blew my mind. And I’ve been on that journey ever since.
Maisie: That’s amazing. And I love that you made that point because I think often when we’re thinking about our work and our careers, the kind of the weight of that is often on us searching for something, finding something but is the yin and the yang of everything. It’s also about being open and receptive to things. And sometimes things do kind of arrive on your doorstep although you all know my thoughts about how ultimately, we are all in charge of that. But I love that you made that point. Okay, Susan, how about you?
Susan: So, I’m Susan Charlesworth. I’m director of Oxford Human Performance. So, I am a human factors expert in the space sector. I train people in all the human skills that are required for people to work well together, so teamwork, good communication, excellent leadership skills, problem solving. But also, how they can work well with the technology that they interact with, so good designers in places and displays and things like that so that it can be safe, and reliable, and perform at they’re very best.
I also train astronauts. So, I’m training the next European Space Agency astronauts who were announced on Wednesday. We have three Brits, two women, two women this time. So, I will be training them next year in all the human factor skills that they need.
Maisie: Amazing. I have to say when your application came through it really blew my mind. You just don’t think of something’s happening. You have, I very much had a sense of what I wanted this group to be like and as I’ve told you all multiple times, you have surpassed my expectations in so many ways. I never considered that someone in the aerospace industry would end up applying. When I saw your application come in, I was like, “Oh my goodness.” And then I read it well, I was like, “She’s definitely in. We want her in.”
Susan: I think that’s it because people often say to me, “Wow, but astronauts are some kind of unique, amazing special being”, which they are. But also, all the skills they need are the same that people in any organisation need. So yeah, I mean it’s quite niche. It’s certainly not something I ever thought I would be doing but also very exciting as well.
Maisie: Yeah. And it just goes to prove we’re all humans even if we’re in outer space, yeah. Sue, what about you, tell us all about you.
Sue: Hello. I am Sue Cheung and I’m a yoga teacher. And I teach yoga to students through a trauma informed and social justice lens. And I really stepped into my yoga teaching after redundancy in 2000. And it was really after the Black Lives Matter and the anti-Asian racism that was happening in the US that made me want to bring that lens into my yoga teaching. So that’s a really important element in terms of how it influences the way I teach.
And then also whilst I’m teaching full-time, I’ve been noticing that a lot of yoga teachers seems to be struggling. There’s a feeling of scarcity. And so, I’m hoping to create a marketing course for yoga teachers so that they can really hone in their messages to the people they want to reach. Because I do think that the world needs more yoga teachers because it’s a very healing practice. And yoga works, yoga works.
Maisie: Agreed. I love it. Okay, so let’s talk about what brought you, what made you all apply?
Rachel: I love what I do but I don’t necessarily love being a businessowner or at least I didn’t in the beginning. The business part wasn’t my thing. I just wanted to be able to do what I do in the way that I do it. But Maisie’s been really a big inspiration to me about how she’s able to show up in the world and still take great care of herself and be so enthusiastic about women in business and women in business making money. So, I just couldn’t say no, it was impossible.
Maisie: I love it. I’m just over here grinning.
Susan: Yeah. So, I set up my business a year ago and then quit my day job so to speak at the beginning of this year. And I’d found lots of traditional business courses and even memberships. And I kind of was getting to learn all the business side of things because obviously it’s not something I’d ever done before certainly not in terms of sales and marketing, that was all really new to me. And I kind of had all the templates and these processes and that’s how I kind of work but just especially over summer I was just like, there was something missing.
And I’ve read Period Power, I’ve listened to your podcast, I think every single episode. I had a very good friend in The Flow Collective who was raving about you, Maisie. And I just kind of thought there was just something I needed, I needed something else. And so, when I saw on your Instagram about the business coaching, I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is it.” And I think especially when I saw that you said, “There’s not going to be loads of resources and courses to listen to and read.” And I do not have time, I have young children as well as running my business.
And so, when it was just the kind of coaching sessions and obviously the fantastic Facebook group as well to support in between the coaching sessions. I was just like, “This is exactly what I need.” Just getting to the point of it with the coaching. And yeah, and just doing things differently, I think that was the big thing as well. It wasn’t the traditional business way of doing things, which I absolutely love.
Maisie: Yeah. I was very intentional with I don’t want to be teaching, providing loads of modules for you all to watch because I know because I have been this person, that it’s very easy to hide in learning. And particularly I think in our industry when you are a practitioner, a coach, when you are invested in professional development and self-development of all kinds. Then we can hide in the books, and the modules, and all of that. And I wanted everyone out there doing stuff, getting coached and applying what you were learning and just getting going with it. Yeah, I love it. Hannah.
Hannah: I applied because I find it quite a lonely place to be. And I think it’s really good to be in a group and it’s good to have the accountability because it just means you get stuff done. And it’s also, it’s really great to see you, Maisie as a successful going for it, businesswoman because that’s what we need is really, really good role models because I’ve been in business for 10 years. And I reckon seven of those I spent thinking, well, I’m just going to be a practitioner on my own. This is as good as it gets. And if I get my diary full then I’ve made it.
And it’s opening your brain to actually I could bloody nail this and I could do whatever I wanted to. And just having that brain change is revolutionary because you think big. And I’m fed up of thinking small.
Maisie: Yes. And I think it’s like the power of a decision. Well, first of all it’s like the power of awareness. And I think that’s why I’ve wanted to be more vocal about myself as a businessowner and as an entrepreneur because that’s been so impactful for me to be on the receiving end of and to see my mentors, whether they’re people I have relationships with personally and professionally or they’re just people that I’m aware of because I listen to their podcasts.
It’s just so helpful to have that modelled, to have people talking about how they’re doing things, why they’re doing things, how they are doing things in a different way, maybe just a bit unexpected and a way that works for them. Talking about the revenue they’re making, the profits that they’re making. We really need those examples because they’re actually few and far between. There’s not many people, there’s more now but certainly a few years ago, there were very few people in my world who were setting that example for me.
And it was only once I’d started to have awareness of those people that I was like, “We can do that? That’s allowed?” So, it’s knowing that that’s an option and then just deciding I want that for me. I want that for my clients. I want that for my business, so cool. Sue, how about you, how did you end up coming to this group?
Sue: Well, I was listening to some of your podcasts, and I felt so inspired and just to sort of riff on Hannah’s point. It’s growth. I wanted to experience that discomfort of growth and I sensed that you would be asking uncomfortable questions.
Maisie: You’ve had your fair share of uncomfortable questions.
Sue: Yeah. And I’m up for it. That’s where the growth happens is when we can sort of go outside our comfort zone. And to your point about having an example and mirroring as someone who identifies as Asian, Chinese Asian especially in the yoga world. I haven’t seen too many people mirroring me. And so, I, again, going into that growth zone of being somebody that someone can say, “Look, there’s someone who I can relate to on that level.”
Maisie: How has it been for you to step into that?
Sue: Well, I mean credit to you, you’ve really created an environment where I feel safe to do that and that’s linked to your work with the nervous system, which is something, I use it in my own life. And even as I speak, I feel my heart pounding. But it’s more than me, it’s more than my own individual experience. And so, I’m up for it.
Maisie: Yeah. But the thing is, we say things like that and it’s like I’m just up for it. And it sounds like there should be more to it. But I really want everyone who’s listening to hear that, that this is, you can just decide that you are up for it. You can decide that this is something that you want. And just take it from there. But it is, it’s often I think what has been so significant for me in our group is we all recognise the importance of being businessowners and entrepreneurs, and modelling what we have probably all wanted to see and experience and to do that for others.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy and that there aren’t things that need to be overcome and worked through in order to do it. So, I’d love to hear what that’s been like for some of you and what are the things that you have kind of needed to sort through and explore, or kind of make peace with in some way? Susan, tell us.
Susan: So, I started to call myself a recovery perfectionist because I mean even with your coaching, Maisie, I came in September. I had my brand-new clean notebook and my pen. And I was ready to take all the learnings and write everything down and get my to-do lists and my actions and everything. And I actually ended spending most of September, I was going to say doing nothing. I was doing things and stuff that I was already doing. But I kind of really slowed down actually which was the complete opposite of what I was expecting.
I just had a long stressful summer holiday with my children, I thought I was kind of raring to go in the business again. And actually, it really made me – you made me stop, and think, and take time. And you kept saying, I kept saying, “But I need work by December. I need work for next year.” And you, “Can’t you just trust yourself that that will happen, that you will know the answer? Just test yourself.” And I think that’s been the biggest thing for me is actually I can just trust myself.
I don’t need to write pages of to-do lists like I used to and be ticking stuff off every day to think I’ve been successful. I’ve been productive. And actually, spending some time just thinking and dare I say daydreaming and coming up with all these ideas. And some of them are completely bonkers and that was absolutely fine. But I think one of the things you say to us the most, you often say, “I’m curious, can you tell me more.” But also, for us to be curious about certain things.
We don’t have to have everything figured out and we can just spend some time thinking about it, figuring it out, deciding to do things, or deciding to do nothing. And that’s all fine.
Maisie: It’s so interesting, isn’t it? Because I think I’ve had that experience as well of I’m going to go all in. And we make all in about the things that we do and the actions that we take rather than going all in on ourselves and believing in ourselves and dreaming, going all in on dreaming and thinking about what’s possible. And it’s really interesting because for me it just comes down to, well, are you creating results?
Are you getting the things, you know, when we look at that from that point of view it’s like, yeah, maybe I don’t need to be doing all of those things that I thought I would in order to have a successful business. And I’ve had to watch my mind with that as well as we grow and scale because I can often think, well, now I need a different strategy in order to create a different set of results. And oftentimes that’s very true. But then I’m like, wait a minute, this is still working. What we’re doing is working, why do we need to change that?
But we’re just so conditioned to see what other businessowners are doing because there’s a dominant culture and conversation around what having a successful business is.
Susan: Yeah, definitely. I think in one of our sessions as well you told us to take out all the things, we have been told we should be doing and just to trust ourselves to do the things we need to do. But that really, really helped me.
Maisie: Yeah, that’s a big learning that one, yeah. Anyone else want to chime in? I can’t remember what the original question was. Yeah, Rachel, jump in?
Rachel: Something that really helped me was the fact that quite a few of us in this group are what Maisie called orchids. We need a lot of care and rest in order to do the amazing things that we want to do. But to be in a group of orchids who are doing really big brave things and getting results and needing to take a step back sometimes and being okay with that. And just normalizing, that that’s possible even if you feel like somebody who can’t go 100 miles an hour all the time. But you can still do big things and create big results.
Maisie: Yeah, because that’s really important as well because often all of us at some point are going to have challenges in life, whether there’s practical things that need tending to, if we’ve got health issues, mental health challenges, all sorts of things going on. And I’m a really big believer in creating a business that supports those things rather than the idea that everything’s going to fall apart if you need to take a week off or whatever the situation may be. But I love that orchid analogy and that was offered to me by my friend and former coach, Victoria Albina who’s been on the podcast.
And it was just so helpful to me because she was like, “Maisie, some people are succulents. And you can pretty much stick them anywhere and they do really well. And then some people are orchids, and they need very particular things but when they get those things they bloom and they’re really magnificent and everyone gets to bask in their beauty.” And it was just such great coaching for me to receive. So, I love being able to pass it on. I don’t know if everyone’s an orchid in the group.
Hannah: I’m a succulent.
Maisie: I’ve been looking at you, Hannah. I don’t think Hannah would classify herself as one.
Hannah: And it really made me laugh because I was like, “Oh, shit, I’m a succulent. What does that mean?”
Maisie: It’s so funny, isn’t it, how quickly we are to make who we are a problem? Yeah.
Hannah: Yeah. It really made me laugh. And it is what it is. That is also sometimes it is a good thing because what I’ve realised, coming away from this is that I do actually know what I’m doing quite a lot of the time which is always really helpful. And I just could get stuff done. I didn’t realise that actually because it’s hard to know because you work on your own all the time, you don’t know these things. You don’t know much about the way that you do things. And I realised, yeah, I decide something, and I just get on and do it and I don’t think about it too much.
And I’ve always sort of thought that is a bit annoying because sometimes I do end up in places and I think I’m not quite sure how I got there. But in other ways it’s that taking a risk and trying stuff has actually been a really valuable way of growing a business. And sometimes I was a bit too quick to think I’m criticising myself for not thinking and planning things through. But what I’ve realised actually, that is also a gift as well.
Maisie: Yes. This is why however we tend to work, how our brains work, the conditions that allow us to thrive and do well in or just our approach to life. And I think that’s where so many people really trip themselves up particularly in business is thinking there’s a way to do it and it’s not their way, whatever their way is.
Susan: Yeah, I remember one of the first things you said to us, which I literally think about nearly every day, you said, “Don’t become a problem in your business or don’t become the problem in your business.” And I think about that all the time when I’m making problems for myself thinking I need to do things a certain way. And you said to us about kind of making our own business standards I think it was. And that can be whatever we like and you role modelled that for us perfectly with the coaching sessions.
Sometimes they were exactly an hour, sometimes they went on for nearly two hours because that was your choice and your decision, and it wasn’t a problem. And I really think about that quite a lot when you said that.
Maisie: Yeah, because I wanted to do business coaching in this kind of formal way for years and years, from before I had Nelson. But whilst I was growing my own business, writing the book, starting The Flow Collective, I just wanted to really nourish and grow those things. And then this year I was like, “Okay, it’s time to unleash Maisie and do the business coaching because I just love it so much.” And so, for me I was like, “Well, I don’t know what I want this to be. I just know I want to coach.”
And I could have slowed myself down and made myself the problem by thinking, it needs to be a particular way. It needs to be for a certain type of person. It needs to be for a business that has a particular type of revenue. And what’s really fascinating with all of you is everyone, you’ve all got very different businesses. Some of you are just at the beginning of this part of your career. Others of you are more established, the revenue is hugely variable from people signing their first clients to people who are making multiple six figures.
But to me and I’d love to hear about how it’s been for you all, it’s felt very cohesive because of the commonalities amongst you, no matter kind of what you kind of do and where you are at with your business. You’re all nodding, I’m glad to see that. Sue, jump in.
Sue: A big throughline throughout the whole 12 weeks was humanness. You always invited us to be in our process and take note of it. And allow it to be a part of our business journey. And yeah, that was really powerful. And it sort of took down the idea of how or where we should be at a particular point of what a businessperson should look like.
Maisie: Yes. It’s really fun, isn’t it? This is what I find really beneficial about being in a group with other businessowners and really for any type of coaching is you get to see, okay, I’m trying to make my first 10,000 let’s say. And then there’s someone else here who is making 300,000 and their brain is coming up with the same crap that mine is. And it’s like, yeah, these things just don’t go away once you create a certain set of results. And you have a certain number of clients or you’re making a certain amount of money. You still have your brain, that’s not going to go away. Rachel, what did you want to say?
Rachel: Yeah, I was just thinking too, when you have a coach that it’s nice because you get to hear how their brain problem solves and the way that they work through things that you’re trying to work through. And what’s nice about having a coach in this way is that I feel like they kind of come with you even when you’re not with them. You have their voice in your head kind of tap into you. And this is something that I’m so excited that I get to take with me. Because I just can kind of hear the way that you might talk through something when I’m problem solving myself.
Maisie: Yes, I know exactly what you mean because I have this myself as well. And even when I think back to my former yoga teacher, Naomi Absalom who’s incredible. And I haven’t done a yoga class with her in years. I think I did one with her when Nelson was about six months old. So, it’s been six or so years. But any time I do yoga she is in my head. It doesn’t matter what the teacher and it doesn’t matter how amazing they are at facilitating the class, it’s Naomi I have in my head adjusting me.
And I remember I did yoga a little while ago after not doing it for years. And the yoga teacher was like, “I can tell you’ve got a really strong home practice and self-practicing on your own because you’re so good at adjusting yourself.” And I was like, “I haven’t done yoga in at least two years.” But I have Naomi in my head. And it is like that, you get to know, and I think that’s a really great thing about coaching is you by getting coached by someone else, you start to know how to coach yourself. And once you have that skill it doesn’t go away.
Susan: And I think also even when you were coaching other people I got just as much from that as when you were coaching me. Like you said, all our businesses are different and we’re all obviously different people. But the questions you were asking and the way you were asking it, the type of question. And then the way the other person was answering, you had all those kinds of different elements that then really made my brain kind of tick over and look at things differently from a different perspective.
And I think just also the way you coach. One of the other things that isn’t kind of normal business that you said to us a few times, “How does that feel in your body?” And I could, even when you were coaching someone else, I could feel things too. I think you also made us cry a few times as well which is quite unusual in the normal business world, in a good way. In a good way.
Maisie: Yeah, it is and that’s what I wanted. I was just like, “Do I think I can help these people? Is the group going to work?” And I didn’t have any calls with any of you or anything like that. It was just by the applications. And I have to give credit to all of you, not everyone’s with us on this call but for everyone who signed up because you all jumped in with very little information. And you jumped in quickly. And you were like, “Yes, I’m in.” Which is incredible because I didn’t really promote it, I didn’t talk about it much. I mentioned it briefly in a couple of places.
So, I kept it quiet for good reason. I only wanted the people who were going to jump on it.
Hannah: When you know you know,
Maisie: Yeah, exactly, totally. So, I’d love to hear about some of the things that you have taken away from our time together and what’s had an impact on you. So that might have been coaching that you got or something you saw someone else get coached on, or one of the stories that I shared with you from things that are going on. I love that Rachel, what did you call it towards the end when I start off my…
Rachel: My opening act.
Maisie: My opening act, yeah, because sometimes I would come to, I’d be thinking about our call and I’d be like, “There’s something that I want to talk about.” So, although there wasn’t set modules and things that you need to go through, sometimes I would start the call off with some prompts or some things to consider. So, who wants to share what you’ve been learning?
Hannah: I think that I have learnt and become really, really clear on what we do and how we can help. And that is a really amazing place to be because it just makes all the decisions so much easier because I’m so confident and grounded, and believing in that the business is a really good business, and it can really help people. And I think you said, “Even if help one person, even if my podcast is listened to and it helps one person, then that is enough.” And that really resonated with me because I do a lot of stuff online and doing all kinds of stuff.
And sometimes I think, God, you’re an idiot. And then other times I think, no, if it’s helped one person then that is brilliant. And having that as your bottom line and being really clear about, there are people out there who need and want this information and that is going to enable them to be better, to live their lives better, to feel happier. I’m like, job done, happy with that.
Maisie: When you have that clarity, it makes everything so much simpler.
Hannah: Yeah, because I’m not questioning, I’m not wondering, I’m just like, yeah. It’s like now there is a clear path of light and I’m just walking towards it.
Maisie: That’s such a great imagery. But yeah, it’s so true and you’re just like, “This is what we do, come and get it if you want it, and if you don’t that’s cool.”
Hannah: Yeah. And it’s one of those things that you could read all the marketing books. I’ve spent years trying to work out what my bio is in the Instagram thing like what’s your message line. What’s your tagline? Years, and I’ve put too much source into it, and I just thought, we help people who are trying to conceive. It’s really straightforward, and simple, and powerful. And that is just gold for me going forward.
Maisie: Yeah. Just think about the impact of that, not just in terms of how you show up but kind of the vibe that you’re putting out into the world. Not necessarily, yes, in an explicit way when you’re saying, “We help people who want to conceive.” But it will just come through in so many other ways. And that means that you’re going to help the people who really need your help. And I think that’s the thing is when we’re thinking about a lot of these things in business, we’re just so focused on how we are being seen. I know that’s been the case for me in the past.
Because when we’re thinking, well, if I do a workshop and one person signs up that’s only a problem if you make it mean something about you, that one person has shown up. So, the focus in that case is all on you rather than there’s one person in front of me who wants and needs my help and they’re here. How am I going to show up to that experience? It’s so powerful, I love it. Okay, who else?
Sue: So, during our last call I wrote a few things, so that they all happen to be the letter C. And the first word is courage. So, you instilled courage to again, go outside my comfort zone. And then capacity, that when I go outside my comfort zone, I have the capacity to handle it. I can handle it. And then community, we have just gathered a great group of women that are really inspiring, and a reminder of how important it is. We are social creatures and to be in this space together, polyvagal theory, Maisie.
Maisie: Yes, exactly. And that’s the thing, when we’re thinking about courage, it sounded like there’s discomfort in courage. It sounds great but it means having a relationship with fear as well and being willing to step into that which you have just done so beautifully, Sue. So, I give you so much credit and acknowledge you for that. It’s been really powerful to see your journey. It’s been great having you in the group.
Sue: It’s been such a privilege, thank you, everyone.
Maisie: Susan?
Susan: I just think following on from that actually, you said confidence and self-doubt can exist at the same time which is just so true. So many things I feel confident at, but I still can doubt myself and that’s absolutely fine. But as I said earlier as well, you saying be curious about things. So now I don’t see it as self-doubt but it’s me being curious. I may not be 100% sure of what I’m doing all the time. I’m definitely not but I can be curious about it and that gives me confidence.
Maisie: Yeah, it’s interesting though, I think there’s a difference because as you were saying that I was thinking, do I do that as well? And I think I’m a 100% sure about my vision and what I want and the foundation for that in terms of values and how I want to go about things. But that doesn’t mean that I’m sure about the practicalities of that. And I think that’s really a fun place to play in business because rather than thinking, I need to follow a script of some kind where I do this, and I do this. And then that’s going to create a certain result.
I mean I know people want that. I don’t think it’s the way to create a resilient business, let me put it that way. It might be a successful business in some ways but is it resilient enough to move with the times and to evolve with you and your work, and to be in relationship with your clients as well? It can become this kind of hardened way of doing things, very fixed. And then when something happens in your life or happens in the world like a pandemic, suddenly you’re victim to the consequences of whatever’s going on in your life rather than being able to adjust. I love that you brought that up.
Okay, so I’d love to hear about what’s different now for you about your relationship and that might be your relationship with yourself, or with the work you do, with your clients, or with your business, what’s shifted for you?
Rachel: I think some people have mentioned this word already but I’m going to just say me too on just trusting myself more because I think it was a big shift for me for working hands on with people and then kind of moving things online. And I didn’t really have a lot of trust in myself. But I can figure out the tech or there was a lot of perfectionism kind of keeping me from doing some of the things that I wanted to do. And Maisie sort of just helped me get on with it. “Just get over it, you’ll figure it out. You’re smart enough to handle it.”
And so, I think just getting on with it and trusting myself and it not being exactly how I imagined it to be but still focusing on who can I help and who am I not helping if I don’t do this.
Maisie: Yes, that’s such a powerful question to ask is yeah, well, I’m over here getting tangled up in knots in my head about this, who are the people on the other side waiting for this and in need of it. Because we all do this in various ways including me. Whilst I’m indulging in my own thoughts about myself and how I do things, what about the people who are in need of my help, who want my help, who are waiting for me to get my act together basically.
And that’s not to say that there are times when we need to rest and do all of those things, of course, that’s true. So often we just go around in circles in our heads.
Susan: Yeah. One of the things that I asked you to coach me on was nerves about public speaking and things. But I really felt like I had a good message, and story and that to deliver. And so, we had a really good session where you coached me through that and why that might be the case. And then this week I delivered my first kind of proper keynote speech at a conference and whereas before I would have done it and I don’t think anyone else would have noticed any difference. But for me it was the night before I actually slept.
I didn’t tie myself up in knots over it. I didn’t have the normal kind of anxiety and all the rest of it. And I obviously still had the normal nerves, but it really felt different this time.
Maisie: Congratulations. On the keynote but also, I know all the elements of this that you have worked through in order to get to this. And I know just how significant it was for you. And these things can get in the way of a good time, and us really thriving and well, you knew yourself, you’re so great when you are presenting and giving those talks and things like that. But yeah, if we can skip all the…
Susan: That’s it. I’ve done public speaking before. And as I said, I don’t know if the audience would have noticed any difference, but it was for me, not to have to experience all that beforehand, before going up on stage was just such a big difference to me. That made a big difference, yeah.
Maisie: Nicely done.
Hannah: I feel like going forward that – well, I think I said it at the beginning that I feel like a businesswoman, and I feel like I have got choices of how to run my business. And I feel very passionate about running it in a way, for example, I’ve got practitioners who work in the team now. And what I’ve realised is that now I can run my business how I would have wanted to be in a team of practitioners when I was first starting out. So, investing in my team, having a team, cross referring, all that sort of support that as solo therapists when you come out of practice you are just left on your own.
And I sort of feel really empowered to pass that on and work with people and bring practitioners into working with us so that we can work together and just have that support because it’s a really lonely place when you’re a solo practitioner. And it’s really, really difficult. You spent a lot of money training, you really want to do it, you really want to be a practitioner but then there’s always this kind of how do you make a living and be a practitioner? How do you ask for money and practice? It’s so confusing and so complicated.
And it feels to me like lots of people leave the business, they leave the profession. And so, I’ve really thought, how do I want to run my business and how do I want my team to feel in my business? And that has been a really good thing going forward because it’s a really powerful position to be in and to use that beneficially and make those choices. And make them in a really conscious way of I can make my business to be a good business. Business does not necessarily – I’ve always associated business with capitalism, and all those words that kind of are a bit uncomfortable.
Maisie: All the dirty words, the dirty words.
Hannah: Yeah, dirty words, that’s exactly it, dirty words and I’ve suddenly realised actually you can do business and you can do it really bloody well and really empowering for people. It doesn’t have to be you’re not a nice boss or all of those things. You can do it in an empowering way. And I think going forward it’s great. I’m absolutely loving that.
Maisie: Yeah, I can tell. Your team are so lucky. But it’s true because you go from being when you do your training and you’re highly supervised and acupuncture, I mean for me it was four years full-time. It can be three years full-time as well, it really depends. But for all of us here on the call we would have invested a lot of time, energy and money into the various trainings that we’ve done to become the experts that we all are, so much, yeah, exactly, so much. So many people do leave the industry because they can’t pay themselves and they literally can’t keep the lights on.
And what you’re doing, Hannah, is just really, you’re not just contributing to your business, your team and the lives of your clients, you’re also contributing, and this is true of all of you, you’re all contributing to the industry as well because you’re just providing another example that you can be successful. You can be successful as a practitioner, as a coach and it’s safe to make money. It’s safe to be seen as successful because often we have a lot of success intolerance because we don’t want to be seen. And what does it mean about me if I’m this or I’m that.
But the more we can all step into that then the more we’re showing that we can. I’m getting all fired up over here.
Sue: The big one, being seen is a really big one that I have taken away from this. Naturally I’m always the last person to put my hand up or I don’t participate at all. And I have just been really given the opportunity to be seen, be heard and to know that it’s safe. And if it’s not safe that I have the tools and the resources to come back to a place of safety and that can be really helpful as we step out and I’m going to say it, a businessowner.
Maisie: Yeah. And I think that’s partly why I wanted it to be a group because for a while I was like, “Do I want to take some one-on-one clients or how do I want to do this?” And I was like, “No, I want a group.” Because I kind of had in mind who I might work with, who might be drawn to working with me. And I just know that even my colleagues who are making millions, who are extraverts and not much holds them back, I still know from coaching them myself that there’s places and times where success feels unsafe. And it feels unsafe to be seen and to be visible.
So that was kind of partially why I wanted to have a group is because it means that even on our calls you are being seen. And then when you do that in an environment like the one that we have then that means that you’re kind of preparing to go out into the wild to do it as well.
Sue: And then doing this.
Maisie: Exactly. I know, I was like, “It’s going to be fun. I’m going to get them on the podcast.” Okay, before we finish up, I would love for you to just share what’s next for you, what have you got coming up? How can people find you so they can follow you and hire you? Because I get asked all the time. Someone recently asked me if I would be a doula for them which was just the sweetest thing. And I was like, “And no, it’s not happening.” So, I get a lot of emails from people who are like, “Can you do this workshop? Do you know any practitioners? Can you do this?”
And so many of those things are things that I would love to do but that I say no to. And so, you all need to hire my guests, they’re amazing. They’re really good at what they do, truly. I know they’re great at what they do. And I am a real snob when it comes to recommending people. The list of people who I’m willing to recommend is pretty short. And I can confidently say that if you work with any of the women on this call you’re going to be very, very happy that you did.
So let them know where to find you and maybe what you offer. And we’ll always put all the links in the show notes as well so that everyone can find your websites and follow you on social media. So, who wants to jump in and go first? Hannah, the succulent, come on.
Hannah: I was really holding back then, Maisie.
Maisie: Give the orchids a bit of time.
Hannah: Okay. So we are in South London, we’ve got two clinics in South London, but we also do a lot of online events that are free. So, we’ve got an event coming up for Christmas about navigating Christmas when you’re going through fertility struggles. And just going to be doing some tools about how to get through that. It’s free, it’s online so anyone can join. I’m also going to be doing a course in the new year on IVF about preparing for IVF because I know again there’s a lot of struggles and anxiety around that.
So, I’m going to be bringing together some people to really talk about that, so you feel really prepared before you’re going into IVF. So, they’re all events that are free and online. And if you’re looking for acupuncture, reflexology, nutrition, fertility, massage or Chinese herbs then please do come and visit us, get in touch because I’m not just saying that. But the team of practitioners that work in my clinic they are amazing, they are so passionate, they’re so bloody brilliant at what they do, and they will really look after you, so yeah.
Maisie: So how do they find you?
Hannah: My face is always on Instagram so if you need to find me, I’ll be doing a dance on there.
Maisie: Great. And I forget what your handle is on Instagram.
Hannah: Hannah Pearn.
Maisie: Hannah Pearn, okay, we’ll put the link in the show notes. Okay, who’s going to jump in next? Rachel.
Rachel: You can find me also on Instagram, it’s root_care with an underscore at the end or on my website at rachelroot.com. I’m just about to have a huge facelift so I’m excited to launch my new website soon. Also doing the Ovary Care Club next month. And again, in the new year, which is a group of women getting together, learning about how to care for their reproductive health and their sex hormones and what they can do as they age. And then supporting each other through making some changes.
I work one-on-one mostly in a six-month coaching program for people who are trying to heal their hormone health.
Maisie: Amazing. So good. Okay, Sue.
Sue: So, you can find me at Sue Cheung Yoga. That’s C-H-E-U-N-G Yoga, so suecheungyoga.com. And I have an email marketing workshop coming up in mid-December, the way to prepare for the influx of students coming to the studios in January. So that’s going to be really helpful for teachers to get involved in that. And I teach at various studios across London.
Maisie: And you run retreats sometimes as well, don’t you?
Sue: I do run retreats sometimes, I do. And the next one is in May. So, it’ll be posted on my website in due time. Thanks, Maisie.
Maisie: I love it. I love it. Susan.
Susan: Yeah. So, I mainly work with organisations doing training in human skills, soft skills. So, if anyone works for a company that’s interested in that, not just in the space sector, but obviously I have a lot of fun stories about working with the people in the space sector and in space. And yeah, I’m definitely up for any keynote talking about the space sector, about astronaut training and also something that I’m going into more is coaching women working in quite technical male dominated sectors as well. So, I’m really interested in individuals, do some coaching there as well.
I’m really old school. I did try Instagram. I clearly need more coaching on being visible.
Maisie: Well, we can approach that in the next group.
Susan: So, you can find me on LinkedIn though, that’s where I’m most active. And that’s Susan Buckle Charlesworth, you can follow me or connect with me there or look on my website which is oxfordhumanperformance.com.
Maisie: I love it. But this is just such good evidence of depending on your business who you serve through your business and what just works for you, some people won’t be on social media at all. And I know people who have very successful businesses, and they aren’t on social media at all. And it’s just really about what works for you. And some platforms are more suited to others. And I can completely see why you’re on LinkedIn, not InkedIn, that sounds like a social media for tattooists, but why you’re on LinkedIn versus being on Instagram.
But we’re going to get to continue that in the next round so I love that. Okay, so go and follow them people, they’re fantastic. Hire them, they have my seal of approval. They’re just so good at what they do. If you want to get involved in the next round of business coaching, we start on January 23rd which is the day after the lunar new moon. And applications are open until December 8th, yes, it is, because I decided on my birthday, so I’d remember it.
So, if you’re listening to this now you can apply. Application date closes on December 8th. And then we’ll be sending out emails the following week to offer places. So, get your applications in. I can’t wait to read them and thank you to all of you for coming on today. This has been such a wonderful conversation. Just lovely to spend time with you all. Alright, that’s it for this week, everyone. We’ll see you next time.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of the Period Power podcast. If you enjoyed learning how to make your cycle work for you, head over to maisiehill.com for more.
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