Quitting the Corporate world to start coaching

Sometimes when you look at someone and where they are now, it appears they have things all planned out and organised. I thought I’d write an open blog post about my journey because it certainly didn’t feel organised or planned as I was going through it, and only in the last 18 months have I really felt I’ve “found my calling”.

As I look back, I can see that whenever I followed my heart and did work that I genuinely enjoyed and didn’t feel like work, it led to more good things. However, I also had many years of doing work that was ‘fine’ but was either temporary or a means to an end. I remember at school we had careers questionnaires where we’d fill them out and get back a list of careers that would be suitable. The focus was always on earning money… and a very “either/or” approach… you can either earn good money, OR choose a job that you enjoy.

So here’s a brief summary of how I’ve got to where I am now. Feel free to drop me an email if you think you’re somewhere along the same journey – I always enjoy hearing from those thinking of making a move from corporate to going solo in business lauren@aligned-purposeful.com.

Psychology Degree: 2002-2005

Not knowing what to chose to study at university, and knowing that I did want to go and experience university, I found myself drawn to Psychology- I am a natural analyst and will always first ask ‘why’ about someone’s choices of behaviour to understand the deeper motives. Having completed the degree, I ended up working in marketing- there was an element of understanding people’s behaviour around buying decisions and I was excited to start working within London Marketing agencies “in the fast lane.”

Self Expression and Communication– 2013

After a good few years in marketing, I was beginning to realise that something was missing for me, but I didn’t quite know what. In 2013, I was living in Australia in Melbourne and I took group courses with a company called Landmark which has been described as like “group therapy on speed”… it certainly could be intense, but it was here I first really understood that I wanted to find work that fulfilled me and made a positive impact in the world in some way. I took courses in Self Expression and Communication which made a big difference for me as someone who’s always been a bit socially anxious, and a natural introvert. At the time I was working for an online travel agency in their marketing department. It was a role that worked well whilst whilst we experienced life in Australia, and I enjoyed immersing myself in the Aussie work culture, but I knew it wasn’t ‘the thing’ I truly wanted to be doing.

Working for Skype

2015 – Fast forward a couple of years and I’m back in the UK and working for Skype as a freelancer. The rest of my team get made redundant (even though they the ‘permanent’ employees!) I start working from home 95% of the time and discover the joy of flexible working. I also get married in November!

Delving into my spiritual side– 2016

I take courses run by Mel Wells, Rebecca Campbell and Jo Westwood which help me identify I want to delve more into my spiritual side and question some of the ‘facts’ I was taught at school.

Becoming a mum – 2017

I became a mum to Leo in August (after only 2 days actual maternity leave!) After a few months to get over the trauma of birth, I feel like a new creativity is unleashed in me and gradually start to explore this by booking into creative writing and painting courses.

Beginning a co-working club- 2018

I start a co-working club to create a local community hub for the self-employed and entrepreneurs around the area I live in. In early 2019, I add a linked creche facility so parents can bring pre-schoolers with them and have a few hours co-working alongside flexible childcare. My son Leo who is 16 months by now comes with me.

Unleashing the Power Within- April 2019

I attended Tony Robbins UPW (Unleash the Power Within) and truly understood the power of coaching as well as learning key theories and techniques myself. I increased the number of co-working venues and hit 200 people who’ve attended the co-working sessions.

Lockdown / Jan to March 2020

In January I attended Tony Robbins Business Mastery in Florida – I was amped up and ready to scale my co-working business. However, within a few weeks of getting back, we were in lockdown. I had to close down the co-working club in July- I was sad but also I always believe things happen for a reason- perhaps it’s a business I’ll come back to one day!

ICF Coaching and reconnecting to my witchy side- May 2020

In May I took further life coach training with the Rayner Institute to become an accredited life coach. In July to August I really sat down and did a lot of journaling to connect with what I really wanted. I really enjoyed the life coach training, and as a group of 6 students we regularly coached each other, and this really helped me identify that I wanted to connect with my more spiritual/witchy side – I just hadn’t believed it was possible to connect it to my work and get paid for it!

In September I started working on my new website you see now as well as starting my Reiki practitioner training towards getting a diploma.

I’m excited to see what the next steps in my journey are. Whilst it was hard letting go of the co-working business I worked on for 2 years, by fully releasing it, I’ve been able to take a new direction which feels really good. As one of my favourite authors/ speakers Denise Duffield Thomas says: ‘It’s my time and I’m ready for the next step’ 🙂

Are you walking a similar path?

My membership The Intuitive Business Academy is for people seeking a calmer, more intuitive way of growing their businesses stepping away from the ‘bro marketing’ and integrating psychology, mindset and astrology!