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Rachel Brushfield

Turning an idea into a business

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Sometimes my clients have a clear idea of what they want from their career or business, it’s just getting it started.

Sarah had a young daughter and knew she wanted to make greeting cards.

Her friends kept on asking her how it was going and she got frustrated with herself that she had yet to start her business.
 

The major block turned out to be two things: having an inspiring desk where she could create the cards, and setting up a storage system for all the materials. When she felt ready to create, her working area was organised and uncluttered, which is important for her creativity to flow. I also shared useful resources to support her, including an introduction to another client at an early stage of her business, which provided them with mutual support.
 
 Sarah secured a grant to fund production and created her first range of ‘sweet as cherry pie’ greeting cards.  Her cards are stocked in national chains as well as being available for purchase on the Web.
 
 “Rachel gave me consciousness of my capabilities within, and insight that I had the capability to do what I wanted to do. She worked her magic to unblock me and freed up the space in me to start my business.”

Sarah Grigor

Becoming self employed following redundancy

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This blog shares an example of  one of our clients – an employee who was made redundant and who successfully became a self employed consultant working with a number of customers.  

From employee to self employed consultant – Chris

When we worked together, Chris had been out of work for some time following redundancy and was starting to get quite depressed about the whole situation and any prospects of moving his life forward.

We helped him to come to the conclusion that he needed to change his approach completely and to start his own business.

He was nervous about taking such a big step, but we helped him to see that he had skills that could be very valuable to various companies and to tackle any fears head on.

His choice to become self employed was a pragmatic one in a jobs market where many companies were reluctant to increase headcount and take on full time staff,  so spreading his expertise at a lower investment working with a number of customers was a wise option for uncertain times.

The first few months were a steep learning curve for Chris and quite scary as he switched from looking for a job to seeking paying customers. He achieved customers using social media, a minimum budget, and using his initiative and persistence. 

He is now in a position where he is working regularly for a number of companies and generating the same income he had in his last job, only without the commute to work.

He is now doing work he loves instead of work he hates. So redundancy, while challenging to deal with at the time, resulted in much personal growth, building emotional resilience, the ability to do marketing and sales and a great end result with many benefits.

“Life really has shifted for me and I wanted to say thank you for giving me the insight to see where I needed to go.”  

Chris Ball, Social media expert

FREE Webinar – “How to unlock opportunities in the unadvertised jobs market. Advice and Tips.”

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12-1pm on Tuesday 10 November 2020.

Advice from 2 experienced career experts – Rachel Brushfield and Peter Wilford.

This 1 hour free webinar will share:

  1. Direct approaches to create new opportunities
  2. Proactive approaches using LinkedIn
  3. Leveraging your network to gain advice and new options
  4. How to build your marketability confidently + comfortably
  5. Strengthening your network with new on-line networks due to Covid-19
  6. What’s your USP? Why you?

Benefits

  • New ideas and approaches.
  • How to turn Covid-19 into a positive for your networking.
  • Practical tips to make marketing easier, effective + expedient.
  • S.M.A.R.T. actions to move forward.

Book your place on EventBrite now:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-unlock-opportunities-in-the-unadvertised-jobs-market-advice-tips-tickets-126722086171

Common Career Conundrums

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Furlough ends on the 31 October.

This is a MASSIVE SCARY career crossroads for many people.

What next?

How do you know what the right decision is for your career?

Common career conundrums are:

Should I:

•          Retrain?

•          Become self-employed?

•          Go freelance?

•          Set up my own business?

•          Create a portfolio career?

•          Study for a new qualification?

•          Do contracting?

•          Change career direction?

•          Take a career sabbatical?

•          Take early retirement?

Making the right decision is always important at a career crossroads.

It is especially important with Covid-19 because the stakes are high.

And there is a lot of competition.

It is a buyer’s market.

Making a robust career decision needs 5 things:

  1. Internal analysis – you

2) External analysis – the market

3) A strategy for screening your career options and making a robust decision.

4) A career plan A, B and C for uncertain times.

5) A marketing strategy and plan.

Get in touch, for your free career consultation, no-obligation: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Shall we dance? And fight injustice?

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Good news!

I wanted to share the achievements and celebrate the dedication of my client Olivia Streater who is based in Switzerland.

Olivia, who is Anglo-Turkish, was born in London, is multilingual, started her career at Amnesty International and qualified as a solicitor at Clifford Chance, a top global law firm.

She trained as a dancer, and being curious, embarked on a personal development journey.

How to combine these very different interests in a job or career?

I met Olivia on the Law Society Returners course in 2012, whicj I have supported for over a decade.

Olivia decided that she wanted to become a dance and movement therapist, helping people who had experienced trauma and combine this with her human rights work.

Recently, she has completed her Master of the Arts (MA) in Dance Movement Therapy, obtaining the German equivalent to a First and received a prize for achieving the top grade of her cohort and was nominated for an innovation award for her mixed methods thesis studying DMT interventions for trauma.

Talent doesn’t always fit in one neat box.

What talents do you have that need liberating?

A portfolio career is ideal for people with eclectic talents and interests like Olivia Streater.

More about Olivia- view her LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviastreaterlavizzari/

E mail us to receive your free copy of our report ‘Discover Portfolio Careers’: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

A portfolio career is like Dim Sum

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Being a foodie (!), I find food a useful metaphor for portfolio careers……

A portfolio career is also like Tapas or Dim Sum – the enjoyment is partly the varied textures and flavours.

My clients are seeking clarity, fulfilment and sufficient certainty/security for peace of mind.

Especially in uncertain times.

I help them to find clarity on what their unique ‘career recipe’ is and what the ingredients of their ideal portfolio career could be.

A part time job is an ideal ‘staple’ part of a potential portfolio career, just as rice, pasta, bread or potatoes are a staple part of a diet.

Many portfolio careerists like variety, challenge and learning and for them, eating all ‘staple foods’ (one full time job) simply isn’t appetizing.

Too much stodge!

A part time job or retainer is a good portion size of a ‘staple’.

It provides a great springboard to try new additional types of ‘food’ and ‘seasonings’ to make a more tasty career, and start a portfolio career.

If you would like a copy of our free report: ‘Discover Portfolio Careers’ which includes a 15 question self-completion suitability questionnaire, please e mail me. https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

New – Energise podcast

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This podcast is about future – proofing your career.

It is approx 40 minutes long.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dhzkknh6vjepf2i/AADDpuP-9P8GWwF75s0MxXeHa?dl=0

There are 5 sections:

Section 1: How You Start To Create A Future-Proof Career

Section 2: Why People Need a Future-Proof Career and Who They Are For

Section 3: Examples Of Future-Proof Careers

Section 4: Asking Rachel About Her Own Career

Section 5: Benefits And Drawbacks of A Future-Proof Career

Hope you find it useful. Thanks!

Energise future-proof your career summer school

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Energise Future-Proof Your Career Summer School.

6-week Summer School to create peace of mind in an uncertain world. Starts 12-1pm Tuesday 29 July 2020. Book now – limited places.

See EventBrite link for details:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-energise-future-proof-your-career-summer-school-2020-tickets-113878228848