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Rachel Brushfield

From insurance to being a piano tutor

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This is an example of someone who originally chose a career that wasn’t ‘her’ and is now doing one that she chose – her talents are finally being hatched which is very exciting!  

Pippa came to us ready to create a new career she was passionate about. Her career and next phase of life started together.  

Pippa had worked in insurance all of her working life. She was recommended to me by a personal trainer I knew well.

She had chosen insurance as a steady profession to enable her to support her parents. Once they had passed away and she was in her mid 40s, she realised that it was her time to do what she wanted and put her needs and wants first.

She was an accomplished piano player, tutored children in the piano in her spare time and was also an active member of the church. She had many skills, including secretarial, with the potential to have a portfolio career that would serve her well while becoming self-employed in a downturn.

Like many people who have been employed all their lives, she had never had to think about what she might market, who she might market herself to, and how to set up a business.

I helped her to see that she could make a living out of teaching the piano to children as well as other ideas such as summer schools. We considered which target audiences to focus on, who specifically she was passionate about teaching, what their needs were and what made her unique – her features and benefits – plus pricing, brochures and other aspects of marketing.

With my help, she spent about 8 months planning her own business and then resigned, quite shocking her colleagues and being the envy of many! 

Her previous employer left open the option of her doing insurance contract work, which is quite a seasonal market with peaks and troughs, and she also had an offer of part-time PA work for her church.

I helped her to think through and structure her commitments so that she had time for herself, and encouraged her to consolidate her finances so she had a financial cushion to give her peace of mind.

“You have an amazing ability to help me believe in myself and my abilities – priceless, and a huge motivator to keep going.”

Pippa Fernee

Hobby becoming a business

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Martin was on gardening leave, having been made redundant, when he came to see me.

He wanted a career that was satisfying and where he felt valued. We explored what motivated him, his values and specific needs from work. With two young children, he wanted work that would fit around the family.

We explored any blocks he perceived to changing career successfully, including marketing and networking in a competitive market place; and his unique approach in the area for his business – photography. Martin was especially skilled at getting his clients to relax so that the photos he took were wonderfully natural and captured special moments, so I helped him craft this as the essence for his brand.

He achieved paid projects from day one of his business and his work fitted very well around his two young children and the family. I used his services myself to create some professional images for use in my marketing material and was delighted with the results.

He is indeed skilled at getting his clients to recall specific memories that enable them to relax, feel great and look their best.

“Working with Energise has been a very satisfying and enlightening exercise. By allowing me to recognise what I found rewarding in both my previous career and my personal life, overlaying the work-family balance I was striving for, I was given a sense of focus and clear indications of what is possible for my final career.”

Martin Gammon

From employment in the Arts to self employment

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Francesca was at a career crossroads having returned to work after maternity leave. We helped her create an exciting new family friendly business for herself.  

Francesca, a working mother of 2 kids under 6 left her dream job in the Arts after returning from maternity leave after her and her employer agreed it was best to part ways.  

With the support of 6 hours of coaching, funded by her employer, we helped her to set up a new business which was up and running within 4 weeks and with her first paying client within 6 weeks, an amazing achievement and testament to her hard work and dedication.We supported her through the transition from going to work as an employee to setting her own agenda as a business owner getting clients.

We helped her clarify how to design the business to both meet client needs and have a healthy work-life balance with quality family time. We shared useful resources about relevant networking groups, branding, target audiences, social media, marketing, giving confidence and clarity in self-promotion and the importance of making time to review, reflect and plan. In a short space of time the difficult return to work was transformed into a high of being an independent, successful and self employed business owner.   

Francesca’s new venture works with one person businesses like herself and offers personalised technology consultancy, freeing them up to focus on other business issues.

“I worked with Rachel when I was going through a major career change and in the process of setting up my new business. She knew exactly the kinds of issues I was dealing with and her vast experience in this area meant we could quickly focus on those areas, which needed most attention for me. Its great working with someone who can offer you the perspective you need and thanks to her I was able to make a smooth transition to my new career and take with me practical marketing and networking tools to get my business off the ground. Thank you Rachel for giving me the wings to fly!”

Francesca Geens.

Evolving a business focus with changing market trends

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Lorna is a successful business woman with many skills, who was wise to think ahead and ensure her career focus was fit for purpose through changing times. Here’s how we helped her.    

Lorna attended a seminar locally recommending the investment of 10% of your earnings in continual professional development and chose coaching with Energise.

Based in rural Devon, opportunities were limited, and her target audience primarily the public sector, which was experiencing restructures and budget cuts.

Lorna took the wise decision to look ahead and invest in her long-term direction and security during the peak of the downturn.

The result – a new company – The Fruit Tree providing business advice and training with a specialism in social enterprise and co-operatives, with partnerships in the private and public sector. 

We helped Lorna clarify and update her needs, values and wants to ensure her business created personal fulfilment as well as meeting fast changing customer needs.

In the fortunate position of possessing many skills and choices, we helped her evaluate different strategic options and shared our knowledge and ideas re market opportunities.

“Energise helped me to take stock and review and evolve my business focus making it fit for purpose for the future. Coaching gave me fresh clarity, new insights and focus. Time is precious and it makes sense to get expert support to achieve results faster than is possible by yourself. Rachel is professional, focused, insightful, results based and cares about my professional success and personal fulfilment. Coaching was worth every penny.” 

Lorna Turner, Founder and Director   http://www.the-fruit-tree.co.uk

From employment to contracting

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Tony was an experienced I.T. consultant at a career crossroads following redundancy with 10 years left to retirement. Here’s how we helped him.     

Tony was an I.T. consultant in his early 50’s with over 30 years experience, who like many other people, had been employed all his working life and was made redundant.

We helped Tony to see what was important to him – his values, what his unique skills and experience were and how marketable he was.

We shared new career options and ways of using his skills in different ways.

He launched himself as an experienced, personable business analyst/project manager who could also mentor teams and deliver workshops, providing huge value to cash strapped cautious companies wanting to realise efficiencies and have value for money from their investment.

We helped him to have both confidence and a strategy to market himself as a contractor, a wise move in the market conditions and a great way of using his vast experience and knowledge.

He secured high profile contracts including at the University of Oxford reviewing development lifecycle processes. This allowed the business systems team to provide the colleges with accurate and achieveable proposals and to manage projects in a more structured way.   

“If you feel your core skills and expertise are not fuelling your career effectively, or if you just hanker for some sort of change of direction, Rachel’s guidance is invaluable. Her course helped me to look in on myself and understand what was important and what I was capable of. She gave me the courage to change and I can thoroughly recommend it.”

Tony Shaw-Williams

A mid life career reinvention

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Anne came across Energise in a guest blog I wrote for the advertising industry.

Our ‘Liberate Your Talent’ line and blog topics hit a nerve with her and the topics covered really resonated with how she was feeling, namely “yes I need to change careers but what can I do?”, “How can I best use my skills in a new area?” and “How do I overcome the fears I feel?”

Anne was a self employed market research consultant and prior to that, a beauty therapist, both careers she fell into.

I helped Anne to increase her self awareness including what her values are, what she wanted/needed from her work, what her skills were and how and where they could be used. We explored, tested, conversed and challenged different career ideas.

I helped Anne to see that she had successfully reinvented her career before, something she had not recognised herself. This was a shift and from this point, she made the decision to ”feel the fear and do it anyway” and to take the view, ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’ – simply that, she might have to rethink. She realised that achieving such a change would create a huge sense of achievement and used this as a motivator to keep going.

After researching the options. Anne chose to be one of only two people in the UK licensed to teach a routine of face muscle exercises which give a lift and tone to the face and neck, naturally, without invasive surgery or injections of various substances.

This approach completely fits with her philosophy and values, builds on her original career as a beauty therapist, and she is relishing the prospect of getting her new business off the ground. Her market research skills are coming in useful to gain insights about her potential customers too!

“Rachel has a wealth of experience and expertise and is very generous in passing this on. The depth of information available to anyone is testament to this. Her style is open, focused, challenging and encouraging. She understands career change and is expert at helping you think through the ups and downs.”

Anne Crotty

Reigniting passion & defining your personal brand

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This blog shares an example that many people can relate to – getting clear on what makes you distinctive – your personal brand BEFORE you make the leap.

There are many people sitting tight in jobs at the moment, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t prepare yourself for when the market does pick up.  

In fact doing this is likely to make you enjoy your current work more, because you know you are taking steps towards planning a career that’s right for you.    

We helped Alison to plan her next career move, from the security of her current job.

Alison was recommended to me by a work colleague. She has been working at the same company for many years and, although very talented, like many people working in the same place over time she had lost sight of her talents and true motivation.

I helped her to see what she was really good at, passionate about and how she could use these talents to rekindle her passion for creativity.

A creative in many different forms, she became more proactive with increased confidence and pushed out her comfort zone to do new things, winning a poetry competition and being selected to judge at an exhibition awards ceremony.

Her brand territory was very clear indeed – she is passionate about creating ambience, and I helped Alison to define and crystallise it, build her identity as an individual creative as well as an employee, and see how she could create a clear and distinctive niche in the minds of her target audience, establishing a solid foundation for long-term career success.

“Rachel’s coaching process, combined with her empathy, creative yet practical ideas and insight, allowed me to reconnect with what really motivates me, understand my challenges and self-imposed obstacles, and how to overcome them, and become aware of my full capabilities. It has given me the confidence to start exploring other skills and formulating new goals.”

Alison, Designer 

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