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From employment to self employment – accountancy

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Paul is an example of someone who had to make a major career change and set up his own business in his 50s, having been employed all his life, something that is increasingly common. Not only that, but he’s an accountant, a risk averse profession.

Here’s how we helped Paul successfully transition from employment to self employment.    

Paul was an experienced accountant in his 50s who had specialised in the car trade and wanted to become self-employed, but had never had to market himself. He had pursued and won a constructive dismissal case against his former employer.

I helped him to think about the mix of work he wanted and how he could structure it. I also helped him to set up systems that would make his life easier when he became busy, and shared some thoughts on how to market to his small business clients to add value.

I helped him to put together case studies that would help his potential clients to see how he could help them and to craft his biography. Paul’s business got off to a flying start and he was never short of work, but it was the kind of work he enjoyed, with the type of people and companies that he liked working for – something that I had helped him to think through as part of our work together.

“Working with Energise has given me confidence to sell myself and make approaches to organisations that I never would have done before. I still look back on the time I spent with Rachel and have to say it was one of the best decisions I have ever made, and I am still telling people about it.”

Paul Bradly

Turning a passion into a business

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Often what clients initially present in coaching isn’t what needs to be explored, but this has to be their realisation in their own time.

Debbi was recommended to me by an associate who used to work with her. She had had a long career working in Architecture and Design. Living between two countries, England and France, with one home in each but her heart in France, and having been made redundant, she was at a life as well as career crossroads.


We explored her transferable skills – she had many – and how she could utilise these outside of architecture and design, as she was frustrated with the politics of big companies and, in her mid 50s, was experiencing some ageism.

It became clear to me quite early on that she had an entrepreneurial spirit and the tenacity and passion to make her own business happen, and whilst financial security was important to her, she would be able to overcome any concerns about not having a monthly salary.

I remember the moment when she lit up and shared what she was really passionate about – cheese! It was an ‘aha’ moment as we call it in career coaching and she admitted to herself that she didn’t want to work for big companies and play politics at all any more – that was a ‘should’ – but to set up her own company doing specialist holidays around the cheese regions in France, in Debbi’s words, ‘an intimate culinary tour company focusing on regional French cheeses’.   

I helped her to shape her initial idea and then she went off and got on with making it happen and moved to France for her heart and her business.

‘Rachel helped me to decide what would really make me happy in the second half of my career, confront the fears and put a plan in place to make it happen. One year in the making, centred around my passionate interest in cheese, I credit Energise for kick starting the realisation.’

Debbi Baron

Turning a strength into a business

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When Cory was ready for a career change, she sought me out as her coach – Energise. Cory is an American, who shares her time between the US and the UK. She has a great attention to detail, and goes that extra mile in everything she does.

Financial security is very important to her and so while self-employment was her goal, the right things needed to be in place before she took the leap – especially in hard economic times.

To give Cory that extra confidence, I helped her understand more about her talents, what makes her unique and what she specifically wanted from her work. Two areas closely matched Cory’s aptitude and interests; event management and being a professional organiser. Cory researched these two options and chose professional organising because she can see how she truly makes an impact in people’s work and personal lives.

Two things that stand out about Cory are her distinctive name and core values. So in choosing to call her company by her own name, Cory is also creating a brand that embodies her commitment to excellence and outstanding service.

“Working with Rachel at Energise not only helped me discover my true calling for a complete career change, but also taught me much more about myself than I had anticipated. Rachel’s practical exercises, questions and steps prepared me for eventually taking the leap. Rachel’s approach was what I was looking for in a business coach: helping me identify what I wanted, creating the blueprint to do it, and then holding me accountable for taking action. But the best part was that I learned tools and skills that I still use daily in many aspects of my life, not just my career.”

Cory Cook, Professional Organiser & Time Management Coach

Starting a charity

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Mary had already changed career several times but her latest transition was by far the most daunting and she needed help to keep on track and push through the numerous challenges that cropped up along the way.  Here’s how we helped her.  

Although Mary had changed careers several times, this was a huge leap and she needed help.  She was a psychotherapist specialising in eating disorders and saw young women and teens whose lives were being torn apart by under-eating, over-eating, purging and compulsive exercise. 

She desperately wanted to help all those who couldn’t afford to see a therapist and who had slipped through the NHS net.  It was very important to her to make a difference in preventing the disorders from taking hold before they started to destroy lives.

Starting a charity and managing all the aspects of a start-up organisation was very daunting. However I helped Mary to focus on the important tasks, understand how to get supporters on board and connect to resources that she needed.  I helped her to move through her frustrations and see positive solutions, providing her with a means to examine the feelings that were holding her back.
 

The charity is now going from strength to strength and helping many of the people who originally inspired her to set out on this path.
  

“I always left my sessions with Rachel feeling that I had had an injection of energy straight to the blood stream.  I found Rachel was a rudder when I wanted to abandon ship, hit a storm or lost focus.”

Mary Wood 

A new role …. with your current employer!

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This client example concerns a lawyer, Rebecca, who was feeling frustrated with her work and wanted something more meaningful. She succeeded in her change of career …… but with her current employer.   

Rebecca was recommended to Energise through a legal recruitment agency. Rebecca is a senior associate in her mid-thirties specialising in tax law who was looking for more fulfilment through her work. Getting involved in corporate social responsibility in her current firm was one way of increasing job satisfaction, but a change of specialism or career was the ideal answer.

We identified about fifteen different career options that fitted her skills and interests. I then helped Rebecca break down the research needed to explore each option into specific small steps and to find out information and ask questions through her network, plus creating a framework to make an informed decision.

The favourite option was charity law, which built upon her legal heritage and moved her into a more motivating area that fitted her values. She also factored in her desire to have children in future and charity law appeared to be an option that would give her flexibility later.

With a wedding in the near future and having decided to study for a Masters, she had plenty on her plate as she was working full-time. As a result of someone leaving, an opportunity emerged in her current firm to do charity law work. She successfully approached the partners expressing her interest, and agreed a role combined with her current specialism. This made her career change a smooth transition, increasing fulfillment.

This decision was a great one to give her experience of a new area, especially post-downturn in a challenging jobs market, and which could pave the way for her to make the next move externally at the right time. Like many people, career change felt quite daunting to her, and so this internal move also helped to pace change and reduce uncertainty.

“Rachel is full of great ideas and really helped me see that making a change like this is not as scary as it might first seem. I would recommend her to anyone who wants to change career or direction but doesn’t know how or where to start.”

Rebecca, Senior Associate

Overcoming obstacles to realise a lifelong career vision

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Anna, in her late 40s, had wanted to be a teacher all her life, but lacked the confidence to tackle the barriers that stood between her and her objective. This is how we helped her.

Anna got in touch following her withdrawal from a Master’s degree course due to ill health. She was working in Human Resources, but her job had been just a ‘means to an end,’ something to keep her earning while she finished her degree.

Having to end her studies prematurely made Anna realise just how much becoming a teacher mattered to her. However whenever she thought about what was required to achieve this goal; sourcing a qualification certificate from school days in her native Italy; obtaining entry qualifications in Maths and Science; writing an effective personal statement; being successful at interview, she questioned whether she had the ability and confidence to succeed.

Coaching with me helped Anna understand and find renewed confidence in her strengths and abilities, and together we prepared an action plan that led to her ultimate goal of becoming a teacher. The step by step plan reduced overwhelm and enabled Anna to tackle each barrier one at a time and obtain the qualifications required.

A further session helped Anna to develop effective strategies for coping positively with the interview process and Anna successfully achieved her goal and is due to start her post-graduate teacher training course in the next 2 months.

“With absolute calm, respect, understanding and empathy, Rachel guided me to think about the obstacles that stood in the way of my chosen career and to reflect on how to overcome them, something I had been unable to do by myself, mainly due to a lack of confidence.

Rachel gave me back my confidence in my ability and in my chosen career, and inspired me to do all I could to achieve my goals. Immediately after our meeting, that is exactly what I did , and I am now on track to achieve my professional goals. Thank you Rachel!”

She is a great example of someone with a clear vision and how important it is to keep going, get support when stuck to identify the obstacles and overcome them to achieve success. Passion about a career vision plus persistence pays off!

Anna Colgan

A life and career change for work life balance

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Jon was a successful leader for young people, but lack of organisation was stopping him from having time for creativity and his growing family.  Here’s how we helped him.  

Jon was a busy church pastor who had a passion for music and writing as well as shaping an innovative congregation for young adults. He was already doing a lot of good but there was a real sense that he wasn’t being as effective as he could be.

Jon often found it difficult to get around to the truly important things, instead, he was frequently ambushed by the urgent things. The tyranny of the urgent led to frustration and many of the things that he wanted to achieve kept evading him – especially finding the time to develop his other passions of songwriting and writing.

I helped Jon to understand his deeper values and sharpen his focus, helping him to consolidate projects, clear mental space, clarify next actions and develop a strategy to manage key relationships as well as more effectively delegate and share work.  Jon was also able to negotiate an extra day off to focus on writing and recording his songs.

Jon now writes and releases songs on a regular basis, and his work life balance is much better than it was.

“Rachel helped me over the course of 18 months to be able to understand what I was really about and to align my energy and effort to make many of those longings a reality in my life. The insights I gained during that time of coaching continue to impact my life today. Decisions like wanting to work from home to make more time for my young family flow from many of the insights gained from coaching. I do feel like more of the important stuff within me has been liberated, hopefully for the good of others and I also feel a deep sense of peace and contentment too.”  

Jon Green.

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.