Kaye - Coaching Client

Kaye is a marketing mentor working with female business owners who are being held back by their fear, frustration and overwhelm around marketing. Kaye came to Jen because she wanted to feel more confident about the value she delivers to her clients.

Why did you decide to work with Jen?

I had known Jen for several years and always followed her work. I was thinking about working with a coach for various reasons so decided to do a one day woodland retreat with Jen to learn more about her approach. The day was amazing and I felt all sorts of emotions afterwards! I had never spent an entire day like that focused just on myself before and I loved it. The work we did that day uncovered a few internal challenges for me that I knew were there but had never really done anything about them. I had a big worry about not giving my clients value and that was stopping me growing my business in the way I really wanted to grow it. That belief was the main thing I wanted to tackle - I knew deep down I did a good job but couldn't get past the fear that I would let people down. This meant that when I got a new client I wasn't excited, I was scared of messing it up! At the time I didn't realise that there was a whole load of other stuff going on for me that I needed to get through!

What was life like before working with Jen?

I was just coming out of a long period of illness and trying to build my business back up. I'd had quite severe chronic fatigue for about 3 years and although I was much better than I had been, I still felt like an ill person trying to get back to normal rather than a well person. I was doing OK but life felt quite flat a lot of the time. My world had shrunk a lot whilst I was ill, and we were also in the middle of the Covid pandemic which had impacted all of us in so many ways. I was scared of getting ill and getting Long Covid. The illness (and Covid!) had led me to go much more inwards into myself - I had previously been a very sociable, outgoing, active person, but I was worried about how much getting back out into the world would affect my energy. This worry about my health, combined with my belief that I wasn't giving clients enough value meant that I was a bit stuck (and so was my business).

When you and Jen were working together, what was most valuable?

The biggest lightbulb moment for me was realising that I was no longer an ill person. I knew the illness had impacted on my business because I hadn't been able to work at all for a long time, and then only for an hour or two each day as I built back up again. But I hadn't realised how much the illness had impacted on me personally until I started to work with Jen. I worried a lot about 'doing too much' and getting ill again so was reluctant to stretch myself at all - this led to me feeling stressed if my diary got full and even stopped me looking for new clients because I didn't want too many at once. With Jen's encouragement I have opened up to welcoming more private clients who I really love working with, and from a personal point of view, I started to go back to Zumba classes which I always loved. I kept telling myself I'd go back to Zumba once I was properly well, but was too scared to actually give it a go. I went, I was fine, and I loved it. I'm now back to weekly Zumba :) I found the practical tools to help me 'coach' myself really valuable and also really valued Jen's ability to understand what was really going on in my head when I couldn't see it myself!

What did you most like about Jen's style?

She's just lovely! Jen is gentle, nurturing and incredibly supportive but also gives you really good practical advice too. I love the combination of Zoom and in-person sessions and the woods is a wonderful place to explore what you want and how you can get there.

What’s life like now?

I feel lighter, much more like my old self and my business is growing. I'm confident in the value I bring to my clients, I've put all my prices up and I'm excited to open the door to new clients who bring my joy every day. I'm not worried about being ill now, and I see taking care of myself as a priority because it's important for me to be well and happy, not because it's something I have to do to avoid getting ill.

Before you started, did you have any concerns or objections about working with Jen/undertaking the programme?

I was worried about how much I would have to do, and finding time for our sessions and the follow up work. I talked to Jen about this before we started to work together and she said that rather than giving me more stuff to do, the coaching would get me more time back. She was right - I spend much less time worrying, or doing things I don't want to do now, which means I have more time for the things I love to do - for me and for my clients.

What would you say to someone thinking of working with Jen, and how would you describe what she does?

If you're looking for a coach who will help you discover your whole self again, so that you can be who you want to be, then Jen will definitely help you do that. Jen gives you the time, space and tools to discover who you really are, what you really want from your life or your business, and what's stopping you from getting it. Once you've done all that discovering, she makes you believe you can do exactly what you want to do, then gives you a nudge to actually go and do it!

Thank you Jen for helping me open up my world again! x

Kaye King, Marketing Mentor

https://www.marketingmentorkaye.com/