Here I am with Jonathon Jay, and my very good friend Wendy-Dashwood Quick.

I was thrilled to catch up with them both at Dan Bradbury's Top Gun Conference at Heathrow this weekend.

Jonathon Jay, if you don't know was the founder of the Coaching Academy. A company he grew from scratch with his last £145. He later went on to sell the company eight years later for several million pounds.

Jonathon has been a huge inspiration to me over the past 6 years. At my first ever coach training weekend, I made a radical decision not to return to work, instead I committed to retraining as a coach. It was the best decision I have ever made. That weekend quite literally changed my life, and ever since I have been on an amazing journey of self discovery and development.

There is a great saying, "When the student is ready the teacher appears", until that time information can be staring you right in the face but unless you are ready for it, you just can't see it. I've become quite greedy when it comes to learning, the more I learn the more I need to learn.

But there are two critical factors about learning, firstly, learn from the very best! If you model mediocre, you will become mediocre , I think Jonathon shared that one during one of his seminars and secondly, knowledge without action is futile.

So let me introduce you to Wendy, I met Wendy, another Coaching Academy graduate two years ago when we both travelled to Ireland to attended a fantastic three day intensive workshop led by Bernadette Doyle. That workshop really was the business, a big investment but has certainly paid off.

That workshop sparked an idea for Wendy and she has since written her own personal development book Discover Yourself on the Yellow Brick Road , the 7 Core Principles of Success, I invite you to preview it now in e-book format.

The speakers at the conference this weekend were fantastic, my mind is still buzzing with literally hundreds of new ideas, the networking was phenomenal but you know, the whole weekend without action would be wasted.

Let me leave you with a quote to ponder, " Life is too short to waste. Dreams are fulfilled only through action, not through endless planning to take action."

Your Recipe For Success

Just for fun!

1. Take the strengths you already have

2. Add a dose of empowerment.

3. Sprinkle generosity with creative thinking

4. Stir in accountability, networking and commitment

5. Let simmer and watch as a powerful, successful business woman emerges.

Are you Being the Very Best You Can?

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”Jim Rohn

My mentor say’s it’s the average of the ten people you spend your time with, whether it’s five or ten people, the fact of the matter is that who you mix with has an impact on who you become.

This week I have been carrying out some coaching assessments which illustrate this point.

Coach A was coaching a highly talented senior manager. She was focused, kept her client on track and encouraged her to find solutions to overcome the obstacles that were currently preventing her from achieving her goals.

Coach B, however, had a client who was struggling to set herself a clear goal, she became caught up in the negative reality of the situation and coach B found herself agreeing with her clients predicament.

Now you may argue that coach A was far more competent than coach B. Point taken, but what was so interesting about these two assessments was that both coach A and coach B were coaching other coaches. They had ‘found’ someone similar to themselves - in both scenario’s they were feeding off each others energy.

To a degree that’s okay, if you are happy as a mediocre coach then fine, but what happens when you are ready to move out of your comfort zone, when you want to become better at what you do, when you want to grow your business, when you want to move to the next level, raise the bar? Hanging around with people who don’t share those aspirations, who are have pessimist tendencies will ultimately drag you down, even if you are initially a positive person.
Maybe today is the day that you need to take a moment to think about who you are spending your time with.

They say, success breeds success, just think how much easier it will be when you spend more time with people who share similar visions as you, those who have been there before you and already succeeded. I’m not suggesting you suddenly drop your very best friend, but maybe give consideration to how much time you give to certain relationships in the future.

I have a very good friend, let’s call her Sarah. She is a great homemaker, is very nearly self sufficient really, she’s reliable, caring, very giving and has so many qualities I admire but when I stopped to think about our friendship I realised just how drained I felt every time I saw her. You see Sarah, had a constant gripe about almost everything, her glass is seldom half –full and we certainly have very differing aspirations.

Sarah and I are still great friends, we just see less of each other, which has given me the time to find and mix with those I consider to be where I want to be. Positive, proactive, successful people, with whom I can bounce ideas, high energy people who inspire me and I can learn from.

So remember, who you spend time with has a vast influence as to who you are!

Are you really being the very best you can?

Will You Be Joining Me

I just want to make sure that you know about my FREE teleclass that is coming up that could honestly change your life.

It's a very special one off call hosted by yours truly, on Tuesday 21st April at 8pm

Why is it so special?

You see, I've been running my own business for nearly five years now, and believe me those early years were damn hard work. When I started my business in 2004 I didn't have the right support, I didn't have a plan and I felt completely overwhelmed; in fact I didn't have a clue what I was doing!


Small Business OwnerJob Description:

Excellent multi-tasking skills, you will be required to work face to face with clients and have a high regard for customer service. Other tasks include all administration, invoicing, accounts, effective sales and marketing and accurate record keeping.

You will also be required to update the company website, blog regularly and use social networking sites on a daily basis.

Must have a positive mental attitude towards all aspects of business and be prepared to continuously extend your skills and knowledge.

Hours: 60 + per week, to include evenings and weekendsSalary will vary depending on how SMART you workNo sick pay or other benefits, days off are limited, but can be arranged with meticulous planning.

But that was then.

Feeling pretty overwhelmed and somewhat isolated, I learnt pretty quickly that I needed a strong supportive network around me. I needed to surround myself with people that could provide me with the necessary resources and answers. The missing link to the outside world.


With the support in place I began to set myself audacious goals that took my coaching business to the next level and away from the job description above.

As I reaped the benefits I made a promise to myself that I would inspire, inform and challenge others in a similar situation to do the very same. After all if I could do this, anyone could.

So, that's where I come in......... Whether you are just starting out or are already trading my guess is that you have plenty of questions that you would like answering that would help you move your business to the next level.

At 8pm on Tuesday 21st of April, I am going to make myself available to answer all your questions.

I want to make it really easy for you to be part of this call, so email me right NOW with
April 21st in the header along with the questions you most want answering and in return we will provide you with the call in details.

Why am I doing this - And especially at no charge?

Well, to show you how YOU too can, with the right knowledge and mindset build a sustainable business too. One of the biggest reasons small business fail is because they don't ask for help. You can read more about this in my free report, if you haven't already downloaded it yet.

And, because I believe in you and your success, so why make it difficult for yourself?

The key to remember here is....your network will provide you with far more than just resources and answers. It is the missing link between you and the outside world, it provides valuable feedback and an enormous reservoir of knowledge and expertise, just ready and waiting for you to tap into. If you miss this call you'll miss out, I am only offering this as a one off call.

If you are serious about growing or developeing your business then make sure you email me today.

I look forward to seeing you on the call.

Who Do You Turn To When You Need Help With Your Business Development?

Sarah has a very busy day ahead, as a small business owner her lengthy to-do list includes, preparing invoices, picking up brochures from the printers, meeting with prospective a new client, answering telephone enquiries, responding to numerous emails, attending a networking event, updating her website and finalising arrangements for an event she is exhibiting at.

"It’s a typical day," she declares. "Each item I tick off the list, leads to another two I need to add.”
Like many female business owners Sarah often feels overwhelmed. Managing her time effectively is one of her biggest roadblocks to success.

But starting up and running your own business does require you to do many things and continually learn new skills. Its easy to see how juggling all the balls can leave you frustrated and working from home feeling isolated too.

I’ve seen many female small business owners struggle with their business. Quite often they are afraid to ask for help and end up running themselves into the ground.

This usually results in a number of things, the business either doesn’t grow very fast because they can only do so much work, they give up entirely, or their business goes backwards because they can’t physically do any more work.

So, how DO you handle the numerous challenges of running your business?
Who do you turn to?

Well, at 8pm on April 21st I am setting aside 45 minutes to reveal the answers to all your burning business building questions.

From finding referrals, to managing your time effectively, to setting business goals to writing promotional material. Whatever your questions this is your chance to get them answered for FREE.

If you really want to GET MOVING and start getting REAL results from your business you wont want to miss this call for anything.

All you need to do to take part in this one off call is to email me with April 21st in the header, along with the questions you most want answering. In return we will give you the dial in number and instructions for joining the call.

At 8pm on Tuesday 21st April, I will join you on line and for 45 minutes will answer your questions live on the call.

Be prepared to be Inspired, Informed and Challenged to take your business to the next level.

I look forward to talking to you on the call.


If you're like many entrepreneurs, the thought of marketing makes you slightly sick to your stomach. And it's more then a simple like or dislik

Social Networking - What is it and how can it help your business?

Last week at our regular Winning Women networking meeting I initiated a discussion around Social Media Networking.

Suprisingly, the room was divided between those who were social media fans with facebook pages, and who tweet regularly and those who were green to the concept.

Winning Women networker, Sam Russell from Sardine Design, recently wrote in her newsletter on this very subject. Sam has kindly agreed for me to share her article with readers of this blog.

If you are new to the concept of Social Networking read Sam's article, here.

"Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs - we've all heard of them, but will they help or hinder your business?
Used correctly, they provide another way for potential clients to 'get' to you in addition to your website and provide your company with another platform to reach your target audience. This month I'm focusing on Blogging:
A Blog is an abbreviated version of 'weblog', it's a frequently updated, personal website featuring diary-type commentary and links to articles or other websites.
Blogs range from the personal to the political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.

It's INTERACTIVE so people can leave comments which you, or other users of your blog, can respond to.
You can add a feed (you've all seen the orange symbol to the right). A feed is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content which means that if a user has subcribed to your feed then every time you update the content, that user's feed is automatically updated so you can distribute information quickly and effortlessly.
Blogs are also great for search engine optimisation as they are updated regularly which tells Google that the site is important and being used.
Your website is like a shop window for your business so you want to make sure you keep it interesting. Adding a blog to your site can be a great way to do this as it will be updated regularly providing new content and information to users.It's also a great way to communicate with your existing and potential clients and can be used in a number of ways. You may want to share fun stuff your company does making is less formal than a website or you may use it to publish short articles that users will find helpful."

Contact Sam today to find out how a blog and other social networking sites can benefit your business and increase traffic to your site.