About 10 years ago, I had an interesting experience and one that set my life in a direction, I never thought was possible! And so follows a story that only a few close friends know.
At the time I was working in a large international financial institution, in a senior role in Marketing, Brand & Communications. I was very stressed and struggling daily to cope with the pressures of my corporate existence. My daily habit at the time involved getting up at 5am to go the beach with my personal trainer, then working for eleven hours straight, usually I was in meetings for around 8 hours a day, swigging soy mochas, and rushing outside to smoke a cigarette. I would then stumble out of work, get a taxi home in the dark and drink too much wine on my balcony until late into the night! I knew that my lifestyle was unsustainable, I was dissatisfied, disconnected and looking back, a little despondent!
Then I met a fascinating woman and her name was Claire. She was a psychic, a healer and a highly inspirational soul. During the reading, she and I talked about my challenges and my lack of peace of mind. She asked me if I felt that the experiences I was having could teach me anything of value. What could I learn from my situation? How could I use the opportunity to develop skills to manage my life in a more effective way? How could I take this and use it in my life? (Interesting, I now see that she helped me discover the power of a good question!)
Until that point I had never had any coaching nor did I really know what it was. I had just started studying a hypnotherapy diploma and was beginning to learn some tools to manage my mind and take control of my negative thoughts. This conversation with Claire begun to open up my mind to a whole new range of possibilities.
Unfortunately she told me it was not time for me to leave the corporate world, despite my unhappiness. She shared that she perceived that my journey required this learning, that the beauty I could bring to the world was only possible if I could stay where I was and learn to manage the situation. She also told me that one day, some time in the future, I would be equipped with the skills to help others and I would set up a business, travel the world speaking at conferences, facilitate workshops, coach women and write books, and the name of it all would be 'Eternal Sunshine for the Corporate Women's Mind'.
And so here I am, I set up Eternal Sunshine Solutions around 4 years ago, after spending another 5 years in senior corporate roles, and changing career to work in the learning and development industry. It feels like time for me to step up, to do what I can to create and hold the space for corporate women to work with their growing edges, to transform, to discover, to create and to shine their light.
It might sound crazy to set up a business based on a conversation with an unknown woman in a small hippy shop off Crown Street, but it just felt intuitively right. That one conversation was like the lightening bolt that lit up my soul and it sent me in a direction that empowered me to take control of my mind and my life.
I went on to finish my Hypnotherapy Diploma, get my NLP certification, complete my Training qualification, study a Masters in Organisational Coaching with the University of Sydney and complete an in-depth program of self-development with a spiritual school. The journey of learning never ends and can be intense. But after 18 months of rest, recovery and recuperation, when I was lucky enough to meet and marry my beautiful husband, it now feels like time. The time is right to bring 'Eternal Sunshine for the Corporate Women's Mind' to life. It has been bubbling away, developing it's essence for a while and finally it feels ready to take out the oven.
So thank you Claire, you taught me the power of a simple conversation and how it can change someone's life. Thank you Claire for opening my heart, my mind and my spirit to the possibility of hope at a time of darkness. Thank you for helping me to bring this vision to life. I have no idea where Claire is, I have tried looking for her, but the shop closed and I never managed to track her down. But I hope that where ever she is, she is truly blessed. She is only one of many inspirational women I have been lucky enough to have in my life and still find myself surrounded by. So to all the wonderful women in my life, thank you for all the joy you bring.
I am eternally grateful for all the experiences I have had (and presently have) that teach me the importance of patience, persistence, and perspective. It is only a result of being pushed out of our comfort zone that we find our power, we discover our passion and we transform ourselves and our lives into peace!
I hope you have been lucky enough to meet your 'Claire'...maybe she will be the next person you talk to!
Express your inner radiance!
Jacky
