Your Next Chapter - step into the next version of you

Clare Dea is the epitome of the entrepreneurial spirit in action from a young age. At the age of 8 when her Dad was retrenched and her ballet lessons needed to pause, Clare decided she would solve the problem. I asked myself “How can I make the money to pay for them?. My inner entrepreneur was born and I became a busker for the next 8 years, generating the fund to pay for my lessons, my school boo...

Alison has had an enduring love affair with books since she was a little girl and so when it came time to choose a career, faced with the options of becoming a Ballerina or Lawyer or moving into Publishing, it was an easy choice!  “I was entering the world of publishing as the age old rules were changing and the industry was being disrupted and eventually being cast into crisis, so as you can imag...

Jo has always been drawn to creating community, fascinated by helping people to connect with a social purpose. Back when she was much younger, this commitment was played out with starting Barbie and Penfriend Clubs and a desire for her own magazine. “I just wanted to have a club, with members and it’s only now that I look back that I can connect the dots between what I was doing then and what I’m...

“I’ll help you build relationships rather than just a network” is how Robbie Samuels describes his core business focus, a passion that was inspired by his own experience in Boston, “not the friendliest of cities”. “Before starting my own speaking, coaching and consulting business, I was involved in the fundraising industry and the Meetups I started grew to hundreds of events and thousands of membe...

It’s not everyday I get to speak with a self-confessed “misfit entrepreneur” who willingly admits that “becoming an entrepreneur was never a part of my game plan”, and Kate Toon is no everyday woman! Kate is well known as a Search Engine optimisation lover (and we cheerfully demystify SEO and give you loads of practical actions you can take in this conversation), a Copywriting mentor, a Speaker, P...

“A well written article can be transformational for your readers”, says Sean D’Souza, the founder of Psychotactics. “It has the power to educate, inform and entertain and with a good structure at your fingertips, you can overcome the myth of writers block, the myth of it’s all been said before and the myth that it’s a difficult skill to master and create impactful articles that connect you, your i...

Leanne O’Sullivan has spent more than 18 years immersed in the online space, firstly as the co-founder of agency Big Blue Digital, then adding her own off-shoot, Summit School with Leanne O. She has seen the online world change considerably in that time and has developed a streamlined approach to developing a digital ecosystem that helps you to become clear, calm and consistent online, side steppi...

You need to be visible to have an impact and make a difference with Your Next Chapter Business. You may have exactly what someone need to close the gap they have. But if they can’t find you, they can’t be exposed to your solutions, your stories and your experience. So it’s time to create a simple Visibility Plan that leverages your skills and meets your Most Aligned Clients where they are.

Suzy’s story of gradually moving ever closer to her sweet spot of purpose will likely sound familiar. A definite deep desire to follow a certain path, but an initial lack of self-belief hits the pause button and then life itself intervenes and a detour takes place.  

Carol spent 27 years as a journalist before morphing into a PR specialist. But she never quite settled in the industry, although she was talented and by all measurements, a great success. A PR role at the UN opened a new door for her and she discovered, and fell in love with, the world of Fundraising. “I believed what I was writing and speaking about – I felt proud”.  

Like so many women who are also Mums, Cat had put her kids and husband first, right up the top of the Priority Totem Poll. Years were spent on the road delivering her elite sports kids to events, fundraising and on planes. She even home-schooled them towards the end of their high school years so they could juggle school and competing.  

During the last five years in the corporate world, it became increasingly obvious to Tammy that she was not living her purpose.    A volunteer role at a women’s shelter in her spare time opened a new door where she discovered an absolute love of counselling and social work. This led to graduate study in Clinical Counselling and a now 20+ year career in this space.  

“Liam, my 18 year old son, died on November the 5 th , 2015. He had just taken his sister to the bus stop. He was worried about being late, he drove to fat, he lost control and he hit a tree. I lived for the next 15 months with a kernel of wishing it was all a bad dream. What sort of Mother was I, if I couldn’t keep my son safe?”     I’ve worked so hard since then to make my grief my guide, rather...

After a career I banking that she “fell into”, and the significant life change that divorce often heralds, Carolyn stepped away from the corporate world and started her own marketing business. She quickly became well regarded in the small business marketing world, publishing “Small Business Marketing for Dummies” and “Small Business, Big Brand”, running workshops and consulting to a wide range of...

From the earliest days of teenage angst, locked away in my bedroom journaling intensely, I seem to have been asking the question “what am I here for???” I still check in with that question today. Quite regularly. But now, rather than seeking a lightening bolt of inspiration from the sky, I’m asking it to pivot, to stay on my path, to ensure I am aligned in my business and life.      And given the...

“I’d had my fair share of challenges and turning points” said Cas McCullough in our wholehearted conversation. “A life threatening ectopic pregnancy, divorce, children with health issues, work demands, business  trials… It would be easy to stay in victim mode, but I prefer to be a survivor. And after all, drama and ups and down are all part of the human experience aren’t they?”. And that attitude...

A passionate focus on making a difference and a contribution with Your Next Chapter Business is so very important. At this stage of life, that feeling of fulfilment and significance is vital – soul food even. But even the most passionate of business owners would soon feel deflated if they did not have actual clients to work with!   I’ve heard the lament so often – “if someone else could just take...

Many of us think about how we can make a tangible difference in the world. We read about so many wonderful people who, upon seeing a need, make the decision to do something about it. They step up and give back selflessly and inspire others to do the same.    Liz Davidson is one such woman and I am delighted and honoured to know her, and to be in her support team – she has been a part of my Next Ch...

Barbara Huson (nee: Stanny) grew up wealthy. Her Father was the R in the famous H&R Block who impressed upon her the unspoken assumption that she could always “let a man take care of you”. This perspective had a significant impact of her life, allowing the belief that “money was not her thing” to influence her thoughts, actions and…. inaction.    

"I know now that I was largely unconscious in my 20’s. I was simply living, like most of us do. And then I was plunged into the abyss at 32 when my partner died, everything changed. I was in therapy for a year. I moved away from the city to be near the water. I slowly began to piece myself together; I began to emerge form the cocoon I had spun around myself to heal. And I can see that who I b...

As the end of 2017 draws ever nearer, we need to take the time to review our year, to consider what went well, what didn’t go quite as planned and what you will continue, change, let go of and introduce for the new year. In my Mastermind end of year review sessions, we talk about how the year can deliver curve balls, medicine balls and wrecking balls – in all, it seldom goes exactly as you envisag...

“I’ve realised why women are often not as successful in business as they can be” says Louise Laffey. “There’s such a battle going on between the push and pull energies. We live in a modern world where there is such financial pressure and our heads tell us to work towards that definition of success, but our hearts are just not happy.

Emma and Audrey literally had one of those classic “eyes meeting across a crowded room” moments many years ago when they were both at a Coach Training event in Melbourne.  

When her coach told Karen that “it was obvious she wanted to start her own business”, even though she knew it was true, she froze. She knew she was unhappy. An accountant by trade, her 25 year career had brought a great deal of success, but she had changed and so had the company she worked for. She knew she wanted more but the risk of letting go of a regular, lucrative paycheck was scary. And so f...

Leanne O’Sullivan has been a business owner for over 18 years and, as you can imagine, has seen the digital landscape expand and change considerably in that time. “I’ve found that the small business journey, whilst immensely rewarding, is not for the faint-hearted. Babies and small children at your feet whilst growing a business? Not recommended! And Motherguilt? That’s a fierce emotion we all exp...