10 Years Old

Today is special and I have reason to be feel happy, grateful and proud. elementas has come of age, my company is 10 years old, a decade old! It marks a milestone on a journey to founding my own business and living a life that I love.

I am particularly thankful to all my clients, friends and supporters who have encouraged me from my very early days with elementas.

I can still recall meeting new start-ups and discussing our ambitions and hopes. I remember being a fledgling learning to fly, talking to other new start-ups who were mapping their futures to run their own businesses. Today I work with such people as a volunteer mentor. I was leaving behind the certainty of a secure 9-5 type job and a regular salary to follow my dreams and carve a new way to live and work. It was exciting and liberating but rather scary at the time, I didn’t have an anchor. I remember taking some months out to volunteer in South America, and writing my elementas (elements was taken!) business plan and deciding on my company values (natural, creative, holistic) half-way up an Andean Mountain!

This last year we have all had to deal with unplanned change and had to find new ways to live and work. In the middle of a global pandemic wellness and illness are at the front of mind for many of us at work and at home, with our loved ones. More than ever I sense that people are starting ‘to get’ the benefits of the work I do through elementas; combining my business background with mindfulness, wellness, compassion, heart-focused emotional intelligence coaching. A fellow professional and respected friend calls my work ‘gold standard’. In the earlier years it was tricky as these ideas and concepts were more alien or unfamiliar to many I came across. I had to be brave and muster up my courage and it paid off. More and more I see first hand the difference mindfulness techniques and mindfulness practices and compassionate leadership makes to individuals, teams and leaders. Clients find more clarity, develop more self-trust and insights. It is magic and simple!

I am grateful that I kept trusting my instinct, learning from wise experts, building my knowledge, skills and experience, taking time out (to keep well) and keeping going. After a decade of doing the work I love, navigating being a small business in a pandemic the words “together we flourish” ring more true than ever. I am truly grateful and resourcing my inner resilience and wisdom on my fascinating journey!

(On the way back from a break in Skye, May 2021)