Patience is a Transformational Personal, Business and Leadership Coach, Corporate Trainer, Keynote Speaker, Best Selling Author and founder of The Visionary Introverted Woman brand. A dedicated mentor who champions the success of introverted women, helping them develop strategies to overcome barriers to accomplishing their goals.
Patience believes that introversion gives her purpose, alongside her passion for leadership, corporate training and speaking, she has used her introverted strengths to thrive and stand out in an extroverted world.
Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and your current role.
I am currently an Accredited Business and Leadership Coach, Speaker, Trainer and Best Selling Author.
Using my signature coaching programme – The Aligned INtrovert Method® I help introverted female entrepreneurs and leaders looking to develop presence, leverage their introvert strengths, and succeed in business and leadership roles, to overcome self-doubt, fulfil their ambitions and position themselves in the marketplace to make a meaningful impact.
I also use coaching and training frameworks to help businesses enhance Team Dynamics, Communication and Courageous Leadership for improved positivity, performance, and profitability.
Did you ever sit down and plan your career?
Yes I did, it’s interesting that I always joked with my colleagues that I would retire at 50. I had to explain because I kept getting weird looks whenever I said it. For me, retirement was finally getting to do the things I love and running my own show. Sure enough, I got to do it much earlier than 50. I started out planning for career progression to increase my income and also achieve the career goals I wanted. Once that was done I started to explore how to develop my untapped potential this led me to sign up with the John Maxwell Leadership team and get certified as a Coach, Trainer and Speaker. I then began to do pro-bono stuff and experiment. I got my first paying client before taking the leap from corporate into entrepreneurship.
I would also say that I stopped leaving life to chance after my mum died. I realised that life is too short not to live to the full. My mum made sure she left a good legacy even though she didn’t live very long. That was my inspiration to plan my life. Her death was the catalyst and within 3 years I left my job and started to carve out my own success pathway.
Have you faced any challenges along the way?
Lots and lots of challenges. What I have come to realise is that “ challenges are chances for change”. It is one thing to step out with preconceived ideas and another to face reality. I listened to those who encouraged a speedy approach to things not appreciating that solid foundations take time and these foundations are required to sustain the business.
Also, I didn’t fully understand in the beginning that knowing and growing one’s self is vital to business success. So I spent time working more on processes than on the person. Now I know that for business to succeed you have to understand and align to who you are and your core values and strengths.
What has been your biggest achievement to date?
I would say, there have been many successful milestones. My first paying coaching client when I started, nominated me for an award and I made the top 10 finalists of Best Home Business. My first sign-up to my group programme has developed to become my business partner for my community interest company which I set up last year. I have also spoken on many stages in places I wanted to, like Orlando, Las Vegas and Dubai.
What one thing do you believe has been a major factor in you achieving success?
Saying there is only one thing is like saying there is one pill you take and success will happen. This means everyone just needs to find the pill and they will be successful. Success is also subjective by definition. One important factor is to define success and get clear on what it looks like otherwise, you keep chasing shadows and castles in the air or an elusive goal.
How do you feel about mentoring? Have you mentored anyone or are you someone’s mentee?
I have always had mentors and role models. I think it is critical to help shorten your learning curve. I have always also mentored both formally and informally. I currently mentor clients on the Help To Grow Government Management Traning schemes. These are Managers and Business Owners seeking to develop their leadership skills and grow their businesses. It is very rewarding to see their success week after week as they implement their learnings.
If you could change one thing to accelerate the pace of change for Gender Equality, what would it be?
I think gender inequality can be reduced significantly but very difficult to eliminate due to bias some of which people are not even aware they have. For example, female toilets are always further than male toilets in most buildings, there is always a queue for it and no one is saying perhaps we need to make sure women have more space than men to create equality. To accelerate gender equality people need to have the courage to challenge the norm and the status quo as well as be willing to put themselves forward to be the change.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self what would it be?
Take more risk, love and believe in yourself., give yourself the permission to be imperfectly perfect and fail forward towards growth.
What is your next challenge and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?
My next challenge is restructuring my business, enhancing my brand and building my team. Next year brings a further reawakening, vibrance and growth on a personal and business level I am looking forward to it.
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