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Rise of the Mumpreneur - Guest Blog by Sara Noel

Becoming a number #1 co-author of a mumpreneur book. Creating the opportunity to publish your story amongst other inspirational business ladies. MIBA book ‘Rise of the Mumpreneur’

On October 8th I boarded a plane to Marbella knowing that I was about to embark on a life-changing experience.

At the beginning of the year, I said yes to an opportunity to become a co-author of the upcoming MIBA book ‘Rise of the Mumpreneur’. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t even sure of all the finer details. But my heart was sure and it led the way. My heart knew I had plenty I needed to say and that writing one chapter of a book was the beginning of unleashing my voice. Finally.

Fast forward a few months and I found myself connected to the other co-authors in a Facebook group. Excitement built up throughout the year as we shared our fears of the unknown and words of encouragement for one another. The opportunity I had said yes to became more real as the months went on. The reality that I had stepped well and truly out of my comfort zone excited me, but I will be completely honest and admit it also scared the living daylights out of me too.

Who would want to hear my story?

Will I be judged?

Who am I to be a co-author of a book?

Will I lose family? Friends?

I woke up dazed and confused as the plane hit the ground in Malaga. I had completely passed out for the full duration of the flight. This didn’t surprise me. I am an independent parent juggling work, building a business and raising an amazing human being. It is not often I get the chance to just be still. Well, outside of my ‘very’ early morning rituals that I have to slide down the stairs like a ninja to make happen due to the fact my Son has elephant ears! I had also spent most of the year dealing with the rapid decline of a family member who was suffering terribly of physical and mental ill-health.

It had been only 1 week since the funeral of my Grandma when I boarded that plane. Within seconds I was out for the count. Depleted of every ounce of energy left in my body and soul.
One by one the co-authors gathered in the airport. Apart from the online engagement each and every one of us was a stranger to one another. You could feel the anxiety in the air and in a strange way it felt comforting. Comforting to know that I was not alone in how I was feeling – petrified!

After being greeted by our warm and welcoming hosts MIBA co-founders - Leona Burton and Estelle Keeber, we all settled into the beautiful villa. Within 1 hour we were bonding like long lost sisters. We shared snippets of our backstories, ate, laughed, and cried. It was like a beautiful emotional rollercoaster, but comforting in the fact there were others around you to hold your hand.

The next couple of days was a mix of hypnotherapy led by the amazing Tania Taylor, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Psychotherapist and fellow ROM co-author, and free writing.

The guided meditations were beautiful and key in helping us unleash our words as we drifted off periodically to different parts of the villa to put pen (and in some cases tears) to paper.

My favourite spot was tucked in the corner in the blazing sun by the pool. I am a little bit of a sun worshipper so to have sun rays shining down on my peacock feather pen (I also love peacocks!) made what was quite an emotional process somewhat easier.

To top it all off the super talented Natalie Boland was at hand to make us look and feel amazing for the book’s headshots. Estelle swapped her MIBA CEO hat for her photographer hat and worked her camera magic. It was a perfect end to a unique experience. Thanks ladies!

Sharing this experience with such a wonderful, warm and loving group of ladies is a moment in time I will never forget.

Am I scared? YES! Of course, I am. I am just about to share a very personal story publicly.

But it isn’t about ME. If I can stop someone/anyone in their tracks and support them in their time of need then it was worth it.

And that is all that matters.

Thanks, Leona Burton and Estelle Keeber for this opportunity. Your hospitality throughout was above and beyond and I will be forever grateful 🙏🏾

To all the other contributors…

You are all such wonderful, strong, determined women and I feel honoured to have shared this experience in Marbella with you.

Let’s do this! 👊🏾💛💫

#MIBAROM #riseofthemumpreneur #booklaunch #getreadytorise

‘Rise of the Mumpreneur’ will be released December 2019. Visit www.mumsinbusinessassociation.com for more information on MIBA. Do you have a story to tell? Find out how you too can become one of MIBA’s Amazon best selling authors here. I hope to read your story soon 💛

Co-authors of ‘Rise of the Mumpreneur’ and now life time friends 💛

Thank you to Sara Noel who originally published this on her own website on 21 November 2019. Click here to view. Sara runs Strategize Your Biz.

If you are looking to do any of the following Sara is your MIB. Click here.

☑️Looking to plan and execute to kickstart & grow your business

☑️You have signed up to soooo many courses you have lost count, and cannot even remember the name of most of them!

☑️You are tired of feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and in fear of the unknown.

☑️You are currently spinning plates every day managing every aspect of your business, and you are totally ready to outsource some of the day to day tasks.

Contact [email protected]

How Overcoming Approval Addiction Can Leave You Free To Pursue Your Dream Life
By Rachael Barnes 

When Leona Burton, CEO of the amazingly successful Mums in Business Association, invited me to write and present a training video on Approval Addiction for their VIP collection I was quite literally gobsmacked! 

Me?  

Weren’t there more experienced people who could do it? 

After my initial panic (and two month procrastination period) I thought why not me? 

I’d suffered from approval addiction for as long as I could remember and I’d recently overcome it.  Who better qualified than someone who has lived through every excruciating moment. 

I’d grown up in a small, welsh mining village where everyone knew your business. There wasn’t a move you could make without someone knowing about it and feeling it was their right to pass judgement. 

 My mum always told us that we could achieve anything we set our mind on but she didn’t believe this about herself.  Children take in more than you think and its true that actions can speak louder than words. 

When I was a teenager my dad’s business took off and we suddenly had more money to afford nice things. Yet my mum continued to buy her clothes in the sales and although we moved house we only went from a two bedroomed mid terrace to a larger 3 bedroom end of terrace.  It was like she was embarrassed that we were doing well and wanted to hide it.  It would drive me mad that she rarely treated herself and it’s a trait I’ve found hard to overcome too.  I think nothing of spending money on my boys but struggle to spend money on myself. 

I knew that if I didn’t break the cycle that my children would be in danger of following the same route. 

As a teenager I longed to be a lawyer.  I loved watching LA Law and would fantasize about helping some poor defenceless victim transform their life.  I wanted to change the world. 

So why didn’t I? 

I was scared to death that people would laugh or snigger or tell me that I wasn’t good enough.  When really it was me that felt they weren’t good enough. 

To be honest even the thought of the interview process brought me out in a cold sweat. 

And so I became a teacher. Little children are far less judgemental and it seemed like a safer option. 

Years later, when the boss from hell and the increasing demands of raising a child with additional needs took their toll, I found that I had no choice but to leave my teaching career and find work that I could fit around my other commitments.  I longed to pursue my dream of helping others but I knew that before I could do that I needed to sort out my own head. 

With the help of my therapist I discovered that this constant need for approval came from messages  picked up from my childhood.  Once these were rewritten I cared less about what others thought of me and focused more on what I thought of myself. 

I was so impressed with my transformation that I trained in Inner Child Healing myself.  I now work as a Confidence and Self Worth Coach and help ladies to overcome their approval addiction too. 

 My training course on the MIBA VIP explores in more depth the causes of approval addiction and tips on how to overcome it.  There’s also worksheets that you can work through in your own time once you’ve watched the videos. 

I hope that you find it useful.  If you’d like to learn more about working 1:1 with me (in person or via videolink) please feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Don’t leave it too late to pursue the life you’ve always dreamt about.

Rachael xx