About 4 years ago, in the very early days of building Welltodo, I noticed that quite a few people were asking me to "go for coffee" to talk about how I got started.
Typically, they wanted to "just pick my brains for half an hour", which sounded great to me.
At first, I was so flattered and willing to help, that I said yes to everyone. Before long I was drinking 3 or 4 flat whites a day. I was buzzing, and not just from the caffeine hit. I loved sharing my knowledge, insight and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and the wellness industry. This was really fun (and sure beat the boring corporate job I just left behind)!
One day, soon after, I was chatting with a dear friend. She started talking about this idea of "valuing your expertise" – something I'd never really thought about, especially since I genuinely really enjoyed meeting these people and offering them my advice. It actually felt like they were doing me a favour by asking me to share my insights!
The problem was, I was spending all this time meeting with people for free, to the detriment of growing my own business – and making money!
I knew I had a lot of value to offer, but I didn't feel ready to call myself a consultant or coach. In fact, the word "coach" sent shivers down my spine – it didn't feel like "me" at all. Who was I to be a mentor? I thought that perhaps one day, further down the line, I'd feel more experienced and worthy to be a mentor to people in the wellness industry. In the meantime, I'd keep working at it.
And so I waited... I stalled... months passed, saying "yes, I can meet", "I can help", "coffee's on me". Yep, I was picking up the bill, too.
Finally, in 2016, an email landed in my inbox. It said "Lauren, I heard that you are doing some mentoring. I thought I would ask the question in terms of what you charge? And if you'd even be interested in working with me..."
I read the email, closed it (terrified)... and left it in my inbox, unanswered, for another 5 weeks.
Sometimes, even when the opportunity to step up is right in front of us, dangling like a carrot, we resist.
We resist because we're afraid.
We resist because we're unsure of ourselves.
We resist because we aren't sure how to respond.
We resist because the work we were born to do is often so much easier to do for free. No strings attached.
After 5 weeks, I replied, apologetically – with some excuse about "big projects keeping me busy". A little voice inside me said: it's time to step up.
I offered 6 x 50-minute sessions at £80 per session – a number with no certainty or strategy behind it. I knew that it didn't look or feel the way I wanted it to, that I just had to start.
As Mark Twain once said: "The secret to getting ahead, is getting started." It is also in getting started that the next steps become clear... and for me, they certainly did.
In time, I began to really own my expertise... and hone it in a way that meant I could add even more value to clients like this. I shaped a clearer offering, stepping into some training, owned the title, and eventually began to increase my pricing.
Starting is messy. It's unpolished, uncomfortable and massively undervalued. But without it, I can promise you one thing – you're going to stay stuck.
What can you make a start on today?
I'm cheering you on,
Lauren x
P.S. I've been talking about writing regular emails to you, sharing more posts and upping my visibility game as a business coach and mentor. So today I'm taking my own advice with sending this exact email. Let me know what you'd like to learn from me or hear more about by replying in the comments below.
