Janet Wilks, Beliefs Therapist
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Fifty six year old Janet Wilks is earning £30,000 a year after starting a business in Belief Therapy.
Janet, who lives in Leeds, helps people dismantle conscious and unconscious limiting beliefs, so that they can live a fuller life. Janet specialises in confidence building, personal development, and new businesses. Private sessions cost £100 per hour, but clients can get the service for free if they sign up for the Personal Enterprise Coaching Programme run by Business Link. Janet sees seven to ten people a month, enabling her to live comfortably and still have some free time for herself. She says ‘the key was knowing what I wanted to do, and persisting until it happened’.
Janet retired from her Manager Coach position at British Gas in June 2008. Her father was ill, and Janet wanted to go and look after him. By October he had recovered, and Janet was uncomfortable being the ‘lady of leisure’ her friends expected her to be. She began gathering business ideas.
Research
Janet approached PRIME and was sent a free pack on self-employment. The pack included a directory of local business support, and guides to Ideas for Business, Finance, and Working for Yourself. Janet says:
It was inspirational. The Working for Yourself booklet told me everything I needed to know in plain English. It gave me a bit of a kick, and I thought ‘I WILL do this.
Janet knuckled down and contacted everyone she could think of. She spoke to Business Link, where an advisor helped her brainstorm some ideas. At the time Janet was considering a social enterprise, but Business Link advised against this, and instead recommended a list of enterprise community centres that specialised in belief coaching.
Janet researched online and found out about Sharing the Success; a project run by Leeds Local Enterprise Initiative to put government funding into new and existing businesses in Leeds. Janet investigated the scheme and arranged some voluntary work for herself at Harehills and Beeston community centres. She continued to network and discuss her ideas at these placements, and when lecturing at other voluntary events. Eventually a representative of Age for Employment (A4E) suggested the personal enterprise coaching programme at Business Link.
Personal Enterprise Coaching Programme
Janet was taken on after submitting her CV and Mission Statement, and discussing her terms with Business Link. Business Link pay Janet £200 for every client she sees on their behalf. Janet is obliged to spend two two-hour sessions with the client, but often goes over if she feels the participant would benefit from it. Clients are then given exercises to do in their own time, so that they can continue to see the results after the sessions are over.
Hedpop
Another venture was becoming a guest speaker at Hedpop, who specialise in business transformation and lifestyle management. This is similar to Janet’s old corporate coaching role at British Gas, and helps her keep a foot in the door. The company is run by former colleague Dave Newsome, and is aided by NLP trainer Mark Thompson. The three support one another. She explains: ‘I am the artist who comes up with new ideas, and Dave and Mark have the logic to shape them and make them work’.
Training
While Janet was at British Gas she took a course in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and became a practitioner. She also took the Life Coach Handbook Diploma at the Achievement Specialists centre in Bournemouth. These qualifications are popular in the personal development sector, and give Janet accreditation.
Advertising
Janet’s main advertising medium is her website www.adoptcoaching.co.uk. The site was made by Phil Johnson who contacted her through the Leeds Chamber of Commerce. ‘He is the most amazing person in the world’ Janet says. Phil charges £500 to set up a website and £15 a month after the first year to maintain and update it.
Janet also uses Phil’s services to print her business cards. Janet has a different quote on the back of each one, which she says provides a talking point when networking. ‘I find that quotes are very inspirational, and can mean something to the person that takes the card’ she explains.
When Janet bought her first lot of cards the business was in its early stages. This meant that after a couple of months the cards were no longer relevant. Her advice is to wait until you are sure about your message and what branding you want to use.
In other advertising, Janet found that flyers were largely ineffective, but that networking and events were successful. Janet volunteered to speak at a number of events including Reach Further Coffee Mornings, Forward Ladies, and My Catalyst.
Problems
Janet’s main problem was negativity:
My family and friends would say ‘Don’t you think you’re a bit old to start a business?’ and ‘How are you going to make any money?’ I didn’t know how it was all going to work, but I wanted it so much that I just kept pushing.
Less than a year after starting, Janet has generated a good income and reputation.
Contact
Adopt Coaching
Janet Wilks
Tel: 07904 865 847
Email: janet.wilks@live.co.uk
Web: www.adoptcoaching.co.uk
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March 3rd, 2010 at 12:08 pm
This is a very inspiring story, especially to me, also a coach in the early stages of setting up. I really relate to the challenges of the negativity and other people’s beliefs that it might be too difficult (especially now in the recession!). Certainly there are challenges, just getting a foot in the door and getting the confidence to go out there and let people know you exist is one of the hardest things. I like the fact that Janet’s business is successful and yet could be considered quite alternative and isn’t a mainstream business and that gives me encouragement to keep promoting what I’m doing too. Thanks for this inspiring article.