Living A Life Of Ease – Felicia Lauw

Story by Felicia Lauw – Living A Life Of Ease

6 years ago we left Singapore and moved to Shanghai because of my husband’s work commitment. I left my full time work and moved with my daughter, Joy who was then one and half. I was blessed to get a full time job in Shanghai and for 2 years, I struggled to balance corporate life (which includes 50% travel to client’s site) and caring for my daughter in a new environment. The stress of maintaining peak performance at work, running the household and most of all, being available to Joy in an easy and nurturing way finally broke my illusion of being able to balance it all.

I left my corporate career and tried to be an expatriate tai-tai. That didn’t last very long as I found myself even more frustrated than before. I’ve heard about coaching and started looking for some help on the internet. I came across a school called International Coach Academy (www.icoachacademy.com) and they offered accredited coach training, tele-classes that are completely self-paced.

I began to seriously consider coaching as a career and business in late 2007 when I saw the many wonderful things that are happening in my life and that of my colleagues as a result of coaching. I have had clients telling me that by working with me, “they have come to like themselves”, ”they now have clarity in their life”, “am more confident about the future”, “found tools to reduce stress and remain focused” etc. The intrinsic reward from this business outweighs the wonderful revenue that I am drawing.

I got most of my clients from previous professional networks and contacts. As you can imagine, providing coaching is not a volume business, so one is limited by the available time that matches the time of the coaching clients. As a coach, I believe in life-long learning and I am currently working on my online presence and products so that more people can benefit from my work.

For anyone who wants to start a service business from home, it is important that you are clear on what you want to offer, how many hours you want to put in (work parameters) and who you want to offer it to. That way, your business and marketing plans become focused. Also be aware that revenue may not pour in right from the beginning so it is important that you have some realistic financial goals and commitments. I have learnt that the first 1-2 years is about learning the basics, especially when you are venturing into a new area. In my opinion, the important things that a Mompreneur should work on maintaining are self-confidence and focus. We can read books; attend classes and research on the technical aspects of running a business. But without self-confidence and focus, the rest may not go very far.

Running a coaching business from home gives me great flexibility, providing both mental stimulus and family togetherness. My business continues even when we moved from Shanghai to Hong Kong last year. Every day I ask myself “Is what I am doing complementing the life style I want?” I never want to “compartmentalize” my life again and every day I seek complementary activities that suit me. It is no longer work, just interesting activities in my life.

Felicia is a coach, trainer and consultant who helps people discover tools and techniques stay MOTIVATED, ENERGIZED AND JOYFUL! She keeps the following blog to support sharing learnings on how to keep your life in flow. http://lifeofease.wordpress.com and can be contacted at felicia@imotiva.com.