A bit over a year ago, Rob asked me if he could set as one of
his goals to be a profiled Escape story. As he said in our
interview: I commit to something, I sometimes put my neck on the
line, and then I work towards it. Well, he sure has done that
here. From wondering is it even possible to do something
different, to be an entrepreneur, to starting his journey to what
he calls Vision35. Hope his energy and commitment is an
inspiration to all of you as well. And for all of you who want to
meet Rob in person - he'll be our guest speaker at the autumn
Escapee Night in November!
How would you describe yourself? Who is Rob?
That’s a big question. I used to say: I work for corporation X. I
defined myself by the name of the company that I worked for. Now,
I’m creating my own definition and it represents me and what I’m
interested in rather than simply who I work for. I’m an
entrepreneur, a networker, a salesperson, someone who believes I
can achieve anything I want to, a futuristic dreamer, someone who
is able to make things happen, someone who is starting to realise
my own potential.
A few years ago, people were telling me that I had potential
but that I wasn’t really using it. I was stock standard solid and
dependable, a team worker through and through. I can see how much
I’ve changed as now I am doing things that previously I would have
said I can’t do. Corporation X is still part of my life, but
nowhere near as important as it used to be.
I’ve realised that there is a great distinction in the
questions: what do you do and what are you interested in. I’m now
far more interested in the latter.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on something that I have labeled ‘Vision35’.
Essentially I dream of not having to work after I turn 35. Now
work is loosely defined, it means that I don’t want to be in paid
employment and what I do will not be dictated by someone else. It
means that I will fill my days with things that I want to be doing
and enjoy doing. Without doubt those things will play to my
strengths.
So I’ve created a plan to make this my reality, and there are
three strategies that are going to help me achieve this:
1) Continuing with a paid job at Corporation X. I’m working in the
field of learning and development and I know that this is the one
area where I can combine my own interests and the needs of a large
corporate.
2) Building my own businesses. The first is
Languages At Lunch – during the last 9 months I’ve gone from
having a random idea all the way through to launching with my
first client – 132 students at lunch-time based language sessions.
3) Coaching. I’ve coached half a dozen people over the past 12
months with spectacular results and am studying for my MA in
Coaching on the side
When you put all those things together in 5 years time, I will
have 3 different avenues. I will have developed enough experience
in learning & developmeng and a strong qualification in coaching
that I will be able to choose what I do – whether it’s working in
a school, corporate environment, or a charity.
What has been your journey to what you are doing now?
My initial journey is well-trodden path: school, uni, degree,
looking around for graduate employer, hired by Accenture, went to
Australia, etc. I continued this well worn path and moved on to my
second job at Corporation X. The key turning point was 12 months
into the job and realising I still wasn’t happy, even though I
seemed to have everything that my parents and others had said I
should be happy with; I was part of a leadership development
programme and a lot of money was being invested in me, but I was
not satisfied with it.
In late 2003 I went to the very first Escape workshops, looked
at coaching, but couldn’t afford it – or rather, I was not
prepared to put money into it. In 2004 I spent a few months
working in South Africa, and it really felt good. I went to a
conference where I delivered a keynote address – it was fantastic.
I’d never done anything like it before, but I loved presenting.
All this time I’d been thinking I’m crap, I can’t work in large
organisations, and there I actually realised that I do have some
talent and ability. That’s when I started coaching and what I
called Operacion Salida, my exit strategy out of Corporation X.
I invested £500 in working with Satu. The last 12 weeks of 2004
I worked intensely, explored a lot of things and came to the
realization that I would only be content if I could satisfy my
desire to work with other people and help them achieve their
potential. I managed to persuade the Director of Learning &
Development at Corporation X to give me a secondment to work for
him. During the three months working there, he said to me: “I
think you have found your vocation”. This only served to increase
my belief that I was on the right path and brought me even more
positive experiences. But it was only a secondment, so afterwards
I had to go do something else. That summer, I put my energies into
coaching cricket, and explored lots of options of working in
sports, including being a sports development officer, or promoting
cricket. But these jobs just didn’t feel right – they were about
helping people but there were elements that were still missing for
me. In August I took some action with the idea of Languages At
Lunch, and then in November I finally got a permanent job working
in Learning & Development.
Did you have any voices encouraging or discouraging you?
My main voice was a negative ‘what if’. It was rarely: what if
this is super successful? More often I was: but what if it doesn’t
work, it’ll be downward spiral, I’ll lose my job, house, salary,
and end up destitute.
Another voice I had all along was: you’re not creative, you’re
not an entrepreneur, you’re not good at networking and talking to
people.
And my final voice was that parental voice of reason and
stability, the one that doesn’t want you to take unnecessary
risks.
Those voices haven’t gone away, but they’re probably a bit
quieter. My solution is always action, to try something. I
remember the day that I came up with the name Languages At Lunch,
I immediately rang up Business Link to speak with one of their
advisors. Action, don’t sit with the idea, do something with it.
The guy didn’t think much of the idea, but I got a trial going. I
sent an email to over a 1000 people, and over 400 replied – when I
saw the emails flooding in to my inbox, it felt like they wouldn’t
stop.
So now I have seen what can happen if you take action – you get
some small levels of success, which then take me further.
How are you feeling now? What questions do you have? How do
you see the future?
I’m tired, because I’m involved in so many things, but at the same
time I’m excited, motivated, I have so much more direction and
this makes a massive difference. I definitely feel that I’ve made
some huge progress. I’m more self-aware, and so much clearer in
what I’m interested in and what I’m good at.
The reason I’m busy is that I’m finding so many things that tie
up with what I enjoy. I don’t know precisely where I’m going, I
haven’t clearly defined what those few businesses will be, but I
broadly speaking know the field: working with individuals,
developing people. There are various routes I can take, and that’s
fine, as long I know the direction that I’m going in is the right
one.
Would you do anything differently?
I’d start coaching 12 months earlier. Yes, I learned something
along the way before I started it, but the whole concept of
exploring and going out there, the whole Operacion Salida process
could have started 12 months earlier.
What advice would you give to other people in similar
situations as you were in?
• Surround yourself with the right people. There are a lot
of people who think my Vision35 is stupid, but I’m surrounding
myself with positive people who are going to work with me on my
ideas not hammer it down as to why it won’t work.
• Go out and explore. For example, I spent 2 days in a
school in London to find if teaching languages something that I
should be doing, seeing what it is like for real.
• Research. Not just the internet, go out and talk to
people, network, and meet new people. I met a teacher in a private
school, a career adviser at university, a freelance career coach,
a training & development consultant setting up their own business.
Through talking to people you can figure out what you want – the
more open you are the more ideas will come back to you.
• Know yourself. You have got to know who you are and
what you like and what you are good at
• Read and go to seminars and talks. Books like Rich Dad
Poor Dad, E-Myth Revisited, New Alchemists - and constantly think:
how could I apply this? Taking the conceptual to what could this
mean for me.
• Take action – massive action. Take a step and see what
happens and learn from it – there is no right or wrong, just an
answer that comes out – be open to whatever that is.
• Have faith in yourself. I look back at where I have
put energy & effort and see great results, I see the pattern that
if I dedicate myself to something, fantastic results will come out
of it. Deciding on what to dedicate your time to is the bit you
have to work out!
