The Interview
Damien Senn: What first inspired you to explore Coaching?
Jennifer Earle: Realising that there were gaps in my knowledge and that the quickest way to fill them was to seek the advice of other people who knew better. It was also a bit of extra leverage as I was getting stuck and not moving forward with my business plan.
Damien Senn: What did you want to get out of your coaching experience?
Jennifer Earle: My main desired outcome was to create an effective web presense and learn about the best options for payment solutions and autoresponders. The assistance in looking at my business from different angles was a fantastic bonus!
Damien Senn: How did you originally come up with the idea for Chocolate Ecstasy Tours?
Jennifer Earle: It seemed natural when I love Chocolate, I love walking around London and I love speaking with people. I had seen other similar tours around the world and noticed there wasn’t one in London. Whenever I travel I always search for the best food, and particularly look for chocolate shops and I found them quite hard to find in London, so I decided other people might also be interested. And I thought it would be fun!
Damien Senn: What has the feedback been like from people who have been on the tours?
Jennifer Earle: Overwhelmingly good! It’s been so exciting to see other people as enthusiastic about the experience as I am. I love hearing people say how it was even better than they thought it would be and how much they enjoyed themselves!
Damien Senn: What's been the most enjoyable aspect of setting up Chocolate Ecstasy Tours?
Jennifer Earle: Getting paid to eat chocolate! More than that actually, I love sharing with people the difference between ordinary chocolate and what they try on the tours. It’s really exciting being the one to introduce people, and watching their reactions. And I love any time I eat chocolate I can call it “research”!
Damien Senn: What major challenges were you confronted with before setting up Chocolate Ecstasy Tours?
Jennifer Earle: Most of the challenges existed mainly in my own head. I built up a lot of fear about approaching the stores and other businesses. The more practical challenges were in setting up the ideal web presence and in discovering the ideal business structure for the idea.
Damien Senn: How has coaching made a difference in your life?
Jennifer Earle: It’s been the difference between setting up the business and not! This has helped me break through a huge amount of comfort zones, expanding my belief in myself and what I can accomplish. The practical advice also simplifies my life and takes away a lot of niggling concerns.
Damien Senn: What's the best thing about having your own coach?
Jennifer Earle: When you go into business on your own it’s easy to feel quite alone and it’s much easier for the motivation to wane too. With a coach you have someone to share the journey with you – to celebrate the successes with you and guide you through the obstacles.
Damien Senn: What advice would you give to anyone thinking about hiring a coach?
Jennifer Earle: In my opinion the best coach has walked the paths that you would like to walk, or at least has some practical experience that would be valuable to changing the areas of your life you are most interested in focusing on. Then I think it’s important that they have learnt some coaching skills (either through a coaching course or NLP) and finally what’s most important is that you “click” with them, and this is the point where you meet with the coach before signing on to a program with them. I used to be somewhat skeptical and thought coaches were for other people who were either really hopeless or were really high achievers, but they are useful at every level and can make such a powerful difference to your outcome.
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