[00:00:00] Lauren Brollier Newton: We got a good one for you today because I am bringing you a four times International Best-Selling Author. She has shared stages with names like, Jack Canfield, Les Brown, Mary Morrissey. She’s also a highly successful TEDx speaker. We have invited her to Brave Thinking Institute to do TEDx trainings with us, with our high level clients.

[00:00:20] Lauren Brollier Newton: I know, many of you are thinking about going from corporate to coaching and she did that successfully. And so, we are thrilled to have her today and just squeeze every bit of knowledge we can out of her. So, warm welcome to you, Sonia Ovenden. Thank you so much for being here.

[00:00:35] Sonia Ovenden: Thank you so much, Lauren. It really is a delight, a pleasure and an honor to share some things that perhaps I wish I’d have known, when I was thinking, do I, don’t I corporate to myself and all the rest of it. So, absolutely my pleasure to be here and I will give as much as I can in our time together, I promise. That’s my promise to you and to all the listeners.

[00:00:53] Lauren Brollier Newton: Yay. Sonia, tell me this, because I think so many of our listeners are people who feel this call to help [00:01:00] people, feel a call to serve, want to make a difference, want to feel more fulfilled. And there’s this, is it really okay for me to want to go from good to great? Especially, when you’re a powerful woman, when you’re a breadwinner woman, when you have climbed to the ladder and you’re thinking to yourself, Oh, everybody should want what I have. I should be satisfied with this. So, I’d love for you to tell us in that context, a little bit about how you went from corporate to coaching?

[00:01:27] Sonia Ovenden: First of all, Lauren, as you were saying that, my stomach just almost went into that contraction piece again, remembering how it felt to, I was living an amazing life. I don’t mind sharing, I was earning a half a million dollar salary a year. I was the main breadwinner in the family and don’t get me wrong, my husband earned good money as well. But to step away from what I was doing into what I would love, there was this part of me that’s thinking, people would give their right arm to earn the money that I earned.

[00:01:58] Sonia Ovenden: But what the [00:02:00] reality was that, I was burnt out. So yes, I had, we say in the Brave Thinking Institute, is there a part of you that has more money than time? And that was exactly me. I had a beautiful income but I was so burnt out, I was so exhausted, I was living in one of the most vibrant cities in the world in Dubai.

[00:02:17] Sonia Ovenden: But the thought of going out onto a boat party or to a brunch or whatever it looked like, just filled me with dread because, I literally was running on empty all the time. And then also, I had an incredible job. I was helping bringing running water to parts of the world that didn’t have it. So, there was a part of me that was serving through my corporate role.

[00:02:39] Sonia Ovenden: How could I walk away from that and help in families over in Rwanda and out to Mongolia and different parts all over the world? How could I leave that, leave them? Who’s going to take over for me? And now, I say that it’s almost obviously, somebody would have did take over from me. But there was a part of me that felt so less than that.

[00:02:59] Sonia Ovenden: I didn’t [00:03:00] deserve to want more. I’m actually, I can feel myself getting a little bit choked right now. There was a part of me that thought, Oh, shut up and just get on with it. You’ve got this incredible lifestyle and from the outside looking in, that’s what everybody thought that, I was so amazingly happy.

[00:03:15] Sonia Ovenden: It wasn’t that, I was unhappy but I knew I could be happier. I knew, I wanted the time freedom that didn’t mean I was in. Because our working hours here were 8 till 6. It’s a big chunk of the day but actually turned out, I was working 18 hour days because, I was supporting across numerous different time zones.

[00:03:35] Sonia Ovenden: Sometimes, I’d have a call at 11 at night. Sometimes, I’d have a call at 4 in the morning. I wasn’t 20 anymore, I couldn’t survive on 3 or 4 hours sleep. I wasn’t getting any younger.

[00:03:45] Lauren Brollier Newton: Yeah, let me ask you this. So like, when you think about, because you did have a job that was helping people for sure, making good money. So, when you were thinking about leaving, was there like guilt, selfishness? I think that’s what you’re describing, but yeah, tell me more about that.

[00:03:59] Sonia Ovenden: Yeah, [00:04:00] it was the guilt. It was like, how can you even think about wanting more? There was this overwhelming, I should be grateful with what I’ve got. How can there’s people out there that, haven’t got this hammer and there’s you thinking about throwing away and that’s how it felt. I was the part of me was thinking, you’re throwing away this amazing career that you’ve worked 25 years for, you’re in the top of your game, you’ve had a brilliant international career, you’ve got your dream of traveling the world. And then I realized that, as I got older and I met my amazing husband, the correct husband at this time, I will say, and my final husband.

[00:04:34] Lauren Brollier Newton: I’ve been there.

[00:04:35] Sonia Ovenden: I knew in that moment that, I actually wanted to be the wife I wanted to be, I wanted to be the wife to him, I wanted to have the time and I knew that desire was far stronger than that paradigm of guilt. You should be grateful and I thought, I could be even more grateful helping others to take this step. I could be even more grateful knowing that I’m [00:05:00] impacting people at an individual level, not just at that corporate level.

[00:05:04] Sonia Ovenden: And so because, I was in that training and career coaching and that kind of industry. What I recognized was, coaching skills are coaching skills. And what I mean by that, I was always wanting to help people make a better version of themselves. And what I actually stepped into was, does it matter in which environment? And that was probably the key that turned it for me.

[00:05:28] Sonia Ovenden: My desire in life is to help and I’ve had the privilege of doing that for such a long time in my corporate career. But then I realized, it doesn’t mean I’m stopping doing that. In fact, I’m going to be doing it probably a more impactful way. Because I’m going to help individuals create the life they love living, rather than just the corporate piece creating that life they love living, the corporate owners, if you like.

[00:05:53] Sonia Ovenden: That was probably the key that unlocked the door for me, recognizing that actually, I wasn’t giving up my corporate [00:06:00] career. I was actually transitioning all that amazing work I’ve done, all those skills I’ve built and I was actually able to transition it to create a life that I was in love with as well. It’s okay for me to love my life as well as helping others to give me that permission. Permission, I think, was the key word there.

[00:06:17] Lauren Brollier Newton: A lot of our coaches, when you talked about, I’ve invested 25 years in this. And a lot of our beginning coaches certainly, at Brave Thinking Institute but I know, globally with new coaches feel like, Oh, I’ve invested it, I’ll speak for myself. When I first started coaching, I was a school teacher, I was doing reading specialty.

[00:06:35] Lauren Brollier Newton: And when I decided to become a coach, I had just finished my admin credential so I could become a principal, a principal of a school. And I can’t remember how much, it was like, 10 or $15,000 to get that credential. So there’s a part of me like, Oh, good, flush more money down the toilet. The fear says to you like, Oh, here’s what you always do.

[00:06:53] Lauren Brollier Newton: And I think the thing with that is, and tell me if you agree but If I just keep pushing myself to suffer, do I [00:07:00] really think it’s helping advance the world or expand the world if I’m just contributing to more suffering? Like, that was something that helped me get over it. I think I’m doing this pious thing by just suffering more. And it’s like, how is that helping anybody? Me suffering more, it’s just contributing to the vibration of suffering and that was a big realization.

[00:07:20] Sonia Ovenden: Do you know what Lauren, hearing you say that, it is so true. There’s this certainly in my experience as well. There’s a part of us that thinks, well, as long as everybody else is okay. And again i’ll speak for myself but as long as everybody else was okay, then I could then be okay. And it’s a little bit like the analogy on the airplane, isn’t it?

[00:07:38] Sonia Ovenden: Put your mask on first. If I’m giving because I feel that I have to, or I should do this, that push energy, that should energy, it’s being driven by pain all the time. We both know the quote by Dr. Michael Beckwith, you’re pushed by pain until you’re pulled by a vision. What I realized is that, I was being pushed all the [00:08:00] time by the pain and suffering to serve, rather than pulled for something that was aligned in alignment with my vision and my values.

[00:08:08] Sonia Ovenden: And one of which obviously is to be an amazing wife. So, I wanted to create that time and I think for me personally, the phrase walking away from was what held me back longer than it perhaps should have done.

[00:08:23] Lauren Brollier Newton: Interesting.

[00:08:24] Sonia Ovenden: And what I over time recognized and I switched the phrase to, I’m walking to something. So although I was feeling finishing ending a chapter. I’d been talking, how can I walk away from that? How can I walk away from such an amazing job? How can I walk away from the salary? How can I give up? I love my Jimmy Choo shoes and I love my nice watches. How can I give up all of this kind of stuff?

[00:08:47] Sonia Ovenden: And I thought, I’m not giving up anything. I’m walking to, I’m walking into an area where actually now, there’s no limits. Yes, okay, I earned half a million dollar salary but that was the limit. Now, I’m creating a business [00:09:00] where there are no limits. They’re the only limits that are there, the limits I choose to place on myself.

[00:09:05] Sonia Ovenden: I haven’t got somebody saying, I’ve got to do these hours, I haven’t got somebody saying. So as I started to, I think what, one of the things I remember doing, I had a blank piece of paper and I folded it in half and I opened it out and one said corporate and one said me. And it was literally corporate on, not all but corporate on one page, me on the other.

[00:09:24] Sonia Ovenden: And I wrote down all the things corporate life and corporate lifestyle and everything gave me. So the money, the contacts, as in the connection, going to an office, feeling like you belong and all of that. And then, I started to write the same on the page that said me. And what I will share, Lauren, is originally the page that said me was very empty. Eye opener for me thinking, wow, do I get all of that from work?

[00:09:48] Sonia Ovenden: And I think, that was again another turning point when I said, no, just pause for a moment, just breath in, just let’s just really focus on what you would be able to create if you did your [00:10:00] own company? And then when I stepped into that question, what would I love to create?

[00:10:03] Sonia Ovenden: That page, I needed another page, I needed another page. Because when I get, again, that permission to, I could create anything I want right now. And that’s what I started to do in that moment. But I think, putting it down in black and white and if any of our listeners, I know we’re all very intuitive but sometimes we have to take the logic with us.

[00:10:22] Sonia Ovenden: So, if any of the listeners are thinking, now, logically, I like that idea. We also want to listen to the intuition but we don’t want to leave the logic behind. In my experience, that’s when the paradigms got louder, when I ignored the logic. And I think, getting that logic out on paper and then seeing my business literally fill up. I was thinking, yeah, that’s my intuition bringing all these ideas and thoughts that saying, what are you even thinking about here?

[00:10:47] Lauren Brollier Newton: It’s so interesting though, I love that idea of corporate me. And then the me was empty at first and it’s like, just such a good indicator. And I think so many people but especially women can identify with, who am I [00:11:00] without this job or my kids or whatever it is. And there’s this spiritual awakening when you realize, I’d still be me, like, the me with a capital M, the true spiritual with me before this body, with me after this body lays down, that will still be with me.

[00:11:17] Lauren Brollier Newton: But sometimes, in certain aspects of our life. I know for me, deadened that part of ourselves just to keep going for so long, that I could totally see back in the day. If I wrote teacher and then I wrote me, I could see a lot of the me being empty until the brilliant shift that you did was asking yourself but what would I love to create for me?

[00:11:38] Lauren Brollier Newton: And having the willingness to write and then you said, I could fill up pages and pages. But like, most people don’t give themselves permission to ask a question like that. Like, how dare you ask, what would I love to create?

[00:11:48] Sonia Ovenden: Again, it’s that almost some of that conditioning, isn’t it? Growing up, be grateful for what you have. And how could you even want more than you already? I remember my mum saying to me, what are you going to do? I’m going to start my own business. Yeah, but what are you going [00:12:00] to do?

[00:12:00] Sonia Ovenden: I’m going to start my own coach. Yeah, but what are you going to do? And eventually she got clear of what she was, who’s going to pay you? Cause that was my mum’s mindset of growing up and always never leave a job until you have another job and all the rest of it. I’ll pay myself. I think there was an external factor as well but just going back to that point about the me and the corporate. And I’ll try not to get emotional when I say this but what I realized is that, I was living to work not working to live. And the balance for my life was totally out of whack.

[00:12:32] Sonia Ovenden: It was literally, I got up, I went to the gym, I went to work, I’d get home, I’d carry on working, I’d go to bed. And that was, if I was in country and if I was out of country, literally it would be the same routine, just in a different office, having to travel through a different airport, in a different hotel. And I realised that, at that point in my life I was living to work, not working to live.

[00:12:53] Lauren Brollier Newton: You going to do but what are you going to do? I remember when I quit teaching and I had the same, it’s so interesting because, teaching is very [00:13:00] different than corporate in a lot of ways. And yet, the emotions that you’re describing takes me right back to, who’s going to serve these kids?

[00:13:07] Lauren Brollier Newton: And you’re a sellout because, people are going to think you don’t care about these kids anymore and blah, blah, blah. But I remember, one of the things people asked me with two things. I think you’ll get a laugh out of this. One, people would always be like, what are you going to do about your benefits? What are you going to do about your health insurance? What are you going to do about this? And I’d be like, pay for it.

[00:13:23] Lauren Brollier Newton: There’s other ways to get those things provided. But the other thing that people would say to me over and over again, they’d say, Oh, don’t worry, you can always come back to teaching. Like, they were expecting that this thing was going to fail because, it’s my own business and somebody, like you said, wasn’t paying me to do this. So, it’s very interesting culturally, it’s can be hard to understand the desire to be an entrepreneur, the desire to start a business.

[00:13:48] Lauren Brollier Newton: So let me ask you this. So you’re in corporate, you do have a coaching background because you’re mentoring other people within the business. You’re doing leadership and things like that. Before you left corporate, did you know it was life [00:14:00] coach that you wanted to be like, how did that discovery happen for you?

[00:14:03] Sonia Ovenden: So, to full transparency, I actually fell upon Mary Morrissey at the Brave Thinking Institute. There was something came up on my Facebook feed and it was the 8 Spiritual Secrets

[00:14:15] Lauren Brollier Newton: oh yeah. Great program.

[00:14:17] Sonia Ovenden: for Multiplying Your Money. Thank you, yes. And obviously, so, I literally decided I was leaving the corporate world. And yes, I knew coaching would be a part of it. But what I did initially was, stepped into writing my book. So, I’m partway through or written a novel. So, that was another part of my dream as well but I knew coaching would be part of it. And I actually fell across Mary’s program. So I took Mary’s program, drunk it and it was literally like, somebody just opened my eyes.

[00:14:45] Sonia Ovenden: And then, there was something off the back of that for, I think it was, DreamBuilder Virtual Live, because obviously it was okay, it was meant to be live but then the pandemic hit, that’s right. So, it was DreamBuilder Virtual. Obviously, I signed up for the DreamBuilder Virtual.

[00:14:59] Sonia Ovenden: And just to [00:15:00] let our listeners know, for me, that means it’s from 8 PM or 7 PM of an evening, depending on the time of year, all the way through till 5 in the morning. So it is overnight for me. And I thought now I’m doing this, I’m doing this, I’m part of me didn’t even know why.

[00:15:15] Sonia Ovenden: But there was a big voice saying, this is what you’re doing, this is what you’re meant to do, this is what you’ve got to do, this is what you’re meant to do. I stepped into it and that was it. I signed up to become a DreamBuilder Coach, Life Mastery Consultant and I’ve never looked back. And it’s interesting when I think back to that decision now. There’s a part of me that thinks, wow, that was a very fast decision. Bearing in mind in the corporate world, you have to have a plan A, a plan B and a plan C.

[00:15:39] Lauren Brollier Newton: And a budget and a this and that.

[00:15:41] Sonia Ovenden: Exactly, I just really stepped into that question. What would I love? And I thought, I’d love to be stepping into, one of the things that I fell in love with, even from that very first online program I did.

[00:15:52] Sonia Ovenden: It’s the structure of support and you and I both know, Lauren, there are so many things out there that are amazing. But for me, the [00:16:00] biggest difference and I continue to be in year after year, is that structure support. Because, one of the things I’ve learned as an entrepreneur, there was a part of me that always believed that we should be a solopreneur.

[00:16:13] Sonia Ovenden: And that’s not the reality, we in fact, as humans, as we know, we’re not meant to do it alone. But because you’ve, again, I think because of the programming of the corporate world, I was in the corporate world where everything was there stepping into my own world and then I’m like, okay, it’s just me, myself and I felt a little bit like,

[00:16:29] Lauren Brollier Newton: where is everybody?

[00:16:30] Sonia Ovenden: It’s like, All by Myself. I’m not going to sing for the listeners, but it really was that moment where, when I think back now, I’m so truly grateful. That I stepped into that because, going back to what you said about people asking, what are you going to do about your benefits? And it used to, I remember, unbeknownst to me, 18 years ago, I applied DreamBuilding technology without actually knowing that I was doing that. And it was the day I left the UK again, I had a very [00:17:00] successful career in the UK. I was at the airport and my logic was saying, what are you doing? You’ve got a great career, you’ve got a man stood here that loves you, that you’re saying goodbye to. You’ve got an amazing family.

[00:17:10] Sonia Ovenden: And I’m walking to get on a flight to a country where I didn’t know anybody. All I knew was heart, I didn’t even know where I’d be living, yes, I had a job. That was all I knew. But there was this piece part of me that kept saying, keep going, you’re going in the right direction. And that was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.

[00:17:27] Sonia Ovenden: Yet, everybody else again was saying, what are you going to do if you don’t like your job? What are you going to do if you don’t make friends? What are you going to do if it’s too hot? What are you going to do if you don’t like it?

[00:17:35] Lauren Brollier Newton: Change it, yeah.

[00:17:35] Sonia Ovenden: Think about all of that. Exactly, because ultimately there was a part of it. But if I didn’t like the job, I’d get another job, if I didn’t like where I was going to live, I’d find another apartment. It’s almost like, we’re brought up to have a plan B. But in my personal opinion, having a plan B is what stops us truly realizing our dreams. Because it means, we’re dividing the energy between a plan A and a plan B. So for me, it’s plan A all the time, even if I’m [00:18:00] not sure what plan A is. That’s where my energy is going.

[00:18:03] Lauren Brollier Newton: Yeah, hundred percent. No, I’m agree with you. I was on a coaching call one time with a coach and she said, I know you have your coach way of making decisions but I don’t want the coach way or whatever. I want to know really, Lauren, how do you make decisions? Like really? As if it was different than the coach way, but she’s like, really?

[00:18:21] Lauren Brollier Newton: And I said, very similar to what you just said, I say, I burn all the ships. All the ships behind me are burnt and the only path is this way. Because if your foot is on a different shore, another idea, you’re not even all in, you’re just planning to fail, planning for it not to work.

[00:18:37] Lauren Brollier Newton: And that doesn’t mean that, you’re never going to consider it could go wrong. Of course, it could go wrong. But I love the Jim Rohn quote when he said, you’re not a tree, move. So, if I don’t like it, I’ll do something else. Like, we’re not like planted in the ground and now I can’t move because I’ve made this decision.

[00:18:52] Sonia Ovenden: Absolutely. And even when you say that quote, I remember the first time I came across it and I thought, how many people actually live their life as a [00:19:00] tree? Almost, Oh, I can’t move in my personal opinion and even in the professional world, we all have choices. The question is, when we’re going to find the courage to make a decision and a choice. Because choices are all around us.

[00:19:16] Sonia Ovenden: It’s whether we’re willing to embrace our fear and make the choice. Or whether we’re going to allow the fear to have us and we just end up sitting there like, startled bunnies and then asking ourselves next year. Why hasn’t anything changed? How much have we changed? How much have we done differently? What different decisions have we taken? What different choices have we made? And don’t get me wrong, Lauren, I’m not going to sit here and say, fear wasn’t a part of it. There was times I’m not sure I’m allowed to say this, but I will. But there was times where I was absolutely bricking it. I’m not sure whether that’s an English phrase or an American phrase or

[00:19:47] Lauren Brollier Newton: We don’t really know what that means.

[00:19:48] Sonia Ovenden: Okay so, bricking it just means, oh my god, it’s that death con fear. Oh, what am I doing? It’s just like, you’ve got a load of bricks in you and you can’t move. And so yeah, so there were times where I was thinking, [00:20:00] what am I doing?

[00:20:01] Sonia Ovenden: And the fears were, this is really stupid, Sonia, you shouldn’t be doing this. And I’m like, yeah, but I want to do this, I’d love to do this. And when I stepped into that again, what would you love? The five questions that we know to run our visions through, they are always close to hand for me, because if the first is that question, does it make me come alive?

[00:20:19] Sonia Ovenden: If that doesn’t answer a resounding, yes, I stay in the question. What would I love? What would I love more of? It’s a little bit like, this month is a big birthday for me, it’s got a zero at the end. And everybody’s been asking me back in the UK, what would I love to do? And for the first time in a long time, I was really stumped because. I was trying to consider what everybody else would love?

[00:20:44] Sonia Ovenden: And then, when I was able to get support to navigate that. And what I’ve actually done now is that, my husband and I have booked into a hotel for a couple of nights. We’ve let people know we’re going to be there, we’re going to have a few drinks, we’re going to have a meal, if people want to join us, they can, if they can’t, that’s also okay.[00:21:00]

[00:21:00] Sonia Ovenden: Because ultimately, it’s about the reality is for me. It’s about actually being there with my husband and my parents. And if anybody else wants to come, that’s also fine. And once I realized what would I love, not what do I need to do? And that to me, is a phrase that I try to eliminate or I endeavor to eliminate from my life is, what do I need to do?

[00:21:22] Sonia Ovenden: Because, need just lowers my energy. Need just takes us from a lack of almost. So to me, it’s really about, what would I love? What would I love to do? So, we’re doing Wimbledon and we’re going Gorilla Trekking. And so, these are the things that I would love to do because, we’ve created those dreams this year.

[00:21:39] Lauren Brollier Newton: I love that. And it’s really about not just what would I love as a career or the big change. But like, I’ll say to people, walk into Starbucks instead of making your regular order, just ask yourself, is there anything else I’d love today? Is there anything my body would love? Is there anything I’d love to try?

[00:21:55] Lauren Brollier Newton: And sometimes, it’ll be different and sometimes it won’t but getting used to. And I think, because, [00:22:00] Sonia, you’ve talked a couple times today about being so connected to your intuition. Knew it was right to leave the UK, doesn’t mean it wasn’t scary. You knew it was right to leave corporate, doesn’t mean it wasn’t scary. You knew it was right to get certified with coach certification at Brave Thinking Institute, doesn’t mean it wasn’t scary. But I think, there’s a lot of people out there that are like, not able to trust themselves that fully. And I think, asking what would I love in smaller situations like Starbucks, can actually help you learn what it feels like for something to be feel right. I don’t know if you have any other tips. How do you develop that?

[00:22:33] Sonia Ovenden: First of all, I love what you’ve just said about the Starbucks. Because to me, it’s almost, we don’t have an intuition muscle but I like to think that we do. So, it’s almost strengthening the muscle with what we consider as people, things that don’t really matter in the big scheme of things. So, it is about familiarizing yourself with the feeling of, actually I’d love that today.

[00:22:52] Sonia Ovenden: Something that has no impact on anything else, really, apart from yourself. So, I love that idea to test it out on smaller, what [00:23:00] I would call insignificant things. When it comes to the, I’m going to use the word bigger for a moment. But when it comes to the bigger things, one of the tips I would say is, drop the word bigger because, this is one of those times where size really doesn’t matter, it’s a decision. Whether it feels a huge one or it’s a teeny tiny one, size is irrelevant. Let’s not give it the power of making it bigger than me. Because if we think about it, we’ve got a decision to make from our here and we want to do it from the heart. We want to take the logic with us.

[00:23:31] Sonia Ovenden: If we say something’s a big decision, we’re giving the power to the decision. Because we think that, the only thing between the thought and you is the thought. So if we make that thought bigger, it’s got more power. We want to actually own the power to make a choice and to make a decision. Now, one of the things I love to do with the word decision, yes, it’s to make a decision. But I also like to think about, what is actually a choice? I can feel sometimes that the word decision can feel very black and white and you’re like, oh! [00:24:00] It’s like a grizzly bear, isn’t it?

[00:24:02] Sonia Ovenden: Whereas, actually I’ve got a choice to make, makes it feel I’m choosing what I’d love to do, it feels more expansive to me. And don’t get me wrong, I do make decisions all the time. But I choose what I would love in that moment, which is still a decision. So, for me personally, I love the word choose and choice, just ’cause it feels a more expansive word. And then, the other part with intuition that I would say and it was probably a bit of a gold nugget for me or certainly something, a mic drop moment for me is that.

[00:24:31] Sonia Ovenden: Ego is easy to follow, the brain, the logic is easy to follow because guess what? It makes sense. It makes perfect sense. I remember, when I lived in the UK, my commute to work was about an hour and a half each way. And the one day, I drove out the end of my street and my intuition said, turn left and go the back way.

[00:24:50] Sonia Ovenden: Which would have made my journey, 2 hours. I’m like, why would I do that? That means I’m going to be late to the office. And so, I ignored my intuition and I turned right to go onto the main [00:25:00] highway, as you call it, motorway, we call it in the UK. And literally, within 5 minutes of getting on the motorway, that everything was at a standstill, going 26 mile tailback because there’d been a massive accident.

[00:25:10] Sonia Ovenden: I didn’t get to work till 2 in the afternoon. By the way, this is 7 in the morning. So, how do I have listen to my intuition? I would have been half an hour late but the reason I went the way I did is, that the logic made sense. It’s a lot quicker this way, I’m going that way. See, with our intuition, as you and I both know, that sometimes it makes zero sense. But the gold nugget for me is that, we don’t actually have to understand it.

[00:25:34] Sonia Ovenden: We have to lean in or we can choose to lean in. And trust it because, in my experience, our intuition will never do us wrong. It really is about our willingness and again, I’d recommend exactly what you said, Lauren. And yeah, one of the things I would recommend is to try it with the smaller things first, get that muscle work and thinking, Oh, that’s okay, actually, I quite like that mochaccino or whatever we’re having. And try those [00:26:00] smaller insignificant things. So you get familiar with how your intuition shows up for you.

[00:26:05] Lauren Brollier Newton: That’s so good, I love that. So tell me this. So, one of the things that surprised me when you were talking about, so, you decided to leave corporate. I don’t believe anything is random but you randomly find Brave Thinking Institute. You take a small program, you show up at one of our live events.

[00:26:19] Lauren Brollier Newton: You decide to get started at the highest levels of coaching certification, really trusting your instinct and your gut in the way that you opened up when you went to that event. So, you mentioned it was during COVID that you went to this event. So it was during 2020. Cause that was one that we first had virtual events.

[00:26:33] Lauren Brollier Newton: So I’m sitting here and my mind is blown. Cause I’m like, that was only 4 years ago. So a very short time, like really, if you think about it. So just tell us, just generally, what are some of the results you’ve created since you got your certification? So people can just have an understanding of like, wow, that actually is really fast. How fast that happened?

[00:26:52] Sonia Ovenden: I’m turning over from a turnover point of view, I’m turning over 6 figures every year so far, and in terms of [00:27:00] clients, I’ve served in terms of pure programs, I’ve served over 100 people in the pure Brave Thinking programs, which was one of the things that attracted me to this. That somebody else has done all the work and I just get to facilitate these phenomenal programs.

[00:27:14] Sonia Ovenden: I have clients who have published 11 books, some of which have gone on to be International Best-Sellers. I’ve got a client that when she came to me, had no idea what she was going to do with her life. She’d raised the kids, they’d gone off now and no idea. And literally, by week 12 of the DreamBuilder program, she went and bought her dream holiday home in Florida, in Anna Maria Island. And she’s now dating with the confidence that she hasn’t had for many years. And i’ve had clients who have gone on to be TEDx speakers. I’ve had clients who have quit the corporate world and set up their own companies. I’ve got clients that have achieved 38% salary increase when everything was on freeze because of COVID, for example. And I’ve got two clients who have [00:28:00] recovered from debilitating back pain.

[00:28:02] Sonia Ovenden: One of which was a yoga studio owner, who’d had to give up teaching. She’s now back teaching her yoga classes and she’s been invited to speak at women’s conferences. And she’s created her own health and wellness retreat center. She’s worn government contracts. She’s winning government grants. She’s in the process of getting a grant to help the vets. Which obviously, is something that’s very dear to many of us. So when I look at what I’ve done, yes, the revenues great. Yes, having the lifestyle that I love, I work probably, 5 to 6 hours a day. Sometimes, it’s a little bit more but generally, it’s about 5 to 6 hours a day just for 4 days a week. I never work a Thursday. That’s when I get my pedicure, manicure, which I can also put through as a business expense, which the girls come to me. I don’t even go to the salon.

[00:28:49] Lauren Brollier Newton: Love that.

[00:28:50] Sonia Ovenden: But I think as well that, the one thing that’s been very important for me, Lauren, that I wanted to ensure and was a thing of my past. I wanted to help others [00:29:00] create their dreams whilst also creating mine. When I was in the corporate world, I gave and I gave and I gave. And it wasn’t my detriment, I did end up having a quite of major health scare and I didn’t want to get to that point again. Since for example, during COVID, so we did have.a two holiday homes over in Thailand, which we love very much. And during COVID, we decided we were going to sell one of them just to have our own home that we didn’t have to go and sort another one out when we were there. And in true DreamBuilder style, obviously post COVID, nobody was looking for a holiday home.

[00:29:32] Sonia Ovenden: It wasn’t the time for people to invest overseas. And I just stepped into true DreamBuilder. I only need one person to love our house. Within 7 days of deciding to sell over the asking price was in our bank and it was all done and dusted. And we have traveled so much since I’ve had my own business this year. I think, it’s gonna be 7 times that I’m going to be international travel. I’ve got the tickets, so in 34 days I’m going to be sat on Centre Court at [00:30:00] Wimbledon, VIP tickets, we’re doing the Rosewood Pavilion. So that’s a dream that I’ve always wanted to do, go on to Centre Court in style.

[00:30:08] Sonia Ovenden: We’re going Gorilla Trekking in September, which has been a dream of mine for a number of years now. If anybody’s ever seen me on DreamBuilder Virtual Lives and everything, that’s always been part of my vision. Obviously, as well as my TEDx, that was part of my vision.

[00:30:22] Sonia Ovenden: Another part of my vision was to be a BTI trainer and I’m sat here today and I absolutely love that part. So, as important for me, there was always a time where I used to say, my clients the priority. I’m so grateful right now, Lauren, that I actually sit on that priority platform with my clients. That has probably the biggest shift for me going from corporate to my own business, that it’s now not at my cost. I’m navigating my dreams as well.

[00:30:50] Lauren Brollier Newton: I love that. Hearing you talk about all the different clients that you’ve had and the results that they’ve created, just a handful that you shared with us. It’s interesting, because [00:31:00] I was thinking back to your corporate life. And it’s one of those things where at that level, yes, you can make an impact and all of those things but it’s gonna, I’m going to work work, it’s going to go here.

[00:31:10] Lauren Brollier Newton: And yes, people are going to be impacted absolutely. But when you think of the ripple effect of, this woman getting back to her yoga studio or this person writing a best-selling book. You can’t even measure the amount of lives that they’re touching now. And so, it might be, I could see someone thinking, if you’re touching one person instead of bringing water to Rwanda, like, how is that going to have the same impact?

[00:31:31] Lauren Brollier Newton: But when you actually look at every single life you touch, having this great ripple effect. And never even being able to measure how many people read that book? How many people go to that studio? How many people saw that TEDx talk? Like, it really can be exponential. So that’s amazing but also as Mary Morrissey would say, putting yourself in the circle of good is actually, people will see what you’re doing and they’ll have permission to go do something like that too. They’ll have the permission to say, I [00:32:00] want that.

[00:32:00] Sonia Ovenden: So there’s two things that have come from some of my online presence. Lauren, you know that I’m working, I’m endeavoring to go live more frequently. And when I was on my recent vacation in Thailand, I did a live and about an hour later, I had a message from somebody I knew about 30 years ago.

[00:32:21] Sonia Ovenden: And she just said, I had to drop you this message. She said, I’ve just watched your live and I’ve just shown it to my daughter, who has just come back from her first year in UNI. She’s had to come back early because she’s struggling at the level of fat. She’s just been diagnosed with ADHD. We’re getting the meds sorted, she said. But there is something in your video that has touched us both so much. Don’t stop what you’re doing. I am so grateful that I happened to jump onto Facebook at the time you were live. You have touched us beyond anybody, her therapist and all of this.

[00:32:53] Sonia Ovenden: And I was sat there and I got emotional and my husband said to, is everything all right? And I went, I just read this [00:33:00] message. And he read the message and he went, but Sonia, that’s why you’ve always wanted to do what you do. It doesn’t matter how many clients sign up with me or how many clients then think or how many people then think, Oh, I’m going to go to somebody else for that.

[00:33:11] Sonia Ovenden: To me, I’m here to serve people that I’m meant to serve. But then, that other piece that you said, somebody else reached out to me very recently and they just said, thanks. And I’m like, can I ask what for? Thanks for giving me permission that it’s okay. It’s okay for me to say, I want more. It’s okay for me to say, I actually want to live somewhere different.

[00:33:34] Sonia Ovenden: I think, it might’ve even been on one of my DreamBuilder group calls and I actually live in a Beachfront Villa. So, that was part of my vision and I was telling them the story about, how that came about. And I said, don’t get me wrong, we lived in an amazing apartment with a massive terrace and all the rest of it. And I said to her, there was a part of me that thought, why do I want something even more? And she said it that piece that resonated. It’s about giving yourself [00:34:00] permission to step into that question again. What would you love? Although the apartment was beautiful, it was stunning, it was a lot of building work, which I would love less of that noise, thank you very much.

[00:34:10] Sonia Ovenden: Here on the Beachfront Villa, we don’t have building work noise. So it really is coming back to, if I just ignite one person today and then one person in a couple of days, how many people are they then going to talk to and tell about? And right now, I’m literally just launching my YouTube. I’ve just literally filmed my first YouTube chat and video yesterday, so I’ve got to obviously choosing to press the publish button in the few days. And who knows how many people that’s going to touch? Obviously, my TEDx talk, how many people has that touched? It’s not just about the people that we get to interact with through our programs.

[00:34:48] Sonia Ovenden: It is almost immeasurable, what we can do. And what I will share with you right now that, we don’t get spiders. We’re obviously in a very hot part of the world. And so right now, it’s about 115 [00:35:00] degrees and we don’t get spiders and I actually have a spider. I have no idea what the symbol means. I’m going to have a look afterwards because that’s very unusual.

[00:35:09] Lauren Brollier Newton: That is interesting. Oh my gosh. Okay, you got to tell me what it is after you look at it. But here’s the thing that I really want to speak to that you’re said, I’m endeavoring to go live more, got to push the publish button on my YouTube channel. And so, I just want all of our listeners to notice like that, Sonia, me too, still stretching ourselves.

[00:35:27] Lauren Brollier Newton: It’s not like you get your certification, you start making a couple hundred thousand dollars and then you’re like, okay. It’s life is always going to pull us to more. But I think it goes to speak to all of us as coaches, getting out of our own way so we can help others. Cause what if you didn’t go live and didn’t impact the lady and her daughter? And you just start to realize how important it is if you’re going to serve? When people tell me they have stage fright or they’re nervous or they have imposter syndrome or whatever it is. One of my invitations is, put the focus on helping one person, take it off of yourself, put it on [00:36:00] helping one person and what can happen for them if you’re willing to share what you know.

[00:36:06] Lauren Brollier Newton: And that’s what I love about you continuing to stretch yourself as like, you’re getting out of your own way in service of these people that you’re going to serve and help and people that you will never expect. Like this person you knew 30 years ago.

[00:36:21] Sonia Ovenden: Absolutely, I think one of the things that has always helped me, even when something feels terrifyingly scary.

[00:36:28] Lauren Brollier Newton: Yeah.

[00:36:29] Sonia Ovenden: Always for me, it’s coming back to why? Why did I want to do this in the first place? So yes, there’s a why for me in my lifestyle. But there is an amazing why and it is, in my opinion, we all deserve to live that life that we would love. We all deserve to dream. We all deserve to realize our dreams. That to me, is a God given right, it truly is. We weren’t born into this world just to exist. Lauren, one of the things I love to say is [00:37:00] that, they say our life flashes before our eyes when we go. I want to make sure it’s worth watching.

[00:37:06] Sonia Ovenden: I want all of my DreamBuilder clients and Life Mastery clients to literally all their successes and stories to flash before my eyes. I want my life to be worth watching again. I don’t want to sit there and say, was that it? I really do want to make sure it’s worth watching the fun, the laughter, the joy, the successes for me and others.

[00:37:26] Sonia Ovenden: That to me is, why I do what I do. And I think, if I could give one piece of advice for anybody who is wanting to either shift from the corporate world or truly step into that life coaching environment, it’s to really be clear of your why. Because then, let’s remind ourselves, we’re spiritual beings having this human experience. And in our human experience, sometimes it gets a little bit wobbly.

[00:37:51] Sonia Ovenden: It’s almost that hook that we can just turn back to and think, okay, that’s why I’m doing this. So for example, with YouTube, it’s like, okay, [00:38:00] I’m not doing it because I need to look a certain way or be a certain way. I’m doing it to get the message out there. It’s a little bit like when I did my TEDx talk, because obviously it was during COVID that I did my TEDx talk.

[00:38:11] Sonia Ovenden: It was studio recorded. So, I walk in there and like, my hands are really sweaty and then my feet go sweaty and then my shoes start pinching and then my mouth goes dry and I’m thinking, I could just walk back out right now. And then I was like, no. I’m doing this because I believe in the message and people need to hear the message.

[00:38:29] Sonia Ovenden: So, when we’re clear of that why in any of our wobbly moments, in any of our human wobble moments, it just gives us an anchor to almost, okay, that’s why we breathe into and remind ourselves of why we’re doing it?

[00:38:42] Lauren Brollier Newton: I love that. I love the idea about you do this life review when you die and you want to make things worth watching. Sometimes an activity I’ll have clients do, is to write their own eulogy or to write their obituary or their eulogy. Because sometimes, we need to get so far out of just right now, this [00:39:00] moment, the circumstances.

[00:39:01] Lauren Brollier Newton: What do you want people saying about you and the impact that you’ve made? And so, I like to call it going macro, like in the moment, a lot of us don’t feel like, recording the YouTube video, pressing the publish button, doing whatever it is we want to do. And yet, if you can connect it to the macro in that moment, this is about that eulogy or that movie I’m going to watch. Then I’ll do it all day long but if it’s not connected to the macro or the why it does seem like, why do I want to do this? Or I’m going to, like you said, I’m just going to turn around and walk back out. Go how to connect it to that macro.

[00:39:35] Sonia Ovenden: Absolutely and I think, one of the challenges in my experience up until now is that, sometimes we can get so bogged down with the how, we forget the what, we forget that. And yes, I’ve got 1 year vision, I’ve got a 3 year vision, I’ve got a 10 year vision. But actually, for me, the one that helps me to really ground into what I’m doing.

[00:39:57] Sonia Ovenden: It is that macro one. It’s almost like, [00:40:00] I’m lying there about to take my last breath. I want to make sure it’s worth watching. And like you say, that the obituary, that part of it, it’s almost for me, especially when we’re taking a trap, making that life transition, if you like. We do focus on the how and that’s a human nature. That’s what would be conditioned to do. A little bit like, when you left the teaching world and I left the corporate world. Well, how are you going to do that? How are you going to pay your bills? And how are you going to get money? And how are you going to get your benefits? And it’s all how. Let me just step into the vision for a moment.

[00:40:30] Sonia Ovenden: Let’s come from the vision, because the vision has all the answers. And I think just sometimes, especially in my experience in business, one of the things I often find myself saying, Lauren, is that, I’m technically not amazing. Technically in terms of like, landing pages and websites and this and that, the other.

[00:40:49] Sonia Ovenden: And it was really funny. I’m in something that’s helping me to learn about creating videos and reels and all that kind of thing. And he’s really good. And he said something to me the other day and I said, actually, if you [00:41:00] just go onto your zoom now and you do this and you do that and you do the other, it’ll take away some noise going past his house. And he said, I thought you weren’t technically very good and it was a beautiful reminder. I’m very good at what I know how to do. I’m not good at what I don’t know how to do. And then it dawned on me, why am I beating myself up on something I’ve got no idea how to do right now?

[00:41:20] Lauren Brollier Newton: No one’s good at what they don’t know how to do.

[00:41:22] Sonia Ovenden: That to me has probably been one of the things in this journey. Why did I expect to know how to do everything from day one? It’s a little bit like, when we learn to walk. We don’t do it from day one, I’m a walker. We do it, we fall down, we do it but we have to practice. And that’s the same with the business part.

[00:41:39] Sonia Ovenden: And I think, that is what the Brave Thinking Institute has provided me. It’s that container to reach in and say, I’m really stuck on this, has anybody got any ideas or anything that can help me do? And it’s that structure of support. So not only are we growing at from what I call the inside out?

[00:41:58] Sonia Ovenden: Not only are we choosing growth [00:42:00] but we’re actually choosing knowledge and support. And because it’s all there in that beautiful container, as well as having the business in a box. So I didn’t have to write any programs yet and all the rest of it. And that’s the other point. So, obviously here I am today, just over 400,000 in just under 3 years. And I’m very happy with that. And so, here I am at that number and I haven’t had to create any courses yet.

[00:42:23] Lauren Brollier Newton: So great. You’re brilliant because, it’s interesting how resistant up until now, that people can get of like, but I’ve got to do it all myself and I’ve got to create it all ourselves. Our co founder Mat Boggs calls it, the lone ranger syndrome. Like, somehow I’m not successful if I don’t reinvent the wheel, if I don’t create everything myself and stress myself out.

[00:42:41] Lauren Brollier Newton: And really what that comes from is the hard work paradigm that many of us have, either from childhood or corporate or whatever. This has to be hard or else, I don’t deserve the good that comes. But you did a brilliant thing and you just said, okay, Brave Thinking literally gives me everything.

[00:42:56] Lauren Brollier Newton: We give the programs, we give the marketing, we [00:43:00] give literally a workshop and a PowerPoint, you can go out and teach, we give a TED style talk. We give all this stuff and I get just amused, sometimes frustrated. The little part of me gets frustrated but more so amused at people’s unwillingness to just use what’s given to you and make a bad ass business out of it.

[00:43:18] Sonia Ovenden: It comes back one of the concepts, Lauren, that I know you will love as well. How willing are we to receive? Because that really was one of my biggest learnings throughout all of my journey with Brave Thinking Institute is, why would I need to sit here and spend hour upon hour? Creating something that’s my own to then be able to teach out there when this has been proven, reliable, repeatable system over 4 decades.

[00:43:47] Sonia Ovenden: It’s proven it, thousands upon thousands of people have used this system. Think about your marketing just for a moment. That speaks volumes or you can have my program that I’m just launching, I’ve never used it before or I’ve only took [00:44:00] 5 people through it. But it’s amazing, I mean, it is a bit of a no brainer but going back to what you said, in the education sector or the corporate world and we know a lot of the pressures are very similar.

[00:44:11] Sonia Ovenden: They may talk about them differently but there’s this part of us and certainly my dad, God rest his soul and I am still his little girl. But one of the things he taught me was, be the first in the office and last to leave. And that stuck with me throughout my whole career. And I’m known to be a hard worker. My mother in law even now says, ain’t you not working too hard? I’m not working as hard as I was. Let me be fair, I’m working very differently to how I worked in the corporate world. And she said, I’m really pleased because all the family talk about how hard you work. So, I’d have my Blackberry when I was on holiday, I was literally wherever I was still working.

[00:44:46] Sonia Ovenden: And that hard work piece, it took, I’ll be totally transparent. That was the part that was holding me back in the first few months because I was thinking, do you need to create something myself. I did go into that part and then I thought, hang on, [00:45:00] one of the biggest lessons we teach in the DreamBuilder and in the whole of the Brave Thinking Institute is, how willing am I to receive?

[00:45:08] Sonia Ovenden: And here I am just under 3 years, I still have not created a separate program, a different program. I have earned that revenue from the DreamBuilder, Life Mastery, Into Your Genius and working with the law. And more importantly than that, I love them and I live by them, which is what makes it a joy to teach. It’s not just why I teach a program, it’s how I live my life. So I just get to talk about how everything works.

[00:45:39] Lauren Brollier Newton: Exactly. You talked about all the things that you manifest. And this is another really important point. And here’s the thing I want all the listeners to know. There’s all sorts of programs you can get structure from, Brave Thinking Institute isn’t the only one. So, we’re just speaking because this is our experience. But regardless of where you get certified, if it’s at Brave Thinking Institute, if it’s anywhere else. I would encourage everyone wholeheartedly and I know, Sonia, would agree [00:46:00] with me. Don’t coach and teach something you’re not willing to implement in your own life. To me, I think I say it in every podcast but it’s just an integrity thing.

[00:46:09] Lauren Brollier Newton: It’s like, if you want to be a successful coach. It’s about living what you teach. Cause Sonia is a model of the work that she does. She’s using the principles that she’s teaching her clients. And therefore, she’s never going to run out of content to talk about on YouTube, on Facebook, in her coaching sessions, because she’s living it. And then when your clients see you living it, you’re the best advertisement you have for your business is look at how my life has changed. Look how happy I am. It’s so simple actually.

[00:46:38] Sonia Ovenden: When we break it down, it really is that simple, isn’t it? And what’s really special about one of the words you use there. It’s my number one core value in life. It’s authenticity. If I can’t show up and be authentically me, sometimes that might be me that’s upset with some or like, emotional about something or that might be me, that’s trying to navigate something. But that’s authentically me and it’s exactly [00:47:00] how I am within programs.

[00:47:02] Sonia Ovenden: If I find a tool that I’ve that I’m endeavoring to apply and I’m thinking, hang on, why is this not working? Often it’s because, there’s a paradigm coming up trying to dissuade me, distract me, delay me. I’ve learned about me that if ever I think about laundry, it’s one of my paradigms trying to keep me exactly where I am.

[00:47:20] Sonia Ovenden: If ever I think about, because I hate laundry but honestly, it’s one of those paradigms that is just saying, yeah, we want to keep you where you are right now. But I just think, life is short, life is our most precious, every day is a gift. And to me, when I look at my life today, I love my life. And when I look at my life next year, I’m going to be saying, wow, look at what I’ve done in the last 12 months.

[00:47:41] Lauren Brollier Newton: That’s enjoyable, that you love to do and the people that you’ve helped and served. And so I love, Sonia,, that you’ve used this word multiple times today, this idea of endeavoring. We’re not perfect as coaches, it’s far from it. And if you’re endeavoring to use the tools that you teach, use the principles, be [00:48:00] willing to share when it works, when it doesn’t work and what you’ve learned and all of this stuff.

[00:48:04] Lauren Brollier Newton: I think that’s where we get clients that are raving fans that want to stay with us forever because we’re in it with them. We’re not asking them to do something we’re not willing to do. We’re not perfect at it. We’re on the journey with them and oftentimes, we’re just some steps ahead of them in the journey.

[00:48:20] Lauren Brollier Newton: It’s like, one of the things I’ve always admired about Mary Morrissey and our co founder, Matt Boggs is that, they’re exactly the same off the stage as they are on the stage. If I’m going to have a dinner with Matt Boggs, he’s exactly the same as he is in a meeting, as he is on the stage. Because this is just how they live their life.

[00:48:39] Lauren Brollier Newton: And so, for the coaches that are struggling with getting their business started, use the tools. If you were using the tools, you would easily get your business started. Use the tools and then, tell everybody about how it worked for you or how it didn’t work and how you made adjustments along the way. And you’ll have raving fans forever. Because you’re real.

[00:48:57] Sonia Ovenden: And that it’s that realism, it’s that [00:49:00] authenticity and integrity. Because, one of the things that I’ve learned in my journey that, when I share a story, so for example, forgiveness for me is something that I endeavor. I ask every day, what is there for me to forgive? And I step into it. And sometimes in my human self, it can feel, really? Especially, if a particular name comes up quite often, which it can do from time to time. But when I share those stories with my clients, it’s almost like, Oh, Sonia’s not perfect at it yet then. To me, the only thing that I will ever say that I’m perfect at, is that I choose growth every day.

[00:49:36] Sonia Ovenden: And that’s the only thing that I can be perfect at. Because that’s what I do every day. So, whatever it might be, whether it’s an emergent learning, something I didn’t expect, which to me is always so powerful anyway. Or whether it’s learning something in, that I’ve gone into the online training center and like, Oh, I forgot about that.

[00:49:53] Sonia Ovenden: And it’s just really ignited something or if it’s learning how to do a reel or if it’s learning how to set up YouTube and all the rest of it. [00:50:00] I choose growth every day. And that’s the only thing I will ever say that I’m perfect at. Is making that conscious choice every day.

[00:50:09] Lauren Brollier Newton: That’s so brilliant. I love that, because the great thing about growth, is you grow by getting it wrong, you grow by getting it right, you grow when unexpected things come up. So you certainly don’t have to be perfect to grow every day. You could be perfect at growing every day. I love that. So, I have two more questions for you.

[00:50:24] Lauren Brollier Newton: And I asked every single guest on the podcast, this particular question. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the show, Undercover Billionaire? But these billionaires, like literal billionaires, go on this TV show undercover and they’re given a hundred dollars and they can’t use any of their contacts, they can’t use their cell phone, they can’t use anything from their real life. And they have to try to build a million dollars in, I think it’s 30 days starting with a hundred dollars. So it’s like they’re asked, it’s basically if you lost it all and you didn’t have the contacts and you didn’t have all that, could you build it all again?

[00:50:58] Lauren Brollier Newton: And so, it’s a really cool show. [00:51:00] So my question with that long wind up there is, if you lost everything, we’re going to say, cancel, cancel, delete, delete. But if you, for some reason lost everything and you were going to start up coaching business again from scratch. What’s the first thing you would do?

[00:51:14] Sonia Ovenden: The first thing I would do starting a coaching business on from scratch, I would choose to run my business virtual again because of geography. I would get online a lot quicker, a lot more often and I would just be there and I know people often say yeah. But hang on, what about your website? What about this? What about that? No, I would get me out there a lot quicker.

[00:51:36] Lauren Brollier Newton: Love that.

[00:51:37] Sonia Ovenden: Yeah, it’s took me a long time to learn.

[00:51:39] Lauren Brollier Newton: So you’re not saying that, you would get the fancy website or the fancy funnel. You would get you online. Going live doing talks, I love it.

[00:51:48] Sonia Ovenden: Because, whether that be on Facebook lives, whether it be on Insta lives, whether it be on reels, whether it be on YouTube, whatever it is. Because the way you said, you alluded to it earlier, there are a number of organizations out there [00:52:00] that do very similar things. And it’s not actually, well, it is the product, but they need to be able to build that known likeability and trust with us. And if we aren’t visible for people to see us, it makes it a slow, not an impossible journey at all but it does make it a slower journey. So, if I had to start over again, I would put all of my, oh my god, what are people going to think?

[00:52:24] Sonia Ovenden: Oh dear, I don’t look great. Oh, I haven’t done my nails. I would forget all of that and I would just open this and start sharing my words more quicker than I did. Definitely.

[00:52:33] Lauren Brollier Newton: I love that, so good. Cause how can people know you if they don’t know you’re there? Love that, Sonia, all right. So tell us, if the audience wants to find you, how do they get in touch with you? How do they find you?

[00:52:45] Sonia Ovenden: The easiest way to find me is on Facebook, Sonia Ovenden. I think I’m on Facebook or SoniaJOvenden at Insta. Those are the two easiest ways. I do have a company website, although I said I wouldn’t do that, I wouldn’t necessarily go down that [00:53:00] path. But my company is DiscoverTheBeautyOfYou.com.

[00:53:04] Sonia Ovenden: So they can find me there. My emails are on there but the quickest way, you want to send me a message or anything like that is on Facebook through Messenger. That’s where you’ll find me hanging out quite a lot and obviously, going forward, YouTube as well.

[00:53:16] Lauren Brollier Newton: We’re hoping we do that. Sonia Ovenden, thank you for your expertise, your beauty, your love, your grace and everything you brought to the audience today. We love you so much. We’re grateful, you’re a part of the Brave Thinking Institute family. And thank you for being on The Abundant Coach podcast.

[00:53:31] Sonia Ovenden: Oh, thank you so much. It has been my pleasure and my honor. And good luck to everybody listening, whatever their journey is, just choose, make the decision and take the action.

[00:53:41] Lauren Brollier Newton: Love it, beautiful. Thanks, Sonia.

[00:53:43] Sonia Ovenden: Thank you.