DIONNE LEWIS-REID
It was when Dionne was personally made redundant that she thought she would turn this negative experience into an opportunity to work for herself.
She rediscovered her passion and motivation for helping improve the lives of others and decided that it was time to do something to empower them. “What better way to do this than to help them to navigate their way through their career transitions” says Dionne.
Today, she is delivering bespoke workshops and training sessions to various companies and organisations across the country.
In addition to this, Dionne also runs Six Degrees of Inspiration (SDoI) a Facebook group set up to create a ‘Butterfly effect’ of inspiration; where the ripples create abundance and inspire many others be grateful and acknowledge what they have!
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18 Jul 2012
Highlights of your career?
There have been many!
I have highlights most days, coaching and training people gives you an opportunity to have an impact in people’s lives on a daily basis and that’s what I love about what I do!
Last week I completed a series of 5 training sessions in Twickenham for a group of 11 people over 3 weeks, they were so grateful they had a collection and presented me with a beautiful bunch of flowers and a card.
I love those days when you work with a group and they feel that it has made a positive impact on their lives that they want to do something to show their gratitude! Lovely!
I am also an Associate with Hays Specialist Recruitment which means I get to work with a diverse range of people in a wider setting.
Why coaching?
When I was made redundant, it was a natural progression to start coaching because the UK was on the verge of another recession and I realised that many people I know were being made redundant.
By becoming a qualified coach, not only would I be helping myself but helping anyone else who was struggling to manage multiple change in their life.
My specialism is Career Transition and Empowerment, so I work with a lot of people in varying stages of either redundancy, unemployment or other life changes.
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What are some of the challenges of creating a successful coaching practice?
Finding out what you’re good at and being able to source your initial clients.
Hopefully if you do a good job with those clients you get repeat business.
Once I managed that, my second challenge has been creating the time to work ON my business and not IN it.
I set out with the greatest intentions of spending 1-2 days working on my business, but before I knew it I am now spending 4 days running training/coaching sessions and one day to allocate to paperwork, bookkeeping and create the vision for the business.
I need to redress that balance as I have so many other ideas for the business that I want to manifest I have to give myself the space plan and work on it.
Although I still do my own bookkeeping, this year I employed an accountant for the first time which gives me more time to myself, and also give me the advice I need to help me make better financial decisions!
What are some of the issues women are facing in their careers and business?
One of the biggest issues I hear all the time is from women trying to juggle a career / business / family / partners, I believe it is a myth that you CAN’T have it all.
Many successful women have shown us that it is possible. It’s just about being organised; being clear on your vision and doing whatever is necessary to achieve your goal.
What are you excited about at the moment?
Gratitude!! Oprah Winfrey says, “The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now. And the more grateful you are, the more you get.”
I’ve always flirted with the idea of keeping a Gratitude Journal, but for someone who dislikes paper I always found that a challenge.
I have created a way to express my gratitude’s in a way that works for me, online on a social media site.
Because of the nature of using social media to express my gratitude’s, it has given over 100 people ‘permission’ to do the same. The result is, I am happier than I have been at any stage in my life.
I have had some amazing things happen to me, abundance is everywhere and some great opportunities have arisen from the most unexpected places.
All this happens when you are aware of the fact that you’re already grateful for everything you have so anything else that happens is a real bonus! Life is great and I am so grateful!
Best books?
Wow, what a question. I have many books I love, a few in no particular order include:-
Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway – Susan Jeffers
In the Meantime – Iyanla Vanzant
Peace from Broken Pieces – Iyanla Vanzant
How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Dr Maya Angelou
Do It or Ditch It – Bev James
The Outliers; the Story of Success – Malcolm Gladwell
I could go on……
You want to see women doing more of……
Not so much doing, but I want women to BE more.
I want them to be happy; be successful (whatever that looks like to them); be able to make changes; stop measuring themselves against other people; have a life they love ….. and be grateful!!