Chapter One - The Dam For a few years, I felt stuck in a never-ending cycle. Working in tech sales had lost its shine for me a while back. I'd been earning high six figures consistently for a good few years. I'd bought the swanky London flat, could go away whenever I wanted. I'd drop £20 a day on lunch without even thinking about it (Pret are a bunch of fuckers aren't they). But I knew deep down I was becoming increasingly more aware of how misaligned me and tech sales as a career was. And so, for a while, I changed jobs every year. The honeymoon period was alright. Got my guaranteed comms, would get flown off to somewhere exotic for my onboarding. But then I'd end up feeling the exact same way once that honeymoon period was over... Like I didn't belong. Constantly second guessing every interaction with prospects. Dreading getting accosted at the office coffee machine by some CSM, trapped in the dull monotony of surface-level small talk. The same month I started what would be my final tech sales job, my Dad's cancer came back. We would find out soon after it was terminal. He died four months later. 5 days before Dad died, I was in Berlin at my SKO. Drinking heavily as usual to offset the anxiety of being surrounded by bullshit conversations, and people I didn't really want to be around. It's a cliche as old as time, but Dad's death was like the dam finally breaking. The dam that had finally burst after years, and years, and years of pretending. Of making myself fit. Of convincing myself I was weird. Chapter Two - What's A Coach? I had some therapy for a while after Dad died. While it was cathartic to talk about my feelings, I've never really had much of an issue with that. Always been one to wear my heart on my sleeve. But like I said, the dam had burst now, I knew I needed to make some changes to my life. I felt I had no reason to get up and go to work. My anxiety on calls was getting worse. I was close to snapping. It was like I no longer had a filter to deal with the bullshit that was happening around me. I stumbled across the concept of life coaching. I mean - I'm not completely thick, I had obviously heard of it. I just didn't know what to expect. I was immediately drawn to one coach's website. It spoke to me. My language. What I learned through those ensuing months, was to think about my past, and my future, from a totally different perspective. I realised how how I thought, how I perceived the world, and my situation, was all being governed by patterns and behaviours that had built up in my mind, over years. From childhood, into adolescence, and my years being an adult in the big bad world. That clarity made me confront the bullshit that had been controlling me for years. It gave me the clearest picture I've ever had on why my life felt wrong, not just my career... Chapter Three - "I Could Do This" If I'm honest, 50% of my time with her was on the matter at hand, and the remaining 50% was the cogs whirring in my head. Half thinking I wish I'd have met you years ago... Half observing what she was doing, and daydreaming of what was next. It became clearer and clearer to me. I'd had enough lunchtime and Zoom bitching sessions with colleagues down the years to know I was not the only one feeling this way in tech sales. In fact I'd describe it as an epidemic. My thinking behind what would eventually become Corporate Misfits was getting sharper everyday. I felt an excitement I hadn't remembered feeling since I was a kid. I knew I had strong opinions. I knew people trusted me. I knew I could make a genuine difference in people's lives. And so I took the plunge and signed up to a life coaching diploma. For a few months I continued to get more and more excited as what I had envisaged started to take shape. I knew where I wanted to go, and how to get there. Something I had been battling to achieve for years. And then the universe did me a favour and hurried everything along. I was made redundant. I'm not sure anyone has ever been so happy about that news in their life. There wasn't even a hesitation... Did I have the ideal financial runway to take a risk? No. Did I have doubts constantly running through my head? Of course I fucking did. But I knew that the easy way out was getting back into another sales gig I'd end up hating. And so I went for it. Chapter Four - So Here We Are Have I built the business of my dreams? Not yet. But in some respects, I have. I spend every hour of every day doing things I want to do. I am building something I believe in so much it makes me want to scream it. I'm unapologetically me, every single day, and I don't give a shit who likes it and who doesn't. And I have channeled what makes me unique into the work I do and the coaching I deliver. And it feels bloody fantastic. I still have doubts. I still have bad days, and bad weeks. But I would take this version of me, and this version of my life, every single day. And I’d love to help you feel the same way.