This story is part of our 1,000+ Stories campaign. What’s your story?
Name: Adèle McLay
Business: Small Business Huge Success™
Location: London, U.K.
Industry: Professional Services
Reason for starting? I am passionate about helping small business owners achieve greater sustainable financial success. By coaching, keynote speaking, writing business books, creating videos and more, I can support them to realise the dream they have for their businesses. I’m also a business owner/entrepreneur myself, owning a number of other businesses, so I ‘practice what I preach.’
Related: This Resilient Entrepreneur Built a $20 Million Business After a Painful Misfortune
How do you define success? For me, success is seven-dimensional. It means paying attention to a broader range of definitions of success than the traditional markers of money, status and power. There’s no hierarchy in the seven dimensions of success, which are:
Wellbeing – For me this is the foundation of everything we do and everything we can achieve.
Growth – Staying dynamic. Not settling, keeping on learning. Often we forget how exciting it is to learn and grow, and how vital it is for a meaningful life.
Achievement – Some of the traditional markers of success sit here.
Relationships – People matter.
Experiences – A life that has no room for new experiences is a life over which we have lost control.
Spirituality – Spirituality means different things to people – nurturing our psyche and our soul makes our lives shine.
Legacy – Who do we want to leave a treasure trove of happy memories for? There are infinite ways to leave behind something of value in the lives of others.
Biggest success: Developing a multi-million dollar consulting business in New Zealand before moving to the UK, owning a significant international portfolio of residential property and writing two business books.
What is your top challenge and how you have addressed it? I love my work and have to remember to ‘leave the office’ at times to focus on family and my other interests. I work from a home base, so it’s easy to keep working. I visit the gym 5-6 times per week in the early morning (5 am) to get my day started. When my teenage daughter comes home after school and wants to talk, I just stop there and then for her (most of the time) and become fully present to her needs at that time, otherwise she will be off and won’t want to talk.
My husband and I organize regular ‘date’ evenings, and as a family we regularly play games after dinner, especially on a Sunday night to ensure we get quality family time. Family holidays and outings are scheduled as often as possible too. Perhaps the most important element to each day is for me to wake early and to meditate and to express my gratitude for everything I and we as a family have in our lives.
Related: Get a Life: Making Me Time
Who is your most important role model? I don’t have any particular role models. I follow a range of people, enjoying their successes and applying anything they’re doing that relevant to my work.
[box_light]Website www.adelemclay.
Twitter www.twitter.com/
Facebook www.facebook.
Instagram www.instagram.com/adelemclay[/box_light]
Tell us your story!
Read about another entrepreneur here.
Edited by The Story Exchange