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Name: Shelley Harris
Business: Shelley’s Success Strategies
Location: Bristol, United Kingdom
Industry: Personal Services
Reason for starting? I was once powerless and broken. I’d been abused, raped, pregnant and abandoned at 16 by my abuser, and I was only 13 when it started. I had zero self-esteem or confidence, and a series of abusive relationships followed. When my son was 3, I was at rock bottom and planned to end my life. At the last moment, I found the strength to carry on and vowed I would change my life. I would not allow what happened to hold me back. It has taken several years of development and commitment. I am happy and confident. I have learned to love and value myself, and I know that our happiness lies within us. I alone got myself out of a situation where I felt desolate and desperate for love. I am passionate about personal development. I believe that loving yourself is the most important investment you could ever make. I became a coach, a counsellor and an NLP Practitioner so that I could teach others to find their emotional stability, their value and their happiness so they can live a life they’ll love.
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How do you define success? Success for me is being able to follow my passion, to empower and inspire others to make changes. To be a coach and a speaker an ambassador for loving yourself and to be able to live a life of freedom and prosperity and to be a good role model for others to follow.
Biggest success: My biggest success is my Facebook group, where I nurture the members, inspire and support them through their challenges and make it a safe place to be as well as regular hints tips and helpful topics. Personal successes include bringing up my autistic son as a single parent whilst driving myself forward to success for the both of us. My goals are more visibility. More sales, More products, workshops and retreats. Building a team of people around me so I can do what I do best. Becoming a well-known motivational speaker and the go-to person in my field of expertise. I want to have a stronger and recognisable brand.
What is your top challenge and how you have addressed it? To help my business grow and get visibility, I’ve joined several Facebook groups where I can surround myself with likeminded people, ask for help and find support from the members. I’ve taken a few courses on marketing and had coaching sessions for my business. And I’ve designed and have an online course, “Stop Hiding. Start Living. A guide to building your self-esteem,” so I can reach more people and help those on a lower budget, as well as make myself a small income with which to outsource what I can’t do. Being a mum and working a full time job at the same time as building my business is a constant juggle of commitments. It’s my goal to work in my business full time, but as a single parent I am financially obligated and can’t make the transition yet.
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Who is your most important role model? Barack Obama is my role model. He conducted himself with grace with every challenge that came his way. He showed his stability, confidence and authenticity to the world.
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Edited by The Story Exchange