I stumbled across some old photos today that made me seriously do a double-take at what was my reality only a few years back.
In 2012 I was working in one of Australia’s top ad agencies.
I was at the prime of my career – winning multiple international advertising awards for my work and in a role many would do anything to get into.
On the outside, I had a ‘fabulous’ career as an Advertising Creative and for all intents and purposes was living ‘the dream’.
Yet it was one particular photo that really made me stop and think.
This photo was actually taken for one of my last ‘award-winning’ campaigns I did with my 'creative partner' Ben – and it speaks volumes to me in 3 funny ways.
Check out those tears – they may have been force fabricated for the shoot, but something had to bring them on that day and how I felt trapped in the corporate world may just have been my secret trigger… (I may never reveal if that was the true trigger, but there were def days back then when I would cry at the thought of going to work or cry at not knowing how to escape the environment I no longer wanted to spend my days in)
Until this shoot, I never EVER would have put myself in front of the camera… As a ‘creative’ the whole idea is that you stay behind the scenes making things look pretty. But hey, here I am, in the photos myself… Kinda funny considering I now spend my days creating campaigns with my own mug right upfront. This speaks volumes to me of how far I’ve come and the barriers I’ve broken through to be willing to be more VISIBLE in my work and life.
Truth be told though - I LOVED working on this campaign where we had the advertising industries 'top-dogs' photographed in tears. You can take me out of an advertising agency but I'll never lose my LOVE for creativity and getting a message out where it is needed most. And today I get to consciously choose exactly which messages I put my time and energy into.
Stepping into a career as a health coach has been such a huge journey that when I look back on these photos I can hardly believe this was my life.
It was a really great life no doubt about it (the photo above with my good friend Rebecca as we celebrate our campaign for 'Jeans for Genes Day' - a typical Friday afternoon long-lunch on the sunny balcony overlooking Sydney harbour) – but I was yearning for something different – and the leap of faith it took to say YES to my dreams was one of the hardest and yet most rewarding decisions I have ever made.
Did everyone around me understand why I left? NO...
Was the transition easy? NO WAY...
Would I do it over again – WITHOUT ANY DOUBT IN THE WORLD!
The early days of starting a health coaching business are by far the trickiest due to everything being brand new, and that is why I LOVE so much being able to support new health coaches – making the transition to their dream life as easy and fun as possible.
Because there is nothing more rewarding than having that huge dream and then actually turning it into your everyday reality!
If you have a dream for a career as a health coach like I did, then it is completely possible for you too.
In my interview today with Abigail Devries (who recently left her own job in an ad agency), we chat about her transition into becoming a health coach and her own journey on the UPswing Mastermind program so far.
Sit back and enjoy!
Love,
Amanda xx
PS. Are you ready to put offer your health coaching services to the world but you get stuck on what to say? Then you need my FREE Social Media Swipe File where I share a word-for-word script you can use to promote your services! Click the button below to grab it now!
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