My greatest passion is nurturing people into their true authentic selves, teaching them how to turn their story into a message and build a business around it. This is the most rewarding aspect of my work.
My clients quickly realize that their business success is nothing more then a reflection of their own identity. It is a sum total of their expertise, past experiences, inherited beliefs and feelings they have about themselves. This can be a pleasing or a difficult mirror to work with, yet once we accept it, we step into our power, take full responsibility and show up to our business because we show up to ourselves.
Having worked with 100’s of business leaders over the years, this is what I have learned from the ones that keep growing in value and impact. That running a successful business isn’t difficult or complex. It just takes discipline, willingness to grow in new roles and take on responsibility.
If the story we believe about ourselves doesn’t match the story we know we are capable of living, we first need to bridge that gap. And if the story we keep telling ourselves doesn’t reflect the story we are growing into we are out of alignment and prone to short-circuit our potential to show up fully. This is where my business consultancy approach differs greatly from the mainstream.
Too many people believe they will turn their business around if they invest 1000’s of $ on fancy websites, expensive brand design, the latest online marketing funnels, yet this is far from the truth. In 9 out of 10 cases the reason for blocking our success is because we live by a story that is out of alignment with who we are holding us back from showing up fully.
Speaking from personal experience and watching this transformation in my clients, the biggest breakthroughs in our business happen when we feel confident in who we are and share our message, bring tremendous value by sharing our natural talent, and feel a sense of satisfaction when making a significant difference to our audiences lives. Once we are at that level of clarity and alignment,
NOTHING can hold us back. Not a broken economy, a messy divorce, a judgmental parent, a fierce competitor or even the mainstream way of thinking. In fact all of those things become a positive challenge in our lives that inspire us show up more.
Read about Christiane's journey of becoming a profitable Changemaker
The day I made the leap from being a humanitarian film campaigner, bartering brander and under-paid producer, to making my dream of running a thriving business a reality was a memorable day.
I walked out of a historical meeting that contributed to re-writing 500 years of colonial history at the Vatican in Rome. Years of hard work had finally paid off. It was a major moment of completion.
I knew that this day would stay with me as a lifelong memory and flash in front my eyes, when going through a 5- second type of a life review. I felt the feeling one feels when being 100 percent in alignment with ones destiny in life.
I knew that no matter what followed that meeting at the Vatican, I had made my life matter and contributed my little bit to shifting a patriarchal power structure I had been at war with since my early teens. A system that dishonored women, exploited indigenous cultures and controlled a vastly destructive economic corporate system overdue for a review.
Once my adrenalin rush calmed, I felt like years of intense pressure fell of my shoulder and I cried. The days to follow I dropped into whole of emptiness, noticing that I was thoroughly disatisfied with the reality I found myslef in.
A place I knew all so well and I returned to after completing big campaings, years of contributing my expertise, time and skills to causes I believed in but returning from the battlefield without much of ground to stand on.
My partner left me, my bank account looked pretty empty and my savings where down to 3000 pounds. To make things worst, I had pledged my time and resources to other peoples causes and was signed up to commitments that paid just enough to get me through.
The imperishable knot in my stomach, made me realise that I was done with just getting through, burning myself out and having just enough to get bye before signing up to another commitment that was more important then my own wellbeing.
I realized the time had come to make a serious course correction and I felt scared. I didn't know how to get out of this self-inflicted misery and felt vulnerable. Worst of all, I realised I need to give up my need to be needed by the causes I had pledged my commitment to and didn't know how to let go.
I had no choice but take a leap of faith. Either I continued to burn myself out and in worst case scenario become a liability to others under the guise of the compassionate humanitarian or I would do what it takes to be a thriving Changemaking business woman.
And finally I chose myself. I realised that If I wouldn't nobody would. At first, showing up for myself and my dreams felt strange. Who am I to give to myself first? Why am I worth it to run my own business and earn my true worth?
Breaking the shakles of my 'old self' accepting defeat and surrendering control by asking for help was tough. I realised I needed a tursted mentor on my path to do what instinctively I felt destined for.
I knew that there was a way to bring my whole- self into business, make a positive difference all whilst living a lifestyle that was in alignment with what I stood for and cared for most: people the planet and the animal world.
However, in order to get there, I had to lean into that inner business woman, that was so willing to support others but very hesitant in supporting herself.
And as life has a way of supporting us once we make a commitment, that mentor I asked for got introduced to me at a friends dinner table, a woman I greatly admire and 6 years later am delighted to call my business Partner. We both shared a passion for Archetypes.
I worked with a school of Archetypes and the Hero's Journey in assisting my clients to help unlock their brand identity and the 3 core Stories of their Thought Leadership business and she was in the process of developing Soul Language, a highly intelligent Archetypal profiling system that takes business leaders beyond purpose into theire true potential enabling them to activate theire unique leadership capacity in life and business.
Going through the profiling system created a profound shift. I was able to transform shadow aspects that held my leadership authority in dead-lock and able to break subconscious behaviour patterns that worked against me.
Most profound was learning about my Archetypal fears and how they express through me. I realised that my Priest's hurtfullness could flip into pride, that my inner Queen's dominance could shut others out, that my inner Artist was great at innovating but uncomfortable with stability, and that my inner Scholar had a slight tendency to be rigid when it came to change.
After a year of working on my Archetypal aspects, I stopped sabotaging my own progress and was able to focus my actions in alignment with my long term vision. I ended up completing a professional training in the Soul Language method and now use it when working with my clients achieving tremendous results.
My confidence built and the results started showing in my business. I steadily grew my skill-set over the following years, joining a business consultancy training, learning business strategy and planning, I joined a professional speakers training to help me overcome my fear of presenting, and went straight onto sales training and braved the world of online marketing.
I progessed steadily shifting from being a busy freelancer, to building up my own consultancy firm and finding great joy in focusing on what I do best whilst bringing a team on board that mastered theire passion and skillset in web-design, copywriting and business management. My willingness to invest in myself finally paid off.
My company grew steadily. The biggest joy was being able to work with clients whose visions and causes I felt in full alignemnt with. The sense of satisfaction I felt from being able to run a business that was transforming my clients lives as well as bring steady and worthy project work to my freelance team, was a tremendous joy. Finally I felt I was empowering people all round me whilst receiving financial flow and abudance myself.
At last my inner Humanitarian and my Inner Business Woman were a happy duo and collaborating at great strength. I had enough money at the end of the month to contiune to work for the causes I cared for and flow steady financial support to those causes without hurting myself in the process.
Years on in the story, I now empower my clients on their journey of creating thriving Changemaking businesses. Enabling them to step out of their comfort zone, creating a strong sense of self, by anchoring into their core leadership potential and designing unique profitable business models that allow them, their clients and the planet to thrive.
Because I believe people who are here to make a difference deserve to thrive! To put it in Richard Branson's words. " If you aren't making a differnce in other people's lives you shouldn't be in business-it's that simple.
Looking back at my own journey, I wish I could have learned all of the business skills much earlier along my journey, as it isn't Rocket Science.It's quite simple. Most of all, I feel it should be fun and an adventure that gets us to leap out of bed in the morning with great enthusiasm and joy.
Because when we shift from busin-ness to embracing our being-ness and show up for who we are in the world in a useful way, success naturally follows without even trying hard.
Like myself, many of my clients have struggled with similar challenges I have had to overcome on the road to becoming a thriving Changemaking Business Leader and my heartfelt wish is that I can empower as many of them around the world with the simple tools to get results way faster then I did and step into their success effortlessly.
"May you and all Changemakers thrive as profitable enablers of a newly emerging economy that doesn't sell but serve, doesn't compete but collaborate and doesn't controll but trust creating a world where love becomes the winning currency". Christiane Pedros