Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Luciana Vieira, Founder of Career Wizards, located in Langley, BC, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are a fully remote career coaching company that serves newcomers and prospective immigrants across Canada. Unfortunately, many highly skilled immigrants end up taking survival jobs in Canada because they don't know how to position themselves in a new country, new culture, and new language. That's why our work focuses on guiding and coaching them to present their work in a way that Canadian employers can easily relate to.
We help our clients with career planning pre-arrival so that they are fully prepared to job search effectively and land a great job as soon as they arrive. We also help newcomers land their first jobs, as well as established immigrants advance in their careers.
Tell us about yourself
Helping immigrants succeed in their careers combines everything that I am and have been doing for the past ten years. It allows me to bring the whole me to work. When we help someone land their ideal job, we completely change their immigration journey. We ease the process by making them feel more confident and happy at work, reducing stress, enabling them to make more money, and accelerating the journey to permanent residency—and this is what drives me.
I'm an immigrant myself, so I have personally experienced what newcomers go through, and not just to Canada. I have lived in Europe and in the U.S. before as well. I'm a psychology counselor by training and have studied both career development and the cross-cultural adjustment process in depth. This has prepared me well to help immigrants with the emotional ups and downs associated with job searching in a new country.
I have also done consulting work for the past ten years, where I helped companies assess talent for hiring purposes. Knowing how companies hire, what they value, and how they assess candidates is the last piece of the puzzle, which allows me to develop great coaching programs for our clients.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is not something that happened but is what takes place every single day-the growth journey. Every day I learn something new that benefits me personally, the business, and our clients. The more I learn, the more accomplished I feel.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
I need to continually work to be the best career coach I can possibly be, but I also need to expand my knowledge of all key areas of the business: marketing and sales, operations, finance, etc. This is both exciting and extremely challenging.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Do an honest self-assessment: research the opportunities and challenges associated with being an entrepreneur. Understand what traits and drivers successful entrepreneurs have, and then look at yourself critically to understand your strengths and the skills you will need to develop along the journey. This also helps you decide whether or not you truly want to be an entrepreneur.
- Working with a business coach: This can save you so much time and headache. Work with a business coach in your niche so that they can guide you and help you plan in a way that is targeted to your specific industry.
- Learn and adapt fast: Get into action mode, fail fast, and learn even faster.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://careerwizards.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/careerwizards1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucianacareerwizards/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucianavv/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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