Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Desiree Leigh, founder of Desiree Leigh International, located in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Desiree Leigh Coaching is a Personal Leadership Coaching and Woman’s Wellness Educational Company. We work with high-achieving passionate women who want to lead the second half of their lives with intention and integrity, reconnect with themselves, and take hold of their future. At Desiree Leigh Coaching, we support, inspire, and encourage women in their midlife by teaching proven, powerful, and practical skills to redesign a future they want to live into by leveraging the power of their hearts.

Hi! My name is Desiree Leigh Thompson, RN, BSN, MSN, and I am the CEO of Desiree Leigh Coaching. I’m an academic, modern mystic, and a personal leadership and lifestyle redesign coach, as well as a published author of Healing Worthlessness: Coming into Self-Love as a Trauma Survivor where I candidly share my personal journey of developmental and sexual trauma in hopes of helping other survivors find their own healing paths. I also address the global issue of intimate partner violence, the oppression of women under patriarchy, and the social and cultural reasons why society at large often suppresses and denies stories of abuse. I overview the research behind childhood trauma and its links to adult dysfunction, repeated victimization, and chronic health repercussions. My second book, Midlife Redesigned: Women Reshaping their Future by Leveraging the Power of their Heart, will be published soon. This book covers the importance of self-inquiry, understanding what’s keeping you stuck or complacent, and provides proven strategies to open the heart and create a life worth living.

Desiree Leigh Coaching focuses on women in midlife who are burnt out and tired of the rat race and are seeking to establish more meaning, fulfillment, and purpose in this next phase of their lives. Midlife brings a lot of new challenges and women have realized they cannot function on adrenaline – they need to preserve their health. With Desiree Leigh Coaching, women learn to reconnect with themselves, let go of any past pain or trauma and consciously reinvent a new life.

With 10+ years in academia and practical science-based skills as well as my metaphysical and mystical studies and personal divine experiences, we coach and educate women with a broad range of modalities and educational products and programs to support women to enrich their lives so they can positively impact others and leave a legacy they are proud of.

Tell us about yourself

I started Desiree Leigh Coaching because I wanted women to Wake Up to Live! I wanted women to become conscious of their circumstances and the social norms that promoted the oppression and sexualization of women. Wake Up to Live was the name of my first blog, which I still have. Anyway, after living with years of chronic childhood trauma, experiencing two sexual assaults (12, 16), and then intimate partner violence, I came to a point in my life where I had to change my ways because suicide was imminent. I was divinely inspired not only once but twice to heal my past, and that’s when the long journey began. As I healed, I wrote, I created, and I got myself educated. I proved to myself that it’s never too late to escape the legacy of abuse and trauma and change my life for good! I went from a 15-year-old teenage couch surfer and high-school dropout feeling lost, alone, and confused to achieving my Master's graduate degree.

Because I am a mental health advocate for women, recently, my business started focusing specifically on women in midlife for good reasons. According to The Washington Post in 2016, the number of middle-aged white women dying annually from opiate overdoses, such as benzodiazepines – a medication used for anxiety, has increased by 400%. According to the National Institute of Mental Health in 2019, among females, the suicide rate was highest for those aged 45-64. An article in the Maturitas Journal by Mulhall et al. in 2018 showed that perimenopausal and postmenopausal women had greater symptoms of depression. As can be seen, midlife is a pivotal point for critical self-inquiry. With Desiree Leigh Coaching, women gain a greater sense of self-understand, and with a supportive network, overcome the psychological hurdles that challenge them during midlife to live a life filled with purpose, joy, and meaning.

I am motivated by the patriarchy and the oppression of women. I am motivated because of the scathing statistics of violence against women and children. I am motivated because of the injustices. In a nation that prides itself on being developed in comparison to other countries, trafficking of children and women is at its highest in North America and domestic violence has increased by almost 35% during the pandemic.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

One of my biggest accomplishments is saying “no” to potential private coaching clients that don’t fit with the company’s values and vision. Not everyone is a good fit. This is not always easy for a solopreneur starting a new business. As a business owner, you need to recognize this rather than life from the poverty complex.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Letting go and hiring a team that knows more than you do. If you are afraid to let go and give the responsibilities to your team, you will micromanage and you will end up just having a job.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Building a business is like building a relationship. You’ll experience many triggers, and if you haven’t done your “work”, the baggage that you carry from the past will start surfacing. So, clean up your messes, heal your past, and work on building healthy relationships and partnerships.
  2. Confidence comes with action. Don’t expect to “be” confident before you step forward. Get out there. The confidence will come.
  3. Be consistent. A little bit of activity every day is better than sporadic action. Be disciplined enough to be consistent.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

My favorite quote is “Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think” by Albert Einstein for the reason that when women are empowered by education and critical thinking skills, they have the power to change their circumstances and the most fundamental issues in the world.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://desireeleigh.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachdesireeleigh/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desireeleighthompson/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8yhru63GhXYnNTcDrTRRYA
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desireeleigh/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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