Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in mental wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Gemma Bailey, Director of NLP4Kids, located in Hertfordshire, England, UK.

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

NLP4Kids is a therapeutic coaching service for children, schools, and families. We use an alternative therapy called NLP, a little like cognitive behaviour therapy, to give children strategies to manage their thoughts and emotions more successfully. NLP4Kids trains those who wish to work with children and schools using our modalities and branding, which we license to them in our franchising model.

Tell us about yourself

I'm a qualified nursery nurse by trade and trained in NLP for my own personal development. I also trained in hypnotherapy and started working with clients. I later began organising workshops for children who I felt could benefit from the strategies in ANLP to aid them in growing their confidence. The sessions I conduct with children are creative and fun, which makes overcoming their problems and more enjoyable experience than they had perhaps anticipated! Responsible for delivering the NLP4Kids training and mentoring the NLP4Kids licensee team, and this is interspersed between seeing clients and creating new products business.

Do you have daily rituals for work / wellness / fitness / mindfulness?

I like to wake up as early as my body allows so that I can experience the world whilst it's still quiet and before there are too many people and too much traffic. I usually start my day with at least 10 minutes of yoga, and then I take a walk, which takes about 50 minutes to complete. I try to make my walk the time when I can listen to a podcast or an audiobook, but I also pay attention to how the season is shifting.

If I get time, I might also squeeze in a little bit of meditation. I particularly like the Buddhist prayer of forgiveness, and although I am not necessarily walking around with animosity, it's amazing to see who and what pops into my head when I decide to focus on forgiveness for a few minutes.

It might sound petty, but a really important part of my morning routine is doing my makeup. I know there are lots of brave souls who do not wear makeup every day and perhaps think of it as something that only insecure women need to bother with.

But for me, it's a bit like starting the day by doing the painting. I take a great deal of pride in deciding the best matching foundation for my skin tone that day or which lipstick will compliment my outfit.

I have a cat, too, so he is very good at keeping me on track in the mornings by making demands for food and fuss!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Simultaneously, to operating NLP4Kids, I have set up a nonprofit company called superheroes, and another franchise, called People Building. This delivers a similar service but for practitioners who wish to work with adults. Through this company, we provide mental health services to organisations and two individuals who wish to overcome psychological difficulties. I have written a couple of books, regularly publish YouTube videos, have a podcast, and have created several products, including an online overcome-anxiety program for children. Both People, Building, and NLP4Kids are award-winning organisations, both in the technology sector.

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

The hardest thing about being a business owner is being responsible for absolutely everything! If my sales team doesn't make enough sales, I'm still responsible for paying everybody's wages! If the editor didn't edit and we sent something out with a typo, the complaint would come to me. Very often, I'm aware of what we could be doing better, but I don't have the capacity to change all of those things on my own, so finding good people to outsource work to, who are reliable and as diligent as I would like them be has been a continual challenge.

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

  1. Take your time to really get to know your market and what makes them react. This will help you get your marketing right earlier and prevent wasting funds and experimenting.
  2. Accept that finding people who are as passionate about what you do as you are it's going to be rare, so when you meet people like that, make sure you treat them well so that they are prepared to stick around and become a long-term player in your team.
  3. If you don't love it, change it.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://nlp4kids.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nlp4kids.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlp4kids/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NLP4Kids
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gemma-bailey-psychology/

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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