Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Marie Calvert, Founder of Revelation Therapy, located in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

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

I support people who want to overcome an unsatisfying or unhealthy relationship. I help them break free, recover and heal, and learn to date strategically so they can find a healthy, fulfilling love relationship. My clients are mostly women who have experienced an unpleasant array of baffling behavior in a relationship, including rejections, put-downs, guilt trips, rages, and/or silent treatments. This often takes place alongside 'better times' that occur just enough to have them feeling really confused & stuck in the relationship. Over time, they really lose their confidence, their freedom & their hope. Ultimately, they lose themselves.

I use hypnotherapy and coaching to help them break free & reclaim themselves, heal from the trauma and any patterns of codependency & people pleasing. I work with them to put themselves first without feeling guilty for it and live a life that's true to themselves. Then I help them to date strategically and find a healthy, loving relationship, which is the cherry on top of an already amazing cake!

Tell us about yourself

My business has been a long time coming! I have had many 'starts' & re-starts. Like many coaches, I came to this work through my personal experience with similar struggles, and the evolution of my business reflects that. I studied Psychology for five years & contemplated pursuing it further. But in order to 'get life experience,' I got a corporate job instead. But what I didn't know at the time was that I was codependent. I was highly sensitive; I didn't have a solid sense of self & I made choices based on what I thought other people would like. I didn't even know the meaning of the word boundaries, let alone have them!

Unsurprisingly, my life experience quickly led to me getting 'stuck' in an unhealthy relationship. When hypnotherapy helped me finally leave that relationship (in just one session!) I had a lightbulb moment, realizing I wanted to be a hypnotherapist myself. I knew that I would be so fulfilled from making a difference and that it would be a perfect way to blend my skills & experience. But first, I needed to help myself! I became my own 'guinea pig!' I honed in on finding solutions for myself. Solutions and experience that I now draw on when working with clients.

My business journey has mimicked my own journey through life with many starts, stops, detours backtracks - and it's all part of it. There were many 'starts' that mostly looked like me working behind the scenes in my business, like deciding to write a book, create my website, or design my logo. Another start to my business was actually an end. I sustained a repetitive strain injury which left me unable to work in pretty much most jobs. Healing was (and still is) a slow process. But at that time, I began chipping away at my business when I was able to. I called this 'slogress'! What I've come to realize is that sharing my story and my work has the power to shake and change others for the better.

What really motivates me is to think of my client's problems. They feel stuck and are desperately struggling to find relief. I know how agonizing it can be. But I also know it doesn't have to be that hard. My own transformation to find wonderful relationships, especially my marriage to my sweet, loving & handsome husband, blew me away. Despite (or maybe because of) my many 'detours,' I figured out the journey from unhealthy to healthy loving relationships really well. And now I get to be blown away with my clients' results as well.

I also have a deeper motivation that comes from a vision for a better world globally. Too often, companies, corporations & individuals rise to power with misaligned values that put profit over people, & unfortunately, as a collective, we have allowed this to happen. I used to work in those companies. But when one person says no to an unhealthy dynamic & they work to heal themselves, they aren't just helping themselves; they are helping everyone. It creates a ripple effect that inspires and empowers others to do the same.

I want to be a part of a collective movement - where healthy relationships, in every sense, become the norm. And to create a world where kindness prevails. Call me idealistic (I am a typical Pisces!), but that is the kind of world I want to live in. And it means the world to me. After all, if we are not striving for what we want & believe in, then what is the point?!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Seeing the clients, I work with flourish literally warms my heart so much and gives me such a sense of accomplishment & fulfillment. That is the core of my business, and I love it! A personal accomplishment has been building my business whilst working through a significant injury. Alongside the self-growth, I have had as I have grown my business. The two have really gone hand in hand for me.

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

Personally, one of the biggest challenges I had was actually starting my business in the first place! This was partly a smart decision. I needed to experience my own growth plus complete training in order to work with others. I have always had an appreciation for the importance and the responsibility of not just doing this work but doing it well. But even with that in mind, I could have gotten it years earlier!

The things that previously held me back in relationships, like a lack of confidence, also held me back from starting my business. I tinkered away in research phases, accumulating hours of knowledge & content that I didn't put out. I made excuses that it wasn't the right time or that I wasn't ready. As an introvert, I felt uncomfortable being visible and sharing my story, which is pretty essential in order for people to find me. However, inspiration for my business kept returning to me ALL THE TIME, particularly when I was trying to sleep at night! Honestly! I had to accept that I had my ideas for a reason, and it's my job to get out of my own way and enable those ideas to come to life through me.

Some other challenges as a solopreneur have included being consistent, managing my time, making all the decisions (decision fatigue is real!), filling every role a business requires as just one person (plus a little help from my husband!), figuring out how to perform or fill roles that don't fit my strengths, finding ways to reach the people who need what I offer, being able to 'switch off' & find work-life balance, & handling the uncertainty. Sometimes, with this, and in life in general, there's an element of 'unseen struggle' that no one else but you is 100% present for because you are the only one in your life in your position. I've learned that there are different struggles at different times. Challenges are part of the journey, but it's how you choose to face them and being open to finding ways to overcome them that makes all the difference.

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

My top tips for someone looking to start, run and grow a business are to:

  1. Choose something you are truly interested in and have a compelling & meaningful reason for 'why.'
  2. Work on yourself (or with a coach), so you have a positive, growth mindset.
  3. Start by focusing on actually doing the thing at the core of your business.
    If it's sales, sell; if it's bookkeeping, bookkeeping; if it's coaching, coach. Get feedback on the thing you are doing so you can tweak, change & improve. Then you can figure out how to find the people who really want the thing you have.
  4. When it comes to creating the business you want, take an inventory of your knowledge & experience, & strengths & weaknesses & then make a plan for how you are going to fill in the gaps. Weak areas might be areas like finance, sales, or marketing, but it's also broader than that. In the book 'The E-myth Revisited, Michael Gerber shares that a successful business requires the fulfillment of x3 essential roles. The visionary sets the vision, the manager creates a plan that can be executed, and the technician administers the work in the plan. You need to make sure you cover all three in order to be successful.
  5. Listen and learn from others but always bring what others say back to your own instincts because only you truly know where your heart most wants to go, and the road to take, that most suits you to get there.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Building a business is a learning curve. In the beginning, treat it like a new job (which it is!) and give yourself time to learn. Give yourself permission to be crap and to suck at what you do, especially when you are trying something for the first time! It doesn't have to be perfect to get started. You can grow from wherever you start, but you do have to start. Confidence comes from taking action. In essence, you get 'ready' by taking action before you feel ready. I was waiting for fear and feeling uncomfortable to leave my side before I got started doing something new, but what I didn't realize is that it's normal to feel uncomfortable, just like you would in any new job or new task.

Try to be mindful of how you spend your time. Is what you are doing going to get a result, or is it just "busy work?" Choose wisely. Pick a word for the year, the quarter, or the moment: growth, focus, consistency, etc. Pick something that's going to give meaning and focus to what you are doing. Set your sights on where you want to go, take consistent action, and trust that you will get there!

Become just as interested in finding fulfillment in the process of creating success as you are in your desired end result. Otherwise, in the long run, you'll end up with an externally 'successful' business that doesn't light you up on the inside.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.revelationtherapy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100037403336104
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revelationtherapy/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRIZaA68gGSRhBweZb7hgzg

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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