Exploration Is the First Step to Thriving

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Eileen Dunn, founder of Thrive Coaching, located in Portland, ME, USA.

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

I'm a life coach. I empower people to move through transitions, towards goals, and around obstacles. Using self-discovery, skill-building, and problem-solving, my aim is to reunite my clients with their resilience and humanness. Nurturing an acceptance of our complexity and the uncertainty of life enables us to extend more compassion to ourselves and others and to feel confident in navigating difficult life moments.

I've worked with entrepreneurs, executives, and people processing loss, going through a divorce, preparing for parenthood, and making a career change. I've learned from and been inspired by everyone I've worked with — truly raw power can be generated in the safe & supportive space between people, and I think that's a particularly essential thing for us to have in these fractured times.

Tell us about yourself

I have a BA in Psychology and a MA in Organizational Psychology. I've been driven to support, coach, and empower others for a long time. My passion for studying the science of psychology and human behavior has given me the opportunity to have an impact in a variety of environments. I've done direct-care social work in non-profits, served on the Greater Boston PFLAG board, done HR consulting, and worked in people + culture roles in Boston tech startups. For me, helping others is about giving people tools they can use and an appreciation for their human complexity so they can move through the chaos and uncertainty of life with a fluid self-assuredness.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Every client I've had has left our time together having gained something — proximity to their complexity, boundaries, values, needs, dreams, fears, resilience, new tools, methods, and approaches for making sense of themselves and the world around them, and more ease in moving through the world as themselves. I'm very proud of that.

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

It can be incredibly isolating, particularly as a solopreneur, and being too isolated can impact not only your inner momentum to keep driving forward but also the viability of your product or service. It's really important to have access to people whose insight, guidance, and expertise you can trust so you can lean on them as needed.

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

Have a cushion of capital to sustain you comfortably for two years — being financially precarious in life while also trying to build, grow, and run your business makes for an uphill battle.
Build a network of connections with other entrepreneurs — the resources, insight, validation, and support can be game-changers!
Calibrate your expectations for the business in advance — it will be difficult in ways you can and cannot anticipate. It will take more of your energy than you think, and you will question whether it was all worth it more than once. If you can mentally walk yourself through these scenarios and accept them in advance, it'll be easier to face them when they present themselves in real-time.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.time-to-thrive.co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTimeToThrive
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_time_to_thrive_/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-dunn/

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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