Key lessons I learned on my 9-month sabbatical [PART 1]

Did I disappear altogether? No. I was on sabbatical. And, I’m back!

Over the last 9 months, I consciously chose to take some time out.

I’ve been in the online business for 12 years, and in my previous digital marketing job for 13 years before that.

If I had been in a standard job, in a standard career, I would have totally earned a 3-6 month long service leave by this stage in my career… 

But this is not something most entrepreneurs talk about, think about, or plan for!  

For me, though, it was always there on my vision board as a marker of success in my business. This idea that I would be able to take time off if and when I felt called to. 

The reality is, my business has been successful over the last 12 years, and I was in the position to be able to take a break because… 

• I’ve been able to save money ALONGSIDE investing in my business. 

• I’d been mindful of my finances.  

• I’d been running a highly profitable business supporting health coaches for over a decade.  

…and because of that, I was able to keep my life and business running stably behind the scenes this year without actively marketing on social media (and elsewhere) and selling my programs. 

It might look from the outside as if I haven’t been working much—but behind the scenes, I’ve still been coaching health coaches enrolled in my programs, and working with some 1:1 clients.

Full transparency: In taking a break, there was a real part of me that wondered if I might go in an entirely different direction in my business, and take on a different market. 

As many of you know,  I'm very passionate about all things health, nervous system, brain health, physical health, and coaching — so I was open to exploring ANY of these areas.  

But the more questioning I did,  and the more self-reflection I undertook, the more I realised how much I love working with health coaches. 

I believe in the industry so much.  

I love the ripple effect that we have. 

I love the work that we do. 

And I’m feeling genuinely excited and fired up to continue bringing all of the learnings I’ve had as one of the leading experts in this field over the last 12 years—and from the last 9 months—into an exciting new chapter.

A bit of backstory…

…I went to the US at the end of 2023 to attend a number of Masterminds (as I regularly do - a lot of my mentors are in the US).  This trip opened up my eyes and revealed to me the vast extent of the changes that had taken place in the online space that hadn't hit Australia at that time.
And in my heart, there and then, I knew that 2024 would be a good time to not just take a deserved breather for myself…

...but also to put myself in a really powerful position of freeing up my time and taking advantage of the opportunity to be in “observer mode”.

I spent a lot of this year studying the industry changes, observing, watching, having virtual coffees with my peers, and taking a good long bird's eye view of the industry — because I didn't need to be in the weeds of making money for my own business and bills all day, every day. 

It was quite a unique position to be in this year.

Some of the key changes that I observed were: 

• Economy changes 

• A really flooded marketplace that's hit saturation point after the last 4 years (2020 to 2024) saw a high interest in remote work and a huge influx of coaches hitting the market. 

• A high level of burnout—both in terms of experiences (not always positive) that people have had with different courses, but also a feeling of information overload.

This is something that I have a LOT of thoughts on and is going to lead a lot of my work moving forward…because you MUST understand how to get you—as a health coach, in your business—having a ‘cut through’ in this new market. 

One of the most important ways you can create this ‘cut through’?

Your coaching package. 

It is actually a hugely postent time to be selling health coaching services, as people are consistently INVESTING in their health…

…BUT your coaching package MUST be a hell yes for your ideal client, the minute they see it.

Nowadays, people are simply not willing to guess if what you do might benefit them, or wait around to take the time to figure it out. If they don’t *get* it seconds, they’re gone.

THIS is why my VERY FIRST Masterclass back post-Sabbatical is going to talk about how to create your ‘slam dunk’ offer that your ideal clients are going to understand is for them in less than the time it takes to watch a reel or scroll a carousel post.

Those that master this will thrive in their health coaching business.

Those that don’t? Won’t.