We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Fearnley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

If I started over from day one in my business I would believe in myself. I think I must have had some kind of spark of inspiration that I could make this business work, but I spent YEARS going around in circles because I didn’t believe in myself and I didn’t trust myself.

I wouldn’t say I regret it because we start where we start, and I clearly needed to put the time in to really understanding and working through these issues.

But I had a point around 5 years in, where I was working with a coach and we got this amazing clarity that my brand should be based around women consultants, rather than generic entrepreneurs. And as I’ve leaned into that more and more, I’ve actually gone back to a lot of the resources I created before I started my current business. Technically, I could have worked at the level I now do from day one of the company. I had the knowledge and the business experience, but I had to learn who I am as a coach and how to find my dream clients.

I also think I would have had more confidence to network and to intentionally build my network one person at a time. Over time it is a huge game changer but it is hard to commit to it early on when you’re not sure yet exactly what you’re doing!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started my career in project management, business planning and business development. I experienced catastrophic burnout back in 2010, which meant an end to working a 9-5 career job. Instead I got a job working at a consultancy start-up, and we soon realised I had a very applicable skill set for where they wanted the company to grow to. I was promoted to a head of operations role, and we began the process of building the company from 6 to 7 figures and preparing it for sale.

It was an exhilarating ride and it stretched us to the limit at times. We had built the business using our instincts, and soon realised that there were quite a few major risks inherent in the way we had done so. But it was a great adventure and there were always loads of opportunities to learn, grow and develop.

The company was sold in 2014, which coincided with my first baby arriving.

I realised I had a spark to start something of my own, so while I was still on maternity leave I put some feelers out for business coaching clients.

I had so much to learn. However much you think you know about building a business, it feels totally different when it’s your name on the door!

But it’s been a brilliant journey of growth and self-discovery. I am not the same person at 40 that I was at 31 when I first set up on my own. I’ve had to overcome my fear, mindset blocks, limiting beliefs, and numerous challenges along the way.

But in the process, I’ve absolutely found myself.

My mission is to empower women to create wealth and opportunities for themselves and the women around them. I noticed that my clients tend to hire women, and their success leads to a ripple effect of employment opportunities for a whole eco-system of women, that in turn enables them to hire women.

One of the reasons this is so impactful is that so many women, myself included, have been excluded from traditional workplaces, either because of becoming parents, health conditions or workplace bullying.

When I first left my career job in 2010 I didn’t think I would ever be able to work again. because I couldn’t cope with a 9-5 arrangement. I love that I’ve been able to find a way to use my gifts and abilities to make an impact in the world, and to do so with flexible working at the core of everything I do.

I help my clients work less and earn more in their consulting businesses. Typically my clients have also exited from corporate where they’ve had a sparkling career, but they’ve realised that to make the impact they want to, they need to work independently and on their own terms.

I think all of us want more control over how and where we work. I’m fortunate enough to have been able to create a company that is entirely bespoke to my needs and requirements. It’s meant getting back to a place where I no longer see myself as energy limited or living with chronic illness.

I also have a real drive to get women living out their true potential in the world. I’ve seen so many women sidelined in the workplace, or forced to take a pay cut or demotion in order to get a flexible work contract. I help my clients connect with the spark that tells them they were always intended for more, and follow their intuition so that they can take up more space, work at their highest level, get paid what their experience and skillset is actually worth, and ‘best themselves’ in every area.

Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?

I was number 2 in an occupational psychology business that we grew to 7 figures and sold. The lessons we learned during that process were painful at times! However well your business is doing, when you start to go through the due diligence required to sell it, you realise so many things about it are wrong or extremely high-risk in their current format.

It can be really hard to be open to change. When you know that what you’ve done so far has been so successful, it’s a huge risk to make changes to your business model. So it’s essential to be doing the work on yourself through the process, because resistance will come up and some days you just want it all to stop. But it’s also essential that you have someone you can trust to guide you through, someone who has been through it and has that proven track record.

I’ve often said it is like building a house without a blueprint. You realise that there’s no space for a front door or any windows, because you’ve bricked up the whole of the ground floor. So the first stage of preparing to sell is like demolishing some of the parts that felt like they were finished.

It makes such a big difference to build with intention, from day one if you can. Get help and advice from the right sources so you don’t end up having to make big changes when you begin the sale process.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When you build a business, it can feel like you go through seasons where everything feels hard. We experience setbacks, disappointments. But it’s also internally – things can be going really well but you feel like the business is failing. It’s so important to do the mindset work and keep showing up, even when you don’t want to.

I’ve also realised how much rest and down time I really need in order to perform at my best level. Coaches and consultants give out in nearly all of the meetings and calls we have through the week, and you can only really do that for the long term if you are serious about caring for yourself and learning to meet your own needs.

One of the biggest factors in building resilience is learning to listen to your intuition and responding with self trust. As women we are programmed throughout our lives to not trust ourselves. When I started my business I was afraid to send emails because I had been told in a previous role I needed to have my line manager read everything I wrote before it went out! But actually we possess so much wisdom and our intuition can almost always tell us what we need to know in a situation.

The process of building a business is being required to make decisions all day every day when you don’t have a manual or a ‘grown up’ nearby to tell you what you should do. It’s the most freeing and the most terrifying thing about entrepreneurship. It’s what makes it fun but it is also exhausting sometimes.

It gets so much easier when you can listen to your intuition, and also decide that it is ok to make mistakes along the journey. Giving yourself permission to fail makes it much easier to make that decision without knowing what the outcome will be. Everything is either a win or a learning experience. And refusing to give up even in the tough seasons is what has enabled me to get to the point of having a multi-6 figure coaching business.

Contact Info:

• Website: jessicafearnley.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-fearnley-47173019/