049 Forming Real Connections with Real people, with Dr Jemma Andrew-Adiamah

Today’s episode is an interview with Dr Jemma Andrew-Adiamah.  Jemma is a Holistic Empowerment Coach and Mentor for mums helping them to shift out of survival mode to crystal clear clarity, confidence, and fulfilment, so they can rediscover their purpose and identity beyond motherhood in a way that’s on their terms. And of course some book recommendations.

Here are some of the key takeaways from this episode:

• Twin parent life - gruelling, overwhelming but so much beauty and magic.
• Gratitude for having her own business when the twins arrived, allowing Jemma to wind up and down according to her families needs.
• Having to rebuild the business after having twins.
• How her business has saved her sanity and allowed her to be the multi-faceted human being that she is.
• Jemma talked about her journey from blogger to holistic wellbeing, to then wanting to connect more deeply with her audience, so training as a coach and setting up her coaching business.
• Being grateful to have something for herself that is totally detached from Motherhood.
• Jemma built her business by working early in the morning, late at night, or snatching moments during nap times.
• How much of a privilege it is to do something that you love and not be tied by the constraints of reality, and the need to bring in a wage.
• Jemma talks about being empowered by her clients, just as much as it is her job to empower them.
• Being in Business allows you to find a group of like-minded people who “just get it”.
• Networking as a place to connect, encourage, support and celebrate each other.
• The importance of being seen, heard and validated by people who understand your experiences. 
• Jemma talks about starting her blog as a hobby and creative outlet when she was studying for her PhD, as a way to connect with others on a similar journey to having a healthier relationship with food.
• Through her blog, Jemma started her journey into exploring holistic well-being, not just focusing on the food on your plate and how much you move, but also how you feel and think about yourself, your mindset, how intentional you are with your energy & priorities.
• Jemma talks about the challenges of juggling a full-time job, a commute to work, her husband who works very long hours, and trying to figure out the best option for childcare, all coming together which prompted her to go all in on making her blog full-time career.
• The rise of the influencer and how this impacted on the blogging world.
• Jemma said that she set up her local networking group for Women for selfish reasons, after 2 communities that she gained support from closed down.
• Jemma was keen that her women’s networking group should be a place for honest conversations, real connections with real people, rather than the corporate elevator pictures and salesy, Shmoozy networking that cause fear for introverts. - Whilst the Facebook group is a really important place to reinforce the connections that are made, the real connections are made when women meet face-to-face.
• The importance of getting to know people, and the know, like and trust factor that then means that you want to recommend them to your friends, family and contacts.
• Jemma I talked about the fear that many people feel about going networking, and the perception that it will all be very corporate and formal. 
• The different feel and dynamic of women only networking which is often more friendly, supportive open and nurturing than male dominated networking, and often is more focused on the connection.
• Imposter Syndrome - how we all feel it at times. Feeling like a fraud or not good enough.
• Jemma sees it as coming from always wanted to be our best, and talks about turning away from how her business “should” be according to the cookie-cutter approach, and doing things her own way, using an intuitive approach
• Turning away from the expectation of being an overnight success story, or having a six figure business.
• Working towards your own definition of success. Success as a subjective and personal concept.
• How the concept of success shifts when you become a mum. For Jemma success which allows balance and flexibility for her family and allows her to contribute to the family income. To live the lifestyle as a family, creating memories on days out.
• When we see successful six or seven figure entrepreneurs, we do not know what circumstances and resources they have which have allowed them to get to that place in their business.  It is easy to compare our businesses but we do not all have the same childcare availability, family support, household income, and we do not always see the years of work that may have gone in to the Business behind-the-scenes before that level of financial success has happened.
• Jemma loves using Canva to bring some fun and creativity to her business. 

 

Find the show notes and the links to recommended tools and books here.