The Path That Shaped Me
Discover more about my journey and what brought me here.
My Story
The Catalyst for Change
“I want you on the phones more, you are not on the phone enough.”
That was the first thing I said to my new sales team on day one of my new senior management role. I was trying to sound confident and in control, but inside I was a rabbit in headlights and feeling the ultimate imposter.
I had always been ambitious and worked hard to build a career I could be proud of. But once I got there, I felt empty, unauthentic and full of stress. Every day I questioned myself. Do I deserve this role? Am I actually good enough? Is this what I'm here to do?
As my anxiety levels increased, my self care decreased. I was on a slippery slope, not prioritising my health and wellbeing, eating the wrong foods and not sleeping. All of which contributed to a poor mindset, lack of self belief and a feeling of being stuck with no clue what to do.
Layer on top of that, my Dad fighting stage four kidney cancer.
I remember standing in front of our sales team, delivering a pitch with my hands physically shaking. I was exhausted and petrified of the thought of no longer living my life with my dad. I was trying to hold everything together, but deep down I knew how insignificant this meeting was in the grand scheme of things and how precious life really is. All I wanted to do was run out those doors and wrap my arms around my Dad.
Later that week, he passed away.
My entire world shifted in an instant.
Moving Through Grief
Losing my dad flipped my life upside down. He was my anchor, my guide and my biggest inspiration, I adored him.
Moving through grief is a wild ride, one which I wasn't familiar with. Especially when you feel like you are losing part of yourself as well as someone you love. I found myself in a very sad lonely place, feeling lost with so many questions but no answers.
Dad passing away at the age of 59 made me appreciate how short life really is or how it can be taken from you in a heart beat. I got a fresh perspective on life and started to become grateful for the small things, which I would normally take for granted. Watching the sunsets in Liverpool knowing that my dad won't ever see another sunset made me think about how I can live more and lean in to life more.
So I made a bold decision to leave my job. I walked away from stability and security to open myself up to the world of possibilities, and to trust that everything was going to be ok. Within 6 months I'd left the UK, traveled South East Asia and moved to Melbourne.
Hello ocean walks, amazing coffee, a nourishing lifestyle and a support network of friends who made me feel right at home. I had no agenda but to have fun. I wanted zero responsibility and dreamt of selling ice creams on the beach. I just wanted to be me.
But once I settled in, I started to default back to what was familiar. Got myself a management role, which quickly escalated to General Management, heading up a multi million dollar company and a sponsorship visa.
I was repeating old habits and defaulting back to making my life look a certain way, because that's what we have been taught to do.
As you can imagine, I was soon overworked, disconnected from any kind of nourishing lifestyle and back feeling similar feelings as when I was at home.
And it hit me again, I was unfulfilled and out of alignment, something felt off and I knew something needed to change. I was not going to let time pass me by again and relearn the same lessons.
I knew this was not what I came to Australia for.
I knew I had more work to do.
So round two, I quit my job and went to Bali.
Letting Go
I let go, I softened, the guard came down and I could finally connect with the essence of Nat. I gave myself space to feel, to grieve and unravel all the old stories I had been carrying.
Living in Bali was one of the most powerful times of my life.
I did the work, I went to retreats, took part in healing circles, worked privately with coaches, meditated daily, took sunrise walks on the beach, journaled, laughed, cried and connected with people on a level that I had never experienced before.
I peeled back the layers of who I thought I had to be, and slowly started to reconnect with the version of myself that had been there all along.
I truly surrendered and invested in myself allowing me to understand my purpose and what I wanted from life. That's when I found Life Coaching.
The loss of my Dad drove me to create change, to not sit still but to create. It unlocked a sense of ambition, cracked me open to see my potential in it's raw vulnerable state and go run at life.
He lived life to the fullest, making the most of every opportunity. I knew I wanted to do the same....
The Awakening
After the healing comes the awakening, the openness to explore, to see your life differently, get curious and start to dream.
Oh boy, as a dyslexic pisces, did I dream?! My creative juices started to come with ease, the ideas didn't feel scary but exciting. Something felt right, each move I made started to cement that there is more to be had.
I went on to set ambitious personal goals, I trained for the Great Wall of China half marathon, started training to become a Life Coach and I went back to Australia to train as a barre instructor in Byron Bay.
After taking action and creating evidence to show myself that I can and I will create change and make things happen, the real shift started to happen. I started to gain the strength and the courage to start to carve out a more authentic life, on my terms.
I started dreaming bigger and got clear on the type of life I wanted and the feelings associated with that, because ultimately we live for feelings not things. I started to connect with what would make my soul sing and bring me in to a state of flow. When I was in Byron Bay training as a barre instructor I got a taste for what life could be like running my own business with community at the heart and loved it! I set to work to design my first business, Barre Balance, a community centred Barre studio to help women feel amazing inside and out.
I returned to the UK to build my very own wellness brand and launched a beautiful studio space. Over time my skills and experience evolved and so did my business. There is such beautiful synergy between movement and mindset and I was unintentionally helping women on a much deeper level. This encouraged me to lean in to coaching more.
My Life Today
Fast forward to today and I am an accredited and trusted Life Coach with a thriving private practice helping unfulfilled women find their purpose and live in alignment.
My life experiences have created a depth and richness to my coaching practice which supports my clients through their chapter of change. Adversity can be the fuel for transformation, it all starts with a decision. A decision I made which cracked open a whole new world for me, a world where I feel worthy, seen, aligned, purposeful and happy.
I wouldn't have dreamt of where I am now. My career has led me to be featured in national press, a guest on podcasts and panel discussions, as well as lead transformative corporate workshops.
If I could travel back to the Natalie who feared going in to work, burnt out, unaligned and deeply unfulfilled, I would whisper in her ear to have faith and chase her dreams.
I have built a life which feels most aligned with the essence of who I truly am, what I love and what I'm good at. This has birthed a new wave of inner confidence and self belief as I’m now living the life I want and not the life I’ve been told I should live. I shape my days with what fulfils me and my souls purpose.
The struggles to push through the resistance to create change has been worth it, as I now finally feel free, fulfilled and exactly where I should be.
I’ve come home to myself and it feels SO good to be here.
