So what is KAPOW! all about then?
I get asked this question a lot. So I’m going to tell you a story. Are you sitting comfortably?
Then I’ll begin….
Once upon a time there was a business woman called Sheena.
Sheena had started out as a freelance trainer, and had built up her business over several years of hard work.
She loved running her own business – making her own decisions, deciding how to grow her business and develop her skills. She burned like a bright flame – full of energy, life & fun!
She had everything the world thought made her successful - staff, offices, company car etc.
But she also had a wicked business partner who enjoyed squashing her spark.
Sheena couldn’t see her spark being extinguished- so she just carried on doing what she thought she was supposed to do.
Not realising how unhappy it made her.
Or her family & friends.
Having to work away from home made her miserable - and having to go into an office she didn’t want, to do a job she didn’t love, with someone who now, frankly, scared her - made her miserable.
Moving away made it worse, the emotional manipulation increased & her unhappiness mounted.
Her bright flame had been blown out so many times, it had become a very small, dim spark.
And then it all stopped. The wicked business partner went away. And although Sheena didn’t know it was going to stop, wasn’t in control of it stopping, and was shocked to her core when it did, she began to realise that deep inside her tiny, spluttering spark was pretty much on it’s last gasp.
Sheena struggled to find her sense of self, her self belief & her self confidence after such a long time of having it taken away.
Sometimes she really didn’t know who she was anymore.
But still the little spark was still there - just - flickering quietly & refusing to go out completely.
And, after a little while, Sheena began to put herself back together. She started again. From the very bottom- just by herself, building a new business based again on ethics, trust & the urge to do the right thing.
She worked hard.
It wasn’t easy.
In fact, there were several times it seemed far too difficult & giving up looked like a great option.
But that little spark was still there & while it was, she kept on going.
Her family & friends nurtured that spark - didn’t give up on Sheena, offered support, love & advice whilst she looked for a way to fan that spark back to life.
And it was working.
Until it stopped working.
And everything Sheena had worked so hard to build looked like falling apart. Again.
Death.
Cancer.
Two intruders determined to extinguish that fledgling spark again and stop her.
Sheena dug deep. She didn't give up. But she wasn’t brave. She was scared, sad & uncertain of what this would bring. Life was frightening and confusing, she felt like she was looking at the world through cling film.
But once Sheena had treated her cancer, learned to mourn her loss, redefine her focus, & look to the future, something rather marvellous happened.
She got nominated for and won an industry award.
And winning that award started to make all the out of focus stuff start to come together.
That spark stopped flickering and began to burn strong and steady.
Because Sheena now knew who she was, and how important that was to her success, and her happiness.
She knew where she wanted to go & what she needed to do to get there.
She rediscovered her confidence and self esteem and started to feel good in her own skin again.
She knew how to build a strong personal brand to take her business to the next step.
She knew what she wanted people to say about her when she wasn’t in the room.
And she decided that one day, she would help other business owners do that too. Find out who they were, what made them tick & how to ignite that spark for themselves and their businesses.
She just wasn’t sure how to do it.
Until one day, a dear friend asked her a question- ‘what do people ask you about the most’?
To which she replied ‘how I do what I do - how I be, well, me’
At which point, the spark of the idea she had been waiting for - the bright flame - flashed brightly as Sheena realised how she would make it happen.
And, the KAPOW! branding programme began.
There is a moral to this story.
One that I cover in every single one of my KAPOW! workshops.
Be true to who you are. Be you. Even when it scares the shit out of you.
Because your personal brand is all about who YOU are.