Motivating Mum UK

I left you dangling again didn’t I?  Here is the last but one part of my business history…

This is part 5 of my story – the earlier parts are here…. part1, part 2, part3, part 4

As I  came to the end of my PT training I felt a bit backed into a corner – I had spent all my available money on training for something that I didn’t feel right to teach. I hadn’t managed to get slim and fit myself.  I didn’t really know what to do next – I wanted to at least be slim by the time I finished my training – otherwise I might just have to give up and go back to work, and then how would I face my husband, who had invested in me for nothing?

I decided to ‘cheat’ a bit.  The fitness industry is very much against very low calorie diets, but I wanted to give myself a kick start and a confidence boost.  So as a last resort I signed up to do Cambridge Diet, after a friend I met online had a huge success with it.  I know it’s shallow to think that your personal appearance could have such a big impact on your self confidence, but I knew I wouldn’t feel right working as a personal trainer if I was overweight.  That was still my plan at that stage – because I didn’t have a better idea.

The diet was a revelation for me.  The first week is tough but after that I lost weight steadily over the twelve weeks I did it.  I lost nearly three stone, which did wonders for my confidence.

However the thing which really got me thinking was the job of the Cambridge consultant.  Over the 12 weeks I was there I learned that Cambridge is a distributorship business, just like Usborne – so I understood how it worked. The set up costs are really reasonable – well within my reach.  You get to counsel people one to one – a skill I had learnt with the NCT and with my Personal Trainer qualification. I knew that I had a real talent in that area. However I felt much more confident teaching weight loss with Cambridge than I did teaching fitness, because I had done the diet successfully myself - whereas unfortunately good fitness habits still elude me today…..

The best part of all, is that my weight loss efforts inspired my husband too, and he also lost more than 2 stone with Cambridge.  So when I told him I was thinking of adding Cambridge to my PT business he was very supportive.

By the time I got to my goal weight I knew I wanted to be a Cambridge consultant, with or without the PT business.  I did the training and set up my new business in September 2008. Apart from a few little hiccups at the start, I knew very soon that this was exactly the thing for me.  I set up my room, and carried on my business with the children in the sitting room next door.  Mums at the school who wanted to lose weight brought their own children with them, knowing that mine was a child friendly weight loss class. The business was immediately profitable, plus I felt a buzz that I was really helping people.  It was the perfect fit.

So why am I here now writing to you as Motivating Mum?  Another happy accident – and probably worth a separate post…..