Sometimes the Right Risk Pays Off!
I wouldn’t call myself a risk-taker, necessarily, but my family’s decision to bet everything we had on a move halfway around the world in 2010 has paid off in ways we couldn’t have imagined at first. I’m Jennifer Myers, and I own two businesses – Gener8 Leadership Solutions and 90 Day Divas. I’ve been a certified business and leadership coach for over a decade! Time flies when you’re having fun! I’m originally from the US, but moved to New Zealand in 2010 with my hubby and our daughter (now 20) ‘sight unseen’ in an attempt to shift to a place that better suited our values and the kind of lifestyle we wanted.
But, first things first! Wind back the clock to early 2010 and you would have found my family ensconced in a comfy home in Southwest Florida with all the trappings of a seemingly successful life. The boat, the lovely home in a gated community, the vacation condo – things looked good from the outside, but you wouldn’t have wanted to scratch the surface. My husband and I looked at each other late one night and agreed that our lives were running us instead of the other way around. So, after some pretty heavy conversations over the following days, we made the decision to take control and do something about it!
A few weeks later, after searching for opportunities in various places in the U.S. and in Europe, my husband looked up from the laptop one evening and said, ‘What about New Zealand?’ And the rest, as they say, was history! Just 10 short months after that random question, we had sold or given away everything (This was a very freeing experience I must say.), packed 6 suitcases and 2 small boxes full of the most important ‘stuff’ and bought three one-way tickets to New Zealand to begin a new chapter of our lives together!
In essence, we pushed the ‘reset’ button, and it has undoubtedly been the best experience we’ve ever had as a family for a few different reasons…
- My husband and I had to work closely as a team in order to get all our ducks in a row to move. The move forced us to re-learn how to work together on a common goal, and we realized that we actually DO work really effectively together!
- The mindset we needed to cultivate in order to maintain our sanity through the massive effort of making a major life change was really beneficial.
- We learned to hold on to our vision, even in the face of some people asking us “Are You Crazy!?” We knew in our hearts that the decision we were making was the right one for us. We stayed true to what we wanted to do rather than what some thought we should do.
- We learned the difference between ‘want’ and ‘need’. Choosing which ‘things’ from the household we had built as a family for nearly 20 years was quite confronting.
- We had to rely on each other once we arrived in NZ for support, encouragement and socialization, as we had no friends or family here. This helped us to reconnect and re-establish strong bonds within our little family and to truly enjoy each others’ company as we traveled and explored our new home every chance we got.
So today, as I write this over a decade later, I look back on that time fondly as one of the best moves we’ve ever made as a family. Even before our move, my mission in life has been to have a positive impact on as many people as I possibly can. Now, I feel blessed to be able to do this every day through my work as a certified Business and Leadership Coach, Trainer and Speaker. Given my experience helping hundreds of businesses, I can honestly say the lessons we learned through our move can be directly applied to any business seeking to stand out…lessons like:
- Be BOLD! Be courageous enough to stand out and do something unexpected.
- Invest in yourself and your team
- Foster a positive, growth-oriented culture at all levels in your business. Positive expectations can be a powerful thing.
- Create a shared vision that you and the team are working TOWARD.
- Focus on the really important things in your business – the 20% of activities or clients that will give you the highest ROI and help your business move forward faster.
- Get in touch with your purpose. When your reason for being shines through all you do, those clients who share your values will be drawn to your business. And aren’t they the ones you want to work with anyway?
I look forward to supporting YOU on YOUR journey in business. Feel free to reach out and connect with me anytime over a virtual coffee! I’ll bring the ZOOM connection. Or you can find out more about how I help my clients HERE.
About the Author
Who is Jennifer Myers?
Jennifer’s mission in life is to positively impact as many people as possible, and she feels truly honored to be able to live out this mission daily through her role as a Certified Leadership & Business Coach, International Trainer and Speaker. She specializes in supporting professional services businesses – large and small – to improve their results through creating sensible growth strategies, improving their leadership abilities and enhancing their ability to communicate clearly.
She has been married to her Clinical Psychologist husband for nearly 30 years, and the light of their lives is their now-21-year-old daughter – a gifted singer/songwriter.
What’s Jen involved in?
- Owner – Gener8 Leadership Solutions
- Partner – 90 Day Divas Limited
- National Manager, Content Creator & Trainer – Venus Businesswomen NZ
- Board Chair – Coco’s Class Ltd
- Certified Maxwell Leadership team coach and trainer
- Certified DISC Behavioural Consultant & Trainer
- Speaker or workshop facilitator at 24 national conferences & counting…
You can connect with Jen on LINKEDIN or find out more through her WEBSITE.
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