Welcome to our first interview in a new series called The Switch – an opportunity for me to share everyday women like you and me, who have transitioned from one career into something completely new.
Karen Shelton is a Melbourne based yoga teacher who little over 18 months ago, shared her dream with me in a coaching session. Karen wanted to own a yoga studio with her husband Chris but at the time was working full-time in a corporate role as an internal career coach. She didn’t know how or when it might happen, but she held on to that dream and today, I am proud to say she is now a full-time studio owner at Tidal Flow Yoga.
Karen shared with me some deeply personal stories from her journey as well as the practical measures she took to ensure she was able to hold fast to her dream – despite a few obstacles along the way.
While Karen took a big leap in the end, her story goes to show if you exercise passion, stay true to your purpose and mix it with a little strategy, you can make the change happen.
Enjoy!
Some snippets of wisdom from Karen:
+ Sit with your vision, evolve it, experiment and feel it out so that you have something tangible to move forward with.
+ Things don’t happen overnight, but when you’re ready to leap the decision will be really easy – you’ll know it’s right in your heart
+ Karen explains how she married her “strategic” brain with her more “organic” yoga brain, did a lot of networking, research to find the right location and her niche within the booming yoga industry, created a business plan, wrote down her goals and shared them. All these steps gave her accountability, even if it was only with close family and friends.
+ Ensure the people you collaborate with are on board with your vision and journey, and ask them why they want to be a part of it, what does your vision mean to them (it’s not always about how good they are).
+ Meditation was the daily practice that got her through this change, second to that movement (this was her way to be creative and expressive) and gratitude. Gratitude, because she realised regardless of what happens her husband and family were still no.1.
+ Always find the positive even if at first sight something didn’t go the way you thought it did.
+ Purpose for her is about helping people on a deeper level, using yoga as a catalyst to support her community with success to personal struggles.
+ Stop being your own worst enemy!
About Karen:
Connect with Karen via her studio Tidal Flow Yoga
Image by In The Flow Photography
