From Emu to (baby) Eagle

I always had wings. I knew I did, I knew I had them…..But I was like a flightless bird….I didn’t use them. They were all tucked in and lying flat against me. They were there….but just like beautiful decorations …..I didnt get anywhere with them…

They were strong, big, pretty wings though. I liked them. They made me feel safe, capable, strong…I knew I had them and I knew I could use them….but I didn’t know how….actually I hadn’t really ever tried (Maybe I just saw many other flightless birds….and thought it was normal?)…..But my unused wings, were actually doing something all that time…..they were growing! Every good and bad thing that happened over the course of many years helped those wings to grow bigger and stronger…..

I was tested. A lot. I passed my ‘tests’. I was always happy, optimistic and annoyingly positive about it all. My attitude added the colours to my feathers.  I knew there was something out there for me, something I had to do. Was born to do. But for many years, I didn’t know what it was exactly…..I tried many things, worked hard at many things….had many ideas…..gave everything to anything and anything to everything…..

But I didn’t really finish anything, or see it through. I didn’t have the energy or the passion. That’s the key….Passion. Energy. You need it.

If you want to actually use your flightless wings to fly.

I started my new business in late December of 2013…. I made some smart decisions and followed my ideas, instincts and intuition….and it all started to click. Those clicks were the sound of lighbulbs being turned on….they were lighting the pathway before me….

Here are some of those lightbulbs and the journey….

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I had a background in HR, Recruitment, marketing and sales, business consulting and projects and bla bla. I also had (and have) a degree in Psychology/Business, and 2 years of graphic design one. I had taken a redundancy (OMG thats a massive story for another time), my husband then got a redundancy e a couple of months later, so bla bla, hard times…..as in no hot water for 11 days because hot water systems are expensive and you just boil up 30 pots of water a day on the stove….same thing right….? I was grateful I had electricty and water at that stage….I was actually grateful for so much with so little….these (and so many more) tests are the foundation for what I am and will become….I laughed as I boiled those pots. But cried when friends brought us food packages….

I knew it was all for a reason. I knew it would all be ok.

So anyway, back to the start of this year….. and how I came to metamorphose from an emu to a baby eagle…

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I designed and printed some flyers for resYOUme’s by YOU Centre…..and was doing old school mail box drop off’s…..I was using my intuition as my GPS….asking my higher self….where should I go to drop these off?….as I drove my car around randomly….I listened as my intuitive GPS as it said “left here”, “right here”…”pull over”…..I got out of my car where I felt was the right place, and took a couple of hundred flyers with me…..and started the arduous task of dropping them one at a time into peoples letter boxes in a suburban area….every time I dropped one in I would say “Call me”….then a few houses after I started this….there was a man out the front of his house…I recognised him as a Dad from the school where my kids go….I went up to him, gave him the flyer and we started talking. He told me how a massive mining company, where he worked were closing down, and making 1500 people redundant!! He sent me his resume, and I fixed it up and “awesomised it” for him. He was one of the first of them to secure a new job, with the recruiter commenting “thats the best resume I have ever seen”. He offered to put some posters up around the site advertising my business, as well as telling his mates up there etc.

A cheeky competitor (another resume writing company) was doing the same thing (putting up posters around the site)…and he reported back that they were pulling down all my flyers around site and replacing with their own (at twice or triple the price that I was offering at the time!). He kept putting new ones up, and they kept pulling them down. I was mad at this, but let it go….thinking the right people will come to me.

His wife suggested I get onto the local Facebook page of the community (a mining town in NT). So I did. I posted some info that was useful for the employees being made redundant, not promoting my business, but giving them valuable tips…..and then at the bottom of my post, just said if they need further help, contact me etc. I got a couple of new clients from there straight away. So I had a few ground troops up there in the community who were super impressed with my work….they got the jobs they wanted after I helped them…yay. I was stoked. I was doing something right. (wings twitching..slight flapping….)

Then it all started…..Word hit the street….I was getting more and more work – all from word of mouth. It hasn’t stopped. I grew my business by 600% in 6 months without spending a single dollar on advertising or marketing. Now its November, I have had over 150 paying Clients (over 40 mining dues from that town, plus celebrities, sports stars and all kinds of awesome people in all industries), and I have never spent a dollar on advertising.

I replicated the same principles that worked with the Mine. I looked up mining towns in Australia, found their community pages on facebook and started posting useful info on their local “buy sell swap” communities, or their local community group pages. I was careful to offer useful information, and not be spammy. I got more clients in other towns. This was a smart little, free strategy…..as soon as I had one happy client in a small town, they got the job they were after and positive feedback on their resume, they told everyone in town. I had them refer me their wives, family members, friends in other industries and my business just diversified and grew.

I stopped with the facebook posts. Too many clients. 80-90% of those 150 clients I have had in 11 months have been referred to me.

I put my prices up a couple of times….and they came even faster.

I also had my own network of family and friends referring me people….

I am getting better and better. I give 100% to every single thing I do. I take pride in my work, my business and more and more, I am beginning to realise I have found that elusive path I knew I had to find….and it wasnt what I thought it would be. BUT I LOVE IT, I am like Dorothy on the freaking yellow brick road, skipping along!!!

When I talk about my business, what I do and my plans for it… I get so excited!!! My wings just flap when I talk and I cant stop it! People laugh at me and say “slow down”. But I cant slow down. I am so excited. I have been excited all my life, but now I am passionate and excited at the same time. Lol.

I have been thinking about why I am so much better than all my competitors (I think I am the best in Australia, I wont be shy – lol).

…..It’s because I am different. I have personality. I can read other peoples personalities…. and I use that. I break the box of what everyone says resumes should be. I dislike boxes… and rules…. and people who say things should be a certain way, certain format, certain font, font size, colour etc….unless its necessary for whatever reason (then I pull my head in) I respect what is acceptable, and reasonable….I do what makes an impact and what just says “Hello…I am awesome”. I am a game changer. I make people feel good! Thats what I do, Its not about doing a resume, I make people feel amazing….and they flap those wings! I get people excited.

Spo the business is booming and I am working to capacity, working long hours just to keep up with demand….I get to get someone on to help soon….that’s freaking exciting!

I believe hard work pays off. I believe massive things are coming. I believe in ME….and I believe in all of YOU. You all have wings. You can all use them….the hard times make them strong…trust me.

This phoenix is rising out of those ashes! I know how to use them….and in 2015 I am going to meet the sky!

I am over talking about it….Lets just do it.

Onwards and upwards…..

Seona Craig 🙂 xx

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Linked in…..dont look for quick links here….time to do the hard work! Lol….find me! Seona Craig or YOU Centre would be the words to search for. LOL. see you there….xx