CURATED CLARITY: How Looking Back Can Take You Forward

My career has been a varied one.

After completing my Bachelor Degree in Creative Writing and Public Relations I fell into radio. Starting on the street team handing out free stuff to people at events, moving up to eventually become a radio announcer and music director (responsible for scheduling all the music you hear). This role taught me to be comfortable with many levels of people. From A list stars to a plumber or a mother with her kids wanting a free packet of chips. I also learnt how to profile your audience in a highly detailed way. When we schedule the music we are literally thinging about what our audience is doing at the exact moment they hear us (for example: 3pm on a weekday), and what kind of music will most add to that moment for them (upbeat for the kids, no swearing, avoiding anything too slow or sad).

These skills I then took with me into Marketing and Promotions in a radio station when I moved from Australia to Vancouver Canada. Here I learnt how to take the needs and desires of our advertising clients, film and entertainment brands (including speakers like Oprah and the Dalai Lama), and even charity organisations; to transform these desires into a multi-channel promotional or marketing experiencing that would deliver results. I used the resources available in our radio station brands and curated a campaign that fit the needs of any given client. I took this further by developing partnerships that delivered win/ win outcomes. And I was very good at it. I'm an endless pit of creative ideas so the preferences and goals of my clients actually helped me focus that.

When I moved to London, I spent a few months working in Luxury Brand sales in Harrod's department store for Louis Vuitton and Dolce and Gabbana where I learnt about the little details that sets the process of selling high value items apart from selling day to day products. The white gloves, the smooth elegant way of presenting a piece of jewelery, knowing the story and craftmanship of the piece you are presenting so you can share this with the client. This was sales as an experience... a story. Making the client in front of you feel part of something special.

When I moved into running Leadership Development Events for a FTSE 100 Insurance company (and eventually their Employee Recognition Program) and was tasked with breaking down silos and creating experiences that encouraged the top 65 leaders and C-Suite team of a 10,000+ employee company to think and act differently; I brought all my skills together. Selling new ideas to high-level people, building and negotiating partnerships with suppliers, taking the desired outcomes of a given event and curating experiences that delivered on this, working with all levels of people from hotel receptionists to CEO's, and connecting people who were sometimes quite different by understanding thier profiles.

After a clear redirection in my life, I ended up in Japan next stepping into my back up plan. To teach English on my fourth continent, experience the culture, and intentionally be in a job I wouldn't view as long term or a passion in order to focus that energy on building my own business.

Five years later, and I have learned a lot.

I learned that business networking and even business style is very different in Asia and specifically Japan. Where I had been used to nightly networking opportunities in Vancouver and London, there was maybe one option English speakers per month (often longer), and I sometimes had to travel from Osaka to Tokyo to attend them.

I learned what I do and don't love doing in business, who I do and don't love working with, how and I do and don't love to work (time of day etc), and I tried and learned a lot from offering different services and products through different business models.

I learned how different cultures do business by attending conferences and working with clients in many different countries. How to look for connection rather than differences, and how to be curious rather than reactive.

I learned how to survive financial hardship when things went badly.

I learned to accept help from people, sometimes strangers.

As I transitioned into teaching Personal and Professional Development for Universities in Paris, I learned that everyone learns and grows differently. That there is a lot of value in knowing how to digest knowledge and proven frameworks and adapt that to what works for you. And before all that, taking the time to KNOW what works for you.

And I learned what my true strengths and passions are, the things I've always been great at, the things that are effortless for me and energise me, the things that allow me to energise others.

What I've always not only been great at but have loved doing is:

• Curating Experiences
• Bringing People Together, Helping them Connect, Helping them Grow
• Connecting Anything Really (problem solving, challenging briefs, new ways of doing things, multi-cultural leadership, you name it)
• Adding a touch of Luxury to everything I do - which for me means making people feel seen, understood, and cared for before they have to ask for it

I share all of this for two reasons.

1. To share my path to getting clear on what kind of work I'm meant to do in case you are also struggling with this clarity.
2. To demonstrate (and remind myself) that while what I'm creating right now may seem different, it really isn't.

Curated Personal and Professional Development Experiences are me taking the same approach I took when I planned corporate marketing campaigns or leadership events, and applying that to supporting an individuals Personal and Professional Development.

Because I believe that something so personal, so intimate, needs to be personalised and curated.

Because I know from my own journey and experience that there is no 'one-size-fits-all' approach to Personal and Professional Development.

When I look back on what got me here, to what led me to creating these experiences, all of the self doubt fades away.

I know I have already succeeded in this.

I know I have the skills.

I know I have the experience.

I know my weaknesses and have plans in place to balance them, plans that allow me to stay in my strengths.

This approach to Personal and Professional Development won't be for everyone. For one, you will pay a deposit before you even know where or when the retreat will be.

If you are feeling drawn to this approach of curated and highly-personalised growth, you can find out more at the link below.

https://www.noirlumi.com/retreat

And if it's not for you, then I hope you gained something else of value from this share.

Have an enjoyable day, and wishing you successful growth, whatever that looks like for you.