“Nicola, if you were to reflect on the last 4 years of business, what would you say has changed the most?”
My reply: “ME!”
I’m not joking when I say that, and I will explain why later in this blog.
We all know menopause has gained great momentum over the past couple of years with more celebrities bringing it to the forefront, and don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful! However, I will also never forget how hard I had to bang the drum in 2019 when I launched this business, and many didn’t realise or understand the importance of addressing and understanding menopause in the workplace. One reply from a business that I will never forget…“We don’t have many women of that age who work here.”
In 2019 organisations struggled to understand why I was recommending some flexible working to support employees’ symptoms (periods/sleep deprivation etc). They needed to see ‘bums on seats’ and working from home was not an option for most. This is now a very different conversation.
2020 came and I thought my business was over. I had a choice to make. Give up now (I seriously considered this) or keep a presence and never lose the passion for the difference that I could make in the future. I think you know what I decided!
Then came my first online presentation (talk about getting out of my comfort zone!)
2021 saw the start of the comeback. The opportunity to present virtually across the globe, something I would never have envisaged this in 2019.
2022 was ultimately the best business year to date and everything finally feeling like how it always should have been, and to think that the 2019 Nicola was thinking of taking early retirement!
It’s 2023 and here I am reflecting and celebrating the fact that my business and I have made it through!
I have the absolute privilege of working with some of the most inspirational workplace leaders, and with organisations who put their people first.
I love this job; I live and feel everything I do and there is so much more to come. 2023 feels like the perfect time to expand the business in new ways and I am ready to do so…
There has been a lot of business change, but ultimately, it is me who has changed the most.
In 2019 I made the decision to leave the only career I had ever known. There were lots of things that led to that decision, but I had no idea what was next for me. The person I was then is not the person I am now and that change takes time. No one leaves a long career without going through a process of re-evaluation and I would add grief to the mix.
So what has changed?
My views on the working world, the power of changing the environment you work in for inspirational working, how I can now look through so many different lenses with empathy for others paired with the deep understanding that we are all human!
What is probably the most noticeable change for me is what I wear! Yes, I can still be formal and corporate, but I can also wear colour with confidence to express positivity to others and enable me to bring my whole self to work. I used to act and be a different version of Nicola Green at work to the one at home, and I believed this suited me and was what I needed to do to perform. I have had to work really hard to amalgamate the two, but it’s been empowering to do so.
Let’s conclude with the fact that the past 4 years have been a rollercoaster of self employment life and I am sure I will never get off that rollercoaster. I have not done this by myself and there are so many people who have supported me along the way and continue to do so. What I now know is “I’ve got this” and here is a very non-corporate image of me to support this feeling, and to show off my new personal branded merchandise to empower others. Something which I am very proud of.
Note – I wrote this at 7.30am in the morning, whilst eating my breakfast and sitting in my summerhouse watching my dog in the garden. Why? Because it suited my working day and it also made me realise how far I’d come in allowing myself that space.
