Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Guy Reichard, founder of HeartRich Coaching & Training, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My main business and what I feel most called to offer the world is HeartRich Coaching & Training. I help high-achieving, hard-working business owners, executives & professionals who are unfulfilled and on the verge of burnout, make sense of and manage their Inner Worlds better, so they can live and lead from their Authentic Selves fully & freely, creating lives they love with more ease, balance, wellbeing, and fulfillment.
People who, though so intelligent and driven, find themselves time and again in draining, frustrating positions. They struggle (mostly secretly) from accumulated stress, impostor syndrome, sacrifice/martyr syndrome, overwhelm, anxiety, depression, and an increase in physical issues.
They often share similar personality styles – perfectionism, a tough inner critic, a drive to overdeliver and carry the load for people at work and in their personal lives; they’re often super nice to everyone (but themselves) and have trouble putting their needs first and asserting themselves with power and grace (preferring to keep their issues and emotions stuffed down inside).
For these people, the time has come for a change. They finally want to know who they are, manage their inner worlds better, and be more of who they are so they can experience true fulfillment and wellbeing and make the difference they’re here to make.
Tell us about yourself
I’ve been in an evolving business for over 20 years. I started working for myself because I knew deep down that I had to make my own way and create my own path. I always had a deep interest in understanding people and helping them, which I leveraged well in my Marketing Firm, but eventually, I wasn’t fulfilled. I had started working on my own personal growth and realized that I wanted to help people in a more profound and meaningful way, which brought me to the coaching world.
I invested in training and took the time, made the sacrifices to let go of my previous business, and started nearly from scratch as a coach. And at the same time, I continued working on becoming my best self, choosing love over fear, and developing unyielding self-compassion and fierce self-trust, and my work is still not done. What motivated me to be a coach was the knowledge that I would be contributing, person by person, to make the world a better place.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Seeing and feeling the meaningful and positive difference my work has contributed to another’s life. Though it is their life that has changed and improved, it has given my life, my own struggles, and my own growth profound meaning.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
As I look back now, the hardest thing was not making life all about work. Even though work can be incredibly meaningful, it pays the bills, it provides for others, it’s very easy to get into a mode where work is taking up a majority of one’s focus and energy – and that means it’s taking away focus and energy from other things that matter. Choosing and committing to honoring your values while being afraid of losing potential business, or not meeting a deadline, or saying no to an opportunity, so you could say yes to a loved one who needs you, or say yes to time-off, or say yes to your self, is very hard indeed.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Get to Know Yourself so you can Be Yourself – who you are, what your values are (what matters to you), what you stand for, what difference/impact you want to make, what fears and limiting beliefs you still hold that direct your life, who you are under stress, how to come back to your best self etc.
- Do something you love with love. It’s not just about skills or strengths or passion or even the money. It’s about Values and Purpose and making the world a better place.
- Know who NOT to ask for help or guidance.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Thought this may sound self-serving… consider working with a personal coach to help you be your best self and create a life you love. We are not given any education on how to manage our inner worlds (mind, thoughts, emotions, stress). We develop myriad ways of surviving and getting by in life that ultimately lead to anxiety, burnout, depression, and illness. We can actually thrive by becoming who we really are. You can use your business as a tool to help you overcome your fears, evolve, and make a meaningful difference in the world.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.heartrich.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartrich.ca
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guyreichard/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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