Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Christine Samuel, Founder of Inner Work Matters, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Most people know the current paradigm on how we work and live our lives doesn’t serve us anymore. And for the ones who realize it, the biggest obstacle in navigating the shift is the fear of the unknown and uncertainty. Inner Work Matters help individuals and organizations to develop inner skills to navigate change and transition with ease and build the capacity to be with discomfort and complexity while moving purposefully with clarity and unwavering peace of mind.
Our individual clients are mostly high-achieving women in transition who have ‘done it all’ and are ready to do their inner work. They are looking for more meaning, purpose, and a deeper connection with themselves while navigating their path toward true fulfillment. Our corporate/organizational clients are leaders looking to increase their team’s resilience, effectiveness, and well-being through cultivating mindfulness, deep listening, solution-focused conversation, and relational intelligence.
We integrate mindfulness, NLP, solution-focused brief coaching, somatic awareness, contemplative practice, and neuroscience to support our clients. We do individual and group coaching, facilitation, and training. Our training and facilitation are designed for effective experiential learning that aims to equip participants with an embodied understanding, deeper self-awareness, and increased relational intelligence.
Tell us about yourself
Being in the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and experiencing the unpleasant shift in the environment of my corporate career made me think there must be a more meaningful, sustainable, joyful, and generative way of being, working, and contributing to the world. Through my own inner work, healing and transformation, I feel I am being called to explore these questions:
- What is a better way to access our genius?
- How can we be joyful, playful, and open in our pursuit?
- How can we go on and work together in a more generative way?
- How can we nurture our well-becoming and become undeniably impactful by simply being who we are?
To do that, I am on the mission of unlearning my conditions, befriending my own fear, and exploring a new strategy for being, living, and working, which I called the Coddiwomple Philosophy, letting go of the addiction to know everything ahead of time and train myself to be continuously in the state of becoming to know while moving purposefully one step at a time. This state allows me to access my inner genius, agile, be in a flow, and open to opportunities that come my way.
Every day, I am practically living the questions above. I believe I am here to become a living example of what is possible so that I can share what I’ve learned more powerfully. I can say proudly I live what I teach.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Staying true to my vision. Setting and running my business that fully aligns with my values and way of living while making a big impact in the lives of my clients.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Transitioning from a corporate environment where rules and systems are already set to an open frontier full of possibilities. Like the line in the Spiderman movie, with great power comes great responsibility. Here, with freedom, comes more choices. I think we are conditioned to prefer limited possibilities for the sake of certainty and to be in control. I did struggle with that. My autopilot response was overthinking my decisions, trying to make sure I made the right decision which easily led me to get stuck. I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned is never to become attached to the outcome and always be in the experimental mindset. There is no right or wrong way; it is just simply a way, with the opportunity to learn and adjust as you move along.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Have sufficient funds to support yourself while starting your business to avoid selling yourself short of worrying about money and be adaptable with your timeline and expectations.
- Find a community with a shared vision and purpose where you can share your challenges and support one another.
- Stay constantly connected with your vision and purpose and move purposefully one step at a time, even when you have doubt.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.innerworkmatters.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinesamuelhere/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristineSamuel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-samuel/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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