Like many entrepreneurial types, I am a woman that has worn a lot of hats. It’s actually something that I enjoy though. I was that kid that loved school, simply because I got to study many subjects at once.

Choosing a degree was more difficult because there were so many subjects that I was interested in. Many entrepreneurs are multipotentialites. They have a variety of interests and skills that they want to put into action. Much like the parable of the talents. 

The more you do, the greater the rewards. Society, however, promotes the idea of a specialism. To become a specialist in a niche area. While that’s all good, what’s stopping us from being both a specialist and a generalist. The two don’t need to be mutually exclusive. In fact, as humans, we have so much more potential than we give ourselves credit for. And I am certainly one of those that are up for the challenge of doing and being all that I am created for.

In my mid-20s, my focus was on my education and developing a career helping people in mental health. I was a postgraduate in psychology and then went on to work in psychological services. I thought I had my life mapped out, but the work was demanding and there were very few resources to manage my ever-expanding caseload. After a while, I began to burnout and needed to take an extended amount of time off work to recover from the exhaustion my job had caused. I decided not to return to work in public sector mental health and set out to start my own business.

Coaching and positive psychology was a niche I wanted to focus on. So much of my work had been focused on pathology, but I was intrigued by the work of psychologist, Martin Seligman, who pioneered the positive psychology movement. Its emphasis is on human flourishing instead of illness. It was something that I could relate to because I wanted to help people thrive. My own private practice was born.

It wasn’t until a move to a new city and a break-up that I decided to take major action. I was feeling fragile, in a new place with few connections, and needed to take steps to build my own life. I plotted out a vision board of the things I wanted to happen in my own life and then started to actively take steps to make it happen. During that time, my best friend and I were chatting over a cuppa when we discussed setting up our own PR and brand agency. As a psychologist, I had always been interested in brands and PR, and Caroline was an expert in design. Our brand consultancy, Infomatrix PR, was set up that morning.

More importantly, Caroline is also the owner of other businesses, so she’s the perfect person to work with because she encourages me to continue to run my wellness practice while also managing our PR agency. She knows we shouldn’t limit ourselves.

I’d encourage every woman to aim higher, to live bolder, and to not limit themselves. You’ll be surprised at how much capacity that you really have.

 

Sarah Tottle

Founder of Infomatrix PR

Email : info@infomatrixpr.com