September always feels like the start of the year to me. It brings the Jewish New Year, my daughter’s return to school and a natural impulse to begin something new.
A year ago, I relaunched Think Visual, with coaching and community at its heart. It started with Her Circle, and now the work is gathering momentum.
Her Circle
Her Circle, my support community for women in business, now has 18 members who meet monthly in five intimate circles. Circles meet in Clonakilty, Bantry and online (morning and evening). Her Circle is my way of creating a hopeful reality. As the distance between what we show online and what we experience grows, many feel too embarrassed to share their struggles. The women of Her Circle choose to come together, show up for themselves and for each other. They courageously talk about their challenges in running a business as women in this time. They choose to take their masks off and lift each other up.
Last month we talked about the challenges that come with being a creative business owner who is wearing many hats. Finding the words to communicate what it is you do with diverse activities was a common challenge, and we explored ways to overcome that. The women shared the daily practices, like meditation, journaling, drawing, walking and swimming, that help them show up as their best selves for business and life. Something that sounds small, but opened an interesting discussion, was how to successfully run a business with your life partner. A trickier task than you’d think. The topics of setting boundaries and managing perfectionism keep coming back. And as always, in any circle you’d hear belly laughs and see eyes welling up. Last month was no different.
For now, I’m limiting Her Circle to 30 women so that I can protect its intimate nature without overstretching myself. If this sounds like something that could support you or someone you know, get in touch. A few spaces remain in the in-person circles, with greater availability online. You can find out more at www.thinkvisual.ie/hercircle.
Coaching clients
In my work as a coach, I’m drawn to the flow and tension between life purpose and the ways we show up in a business.
My clients are diverse: some are starting up; some have been at it a long while. All of them bring their hearts into their businesses. And while they don’t know about each other, I feel excited about the collective world they wish to build.
Unlike many business coaches, I invite my clients to imagine, draw and tell stories. I see the act of imagining in the way Jung described Fantasy: “the creative activity from which the answers to all answerable questions come; it is the mother of all possibilities”. My clients find new perspectives and access wisdom that wouldn’t be reachable when engaging the logical mind alone. Here are two examples my clients agreed to let me share:
One client, who is growing her business, imagined visiting a swamp, a place representing stuckness in her personal life and business. She was surprised to discover that the swamp also gave her space to steady herself. A place that supports her in facing the rapid and noisy flow of the river, representing the life she wants. What had felt stuck became clear, and she was able to make decisions and move forward.
With another client who is starting a new business, we explored the experience of working hard with little to show for it. She described feeling like a moth banging on the window, not being able to see what was stopping her progress. She found a new direction in exploring the perspective of a boulder. As a boulder, she experienced a sense of strength and solidity, not trying or apologising for who she is. She found patience and a way to slow down and find her own pace. She was able to access a sense of confidence that wasn’t available to her before: “I'm done with underestimating myself... Even on your worst day, you're damn good”.
When the chaos in my clients’ heads turns into a picture, through visualisation or drawing, the path forward often just appears. The stories we tell open doors to new places. We find ways to slow down, plan small experiments, break them into manageable steps and move through fears.
If that sounds like something that could help you, I’d love to hear from you. Visit my coaching page to find out more information or book a free discovery call.
The fourth Lighthouse Lab
In the spring, I launched the Lighthouse Lab as a series of mini-workshops I host with different people from my network. Each lab is a space to experiment, exploring business and life through a new lens. At the last Lighthouse Lab, I was joined by Daniel Alberts; we explored how we can grow our confidence with money, releasing old beliefs, changing habits and facing the constant question of how to have more of it. Three things came out of the session. First, a participant highly recommended the book Profit First. I’ve since read it and started applying it to my business. Second, we were offered the opportunity to send questions to the book’s author, Mike Michalowicz, who will answer them in a video. So, instead of holding an October Lighthouse Lab, I’m inviting anyone who has read the book to send their questions to my email. I’ll share both the questions and Mike’s video with everyone. Third, the session made it even clearer that we need a space where we can talk honestly about money. All I can say for now is I heard you, and I’m on it. More will follow soon. If you want to stay in the loop about future Lighthouse Labs, make sure you’re subscribed to my Substack or LinkedIn newsletter.
The Welcome To Project
Since August, I've been working with West Cork Development Partnership (WCDP) to launch a national movement to facilitate small local acts by people who care, so that the Ireland of a hundred thousand welcomes becomes a reality for all. The plan is to use a “Tidy Towns” model, making it easy for the local people who would like to see Ireland embrace its multicultural identity, but don’t know how to help. The project will offer structure, support and resources. I’m busy working with the WCDP to get everything ready for the four public meetings in Bantry, Skibbereen, Clonakilty and Bandon in November. If you are interested in joining, you can find out more information on the website, which will be live soon at www.welcometoproject.ie.
Sunyata Board - Vision and Leadership Day
Last month I travelled up to County Clare to work with the board of a Buddhist Retreat Centre, Sunyata. The focus for the day was to find a united vision that the board and the community would support. I invited the board to share stories from the past, from the early days of Sunyata and through the years of its evolution. The symbol that kept coming up was the Hawthorn tree. We heard the story of how Sunyata came to be: while on a pilgrimage, the founders slept under a Hawthorn tree, where Sunyata is now standing. They watched a meteor shower, a truly magical moment that confirmed for them that this was the place they were looking for. Forty years later, the new board found new meaning in the Hawthorn tree - a symbol for their new vision. The deep roots draw nourishment from Irish culture while also feeding off a tradition that originated in Buddha’s time. Sunyata, like the Hawthorn, is adaptable and resilient, providing refuge and shelter, a medicine for the heart. In the words of Sarah Jane Burton, the chair of Sunyata: “It's been very unifying as a board, and for our ideas. It feels like we're a united front now. We know who we are and who we're not, and energetically that will come across, because we've done this work today.”
If you are running a project or organisation and need help with expanding its reach and building a community around your offering, get in touch. I will have availability to support new clients in 2027.
Wishing you a sweet year
Before I say goodbye, I want to share a small ritual I love. One of the traditions of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is to eat symbolic foods as blessings for the year ahead. We dip an apple in honey as a wish for a sweet year, and eat beetroot, with its cleansing properties, as a way of letting go of unhelpful beliefs.
This year I'm drawn to the pomegranate. Tradition says it holds 613 seeds, one for every commandment, and the blessing is that our good deeds be as many as its seeds. But when I open one, I see something else too. Each seed is wrapped in its own jewel of sweet juice. The seeds sit together in little chambers, separated by thin walls, all held inside one tough skin. It reminds me of community: each of us a small, sweet kernel, and together a powerful medicine for healing.
And like a community, getting to the sweetness takes patience, and you might get a little messy along the way.
Thank you for being with me this year, reading my writing and sending me encouraging messages, showing up to the circles and events, and working with me.
I wish you all a sweet year, a year in which you will find your people and the power within you to grow.
Naomi
