Over here at The Women’s Organisation we love nothing more than hearing the uplifting stories from the women we’ve helped through our ‘Change it: Progress to Success’ programme. If you’re feeling like your confidence could do with a boost but you’re struggling to set the wheels in motion then hear from Sophie, a recent change it graduate who after lacking self-belief for so long decided to do something about it…
“If you could have seen me a few years ago, I was a very different mum with a very different mindset. Negative thinking was keeping me in a place that I didn’t want to be in. I knew I wanted to become a beauty therapist, but I genuinely lacked the belief system and motivation to do anything about it. There I was, a single mum with a dream just coasting through my life and then out of the blue the Change it programme appeared at the Stoney Croft Children’s Centre and the line worker insisted that I go on to it after seeing a lot of women transform their lives after completing it.
I moved to Liverpool with my children after falling in love with the city but at first, I felt isolated. Someone in my local shop suggested trying the Stoney Croft Children’s Centre and the kids loved it! There was really no excuse for me to start following my dreams, but the self-belief demon had a hold, telling me “you’re not clever enough, you aren’t good enough” and because I knew it a year had passed without me even trying to ring the college.
Then change it happened and I have never looked back.
The first session I met the trainer Mandy, I knew I was in safe hands. I felt like I was in the right place at the right time and of course having childcare meant that I wasn’t worried about my kids.
After the first session I began to realise that I was not alone, there were lots of mothers who felt stuck in their lives and I wasn’t the only one. Most of the mums wanted to do something with their lives, they wanted more but just lacked the confidence to do it. We’re not lazy, we don’t sit around watching daytime TV all day, that’s a misconception.
I had no idea that we could alter our thinking and as Mandy says, “Stinking thinking needs a shrinking”. We can change our thought patterns and I didn’t realise that not being assertive stops us from becoming who we are meant to become… it was a real eye opener to say the least.
I have changed for the better, I am more confident and after the course I applied for the Level 2 in Beauty Therapy at Liverpool Community College and guess what, I got in! I used to go over everything in my head all the things that could go wrong in the interview until I changed my thinking to “What could go right?”
The advice I would give to any mum thinking of doing the Change it course in any Children’s Centre is “Go for it as it’s life changing”. It’s like having a tool kit for your life, Challenge limiting beliefs, change your thinking, access your values and lots more. I would probably be still sitting there only dreaming of going to college and look at me now getting my life ready and on the path to becoming a proper beauty therapist. Stop dreaming, start doing and enroll for Change it!”
Thank Sophie for sharing your fantastic story, we wish you all the best for your future! Join us over on Twitter and Facebook to keep updated with all things Change it!
We’re about to announce a number of Change it sessions around Liverpool within the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!
If you’d like to find out more information about the programme contact us on 0151 706 8111 or email us on hello@thewo.org.uk and find out how we can support you.
