I was recently interviewed by Paula Anderson, the founder of Writing by Design Media, Inc. Here is the article in its entirety:
Learning from an experience ignited the entrepreneurial spirit for Teresa Phelps.
Phelps is a grief recovery method specialist. She provides grief support and life coaching as a way to help others from her experience as a mother.
"My goal was not to become an entrepreneur, I was experiencing the pressure of having my second daughter later in life, and it didn't start out as I had hoped," said Phelps.
According to the website, her daughter would not sleep and she knew this was not normal.
"I was struggling to heal, I was challenged in connecting with my daughter and handling the day to day tasks that I had done so well before. I began to believe that we had made a mistake by having our daughter…but in my heart I knew that wasn’t true," said Phelps.
This experience led her to help others, so she became an entrepreneur - a problem-solver.
Handling life events can be a challenge and Phelps wanted to give individuals tools beyond what they have learned about grief thus far in their life. Grief is a normal and natural response to any loss or change in routine.
Grief deserves to be acknowledged and felt without using the traditional five stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance according to Elisabeth Kiibler Ross, psychiatrist, who developed the concept.
“There are over 40 life experiences that may cause grief, things we may not even think of, such as filing for bankruptcy, losing a pet, normal things like moving or ending and starting the school year, and each one may have a different grief response,” said Phelps.
As an entrepreneur, she has experienced challenges and points out the myths about grief - ‘time heals all wounds, be strong, grieve alone, replace the loss, stay busy, don't feel sad' have been passed down to help us cope with grief, but these concepts are not very helpful at all, stated Phelps.
While it may seem like a glamorous role, Phelps shared her typical day as an entrepreneur.
“I attend networking events, handle paperwork which is not my favorite task, see clients one-on-one and in support groups, and create new content to better serve my clients,” said Phelps.
When Phelps started her business, she wanted to help others learn how to cope with grief, and as she continues to learn she takes advantage of learning resources and training opportunities to grow her business.
“I've taken and continue to take many different courses and trainings to gain tools to build self-awareness and effective coaching techniques. I love to learn. Currently I am enrolled in the Compassion Code Academy to learn better self-care. I also love to read my Bible,” said Phelps.
From a business perspective, she takes advantage of resources offered by the Women’s Business Center South on one-on-one coaching, business development, contracting, and marketing.
Her advice to others in this industry is to ‘work harder on yourself than your business, do the work, and understand why you want to help people.’
One of the challenges of entrepreneurship is staying motivated to continue the journey.
Phelps shared these helpful tips - ‘get plenty of rest, acknowledge wins, give up control of what you want it to look like and be flexible in the journey.’
To learn more about the Restoration Shoppe, visit https://www.restorationshoppe.com/.
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