Wow! talentX is 1 month old!

June 23, 2022

One month at a time.......1

By Danielle Blizzard

Hey everyone 👋🏻

Wow! talentX is 1 month old already and I wanted to celebrate by sharing some insight on what’s happened since we launched.

It's been a rollercoaster of a month—the weeks before and during the launch, I felt a lot of nervousness, anxiety, and excitement. I’m not afraid to say that I wasn’t always in the best place and I started questioning myself a lot—was I doing the right thing? Should I just get a stable job? Can I really do this? Am I good enough? 🤯

There were also moments when everything seemed possible: when someone told me they loved what I was doing, when someone else told me they needed our services in their life, when we had our first paying customer—those were moments when it all felt real again.

You know how sometimes you just want to celebrate? Well, I'm celebrating! ❤️ 🎉

I signed our first retained client during the first week (I'm still not sure how this happened) and I am now the interim Chief People Officer for a FinTech in Dubai that is about to raise its Series B and needs some serious help in building their people and talent functions. It's a 3 day a week project that allows me to build the business on the other days, and the CEO is supporting me fully to build a world-class management consultancy with talentX.

I'm still figuring out exactly what that means and looks like, but I’m working hard every day to make sure it includes everything we want: best-in-class people & talent strategies, world-class training and career development programs, and an incredible culture that inspires people, every single day.

A LOT can happen in one month. Here are some things that I've learnt:

1. People are REALLY nice! I have been getting a ton of support, love and encouragement from people who are excited about my journey. I've had more people reach out to me than ever before wishing me luck, supporting and rooting for me, founders offering to share advice and learnings from their own experiences. The only downside in this is that I've had a lot of lunches and definitely need to go on a diet now!!

2. Routine is key. When you have a routine and you stick to it, everything else seems to fall into place. It's so easy to get distracted by all the different things going on in your life, but if you keep yourself on track with your goals and keep working towards them every day—even if it's just a little bit—then they'll happen sooner than you think! I signed up to letswork and it's been a great reason to leave the house - it has also allowed me to see more of Dubai and visit places I've never been before - again, not helping with the diet!!!

3. Keep doing exercise! It helps me clear my head and get those endorphins flowing, so that I can focus on other things. That said, I'm not doing enough of it, but I am trying to get better about this. I've been playing netball and also done some swimming training! I managed to do a 1km swim PB of 26.52 minutes (WIP for the triathlon). 🏐 🏊🏻‍♀️

4. Spend time building relationships with clients that you want to work with, but don't take on too much work at once. Instead, focus on the clients you already have or are talking to. It'll pay off in the long run!

5. There will be some people who surprise you by not supporting you - don't take it personally! They probably have other things going on or are just jealous - either way, don't let their negativity get to you because there are plenty more people out there who are supporting you!

6. Make sure you celebrate every small win - it’ll keep you motivated. My friends were there for me when I won my first client, so we popped some champagne together (which has now become a candle holder, because why not?) 🍾🥂🕯

7. Stick to your terms! When you have confidence in your ability and ways of working, people will respect you for it.

8. Have fun at the same time! I love getting to know new people, working with them on projects, and just having fun at work. I’ve been so surprised at how well it works when you take the pressure off yourself and just enjoy what you’re doing!

You know what else happened? I did a lot of self-reflection and learned how to better manage my energy (and not just when it comes to work). It's funny how much can happen in one month: from struggling with self-doubt and anxiety about whether I was capable of doing this…to building up confidence and winning some of my dream gigs.

2️⃣ So what’s in store for month two? Well, I'm heading back to the UK for two weeks of remote work and a wedding! It will be my first time back in over 2.5 years and I can't wait! 🇬🇧

I think I'm finally getting the hang of this whole "working for myself" thing—I can't wait to see how the business grows over the next month and I can't wait to tell you all about it! 🚀🙏🏼❤️

Other things that happened this month:

talentX Month 1 Playlist - I love my music and my playlists usually reflect how I'm feeling. Month 1 was definitely a mixed bag and I think you can hear the emotional journey I went through; lots of 90's (thank you M People), some of my favourite songs, a bit of pop, some motivational power songs, and of course, a Céline tune in there for good measure!! You can take a listen on Spotify here! It will be interesting to see what Month 2's playlist looks like 🎶 🎤 🎸

Playlist includes:

M People - Search for the Hero
Yusuf/Cat Stevens - Moonshadow
Mumford & Sons - Guiding Light
Elton John - I'm Still Standing
Coldplay - Adventure of a Lifetime
Five - Keep on Movin'
Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly
Eva Cassidy - Wade in the Water
The National - Morning Dew
CamalPhat, LOWEs - Easier
Tones & I - Fly Away
Editors - Papillon
Chaka Khan, Idina Menzel - I'm Every Woman
Paolo Nutini - Iron Sky
Céline Dion - A New Day Has Come
Mumford & Sons, Baaba Maal - There Will Be Time
Elbow - One Day Like This
Take That - Shine
Texas - Inner Smile
Heather Small - Proud

Monthly Book Reads - I didn't read nearly as much as I usually do but I guess that's because I was launching a business 😝📚🤓

1km Swim Time - 26.52 mins 🏊🏻‍♀️

Netball Matches Played - 10 🏐

Love

Danielle x

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