I’m not big on sitting in peak hour traffic and I’m certainly not big on William Nicol Drive at 5pm. So when I received an invitation, via my business coach Brent Spilkin, to a presentation at the Microsoft offices, featuring Rich Mullholland, hosted by Heavy Chef, I took the plunge, because these are names you don’t let traffic stand in the way of.

On the morning of the presentation I received an email from Heavy Chef welcoming me, and reminding me to tweet as many times as I could, about the event. I’m not the biggest tweeter, but there were prizes to be won, and I never win anything because I never enter anything!! I managed to tweet twice and the prize I was after, was for an online digital marketing course, with GetSmarter.

I made it through the traffic, attended the event, which was mind-blowing, Rich Mulholland puts on a really good presentation, and at the end they announced the Twitter winners. I just knew I was going to win, and I did. I needed some variation in my working life, it was time to step out of my very predictable comfort zone.

And I won the course…it’s all about the law of attraction they say…that day, I say it was all about manifestation and determination. I really, really wanted to win, and I did.

So after 30 years, I became a student again, and embarked on a 10 week online course. It was the craziest 10 weeks, I didn’t know what had hit me, and as I am a bit of an overachiever, not passing wasn’t an option. I started to engage with people, I spent hours on Google learning about everything digital, and I really started to understand how fast our world is changing, and how important it is, no matter how old you are (I’m 52), that you have to be evolving with it, otherwise you will truly be left behind.

I’ve received my certificate acknowledging my participation. I passed, which is such an awesome feeling, you have no idea how hard I worked to gain an overall pass rate of 71%, this course was so far out of my comfort zone. It was intense, it was challenging on many, many levels, but the doors it’s opened are beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I’ve met the most incredible people in cyberspace, I’ve connected with relevant people in my field, and I’ve been introduced to a whole new world.

As the launch of the HJ online store approaches, my newly acquired knowledge, in so many fields, is going to benefit me, my future clients and all who are connected to HJ production and retail. The journey is going to be a much more enlightened one.

Through the digital course I came across an online photography course which I joined, and I am now busy seeing and connecting with the world on so many different levels. There is so much available online today. I never thought I could study ‘on my own’ but the support in the forums and groups from fellow students, is like nothing I could have ever imagined.
❤️ Hayley