I’ve always found it hard to hide my personality and for those of you who know me well you can probably understand why. As a young career woman and someone who has always wanted to be successful from an early age I was very aware that there was a ‘right’ way to conform in the business world.

I will never forget an interview that I had with a recruitment consultant called Ben who asked me to come into the office for a more formal interview before recommending me to his clients. We sat on a sofa (actually very informally) and I talked about my past experiences. We got along very well and even started to laugh about my achievements in sales previously where I was always top of the leader boards against a hundred salesmen. After giving it the large Ben then asked to see me in action, my heart sank as I’d actually not sold in a few years. He looked around the office till finally he set eyes on my oversized black bag. He said ‘sell me your bag’. The relief slowly washed over me as there was one thing I knew a lot about that was all things bags and shoes. My pitch went a little like this…

A black shiney timeless bag, never out of fashion and always unique. It goes with anything and everything and can be as little or as overstated as you wish with the right attire and a smile. Who would not want this bag?

Ben has since told me that this was one of the most memerable meetings of his career and he will never forget Becky who made him want to buy a man bag :)

It has always shocked me that one of the main reasons an employer would hire me was that I always left a lasting impression by not only having the skills required for the role but I’d also fit in well with the other staff and would bring some well needed energy.
I was always known for energising the office and was highly motivated to achieve great things. I aspired to be the best and enjoyed some light hearted office banter along the way.

Because of my enthusiasm and obvious work ethics it was never long before I was ready to progress my career to the next level. As soon as I was mixing with more senior leaders I was no longer allowed to be me but a clone of all those around me. What had made me different from the rest before had now been stripped away and I was told if I wanted to progress I had to start acting tougher, staying later (I worked 12 hour days already) and to stop having so much fun.

Even though I worked hard and took my job very seriously I often found myself feeling very dissatisfied. I learnt very quickly that if I was not enjoying myself then I could not perform at my best. I was actually exhausted from pretending to love my job and pretending to be someone else. I was always chasing my next promotion and felt no real drive after a while from working pay cheque to pay cheque. In fact once the fun had left the building it was not long after that I followed.

I have always been lucky enough to understand where my strengths and weaknesses lay (after learning from experiences) and that in this case if I was no longer passionate or having fun then I was not going to be successful and achieve great things.

Feeling a little lost while slowly loosing my self-belief I started looking at successful business people around me whom I admired not just as a business professional but as a person as well. I was invited round for dinner with Penny and Thomas Power (owners and founders of www.Ecademy.com) and Penny said something to me over dinner that really struck a cord…

” Becky, being yourself is more than enough, you just have to find something that is right for you and makes you happy, follow your heart”

As cliche and poetic as it sounds I knew then and there that I was going to start my own business doing something I love and doing it as me.

Since then I have attracted some fantastic people into my life who like me just the way I am. I’m lucky enough to work with people who quite frankly I do not need to impress. I work with integrity, professionalism and still encompass all the great attributes that I have always had but I have re-acquired my right to be myself and that has not only made my new business start to flourish but has made me very happy.

Someone who I admire for being themselves is Brad Burton the MD of 4Networking which is the fastest growing networking group in the world. He is also the author of the book ‘Get Of Your Arse’ which I read in about 2 days as I could just not put it down.

Take a look at this video where Brad also shares his views on being yourself in business.

Brad does have the Marmite effect but I absolutely love him!

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