We are very proud to feature our Wonderful Web Radio Rising Star interview. In this segment, we speak with Claire Takacs. Claire spent 18 years working with clients from many backgrounds and with a variety of issues in both the government and non-government sectors. The majority of them had illegal substance use and mental health problems. She is a qualified Life Coach who quit her job in August 2014 to enjoy a temporary retirement and is now focusing on establishing a business to support micro business women to increase their confidence and to stop putting limits on their success. She does this by using one of her other passions, research, or to put it bluntly, looking up lots of stuff, finding out about neuroscience and then telling people about it. Claire is a single mother of two and a grandmother of six.

Transcript of the Interview

Announcement: Welcome to rising stars radio. Where we share the stories of ordinary people taking action to create extraordinary changes in their businesses. They are the true rising stars to watch. So get ready to take notes for our no-fluff, cutting to the chase, 20 minute interview.

Janet: Hello and welcome everybody, it’s Janet Beckers here, and this is Rising Stars Radio, and I have a lovely guest with us today, the gorgeous Claire Takacs. How are you going, Claire?

Claire: Very well, thank you Janet.

Janet: It’s wonderful to welcome you here. Rising Stars Radio is all about shining the light on the people who are in our community, the wonderful web community, who are taking action and really implementing things that they’ve learned into their businesses, and getting results, and very generously sharing tips with you about things that they’ve learned that’s going to make it so much easier for you when you’re there. So people who are actually at the coal face, sharing really practical things that are going to help you to get results. Claire has been a member of our community for ages now, Claire, it’s been a few years, I think.

Claire: It has.

Janet: Yeah, you’re definitely a part of the family.

Claire: Thank you.

Janet: Which is really lovely. So Claire, let’s start off … and also for everybody to know, my intention is to try and be able to get as much information from Claire and as much help from you as I can, in about 20 minutes. So we’re going to be zapping straight into the action. Claire, would you mind sharing with people, who it is that you help, and how is it that you help them?

Claire: Okay, I’m focusing on women who have micro businesses, very small businesses who work either online or who also have businesses that are offline. I’m targeting women who are basically single or divorced and don’t have that financial stability or structure that would come if you’re in a relationship.

Janet: Right.

Claire: Women who have children who are now financially out or about to be, and they’re really in the process of looking at their finances and creating a business that can carry them through to their later years, because the government keeps changing rules about retirement. A lot of the women that I’m supporting need to obtain skills and develop a mindset to be able to create the lifestyle that they really want, and also to start putting a greater value on their work, and really getting paid what they’re actually worth.

Janet: So women who … I guess it’s sort of like their ship’s burnt, in a way, they have to really create something that’s going to be sustainable for them, because they don’t have that kind of safety net.

Claire: That’s true, they don’t, and also I want them to stop putting limits on themselves, because quite often, they’ve got such a wealth of experience, and they don’t realize exactly how much they do know, and the knowledge that they can use in their businesses to help other people.

Janet: Right, yeah. You’ve got a bit of experience working with people, with life coaching and that sort of experience, haven’t you?

Claire: I’ve got my life coaching qualification. I also spent 18 years until last year, working in government departments and a couple of non-government organizations, with people who have lots and lots of … I suppose you could call it ‘head space problems’, and just really seeing the mindset that people have had, working with people with mental health issues, drug abuse issues, all sorts of different problems. Part of my role was to help support people with their recovery and also give them information about strategies and techniques to help them get through what they were going through.

Janet: Yeah, that’s just fantastic, to be able to being 18 years of experience working with people in really challenging situations … to be able to bring those skills and being able to help people in those situations, to now be able to bring that over, with the people who you’re working now, with these businesswomen, helping them create that success. You certainly have the experience and the expertise. You’re backing it with a lot of credibility that you’re bringing into this business.

Claire: Yeah, and it’s all about mindset. It doesn’t matter which group of people you work with, it’s all about the mindset and the attitude.

Janet: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, really, that’s the thing that really determines people’s success or not, isn’t it? It’s not so much if you’ve got the great business idea, it’s whether you’ve got your head straight to be able to get you there.

Claire: Yeah, it’s about the beliefs you have about yourself, and the faith you have in yourself, that you can actually do it. Also asking for help from people, and looking out for people who can help you and support you along the way. It makes a huge difference to have that help and support.

Janet: Yeah, absolutely, and that’s a lot where you fall in this, to helping people to do that. How do you actually work with people at the moment? I know that this business is in the start-up phase. So if there’s somebody who’s listening to this interview and thinks, “You know what, Claire is describing me,” and wants to know a little bit more about how you can help them, what sort of things … how do you help people now, and how are you planning to be able to help people more as the business grows?

Claire: What I’m doing now is setting up a series of webinars for people, to help with their mindset and look at different strategies that we can use. As part of that, I’m offering one-on-one sessions as well, mostly by Skype, because most people don’t live near me anyway, so we do a lot of Skype work. In the past, I did a lot of one-on-one coaching … I did most of it over the phone anyway. So that’s what I’m doing at the moment. Also giving them the resources, and finding out information for them that will help them along the way. So they don’t have to worry about going out looking for it. I can say, “These are some of the strategies I’ve found, these are some of the other resources I’ve found for you.” Then they can use those as well.

Janet: Yeah, absolutely. Because that’s the thing that people need the expert for, is you want … there’s so much information out there, how to know what is the right thing to do, to have somebody with your experience that can say, “Forget all of that white noise, this is the tool, the resource, that’s going to work for you.”

Claire: Exactly. Also one of the things I found … it doesn’t matter where people come from and what they’re doing … is that a lot of people have a fear of success, and that’s something that’s not recognized, so it’s about recognizing that as well. That quite often, people are more scared of success than anything else, but they disguise it as a fear of failure or something else.

Janet: Yeah, isn’t that crazy? It’s very very true, really true. Where can people find you, what’s your business name?

Claire: My business name is Business Mindset Mastery, and I have a Facebook page with that, Business Mindset Mastery, and also businessmindsetmastery.tv, which is going to be the podcast channel. I also will have a personal website, which is my name, C-L