The very first thing I ever wanted to be was an author. I read avidly from the age of 7 and by 11 I was writing stories I intended to become books. Remarkably my English teacher at secondary school was a best-selling author and that really inspired me. But my dream took a back seat during my first career in media.
It was only much later, after 10 years of being coach on the publication of my third and best-known book, Soul Trader – Putting the Heart Back into Your Business in 2012, that I remembered being an author was my dream. I found my English teacher via Linked In and thanked him. He was kind enough to reply saying that he always knew I’d make writing something for my career.
Soul Trader is a coach-yourself book for new and established sole traders and small business owners. It helps you build an authentic business by following your heart, passion talents and values. I wrote it because I found that many of the books out there didn’t chime with me. It’s been an amazing journey. It has 5 star-rated, widely acclaimed, translated into over 15 languages and found readers in over 5 continents. I remember receiving a message from someone in Australia saying they’d just bought it from a bookshop in Melbourne because the cover and title resonated with them! That’s incredibly touching.
The Coaching Academy also played a key part in my story. While training as a coach with The Coaching Academy, I found myself writing what would become my first book The Gift of Inner Success. I later self-published this short book. My advice here is if you want to write a book, just start writing and start small. If I hadn’t self-published that book I would have not have been as appealing to my publishers. After trying to find a publisher they found me. The future editor of Soul Trader, who has herself had just become a business coach, attended a talk I run at the British Library where I am the life/business coach partner.
I’ve also had the joy of being a guest trainer running courses on how to build your brand for The Coaching Academy in the past so I’d like to thank The Coaching Academy and the amazing trainers for the part they played in my journey as a coach, author and speaker.
Rasheed Ogunlaru is an accomplished life coach, motivational speaker and business / corporate coach. He has also served as an external trainer for the Coaching Academy. You can catch up with him: Twitter @rasheedogunlaru.
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