Tell us about your business – what do you do, who are your clients, and why do they choose to work with you?

I’m Wendy, the founder of iMastery – a boutique training consultancy that designs and facilitates leadership and productivity training programs for busy professionals and organisations. I help people to optimise focus, master distraction, and help businesses elevate employee engagement and profitability. Participants and clients tell me they value my hands-on experience as a business owner, general manager, consultant, parent, and the real-world perspective that I bring to my work. Within iMastery I offer online and in-person masterclasses and coaching, including:

 Leader as Coach
 Better Ways of Working: How to optimise productivity and focus working from home
 Working and Living into Our Values

How did you get to where you are today?

iMastery exists through both hard work and good fortune. In 2005 I was the General Manager of a boutique recruitment agency in Melbourne. The business owner and I came to a crossroads with the direction of the business, and at the same time one of my key staff members, Sally, was relocating to Sydney, so I seized the opportunity and moved there too. With Sally & Meg’s help we launched iPeople, a recruitment and training company, and within a year the business expanded into both Sydney and Melbourne. Five years later more good fortune came my way; I sold the larger recruitment division of iPeople just two months before my first daughter was born. I retained the training side of the business and rebranded it to iMastery. Today 90% of iMastery’s business comes through word-of-mouth. I am incredibly grateful to my clients and participants who value what I do and refer my programs onto others.

What do you love most about your work?

I feel privileged that I get to serve people and play a part in their professional and personal development. I love the win-win that comes with employees being engaged with their work and making progress towards something that is personally meaningful, and the profit and growth that comes as a result of people being in alignment with their organisation’s mission. I’m also grateful that my work enables me to continually learn about leadership, focus and productivity. Fifteen years in and I still get a big smile when I’m reading a new article or nutting out how to apply insights; I get to teach strategies that also enable me to be the best version of myself. And, I have to say I enjoy being self-employed. I love the autonomy it offers, the freedom to largely choose my own working hours and the type of work I take on.

What’s one habit you stick to that’s helped in the success of your business?

In my line of work I have lots of habits that I implement to support my focus and enable my best work. My top three include:

1. Regularly journaling things for which I’m grateful. An attitude of gratitude enables me to feel more centred and accommodate both the highs and lows that are a part of life.

2. Using my 4Ps End-of-Day Checklist to systematically close out my day and plan for the next day.

3. Using Outlook Tasks as my to-do list and viewing it next to my calendar. This enables me to keep out of my inbox, save time, prioritise effectively and quarantine time for deep work.

What’s one piece of advice that has never left you?

About 14 years ago I was leading up to my first experience speaking at a conference. Despite having practiced my short speech over and over I was feeling completely overwhelmed and downright sick. My partner Michael, who has loads of public speaking experience, gave me a piece of advice that was so helpful and I’ll always remember: “Put your self-consciousness to the side and focus on serving the audience. It is all about them and their learning and inspiration.”
He enabled me to see that I had put in the necessary preparation, had valuable content to share with the audience and was getting lost in worrying about myself (not without reason as when I get embarrassed my face can blush to an extreme red, so that I just get even more embarrassed!) Like most people I still feel nervous before public speaking, but 14 years on I’m getting better at channelling my nervous energy into excitement, stepping forward and focusing on the value I’m sharing with the audience, rather than my own fears.

What impact has investing in your personal brand had on you or your business?

I love having a library of photos – thanks Fi! It has helped position my professionalism, credibility and approachability. And of course your beautiful photos never fail to generate compliments. A completely unexpected benefit of having professional, on-brand, ready-to-use photos is that it makes my blog and social media posts more engaging. I’m sharing more content and reaching more people. I envisage that a Fi Mims photo shoot will be an annual investment. Thanks for making the process so worthwhile and fun!

Bio:
Wendy is on a mission is to help people in business apply strategies that will enable them to be their best, and as a result do their best work. She started her first business, iPeople, in 2005, and went on to create iMastery in 2010, but has been designing and facilitating workshops on leadership, management, productivity, and recruitment since 2003. When not working Wendy loves getting outdoors with her partner Michael and their two young daughters. She also enjoys reading, cooking with organic whole foods, daily walks with her dog, and is grateful for any week when she can make it to three or more yoga classes!

You can connect with Wendy at imastery.com.au and on Linked In at https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendycoleimastery/