Christine Maragkakis is a Women’s Life coach, Mindfulness Specialist, Podcaster and Motivational Speaker with over 20 years experience of empowering women to thrive. She has worked within private practice, SEN education, mental health provisions, challenging behaviour units and the criminal justice system. Supporting women from all walks of life to take ownership of their lives through challenging and changing their beliefs and mindset.
Chris has been hosting the Mindful Mutterings podcast for over a year which provides insights and practical solutions to finding joy and managing the anxiety, overwhelm, low self esteem, imposter syndrome, fear of failure and complicated relationships that most of us face at some point in our lives. She has been happily married for thirty one years with two adult children and a gorgeous spocker. Chris loves to travel and explore her spirituality.
Thank you for interviewing with us today, can you introduce yourself to us?
Hi, I’m Chris Maragkakis.I’m a Women’s Life coach and I work with women who may be experiencing anxiety, overwhelm, low self esteem, fear of failure or loss of identity to support them in reconnecting to themselves so that they can begin to identify, challenge and change the aspects of their mindset and lives that are not working for them. Empowering them to thrive, regain their mojo and live life with confidence.
I bring women together in circles to create an opportunity for them to be heard, to connect in community to share their wisdom and their stories so that they may support each other to grow.
I host Mindful Mutterings, a weekly podcast that offers practical insights and easy to apply mindfulness based strategies to help us to better manage the complicated emotions, unhelpful beliefs and challenging pace of our lives that can prevent us from reaching our potential and impact on our wellbeing.
I am a motivation speaker and wellbeing provider offering aspirational practices and life skills to improve communication,relationships,focus, motivation and wellbeing.
Can you take us through your journey to where you are now?
I started my working life in banking but quickly found that while I enjoyed the work, it didn’t fulfil me. I began volunteering at a local school for pupils with challenging behaviour and that led me onto working within SEN education, mental health provisions.
When our daughter was born prematurely, she was poorly and while we were very grateful for the medical support, I felt there had to be a better way of managing her health. I began researching alternative solutions and this led me to Feng Shui and reiki which had an immediate effect on her wellbeing and she has continued to thrive ever since.
As they say, seeing was believing and I felt that an alternative option could also be used for supporting mental health and challenging behaviours. I trained as an holistic therapist with many modalities and brought this knowledge and skill set to the work that I was doing. My own journey led me to mindfulness and I loved that we could take absolute responsibility for our own lives by taking control of our minds.
In my private practice, I found that more of my clients were wanting to spend their time talking with me about the difficulties that they were facing in their lives and asking for help in finding solutions. The natural progression was to train in Cognitive behaviour Therapy (CBT) and become a Life Coach integrating all my experience as a mindfulness practitioner and holistic therapist into my work and I absolutely love helping women to become empowered, fulfilled and happy.
Since starting, have you made any changes to your business model?
Absolutely!I had no idea how to run a business when I started and had to learn everything on the job, some of which worked and some didn’t but it’s when things don’t go to plan that I often learn the most. Over the last twenty years social media and technology have become huge factors in my work and I have had to get to grips with them. Like most businesses, I had to change my delivery through Covid and have found working online to be an excellent addition to my practice. I have also come to realise that as a sole trader, I need to outsource the work that limits the time I can otherwise spend with clients.
Have you ever had a mentor? If so how has this benefitted you either personally or professionally?
I have had a mentor and must have supervision as part of my professional practice. The opportunity to reflect on my own practice with someone in a similar profession offers up the opportunity for sharing resources, experiences and CPD opportunities. I also find it inspiring to learn about other people’s journeys and the way that they have dealt with their mindset and adversity.
What outlets do use for marketing?
I use Facebook, Instagram and Google my business. I have recently embraced networking.
What or Who has inspired you most recently?
The women in this group. It’s inspiring to see you all empowered and focused on creating the businesses and lives that you want to live.
What is the best piece of business advice you have received to date?
To be myself.I can’t remember who said it to me but it really resonated and has become the foundation of my life and my work. It doesn’t matter how many coaches, podcasters etc there are in the world. There is only one of me and that is my superpower so I must be authentic and true to myself.
How do you create an evenly balanced work and personal life?
It’s all about give and take. I am working while everyone else is out at work,but then making sure that when I am with family and friends that they are my priority. I have a comprehensive self care package including daily meditation, yoga and dog walks. I have lots of time away either at weekends or travelling and monthly reiki and acupuncture treatments to keep myself well. Having effective boundaries is imperative for maintaining a work life balance.
Name a seminal point in your career so far?
Taking the plunge and deciding to be totally self employed without relying on subcontracting to other wellbeing providers/or institutions. My family and friends are my biggest cheerleaders and having their support and backing has empowered me to totally invest in myself and my business so that I can devote the time and energy to it to take it in the direction that I want it to go.
What gives you ultimate career satisfaction?
For me it’s when out of the blue a client or listener to my podcast gets in touch and says,” I just wanted you to know, this happened to me today and because I had worked with you/ heard your podcast, I was able to do this or that and handle it effectively”. Empowering women to live life on their terms is THE reason I do this and I am so grateful that I get to work with such inspiring women.
Are there any leading entrepreneurs or SME leaders that you admire and if so, why?
I admire Byron Katie for her resilience and honesty and Fearne Cotton for her ability to turn adversity into triumph and create a huge business with integrity.
How do you define your own success?
Doing what I love everyday on my terms, in the way that I want to do it knowing that I am supporting other women to grow.
Finally, what can we expect from you next?
I am working on growing my podcast and taking on more motivational speaking opportunities and I have a book in the pipeline so that I can continue to educate and hopefully inspire other women to identify, challenge and change what is no longer working for them so that they can create the life that they want to live and show up in the world as the woman they want to be. Watch this space ..
https://www.instagram.com/simply.be.wellbeing/
