Interview Spotlight With Clare Roberts-Molloy
Clare is a Leadership and Potentiality Coach, empowering individuals to discover their purpose and realise their personal and professional potential. Clare has been coaching individuals for more than 10 years and her work currently focuses on women over 40, helping them negotiate the next season of their lives and realise it’s never too late to achieve their goals and live the life of their dreams. As an award winning and self-confessed multi-entrepreneur Clare is passionate about promoting and supporting her community. She is the curator and license holder of TEDx Wolverhampton, Founder and Chair of Periods Matter (a period poverty charity), a Magistrate and Trustee and Director of several other women focused charities and organisations. When not working, Clare can be found walking, often with her camera in hand, meditating, or curled up reading.
Thank you for interviewing with us today, can you introduce yourself to us?
I’m Clare and I’m the founder of Clare Roberts-Molloy Ltd a coaching practice supporting women to realise their personal and professional potential. My work focuses predominantly on women over 40 who have put their dreams on hold while building a career and/or raising a family and are now thinking ‘what next?’, or feeling it is too late for them to achieve their dreams.
I’m also the founder of Periods Matter, a charity which aims to reduce period poverty in the Black Country and currently supports more than 1000 individuals per year, as well as delivering educational workshops into schools, universities, and workplaces.
Can you take us through your journey to where you are now?
Prior to launching my coaching practice, I developed a 20+ year career in business development and fundraising across several sectors including public sector research, health and social care and the voluntary and community sector.
Giving back and contributing to my community and hometown of Wolverhampton are hugely important to me and I have been a Magistrate for 15 years and in 2018 founded TEDxWolverhampton to highlight the amazing talent, creativity, and innovation of people in the city.
My purpose is to inspire potential, and it is the thread that runs through everything I do. Whether I’m coaching a woman to achieve her dreams, take the next courageous step in her career, or get on stage as a TEDx speaker, I love showing individuals the immense potential they have within themselves.
I’m also a mum of three and when not working you’ll find me walking my puppy in the park, taking nature photos or curled up with a good book and a steaming cup of coffee!
Since starting, have you made any changes to your business model?
When I started out as a coach, my niche was start-up businesses as I believed my experience as a business development professional naturally leant itself to this area. However, over the years I have narrowed my niche to women over the age of 40 after reaching this landmark age myself and seeing so many women around me struggling. The women I speak work with often find the approach of their 40th birthday daunting and stage whisper their age with a level of embarrassment, as if being over 40 is something to be ashamed of.
In contrast, I took a completely different approach to turning 40, seeing it as an amazing opportunity to reinvent my life and live it to the max! Since turning 40 I’ve got married to my wife, completed the virtual London marathon, started my MBA, founded a charity, launched a new business, and ticked many items off my bucket list! I don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon and will be completing a skydive this year.
Have you ever had a mentor? If so, how has this benefitted you either personally or professionally?
I haven’t had a formal mentor, but I have had bosses and senior colleagues who have acted in the informal role of mentor throughout my career. However, as a coach, I always have a coach, ensuring I’m always growing and developing and able to serve my clients to the best of my ability.
What outlets do use for marketing?
I predominantly use Facebook and Instagram for marketing along with my website. I currently schedule my posts via Hootsuite and use Eventbrite and Allevents for marketing my workshops and trainings. I find Mailchimp fantastic for building my email list and creating and publishing my newsletter.
The value and power of word-of-mouth recommendations should also never be neglected.
What or Who has inspired you most recently?
That’s a tricky one as I find so many people inspiring! I’m constantly inspired by the amazing women I see smashing it online, for example Lisa Fox and Lisa Johnson. I’m also inspired by my friend and author Marlene Wagman who had the dream of seeing her name on the spine of a book and, despite years of rejection, has just published her 12th book. I’m also inspired closer to home and seeing friends and family demonstrate great resilience to overcome huge personal challenges. Inspiration is all around us, we only need to open our eyes to it.
What is the best piece of business advice you have received to date?
I’ve read and received so much business advice over the years, but the piece of advice that immediately comes to mind was from my business coach who pointed out very simply that you can have a fancy website and shiny business plan, but if you aren’t putting out offers and services that your ideal client wants to purchase then you don’t have a business.
How do you create an evenly balanced work and personal life?
This is something I’ve struggled with, but after facing potential burnout on more than one occasion, I now ensure I take time off and ring fence time for myself and self-care. It was a tough lesson to learn, but I now set boundaries around my time, after realising others aren’t going to respect my time, if I don’t demonstrate respect for myself.
What gives you ultimate career satisfaction?
I gain career satisfaction form seeing clients flourish and achieve things they didn’t think were possible or only a distant dream. I also gain huge satisfaction from the work of my charity, Periods Matter and from seeing our TEDxWolverhampton speakers take to the stage after months of coaching, preparation and rehearsals.
Are there any leading entrepreneurs or SME leaders that you admire and if so, why?
I love the work of Steven Bartlett and Sara Davies. They are both hugely successful, but also very relatable and generous in their approach. They’re providing a different image of an entrepreneur for young people to look up to, which is very much needed.
How do you define your own success?
I define my success by living true to my values and in alignment with my purpose. Money is a necessary part of business, but for me the satisfaction I gain from seeing women face their fears, overcome their challenges, achieve their goals/dreams and realise their potential is success in itself!
Finally, what can we expect from you next?
My plans for this year include launching my Podcast series where I’ll be interviewing some amazing women who have achieved great things later in life. I’m also in the process of writing my first book and have set myself a deadline of October 2023 to have the manuscript finished, so watch this space!!
