Episode 63: The Leap - From Corporate Life to Entrepreneurship

Have you ever wondered what it's like to trade a stable job for the thrill of entrepreneurship suddenly? On today's episode, I am sharing how I stepped away from a secure corporate life into the exciting world of travel coaching with One Girl Travel. My personal transformation is a story that unfolds through solo adventures and leads to the empowering realm of guiding others. If you're seeking inspiration to follow your passion and the courage to take that first step, today's narrative promises to light that fire within you.

In a conversation charged with emotion and brimming with practical wisdom, I open up about the significance of listening to your inner voice and the role it plays in chasing happiness. I am a mentor who's passionate about fostering a community through the One Girl Travel Club, encouraging women to explore their dreams, whether it be in solo journeys, starting a business, or pursuing personal goals. For anyone on the verge of taking a leap or simply curious about the intersection of solo travel and entrepreneurship, this episode serves as a heartfelt compass, guiding you toward a life that resonates with joy and fulfillment.

If you enjoyed this episode of the One Girl Travel Podcast, then I invite you to follow me on Instagram. That's where all the fun is happening! @ONE_GIRL_TRAVEL

Follow me here: https://www.instagram.com/one_girl_travel/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the One Girl Travel Podcast, episode number 63.

Speaker 2: 0:05

Welcome to the One Girl Travel Podcast, your passport to the world of solo travel With certified life and travel coach, alessia Tenebruso. Join Alessia as she shares her own journey of self-discovery through solo travel, while also focusing on topics such as life coaching insights and travel tips along the way. Now here's your host, alessia Tenebruso.

Speaker 1: 0:31

Welcome to episode number 63 of the One Girl Travel Podcast. I'm Alessia, your host. I am a certified travel coach and a certified life coach, and I'm here today to talk to you about why I left my 14-year corporate career to focus and become an entrepreneur. So let's get into it. So I know I already shared in episode 61 that I was planning on leaving my job and it's official I am now a full-time entrepreneur. I am the full-time owner of One Girl Travel and I want to talk to you about that today, because solo travel played a part in this.

Speaker 1: 1:08

Solo travel is the reason for so many advancements in my life, for so much growth in my life, and I truly believe that solo travel is the physical experience and exercise of getting outside your comfort zone and putting yourself in situations that you're not used to and you don't feel comfortable doing, and doing it anyway, and growing and evolving and developing yourself through the act of solo travel. So when I tell all of you about how solo travel changed my life, it's not because I took a trip. It's because I put myself in a scenario where I felt so completely uncomfortable and not used to doing these things. I never did anything by myself when I first started this I was shy. I wouldn't talk to people, I wouldn't go anywhere. I didn't even know what I liked at that point because I completely lost myself after being in an abusive relationship. But then I realized if I want to rediscover who I am, I need to do something I've never done before. And I began solo traveling. That was the most far-fetched thing I can imagine for myself and I did it. And I did the first time and it was okay. I definitely was nervous, I had all the feelings. And I did it again, still nervous, still had all the feelings, still had self-doubt in there, still wasn't sure of myself. But I did it again, I did it again, I did it again. And now I'm 12 years in and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. It's very much second nature to me. I'm not going to say that I don't feel nervous when I embark on a new journey, but it's more of the anticipation of what's going to happen. How am I going to grow? What am I going to experience? Who am I going to meet on this journey?

Speaker 1: 3:02

And because I have been solo traveling for so long and have been doing this internal work with myself through solo travel and through life coaching that I found the confidence in myself to trust me and my capabilities, knowing what I can do and knowing that I can navigate any situation and succeed and prosper from it, and that's ultimately what gave me the courage to go after my entrepreneurship dreams. I started One Girl Travel in 2020 and I started it and I mean, it was a global pandemic when I started a travel coaching business, but I knew that I wanted to do this and that I needed to do this because it's so deep inside me that I want to share this knowledge and the power of solo travel with everybody that I had to go beyond myself and know that why I'm doing this is because there's a bigger message here and I want to share it with everybody. So that's why I did this and that's why I wanted to make the decision to do this full time to share the power of solo travel with everybody out there, because so many of you say, oh, I wish I had the courage to go do that. I wish I was able to do this, I wish I was confident enough to go and go after my dreams, and the truth is that you are capable of doing it. You just might need some guidance. You might need to find the evidence in yourself that you are capable and that you can do anything that you desire. But that's why I offer the coaching support, because I know what a big role that plays when you wanna go after something that you're not comfortable doing or that's not familiar to you.

Speaker 1: 5:00

So that's why I started the One Girl Travel Club, because I wanted to have a community where I can support women on their goals, whether it be solo travel or starting a business, or creating a social media, a writing book, whatever it is. And now I have this community and I want to grow it, and that desire is so deep within me that I am willing to give up the comfort of a full-time career, of a steady paycheck, of benefits all the things in order to take that leap and share this message with everybody. And this is the biggest journey yet. This is truly putting myself outside my comfort zone and doing something that is unknown, that I've never done before. But I wouldn't be at this point if I didn't take that leap when I started solo traveling, if I didn't grow, because I developed my sense of knowing who I am through solo travel, and for that I'm just so incredibly grateful and I want you all to know that when you begin stepping outside your comfort zone, when you begin putting yourself in these situations where you don't know if you're gonna succeed or not, and you do it anyway, that's a win. You already succeeded, you already decided and moved forward and there's really no way to screw it up Like you're gonna learn something no matter what, and having that takeaway is going to help you grow, and then you're gonna keep going and you're gonna keep growing and you're going to eventually get to where you wanna go and most likely it's gonna be much larger than what you originally thought it was gonna be. Now, the only way you can fail at anything in life is if you quit, if you decide that you're done and you're not gonna try and you're just done. Now certain situations do call for quitting, like I quit my job, but that's because I have a bigger goal in mind, that I'm keep moving forward to my ultimate goals. So just know that when you begin something and you commit to it and you know your reason for why you're doing it, you're going to get closer to your goal and your goals may shift as you develop. Your goals are going to develop. But as long as you stay on that path and as long as you continue to trust the process and take the knowledge that you're learning and applying it to your life, you're going to succeed, and that calls for celebration and you should be proud of yourself. So, anyways, it's a little side note there.

Speaker 1: 7:56

But, yeah, I decided to leave. My job was not an easy decision. I very much enjoyed the job. I love the people I work with, the work was fine, but there's just something inside me that knew that I was meant for more, something that I knew I needed to try, and I would regret if I didn't try. So I had to make a decision Now. I could keep putting it off because I've been putting it off for a few years now. This is something I've been thinking about for a few years and it takes time to make a big leap. When it's something so life changing, and that's okay Give yourself grace to get your ducks in a row to make sure that you're in the right mindset to make this huge shift in your life.

Speaker 1: 8:48

Now I'm not telling any of you to go out and quit your jobs. Keep that in mind. I'm just saying if there's something that you desire to do in life. Do it. If you're unhappy with the job you're at, look for something else. Nobody's forcing you to be in these situations. You're choosing to be in these situations and you get to choose how you handle it and how you change your situation. You get to choose. So take that accountability for yourself and figure out what it is that you truly want to do and then do the work to get there. Nothing is going to be handed to you. You need to do the work. You need to take the initiative. You can wish and dream and plan all you want, but if you're not taking that action towards what you want to do, then you're never going to get there. I'm sorry to say, things aren't just handed to you. You need to work for it. But when it's something that you're passionate about and it's something that you really want to do, then it's worth it. You get to enjoy what you do. You get to enjoy the work and you get to enjoy the process because it drives you.

Speaker 1: 9:59

Putting myself out there on this podcast, on YouTube, on social media, whatever. It's not always comfortable. This is not natural for me, but I do it anyway because I want to get comfortable doing it. I want my goal and I'll share this right now with all of you. I want to talk on stages and share the power of solo travel with everybody. If you're having an event, reach out to me and I would love to talk on your stage, because I'm so passionate about solo travel and life coaching and it's in me, it burns in me and I want to share it with everybody, and the only way that I'll get on those stages is by putting myself in those rooms, investing the money on conferences and coaching and networking, investing time in myself to develop the skills to speak publicly and feel comfortable doing that, to produce these podcasts, to produce videos, to be creative. It's work. It's not something that's just a natural thing. That's within me. I have to practice and work at it every day, but it's all worth it.

Speaker 1: 11:17

And what I want for all of you is to not be crying yourself home on your commute, like I used to do, where you're so stressed out you can't enjoy the things in life, where you feel guilty for spending time on yourself because you're so overwhelmed with all the other things in your life that you need to do. I want you to find that balance in your life where you can feel passionate about what you do every day, or not even your work life, but have a hobby, have something that brings you happiness for you Not your family, not your job, just for you. What brings you happiness? And again this brings me back to solo travel. If you want to travel and you're waiting around for somebody else to join you, stop waiting. Start going by yourself. If you want to go to a new restaurant, go by yourself. If you want to go to a movie, go by yourself. A concert, a museum, a festival, whatever it is Stop waiting on your life and go by yourself.

Speaker 1: 12:26

Do the things that bring you back to your own roots, that remind you of who you are, because that's how you're going to learn who you are and what you enjoy, and it's also going to fill your cup so you can help other people and you can show up as a better version of yourself in all aspects. If you don't want to leave your job, you're going to show up as a better employee because you're feeding yourself what you need. If you want to become an entrepreneur, keep doing the things that you enjoy, because then you're going to learn what's important to you and what you want to show in your business. That's a reflection of who you are and your beliefs. It all goes hand in hand, and the main thing here is honoring yourself, listening to your gut, paying attention to what your internal compass direction is sending you in. So that's what I want to share with you today.

Speaker 1: 13:26

I again I'm not asking anybody to leave their job. If you are happy at your job, you stay there. But if you're crying yourself home on your commute, if you dread every morning that you're going into that job, then maybe consider making a change. Know that it might not be easy, know that you might have to start from scratch, but if it's worth it to you, then it's worth the effort. If you're going to be happy, put in the work to get you to happiness, you are worth the effort. Your happiness is worth the effort. Your life is worth the effort.

Speaker 1: 14:05

So stop worrying about how hard it's going to be. Just take a chance on yourself. We only get one chance at life, and that's something that I really hold close to myself when I'm making decisions. Am I going to regret this? Because I cannot live with the regrets. I have to honor myself by not having any regrets, and I do that as much as I possibly can, speak up for yourself, be an advocate for yourself, do the things that make you feel good, live a full life.

Speaker 1: 14:43

And one of the ways I truly feel like you can have a full life is by experiencing the freedom of solo travel, by doing things for yourself, where nobody else's opinion matters except your own. Yes, you get to see beautiful places and you get to meet incredible people and do fun things, but it's the inner work, it's the silvernears that you bring home, that are internal within you. It's a lesson you learned. It's what you enjoy doing, it's what you like and dislike. It's the foods you eat. You get to learn all of that by about yourself.

Speaker 1: 15:24

And again, it's going to change as you change. Things that I previously liked I might not enjoy anymore. I might enjoy things that are completely different, but the only way I can figure that out is if I put myself in the position to experience these things. And, just like I was super happy and content at my corporate job for many, many years, I evolved. I knew I wanted more for myself and I took the leap. And now I'm here and I'm sharing it, everything that I'm learning, with all of you, so you can feel comfortable taking that leap as well.

Speaker 1: 16:06

So I hope that you join me for this journey, because this is very new. This is a totally new journey and I'm experiencing it from square one. I'm starting from the beginning and I am learning as I go and it is scary, but it's also really, really exciting and I have a lot of big goals for 2024, and they include you whether it's me coaching you one-on-one, you joining the One Girl Travel Club, part of my group coaching program, you joining me traveling the world in group trips, the newsletter, signing up for that newsletter. If you haven't received the newsletter yet, you need to go and get it because it's so good. That's where all my free content is, that's where you get all the goods.

Speaker 1: 17:00

But whatever decision you make with how you want to interact with me and how you want to follow along, or if you want guidance and coaching from me, I will be honored to have you as part of this community and I'm so appreciative of you being here with me, especially on this new path. And if you have something that you want to learn, if you have something that you want me to touch on, let me know, because I am here for you and I will create whatever you need from me so I can help you. So I hope this podcast leaves you with a bit of inspiration to take a chance on yourself and your dreams and to listen to your gut, and I will talk to you next week. My friends, have a great day.

Speaker 2: 17:52

Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the One Girl Travel Podcast. If you're enjoying the show, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find out more about your host on our website, onegirltravelcom, or follow her on Instagram, facebook, pinterest and TikTok. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll catch you in the next episode.