Enterprising Moms Network Inc

Name: Lisa Williams

Business: Optionelle Fashion Consultant

EMN Chapter: Sunshine Coast

Looking back I can see that turning forty was a bigger deal to me than I realized at the time. It was about that time I started to really pay attention to where I was in life and where I was going. It was also the time I realized that I was not where I wanted to be and if I didn’t make some changes I was never going to get there. I chose motherhood rather than the career route in life and although I did graduate from high school I did not carry on academically. I think there are many women out there just like me and for this reason I am happy to share my story of where I am today and how I got here. In my early 40’s I had entrepreneurial hobbies; I ran a small photographic business, I was a bed and breakfast owner/operator, I worked with my husband as a home inspector and I started a website maintenance service, all of these gave me freedom but not enough pay check so I worked for others in jobs that gave me a pay check but they took away my freedom and the pay checks were never big enough to get me closer to my dreams. It was out of frustration of not having both, money and time that put me on the path I walk today.

After a few years of beating myself up for falling short of my dreams I began my journey of identifying my strengths and clarifying my wants and needs. Our 3 grown children, now 17, 21 and 23 years old, still need me to be a mom but not in the way they did as younger children so I was now free to do what I wanted. What I wanted was to earn a comfortable living doing something I loved! I wanted to be one of those women who say “I love what I do” and mean it. My advice for other mom’s in business is – don’t wait until you are over 40 to do what you love and love what you do, start earlier if you can. Your family will thank you for it.

For me it started with being approached by a woman I knew casually, she invited me to consider a career as a fashion consultant; my first response was no thank you I am not interested. Respectfully she gave me an informational package to read in the off chance my interest changed. I did read the material and realized that a fashion consulting business did fit into my newly formed list of criteria better than I thought and the question “why not?” came to mind. I started my new career as a fashion consultant March 2009 and as I gain experience I gain confidence and the realization “I love what I do!” One challenge I have is treating my business as a business and not a paid hobby, working from home with flexible hours requires discipline and practise. Dropping everything when a girlfriend calls “to meet for coffee” has a direct impact on my bottom line and my ability to earn a comfortable living. The most rewarding part of my business is seeing the sparkle in women’s eyes when they discover how beautiful they look with the right clothes for their body type. Watching their confidence grow and seeing their outer beauty matching their inner beauty; their transformation is intoxicating to me.

As part of my business I offer a Wardrobe Makeover Service specifically for women who hate to shop or just don’t know what to shop for. I help women minimize their wardrobe, organize and coordinate their closets with clothes that work well together taking the stress out of daily dressing; filled with the right outfits; helping them look fabulous on every given day. Typically 80% of the clothes in our closets just hang there taking up space because they don’t fit, don’t appeal or just don’t go with anything else in the closet. Why are we still saying “I have nothing to wear?”

I am an Optionelle fashion consultant, working from my home boutique on the Sunshine Coast through home parties, private consultations and educational workshops. I have the freedom to take my services anywhere in the world and I do! I can be reached at: lisa.optionelle@gmail.com. To learn more about Optionelle go to: www.optionelle.com. Who knows? This could be a career for you too; we are always looking to build the Optionelle team with women who love what they do.