Business Owner: Laura Murillo

Laura Murillo is a British-Colombian lifestyle and motivational coach.

Tell me a bit about your heritage. Were you born in the UK? 

I was born in Cali, Colombia and I came to the UK back in 2003. I travelled with my parents as a result of a work opportunity my mum had. I came here knowing no English but as I was still very young, I managed to pick it up easily. However, it was tough, as the cultural change between both countries was quite drastic.

Your business is really inspiring. How did you come across this job as a profession?

As a mother of two children, I wanted to find a job with flexible hours; however, it was very hard to find something that suited my needs.  Therefore, I decided to stay at home whilst helping my husband run his business, The Mexican Way, a Mariachi agency providing entertainment for luxury weddings and corporate events.

I managed pretty much all of the enquiries, operations, customer service, social media management and lead generation. I was having so much fun while still being able to look after my kids at home. During that time, I realised I could start another business that would still allow me to work from home, so I started to think about what I was passionate about and started to brainstorm my qualities, my strengths and so on.

I must have done one of those online quizzes with job professions based on your qualities and life coaching was something that came up. I was so shocked that people did this as a profession, as it was something I was already doing with my friends and family, supporting them in their relationship issues, self-confidence and helping other mums brainstorm ways to start their business or re-start their professional career.

Do you think your sense of identity has influenced your decision to start these businesses? If so, in what way?

What’s funny is that I never thought I’d ever be running my own business. I came from a family tradition where you go to university and you aim for a high salary job, so I would say my identity in that sense didn’t encourage me to start my business. What did encourage me was the willingness to take a risk. I was tired of my financial circumstances and I knew if it didn’t work out I had nothing to lose anyway.

Our core values and beliefs influence the actions that we take and have been conditioned by. However, sometimes the beliefs and core values that are passed down don’t necessarily reflect the person that we want to become or the things that we want to achieve. 

This is when it’s extremely valuable to do the inner work, reprogram the way you think, change the filter around how you see yourself and the world around you, and of course understand why some of the deepest fears and insecurities you have are just not your reality, how they are holding you back and what to do about it. 

Can you talk us through what exactly your business entails, as this is quite a niche role?

My business primarily focuses on supporting high achieving women to elevate their mindset, lead with confidence and create more impact in their lives and businesses. The style of coaching that I use firstly  focuses on the quality of our mindset, prior to working on the action steps and strategy my clients need to take, depending on the goals they have.

We focus on the mental barriers that are stopping them from taking action; the fears, the limiting beliefs and the emotional roller coasters they are experiencing. I facilitate this by taking them deeply into self-awareness mode where they analyse how they think and behave. Without this essential step, they would not be able to take action.

Then the strategy part is all about helping my clients do the work. For example, if they want to sign new clients, launch a new business, a book, a podcast or change careers, I take them through the required steps. So when it comes to the strategy, I do a lot of teaching and then it’s about empowering my client to decide on the path that makes the most sense to them, according to the type of life or business that they want to create.

I hold them accountable every single week, setting them tasks for the week and also reviewing any assets they create. I become a partner for them and help them push their ideas forward so they can create the best results.

What does a typical day look like for you?

A typical day for me starts with the school run. Once I get my kids ready and send them to school, I go straight to the gym and use this time to focus on me.

I then go back home, have my breakfast, get ready and prepare for my first call of the day. I have specific days where I take coaching calls, so if it’s a coaching day, I focus on the calls and I don’t add a lot of workload to my day to prevent burnout. I will try to add some value and share behind the scenes through my Instagram stories.

 On the days where I have no calls, I call them CEO days, where I work on my business. So this would look like creating the content for next week, reviewing applications for my programmes, creating curriculums, scripting and filming training videos, responding to my clients on Voxer and, of course, engaging with my community on social media.

When the day is coming to an end, my husband and I take turns in picking up our kids, we make dinner, we do the homework with them, tidy the house a little bit and get the kids ready for bed. Then in the evening I’m either watching a Netflix show, reading a book, calling my friends and family or using the time to catch up with my husband.

What do you find most empowering about working for yourself?

That I’m constantly challenged by choosing to face my fears and just do the work regardless of how scary it feels. I’m constantly stepping outside of my comfort zone and I’m open to learning new things along the way. It’s what I help my clients do and my own experience with this is what allows me to connect and understand my audiences better. So if I’m able to do it, I know I can empower others too.

What inspires you in your day-to-day life and how do you try and apply this to your work?

Something that inspires me is reading books and learning from my mentors who also started from the bottom like I did. I do a lot of journaling, visualisation and take the time out to focus on the things that make me feel good and encourage me to pursue my vision. That way it subconsciously reminds me that I am good enough and helps keep away the negative thought spirals.

What steps did you take towards setting up your business?

A lot of steps! But crucial steps have to be getting better at my craft, practising what works and doesn’t work, using my voice as a medium to the work that I do via social media and, most importantly, investing in mentors to also help me get here. I’ve invested in a mindset, marketing and business coach. Let’s be honest, we can be good at our craft but we need to learn how to run a business properly.

What’s the one basic thing that our readers can do to be confident like you?

One basic thing you can start doing today is to start getting out of your head and stop caring about what everyone has to say or think about you. Just go out there and do the things that make you confident. 

It’s honestly the most basic thing but a lot of us fail to put ourselves first. So whether that’s going for a morning gym session, going to a salon or reading a book: just do it. It honestly does wonders for me. Rather than waiting for confidence to come to you, you need to go and get it!

You can follow Laura on Instagram or check out her website.