Case studies

Natashia Variava

from HR to Entrepreneur

What were you doing prior to coming to The Career Psychologist?

I  worked in HR pretty much my entire career for a host of interesting businesses from Ministry of Sound to John Lewis. I recruited 100s of talented people, designed many training courses, advised countless managers on HR practice but felt that something was missing.  I always admired entrepreneurs but was never brave enough to venture on my own. The classic ‘fear of the unknown’ led to 5 years of not making a decision…

Why did you originally come to The Career Psychologist?

I decided to see Rob for coaching after reading about his personal career transition during a very dark time. I was working on a huge change project, felt completely stuck and totally helpless to make any change. I loved Rob’s blog and felt that his methodology (ACT) and rigorous approach would suit me well.

What was your experience of The Career Psychologist?

Working with Rob was by far the most rewarding experience I have ever had with regard to thinking about my career and life in general. In 3 sessions, we did a lot of work on what’s truly important to me, did loads of exercises on how I would face my demons with acceptance and worked together on a plan of action. I have worked with coaches before but Rob is in a league of his own. I felt he was 100% committed to helping me move forward, really authentic and the fact that his methods are based on science gave me the confidence to believe in the work we were doing together.

What are you doing now?

3 years on and I’ve set up my own businesses www.thepeopleteam.org helping small, creative, businesses with everything HR. Our mission is to help small businesses make their work environments a place where people choose to work, contribute and stay.  We take the hassle of HR administration away from the founders / managers, reduce risk by providing expert employee legal advice and cut costs by helping small businesses hire the right people to help their businesses succeed for a fraction of the cost of using a recruitment agent .

How do you feel about the future?

Whilst I still am fearful, I’ve learnt to move forward in spite of this and all the psychological stuff that held me back before has a lot less power over me. I can only thank Rob for this so would say that my whole life has changed as a result of working with Rob, not just my career!