After resigning from her corporate job spanning more than 25 years, Simone committed fully to her life coaching business. She describes it as a soul-driven decision powered by a desire to live in alignment with her purpose to do what lights her up daily. Overcoming her own struggles with low self-worth, perfectionism and being stuck in victim mode, she now helps others navigate similar challenges. In addition to her Master’s degree in Communication, Simone is a certified life coach and uses a diverse range of techniques such as therapeutic art, energy balancing and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to help clients on their transformative journeys.
Simone Eiman, Life Coach
Please share how you ended up where you are in your career today.
I’ve dedicated over 25 years to my corporate job, where I served as a business analyst, communication enablement specialist, and CRM systems specialist. There was always this inner knowing that I am more than the 9-5 and the limitations and expectations others tried to box me in. This, combined with other factors that didn’t align with my values, ultimately led me to resign and fully commit to my coaching business.
As a life coach I inspire, motivate and guide people to intimately know themselves by helping them navigate emotional well-being, build confidence and acknowledge their inherent worth without the external definitions and pressures that society forces upon us. I like this role much more as I live my purpose while coaching others to do the same.
What is your philosophy in life that drives your personal and business goals?
Perfection is overrated: Being perfectly you is not!
As a recovering perfectionist, I coined this quote to illustrate that we are always perfecting and connecting to who we are in this life on a deep level. Continual self-improvement and curiosity always lead me down very interesting and expansive paths in my connection with who I truly am.
So I approach life from this perspective and remind myself that our personal standards of excellence matter most. We don’t need permission to be who we are truly meant to be, just courageous enough to go there and be unapologetic about it. The risk of striving for perfection and focusing on external expectations and norms stifles our inner flames.
We are all unique and have something special to contribute, so best we align ourselves with that and show up!
What inspired the creation of Emerald Connection Coaching and Consulting, and how did you come up with the name?
The mission of my business is to help clients connect with their authenticity and inherent worth by shedding the straight jackets they've been forced into through social programming. This mission and my self-discovery journey inspired the name of my business. Emerald Connection Coaching and Consulting was started as the vehicle through which I live my soul purpose to make a difference and impact in the world.
The Emerald part of the name is linked to my birthstone and embodies the unique qualities, beauty and radiance of the deep green colour of the gem which signifies growth, healing and wisdom, amongst others.
The connection part of the name came about from the concept of us coming into the world in our truest form, without social programming. However, throughout our lives, the programming moves us further and further away from that and mostly into who we are not. In the de-programming work that I do, we reconnect again with our truest form – our authentic soul. So the connection part of my business name relates to this reconnection with this journey and who I am here to be.
Coaching and Consulting are the descriptors which indicate the nature of the business: coaching is what I do with clients one-on-one and in groups and then Consulting is related to my consulting with businesses in the specific skills that I specialise in.
What makes you tick?
The main motivators for me are learning new things, inspiring and making a difference in the lives of others. Stretching my comfort zone is an important aspect of my growth. If I want to be all that I can be, I must be willing to stretch and feel uncomfortable and vulnerable. This is when growth and expansion happen.
Authenticity, connectedness and integrity are the values that drive my life and I seek this from those that I engage with too. These values ground me in who I am and how I show up. Self-integrity is such an important aspect of our self-worth. The relationship between how I perceive myself and how I show up in the world is directly linked to staying true to my values and principles.
Other things that bring me great fulfilment are:
cooking and baking (gluten-free)
reading (personal development, metaphysics and philosophy)
and gardening.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
This was the moment I was pulled out of being a dependent child into being a self-sufficient adult. Two years before my father died – 5 months before my 22nd birthday – I decided to leave home and start a new chapter in a different city. At this point in my life, I was still very naive, had low self-esteem, struggled with anger issues and stuck in a victim mindset.
Early in my new experience in the big city, I had some car trouble. So my usual childhood response was to call Dad. I explained the problem to him and in a very loving and gentle voice, he asked me what I expected him to do about it. I was shocked at his response. Now considering that I was about 1500 km (approximately 930 miles) from him, I never thought about the practicalities of the situation, only that I had a problem I knew my Dad could fix.
After recovering from the initial shock of his response, I began realising what he was actually saying. That was the day my Dad cut the apron strings and the day I knew that things had to be different. I had no clue how to be an adult, but this moment was pivotal in pushing me into adulthood. I made this decision to be on my own and I had to sort my own stuff out. So upon his recommendation, I asked a family friend for a recommendation for a good mechanic.
That moment catalysed learning about the importance of independence and self-sufficiency. It taught me that I have within me what I needed but I just didn't know where to look. He showed me that day that to craft the life that I desired out here in the big city I had to learn how to be independent. And here I am 30 years later not regretting a single moment of my decision all those years ago.
What is your message for today’s women in business?
Today more than ever it’s so important for women in business to embrace authenticity, letting go of the pressure for perfection and the urge to conform to male-dominated environments and expectations. This means relinquishing the need for external validation in their professional endeavours. It’s not about putting men down in business, but about recognising the value that we all bring individually and not expecting others to dictate what that value should be.
We all know that the world needs to change in recognising the value of each of us in different social contexts. There is a need for the masculine and feminine energies to co-exist in this world – and not in dominance or subservience to another. However, the changes that we want to see in the world need to start within ourselves. As Mahatma Gandhi said: “Be the change you wish to see in the world”.
So, if you want to see more authenticity in the world, then you must be more authentic. Power suits and power haircuts give a false sense of power. It plays into dominant stereotypes of who you should be as a woman. Being authentically you means owning your worth and showing up as perfectly you.
Similarly, if you want to see more love and compassion in the world, then be more loving and compassionate with yourself and others. If you want to see people grow and expand, allow others and support others by helping them grow and expand. The bottom line is that it’s not so much about meeting expectations but about breaking expectations and creating a new reality.
Is there a common challenge that the clients you work with face? How are you helping them face this challenge?
The most common challenge that I find with my (mostly female) clients whether they are entrepreneurs or not, is the lack of knowing their worth which manifests as self-criticism, people-pleasing, perfectionism, social withdrawal, comparison to others and disrespecting their bodies (amongst many other things).
When we acknowledge and honour our inherent worth we embrace our authentic selves, naturally emanating this energy into the world. By doing so, we model this for others to do the same – simply because we are comfortable being who we are and with who they are. To help women face this challenge is to bring them back to their centre where they acknowledge and reconnect with their unique strengths, gifts and challenges. By connecting with their unique energetic signature I empower them to gain insight into when and whether they are showing up in the light or shadow of themselves.
It’s important to understand that perfection is subjective and we will therefore never be “perfect” by external standards, but continuously learning and growing to expand and master our lives. When thinking that you have to do things perfectly or be perfect, ask yourself: by whose measure do I have to be perfect? Instead, measure yourself against your own standards of excellence which are aligned to your values and beliefs.
What are the criteria for a client to work with you?
When I start working with a client I get a sense of their energy, their mindset, where they are at, what they want to achieve and why it hasn't worked for them in the past. I guide clients through the steps of releasing their blocks and reframing the narrative to a more empowering one so that they get to connect with themselves to gain insight into how to move forward.
There are many milestones to navigate on the path to building self-worth and it’s often challenging. For clients to work with me, they must really be willing to do the work. They must be willing to roll up their sleeves and go where they need to go to make the changes that they desire and that they need. This is not a one-sided journey, but a partnership to get the client to where they want to be.
However, as your coach, I do not tell you what to do. The coach's job is to support you and ask those incisive questions that help you excavate what needs to be for the work on your journey as you figure things out for yourself. So clients who are open to this approach of taking responsibility for their actions in their journey are very welcome. I love it when the client figures out that they have all the answers within themselves. They just need to know how to unlock it.
Invitation to connect with me
If you're interested in working with me you’re welcome to book an introductory call where we get to know each other a little and see if we’re a good fit for a coaching relationship.
I invite you to visit my website to learn more about me and what I do. You can also visit my YouTube Channel where I share more about breaking through the barriers to being Perfectly You.
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