Today we’re excited to bring you a guest blog from Katie Lips, CEO and co-founder of Love Yourself & Lose Weight. Katie joins us to talk about her business journey, and the importance of self-love!
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I’m honoured to write a guest blog for Tabono as I love the mission to support women in business. I know just how instrumental connecting with like-minded people can be in accelerating transformation.
I’m actually in the process of transforming my business, from start-up to a real value driver. I’m a serial entrepreneur, having set up my first (digital product) business in 2003. It was award-winning and innovative, but at 27 I lacked the experience to scale. Fast forward ~20 years, and while I still love technology, my new business is focused on something else: self-love! Self-love is now officially so on-trend that ‘Self Love’ t-shirts are on sale on the High Street, you can find ‘I Love Me’ notepads in the newsagents and spot #loveyourself hashtags everywhere.
I’m even launching my own Self Love & Weight Loss event in High Wycombe on 22nd March.
What is Self-Love?
I often get asked what it means to me. Self-love is loving yourself like the person you love most in the world. That means accepting yourself as you are today, appreciating the unique things that make you you, showing up for yourself consistently, and working your ass off to make any changes necessary so you can become the best version of you. Yep, it’s love yourself today AND make a change to become the person you want to be tomorrow. Just as self-love has helped me in my personal life, it is now a driving force in my business.
My Story
So how did I get into the self-love game? I can now say “I love me” without hesitation or embarrassment with a straight face. But this wasn’t always the case; a few years ago I didn’t love myself at all. At 38 I was overweight and a UK size 20, and miserable. But my life changed overnight when I had my daughter and I made a simple decision: to lose the weight and stop living with regret. I realised that to treat myself right I had to like myself so I read about self-esteem, self-care and self-love. I used tactics I’d previously thought were bonkers. And those ‘bonkers’ self-love affirmations, vision boards, mediations, and food rituals worked. Over a year and a half, I lose over 6 stones. That was over 7 years ago.
Self-Love In Business?
My first book, Love Yourself & Lose Weight: The Success Story of Self Love is my self-love and weight loss story with motivational tips and tricks for anyone who recognises that diets and fitness alone won’t work: it’s all about mindset. Having lived this experience, I know that self-love can transform whatever we want it to. I’ve used it to transform my figure, now I’m using self-love to transform my business. Hey, self-love IS my business!
In December, I left my job and published my book. It was a busy month, but nowhere near as busy as February 2022 in which I shape-shifted from CFO, to CMO, to Author, to Head of Product, to Social Media Intern and back again more times than I can say #selflove, all while gaining a coaching qualification. Writing a book was the easy part, but self-love is absolutely helping me through this early stage of my business; as I have the confidence of knowing I’m going to get where I’m going. My advice to other business owners is to work on your sense of self-love to ensure success. Truly appreciate all the wonderful capabilities you have and while you’re nurturing your business day-to-day, keep one eye on the long-term prize.
What’s Next?
I have a lot to do; self-love is so much more than wearing a #selflove t-shirt. I’ll be providing the self-love help so many people need. Book number two is on the way, as are online groups, content and coaching. Mine is a business like any other: it needs fabulous content, convincing marketing, effortless tech, and empowering community. And like many other businesses, it also needs heart. Love actually guides my business decisions: it’s that critical.
Need a Self Love Boost? I’ll be giving a talk in Wycombe on 22nd March for anyone interested in learning the art of self-love for weight loss or anything else.
I’m super excited to get to know more Tabono members as I know we can all support each other.
Love,
Katie