W Feature: Lucinda Douglas, Yes You Can Woman empowerment speaker Female Life & businesscoach

We are proud to share the inspiring story of Power Woman and Yes You Can Woman author, Lucinda Douglas. This lady considers herself, the cheerleader of women. She sees it as her mission to help women reach their Next Level in life and business. Read how she has transformed her eventful and heavy life into strength, vulnerability, positivity and a persevering belief in the power of women. Enjoy!

Introduction

My name is Lucinda Douglas, I am South African and I have been living in the Netherlands for 24 years. I have 2 cats, 3 children of 23, 19 and 11 and I am married to Richard, my support and refuge. I am the ‘Yes You Can Woman’ empowerment speaker and a life and business coach for females. My mission is to make women the best version of themselves, pure empowerment, because I believe that if you empower women they can do anything!

South Africa

My childhood in South Africa was very tough, I had a hard time. I come from a family with 7 children and we lived in Cape Town. I was born in the time of apartheid and considered colored (mixed race), in the same period I was severely abused; I have been raped, beaten and assaulted. When I was 16 years old, civil unrest broke out, causing enormous chaos in the lives of people, including ours. When I was 18 I started studying Technical Management at university and I was lucky enough to finish my studies because many colored schools and universities were closed. My sister who is also my best friend had just married a Frenchman and left for southern France with him. She left behind many of her possessions in South Africa. In consultation with her I sold everything and I went to visit her in the South of France. My parents, brother and a number of sisters stayed behind in South Africa. After spending 6 months in France, my money was gone. The girlfriend with whom I had traveled to France with had already left for Vancouver and called me up; she told me that there was a Dutch family on holiday in France and that they were looking for an au pair. I promised to take the job because I needed money. I met them in Paris and went with them to Utrecht.

The Netherlands

After working as an au pair for about 9 months, I met Sjoerd my first husband, who gave me my oldest daughter and son. We were married after 6 weeks, which was not the intention but at that time I was experiencing the greatest adventure of my life, at least that’s what I thought then. Now I know that it was the biggest flight of my life from all that I had experienced and left behind in South Africa. My relationship with Sjoerd was not a good relationship and was quite intense. We separated at one point but I always kept him as my best friend. When my children were 9 and 5, Sjoerd committed suicide. Two weeks before he had come to me to indicate that he was not doing well. I asked how I could help him, but there was nothing I could do for him. When the police officers were at my door, I knew immediately, they did not have to tell me anything anymore. Worst of all, I had to tell my daughter that her father did not find her worth living for, how on earth do you tell a child something so awfull? My son was too young to understand. I turned to alcohol and drink a lot that year. At that moment I had already met my current husband Richard and he took care of my children completely, because I simply was not able to do that. In retrospect, this period brought me a lot, because I got to know myself, I learned what sadness was, I learned what pain was, I got to know my emotions and feelings and I now benefit from that.

Becoming an entrepreneur

At the same time I worked for the multinational TNT. I was an account manager there, that gave me a lot of confidence and personality. But after 10 years I decided to quit; I saw my family too little and I knew that if I stayed there I would keep the same job. I needed new challenges, but I did not know exactly what I was going to do. I had absolutely no plan, but I decided to quit. And I did; on December 8, 2009 I quit and January 25, 2010 I founded my first company Clients for Clients and I had 5 people on the payroll! With Clients for Clients we advised and trained entrepreneurs and their employees in tightening their sales techniques and talents and developing a positive mindset. I did this for a year and I soon discovered that having staff was not for me. So I was eventually independently hired by companies to give these trainings. In that same period, I was named one of the top 10 sales leaders in the Netherlands. Then I started working as Commercial Director at a large transport and logistics company, where I also operated internationally after a short period. I did that for a year, 3 days a week. The other 2 days I spent on Clients for Clients, where I had developed a training course for female account managers to grow into management positions. I did this for the top potential sales people in companies.

Sales is sexy

After my last day at the transport and logistics company, I was approached by a friend of mine, Jan Willem Seip, to write a book about sales together. Of course I said yes to that. I had 50 days to write my part; I could not think of anything for the first 30 days, and in the last 20 days I had written everything; this typifies me in many ways. The book is called Sales is Sexy and is written for enterprising women who want to sell more and in this book we deal with convictions that women have such as; am I worth the money, can I just contact the customer and how should I negotiate now? The book was well received and I was asked  by a lot of companies to speak about this subject. But as I went along, I found out that this was not what I really wanted to do. But I did not know what  I really did wanted to do. Then I thought I should have a niche for myself, but not just a niche but an ultra niche. And with that thought I started writing my E-book Ultra Nichen, this is a practical workbook in which I explain how you can build your ultra niche. This was a good start to my own ultra niche, but I had not yet found exactly what I really wanted to do.

Yes You Can Woman!

During this search, I noticed that my heart was increasingly lying with women. I was allowed to do a TV program Yes, You Can Woman at local tv channel RTV 7. After this broadcast I realized that empowering women is not something I do, it is what I am; it’s my thing! With that conviction I developed the Yes, You Can Woman concept for women and while I was working on it I made sure that I was visible in magazines like Libelle, Margriet and the FD, so I became more and more known. I really consider myself a cheerleader for women. There are enough women who only help themselves up and do nothing for other women. That is why I have developed a program for large organizations for women at the top in EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) who want to make the switch worldwide and this training is also supported by the EU because it is a high level of empowerment.

Energy

At the moment I get my energy from my two-year pastoral education. I do this purely for myself, not to eventually work as a pastor. I am a practicing Christian and I am very fanatic because I want to help people and I do that by listening to people’s stories and serving coffee for a community of 1000 people in Apeldoorn where I live. My faith is incredibly important to me. I talk to my God every day, every morning when I get up I start my conversation with God and that actually goes on all day long. I share everything; my fears, my dreams and my vulnerabilities. When I have a problem, I take a walk and I talk to Him and I come to a solution. It is an important relationship for me.

Tips

Don’t go out looking for your dream before you start living, so live! When we were little children and stepped on our bikes, we did not wonder in advance whether we should go left or right, how it would feel on the bike and where we eventually went, no we just went. If something gives you jitters or butterflies in your stomach, go out and do it. When you have an idea that you believe in, carry it out, be of significance to others. There is a nice statement; Play before you Pay, in other words, go enjoy and out of that enjoyment you will find something that gives you satisfaction and energy and you can earn your money.

Where can you find Lucinda?

• Website:https://www.lucindadouglas.nl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucinda.douglas.92
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucindadouglas13/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucindadouglas92/
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucindadouglas/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdBeORkN2cwURtuSCrarJiA

 

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