^{Brenda Hector}

Just as Brenda Hector empowers female entrepreneurs to scale their businesses through ActionCOACH [1], Anu Khanna discovered that the journey with ActionCOACH was about more than just knowledge-it was about transforming her life and business, showing that growth is limitless when you embrace the right support and community.

With ActionCOACH, Brenda and Anu have found success in their businesses and the freedom and support to lead fulfilling lives-proving that an ActionCOACH franchise offers unmatched opportunities for growth and balance.

Brenda Hector

For outgoing and friendly Brenda Hector, collaboration is a must. Backed by the community environment encouraged by ActionCOACH, Brenda is on a mission to empower female entrepreneurs to scale-up their businesses using the tools she has gained.

Keeping it simple

Brenda's background was in animal nutrition. After completing her MSc and PhD, she worked in a research role she loved before leaving to have her children. Following a role with a subsea company, Brenda was completing her MBA when she realised she wanted to go it alone. "My husband and I ran our own small wedding business for just over a decade, so I had some experience of knowing what it's like to run your own company. 

"Just as I was finishing my MBA, ActionCOACH appeared in my inbox, and I really liked what I saw." After more research, Brenda travelled down from Scotland to meet the ActionCOACH team and was blown away. "When I met the team, any doubts I had disappeared - I knew this was my next step.

"An MBA can be very theory based and overloaded with technicality, but in those initial conversations with ActionCOACH, business all began to seem so much clearer. Their simple and effective approach to grow your business as a franchise partner and those of your clients really stood out to me - I wanted a piece of the action."

Waiting until she graduated her MBA, Brenda was well-prepared for the notoriously intense ActionCOACH University in the summer of 2018. "I completed all the pre-training, and it definitely stood me in good stead. I was lucky there was a big group of franchise partners I trained with and, since launching my ActionCOACH business, we've stayed close. It's a great, collaborative community - exactly what I wanted.

Never on your own 

Brenda won her first clients through networking in her local business community. She never felt alone if she faced a challenge, feeling completely comfortable to ask for the advice from ActionCOACH's community of over 200 franchise partners in the UK, not to mention those also willing to help globally! 

"One of the main reasons I wanted to run my own business was to take back control. I put a lot of time and effort into launching the business as you would expect with any new venture. Now the trajectory of the business is heading upwards and I feel confident I've got the tools to keep progressing. 

"The work-life balance I have now is great. I can switch off when I need to and enjoy my down time. I'm a really outdoorsy person and have three dogs, so getting out into the countryside in our campervan is something I love to do. If I want to take a long weekend off, it's great knowing my business allows me to do that."

Scaling up the future

For Brenda, her immediate goal is to be in the top 100 Action Coaches globally. However, her biggest passion is to continue her work with female entrepreneurs. 

"Roughly one-third of entrepreneurs in the UK are female, and men are five times more likely to scale their business up above £1 million. Through ActionCOACH, I have the tools to address this imbalance and really enjoy focusing my efforts towards working with female entrepreneurs. I've got my own podcast called Scale Her Up: The Female Entrepreneur Show, which is full of great ways to build up a business. 

"Being able to impart my knowledge and see it having positive results on those I work with is just one of the many reasons why becoming a franchise partner with ActionCOACH is one of the best things I've ever done."

Anu Khanna

Before Anu Khanna found her true calling with ActionCOACH [2], she considered her brain to be brimming with knowledge. However, upon discovering the world's number one business coaching franchise, she quickly realised her glass was only half full - she was ready to pour more into her life. 

"The main impact ActionCOACH has had on me is who I'm becoming. When I joined the network, I thought my glass was full, but being exposed to the precision and detail within the franchise model, I became aware of how much work there was left to do. It's miles away from the stage I was operating at in the corporate world and it's completely turned my life around." 

"I spoke with another Action Coach, to discover more. I instantly connected with her story which filled me with inspiration. After that meeting, I knew ActionCOACH was what I was destined to do."

Topping up her glass 

Despite Anu's experience in coaching and after spending many years establishing an extensive business skillset, she recognised the myriad of expertise she would be able to tap into. Anu was awarded her franchise in May 2018 and, soon after, she was ready to embark on her training at ActionCOACH University. 

Thirsty for more 

For the first two years in her business, Anu focused on creating an all-star team around her. With four members already - two Business Development Managers, a Marketing Specialist and an Executive Creative PA - Anu has plans to bring in more employees. She understands the importance of synergising teams and leading by example. 

"I have to demonstrate that I'm adopting the ActionCOACH systems in my own business to highlight how it works. I'm doing exactly the same as what I'm telling my clients to do, practising what I preach as they look to me as the expert. 

"I've created a substantial client base that I'm extremely proud of, including businesses with a revenue from £70,000 to £70million. I deliver one-to-one coaching with 15 businesses in the area and have recently started training leader programmes, but perhaps the best part is being able to offer something for everyone.

Drinking in life

It's not only Anu's career that has been transformed, her home life has too. The flexibility of ActionCOACH has given her the freedom to take daughter, Kyra (9), and son, Kabir (15), to school each day. 

"My life has changed for the better. In my previous role, I was never able to wind down. My days were extremely long, meaning I missed out on family time whilst my children were growing up. Now's my chance to make up for it."

Anu is the first to admit that, due to the support she's received from the franchisor, other franchise partners and her coach's coach, James Vincent, she's been able to thrive in her business. 

"I have a lot to thank James for - he's played a massive part in the success I'm seeing within my own business. He's a very successful coach and his expertise is second to none. It's refreshing to see how the word ‘community' is not just on paper, it's part of our reality. Action Coaches are always willing to share, help each other succeed and have some fun along the way - although my glass is being topped up every day, I now know my life has an infinite capacity."  

For more information about finding fulfilment through growing businesses and changing people's lives like Brenda and Anu, please visit ActionCOACH [3]