Here's the first part of the interview :
Richard, thanks for agreeing to discuss your business with us can I start by asking if you can give me a rough idea of your background and your story before you set up your business ?
My interest in helping people began at school age. I was a mentor to younger kids while I was in my last year, I did a city & guilds counselling course which lead to a sociology A level then a social science degree. I wasn't sure what aspect of social work I wanted to do but I did know that I didn't want to be just dealing with other people's stress day after day as I don't handle stress well. I looked at being a social worker or prison officer but none of these did it for me. During this time I was working in the service industry and found I had a passion for coffee and became a barista (coffee expert). This work allowed me to do something I enjoyed while paying my bills but I was desperate to be my own boss but didn't know what area I wanted to work in. A throwaway comment by a friend made me consider being a hypnotherapist and I was delighted to discover it was perfect for me.
So when did you set up the business and tell us more about how you became interested in hypnotherapy and where you trained ?
I first became interested in hypnotherapy when a friend was telling me how she had seen a hypnotherapist to help her get over a relationship ending. The hypnotherapist my friend saw wasn't very good and while telling me all about the problems she had had she said "You would be a better hypnotherapist than HIM!" which made me consider hypnotherapy as a career for the first time.
As I looked into the industry I quickly realised that there were some real cowboys out there who offered very little by way of training but charged a huge amount of money. After a lot of research I found that in my hometown of Sheffield there was a hypnotherapy training school that was one of the best in the country. The course was run by 2 ex-psychologists who are now full time hypnotherapists and they provided me with very practical based training. I was hypnotising fellow course members by the end of the first day! This hands on approach gave me a great deal of confidence in what I was doing and how to use these new found skills effectively.
Richard, you specialise in helping your clients stop smoking - how did you develop this as the core theme of your business ?
Through further research into marketing after I graduated from my course I discovered that in most industries there is always a large number of generalists. Above these are a smaller number of specialist and above them are an even smaller number of experts. I have always tried to be the very best at whatever I have done, whether that is mopping a floor or hypnotising someone so I was determined that I wouldn't be a generalist as that didn't fit with my desires for my business. The issues hypnotherapy can treat are also very diverse and trying to tell everyone about every issue I can treat would be almost impossible so I decided I had to focus on one area. I chose smoking because it was where I had had most experience. I smoked for 13 years so was well aware of the thought patterns of smokers and the issues involved in stopping. I was also hypnotised by a fellow course member to help me to stop smoking and it worked! I had no cravings or mood swings and I actively enjoyed the process of becoming a non smoker and I wanted to share that enjoyable experience with other people through hypnotherapy.
That's the first half of the interview with Richard. We'll be running the second and final instalment tomorrow. Watch this space.
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