Yvette Mayer is the Founder & Owner of Yvette Mayer Wellbeing, specialising in corporate health coaching and consulting.
As a Health Coach, Yvette harnesses 30 years of advertising agency experience, combined with health coaching, yoga teaching and essential oils advocate credentials.
This background, uniquely positions her to work with organisations to customise relevant and powerful coaching and experiences that deliver business outcomes.
Balance the Grind spoke to Yvette about leaving her high paying corporate job to follow her passion, what a typical day looks like running her own business, managing her workflow and more.
This conversation is brought to you by Freelancer.com, the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace.
1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your background and career?
My career began directly out of high school, when I got an entry level role in an ad agency.
It was actually a media agency, but I didn’t really know what that meant! It was definitely a career defining moment, I went on to work for media agencies for just shy of 30 years.
Over those years, I worked my way up to positions including Chief Digital Officer (Australia), Executive Vice President (US) and most recently Managing Director of a 300+ Sydney business.
After a breast cancer diagnosis in 2010, I realised that longer term I craved a new direction.
Holistic health had become a huge passion, so for a few years I balanced my corporate career with growing my wellbeing skill base, gaining accreditation in Health Coaching, Yoga Teaching and launching an essential oils business.
Late last year, I finally hung up my corporate boots and recently launched Yvette Mayer Wellbeing.
My business, specialises in health coaching and consulting for corporates. I offer one on coaching, training/workshops and consulting services.
My personal brand broadly covers Holistic Health leadership, Culture Building and Wellpreneurship. I’m vulnerable and inclusive by nature.
2) What’s involved on a day to day basis in running your own business?
One of the things I enjoy most about having my own business is the extreme variety.
That being said, some daily practices include marketing (developing and distributing content), prospecting, collaborating with business partners, teaching workshops, coaching and of course the dreaded admin (I can’t wait until I can afford a VA!).
3) What does a typical day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
I’m going to use today as an example, as it’s fairly typical.
My day started with a 15 minute meditation, which I schedule every morning. I then strapped on my joggers and hit the pavement with my dog Chilli. We ran around 5km together. I love listening to podcasts while I run, it’s such a great way to absorb info and makes the time fly.
I always kick off my work day by updating my to do list, making sure to identify my must do’s today vs would like to do’s. Today 80% of my day was laptop driven, from home, although that’s not always the case.
So far I’ve posted my daily video to LinkedIn (a 90 day marketing push), confirmed a coaching program and caught up on some admin.
Still to do – begin crafting my monthly newsletter, a coffee catch up with a prospective coaching client and drawing + announcing the winner of a competition I run monthly with my oils customer group.
4) Do you have any tips, tricks or shortcuts to help you prioritise your workload?
I use Asana to manage my work flow and Calendly for appointments. Mail Chimp for my email list. Square Space for my website.
My biggest tip is to focus on the thing you least want to do first. That way, you get it over and done with and can better enjoy the rest of your day. Delayed gratification in practice.
Another habit I’ve gotten into more recently is blocking my calendar to focus on specific aspects of my business and ‘life’. I’m finding it’s enabling me to give my attention more fully and thereby increases my productivity. Besides that, I stick to my self care commitments.
5) In between your job, life and all your other responsibilities, how do you ensure you find some sort of balance in your life?
I thought this would be easier working for myself, but it’s actually harder. My boundaries have become much blurrier. I enjoy what I’m doing so much, it often doesn’t feel like work and I can easily lose track of time. See calendar blocking above!
I honestly believe that self care, especially sleep is critical to performance. As soon as we start neglecting it, everything suffers, starting with our mindset, which is key. I call this embracing the good stuff and am on a mission to lead by example.
Also, I must say having been through a cancer diagnosis and treatment, I’m more attuned to the need for time out and checking in with priorities.
6) What are some of the things you do to take time out and recharge?
Exercise and meditation are my staples, I ensure to do one or both every single day.
Essential oils are a big part of my routine, helping me with everything from immune support, to quality sleep and enhancing my focus. I’m also a big fan of massages! Spending quality time with my family and friends is a must, I especially enjoy hanging out with my nieces and nephews.
Holidays are important to me, actually travel in general is a big love. So, when it comes to recharging, this is on the list too. From the beach to big cities or hitting the slopes, count me in.
7) What do you think are some of the best habits you’ve developed over the years to help you strive for success and balance?
The number one thing is knowing the difference between what must be done and what it would be nice to do. I regularly delete items off my to do list, without guilt.
I think we can all benefit from switching off more often. Going for a walk to clear the mind.
Taking time out to eat lunch away from the desk. Basically, appreciating that managing your stress levels is way more important than being perfect. On that, I love that saying ‘done is better than perfect’!
Backing myself, trusting my gut and setting clear boundaries are out of comfort zone behaviour’s I’m working on.
8) Are there any books you’ve read that have helped you with work-life balance?
I really enjoyed Thrive by Ariana Huffington.
Ikigai by Hector Garcia, Francesc Miralles and Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy.
9) What is the number one thing you do to make sure you get the most out of your day?
Just one?! Get enough sleep the night before.
