The Pursuit Of Happiness…

Busy mum Karrie-Ann Fox resolved to find herself again

Karrie-Ann Fox held several management positions before she had her children. Her husband, Geoff, is an ActionCOACH franchise owner and, when Karrie-Ann was ready to go back to work, it was a chance encounter at one of his franchise conferences that introduced a completely new and flexible career option for her.

“During my second stint of maternity leave, Geoff and I attended an event where I heard about a new programme called Engage & Grow,” Karrie-Ann says.

“There had been some recent statistics showing how few people were engaged at work and how that severely impacted the success of businesses all over the world. Engage & Grow was a programme to combat this and had proven to improve employee engagement by up to 300 per cent.

“It sounded amazing, but with one child just about to start school and one still at home, I had a little crisis of confidence - I had become a busy mum and lost myself, working in the background of my husband’s business. I resolved to find out more and find myself again!”

From her home in Worcester, Karrie-Ann now runs her own successful business alongside that of her husband’s. George is finishing his first year of school, but Freddie is still at home. Her first client was a family-run tool hire company.

“The team scored just seven per cent engagement at the beginning of the programme, they were argumentative and this affected how productive they were,” Karrie-Ann says.

“By the end of the programme, their engagement score had increased to 25 per cent, tripling their engagement levels. I can’t tell you how great that made me feel!”

Supporting success

Weekly webinars form part of the ongoing support for Engage & Grow coaches, plus there’s advice from a global network of coaches via online forums. Each programme is adapted depending on the company’s KPIs and how many people attend the sessions.

“One size doesn’t fit all and the Engage & Grow team provide me with the right programme for each client,” Karrie-Ann says.

“When you start a programme and see the change in people - from avoiding eye contact with you to asking how they can get involved - it’s amazing. The sense of achievement and wellbeing is immense.”

Creating a flexible career

Karrie-Ann now plans to run two programmes consistently throughout the year, which will take around 20 hours of work a week, including marketing activities.

“This should generate enough clients to run eight programmes over the next 12 months, with an average of eight people on each programme bringing an income of £64,000,” she says.

“My first programme covered the cost of my Engage & Grow licence fee and after that you pay a commission per person. The rest of the income is profit after your time, travel and printing certificates.

“Sat at home on the computer helping Geoff just wasn’t my thing - I like to be out and about. Before becoming an Engage & Grow Coach, I had started to feel lonely. Now I’m confident and happier and hopefully that means I’m a better mum!”