With respect to the tradition, my father wanted to continue working the authentic way, using the old secret recipes and keeping his bakery an exclusive family business without external employees. In his eyes, this would allow him to maintain his own high quality standard. Opportunity costing was one of the reasons why my father simplified his offer and decided to abandon patisserie in order to use this time to continue home delivery with a higher turnover, a better connection with the customers and more satisfaction. He took decisions on the spot when a problem occurred and always followed his heart. By being authentic the brand building came spontaneously. Locally the Vanhelden bakery was an established name (of course not with the instafamous proportions nowadays…).

So very young I learned that simplicity, alignment with business values, opportunity costing and intuition are the ingredients for a successful business. You need to mould them again and again to produce the essence of your company…

Where is little Karolien in all of this? I inherited the importance of authenticity (Hello, authenticity warrior!), the desire for excellence, the passion and perseverance and the hard-working mentality from my ancestors. Indeed, I saw clearly at home that being a baker is a hard way of living. 

You need to have a good dose of passion to persevere in this business. Probably also the moment in which the first seed was planted of my limiting belief: success is only possible and deserved when you work really hard for it…

In that time I was the good girl with the good grades. How many times did I hear “You will do great. You always do!”… People had the best intentions but added extra pressure to perform the next time even better. Hello, perfectionist! And of course, outside of school I had so many hobbies: drama classes here, music lessons there,… I never questioned if I still really liked all those things, because hey, quitting something is not an option. You continue what you started, right?

And as “the daughter of the baker” all eyes were pointed at me, especially when you live at the countryside. For example, my mother even knew, thanks to customers, where I had been even before I was back at home… So I had the feeling that I needed to be the good girl, because otherwise what would the people of the village think… Hello, people-pleaser!

In terms of 'breadwinning' (sorry, couldn’t ignore this one) the advice I got from my parents was: “You can choose whatever you want and do whatever you want, but don’t start your own business. Don’t become an independent!” Oops…

And so I did! Working from one promotion to another, from one job title to another, climbing that corporate ladder. And it felt great, being recognized for your hard work. But it also stressed me out. Always doing better, always setting the bar higher. But I believed it was worth it, because I loved my colleagues, my job content,… And I was paid to live my passion, marketing.

At a certain moment in time I had reached what I was working towards: that position in the management team as a head of marketing, being in the driver’s seat to grow the business. In that period I knew what I liked the most: not only knowledge gathering but also knowledge sharing, not only growing the business but especially growing the people. I radiate when I can share my knowledge with other people to move them forward and develop them further. To help other people in an empowering way and make a difference in the lifes of others. In my role as a coach I helped my precious coachees to find their spike and to increase their visibility. It was a true gift to see them florish to become great human beings and superb marketers. Hello, personal brander!

Well, looks like I had my dream job, right? For a long time I thought so too. But times change, people change. I take pride in my work and strive for professionalism and excellence in everything I do. I don’t settle for the average. But always setting the bar higher… for what? And especially for whom? Did I really do that for myself, for nurturing my own ambitious self? Or was it to please others, hoping that one day you get the approval and recognition you were longing for? And when is it good enough? For myself? For others? Hello, imposter!

When you realize that being in a safe bubble is in fact only an illusion of control (to use Stephen Coveys words, how far does your circle of influence reach?), you might want to pursue other routes. As you know, a safe bubble prevents you sometimes from rocking the boat…

(Check out my blog post about how I went from intrapreneur to solopreneur and the mindset shifts that came along with that switch.)

Since 2012 I had a little red booklet in which I wrote down business ideas because you never know that some day... I also had a subscription on entrepreneur magazines. Weren’t that signs? Why did I ignore them? Why did I wait so long to become a solopreneur? Next to the comfort zone I already mentioned, I was probably constantly searching for excuses not to start my own business. Introverted, risk-averse, loyal perfectionists with a fear for the unknown and for failure aren’t material for becoming a solopreneur, right? Or are they? Well hell yeah, they are!

During my career I already gained all the experience needed to shake the personal branding space: in my role as a coach growing other people, as head of marketing applying a content marketing and lead generation strategy and as a marketing consultant guiding numerous clients in their positioning and branding.

But I don’t want to do just any personal branding, hence my tagline TRUE personal branding… Along my corporate career I learned that authenticity & truth, personal growth and fairness are one of my core values. When something or someone goes against those values, I know it will go straight to my heart.

So I believe in truth as a marketing tool. I really want to start from the core of my clients. Who are they truly? What makes them different (not better!)? What is their truth: how do they see the world, what do they value,…? How can I help them to not just do storytelling, but really truthtelling? Hello, truthpreneur! And hello, truthtellers to be!

It is about true people and true stories. (Makes me think a bit of: “Real cases, real people, judge Judy…” but I am not a judge at all and I don’t do rulings.) I want to be people’s guide to find their true self, share their truth-infused stories and thrive. One of the reasons I also became a certified advisor (the only one in Belgium!) of the How to Fascinate^® personal brand-building system allowing people to see themselves through the eyes of others and empowering them by showing their own highest value. Not by changing who they are but by becoming more of who they are. Because in the end, unlocking the world’s authenticity and knowledge, that is where I stand for.

So I am taking a chance and changing the trajectory of my life. Join me on my personal entrepreneurial journey and I would love to embark on yours as well…

Yours truly,
Karolien.