Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheli Njoku.
Cheli, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started blogging in the spring of 2017 on my website livewellexploreoften.com. My intention was to showcase my wanderlust by sharing my love for exploring new locations; both international and local.
Ultimately, it took an organic turn on its own and I became even more focused on the “Live Well” aspect of my mantra. I found myself writing and sharing more on topics that inspired my preferred way of living- mindfulness, surrender, manifesting, gratitude, creating routines, embracing change, and respecting my voice. The feedback I kept receiving was “you should be a motivational speaker” or “are you a life coach?” The “impostor syndrome” hindered me from moving forward with my intention as a life coach and motivational speaker for quite some time. Eventually, I had to overcome self-doubt and just do it!
That’s how my Vision Workshop Brunch was born.
I moved forward in the spring of 2019 as a one-man team on pure imagination, inspiration and drive. So far, I have completed two live workshop events with great feedback: Sowing The Seeds for Manifestation and Work/Life Balance.
I had no idea an intent to start a blog on traveling would lead to this great journey I’m embarking on now.
I’m excited and genuinely grateful for the God-given inspiration and a new found purpose.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Getting over the “impostor syndrome” was a huge challenge.
It’s been over five years since friends and associates have encouraged me to move forward as a motivational speaker and life coach. I just needed to believe in myself more. More importantly, figure out a way to interpret my purpose uniquely. I also made mistakes by not researching my purpose as a blogger intentionally before moving forward. I’ve learned a lot along the way and I’m still learning. In the end, I found that it is essential and necessary to be your own cheerleader, embrace your Superpower, and respect your voice. I understand mistakes are part of the learning process. The faster I make them, the faster I learn. I also believe collaboration is key. Find your tribe; the like minded people that understand your purpose. You can’t do life by leaning solely on your own understanding.
Aside from the challenges, I also recognized that once I got out of my own way and decided to start my first workshop with what I know, everything magically manifested on its own! You see, I was going to use my home for my first workshop event. I invited a former work acquaintance and friend to my event and he suggested I use one of their large conference rooms in his office building for my event – all complimentary. It was perfect and came with all the resources I genuinely needed!
My second event on Work/Life Balance materialized because an attendee from my first event requested it for her teammates at work. This is a perfect of example of why I host these workshops in the first place – “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” – Paulo Coehlo. You just have to believe you have a share in life’s abundance and if you build it, they will come.
Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
My full-time career is working as an Account Manager for a Construction Data Company. What I love most about my job is the “discovery” aspect. Showing my clients a resource, tool, or method that they were not aware of to creatively and successfully meet their business goals.
My entrepreneurial venture is hosting Vision Workshops on various lifestyle topics that we are all either trying to revisit or prefect. I conduct the live workshops with the following materials: Red Journals for each participant, a blank vision board(optional), illustrating materials to use for visual representation, and of course Brunch!
The journals are to establish and create action steps, routines, and deadlines as we go through the workshop together and moving forward. The vision boards are a way for you to visualize those action steps and goals if it helps as an added motivator. It is my belief that with everything we hope for in our life, the magic begins when we show the intention respect by writing it down, creating action steps to follow with consistency and establishing a deadline for accountability. I also believe in little achievements at a time. For example, you won’t catch me planning to vacation in Hawaii, complete my Master’s Degree, and buy a home all under the same deadline. Now if it happens – Awesome! I try to guide my workshop participants through specific success stories at a time. I say start with a unique task/goal with a quarterly or six months accountability check in and then make modifications (or not) and continue to progress from there with another check-in. A lot can happen in 90 days.
One particular workshop I’m looking forward to hosting soon is Embracing Your Singleness. The title looks one sided so you think you know where it’s going – but you don’t. It’s actually multifaceted and more than meets the eye. That’s what I love the most about my workshops – the discovery. Giving my clients something more than they fully expected.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
My success in life is marked by service and self-mastery. How much influence did I have in the path I chose in life? Did I choose a path because of fame/money, or a purpose that neither fame or money can define? I feel my most successful when I make a valuable impact on the life of others. In 2014, I volunteered with Sankalp Volunteer in Jaipur, India as an English and Math teacher at a school for “street kids.” It was an intent I had established long before I heard of Sankalp Volunteer – the intent to work with uplifting and empowering women and children in India. You can read more about it in my blog under TRAVEL.
Once I got there, I felt like I would be like every other volunteer – engage and uplift but only to leave in the end. On my last day, I decided to write a letter to one of the leaders and requested a canopy/shade installed for the students who had to learn outside, if possible. You see the school was not large enough for every student so my class was conducted outside. The sun was our biggest distractor during the learning process. I figured since I couldn’t stay with the children longer, I could at least try to influence something necessary and lasting. To my surprise, three months later, I saw a post on Facebook with all the children under a huge canopy in the same spot I held my outdoor classes! The feeling I got from seeing that- that was success. I strive for more of that.
Contact Info:
- Website: Website: https://www.livewellexploreoften.com/
- Phone: 404-538-3986
- Email: Email: bright1one@gmail.com
- Instagram: Instagram: @thecheliexperience
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