Josi Dumont
Josi Dumont is a certified Leadership & Mindset Coach and Author.
She specializes in helping female business leaders overcome Imposter Syndrome and self-doubt so they can take bold action to build the business that enables their dream life confidently and authentically.
She tells us that, “Before taking the leap as an entrepreneur myself I was working as an expat Senior Finance Professional at a Fortune 500 company for almost a decade. As I was leading a global project I burnt out. This led me to re-evaluate my career and what I wanted out of life. Two of my biggest drivers in life are impact and freedom. I wanted to be able to support other women to make bold decisions based on self-trust and in alignment with their core values because I strongly believe that if women are at their best, the world will be at its best. Coaching quickly turned out to be the way to go for me. So in the beginning of 2022, I decided to leave the corporate world behind and create my own blueprint through life by being my own boss as a coach and mentor.”
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your professional journey/venture/initiative and what inspired you to choose this career.
The funniest and earliest memory I have of voicing my dream career was between the age of 3-5. My mum’s manager asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and my simple answer was: “A boss!” Despite this being my overall dream, after I finished my A-levels I had to earn money to support myself, so I started an apprenticeship at one of the biggest companies in my area and entered the corporate world. Whilst there, I quickly decided Finance was the way to go for me and I would tell anyone who’d ask me that I’m going to be the next CFO. I loved the strategic impact Finance had on the overall success of the teams and the company, and I was drawn to make Finance easier and understandable for my business partners as it always had this prejudice of being “complicated “ and “scary”. This career allowed me to move to Finland and ultimately to the UK, which I now call my home. On this journey, I also got incredibly curious about all things mindset and was studying everything I could about how to unlock one’s full potential and become a better human being every day. One day, my department started a design team to talk about “New Ways of Working” and implementing the agile methodologies, I was all in. Since then, I have been part of every Design Team that would have me, contributing to reshaping the whole department and being a strong advocate of the importance of the mindset and the necessity to support others to start the change within themselves, before just forcing a new SOP onto them. However, at my old company, this fell on rather deaf ears and I started to sense that the impact I was seeking to have might not be possible in the corporate world. This is when the idea of becoming certified as a coach first popped up in my head, however at first only as a supporting factor for my current role. When I burnt out and started my recovery, I also started working with a coach and mentor myself and she eventually brought that idea back to life by stating: “Why don’t you try coaching?” – so I did.
Was there any turning point in your life that changed your journey? If so, what was it? Please tell us the backstory behind it.
I lovingly call burnout my needed “wake-up call”. I had to hit rock bottom so I could refocus again on what truly mattered to me. It was one of the worst times of my life, I was working every day more than ten hours, would skip meals, and sometimes also work on weekends. When I finally realised what was happening I knew I had to get out as soon as possible. The only driver I had at the time was the thought that I wanted to be happy again. To get there, I had to get two things in order: 1. Reduce the workload and 2. Work on my mindset. So I did exactly that, I strengthened my inner resources and built my own self-trust back up again, reconnected to my values and my long-term life goals. Doing this gave me the courage to not only speak up to my manager about the situation but to really put my foot down so I could move on from the project after the initial implementation. Having more time to look after myself again, paired with continuous coaching and starting the coach training gave me the will to move forward and change my life for the better again.
Tell us about your goals, interests, and role models.
My biggest goal is to inspire and support as many women as possible to live their life their way. In fact, my upcoming book is called “And there she goes HER WAY”, which in itself is a childhood dream come true, as I always wanted to write a book one day and become an author. I also have a huge interest and love for weightlifting and have been starting my journey to also become certified as a Personal Trainer so I can offer my clients a holistic experience that will build their confidence and self-trust mentally and physically. In terms of role models, the one woman who keeps on inspiring me again and again is Miley Cyrus. I’m drawn to her unapologetic way of being and how she expresses herself authentically at all times. I love channelling her energy whenever I need that little extra dose of confidence in my own endeavours to always choose the path that is most aligned to who I truly am.
Everyone has their own set of challenges when starting an entrepreneurial journey. Still, the most essential part for others to learn is how you deal with those. Would you like to share with us your challenges and your coping mechanisms?
The biggest lesson I am still learning on this entrepreneurial journey is patience. This is not just a thing that you try out and see if you like it, you have to be willing to do this long-term, to experiment and try things out, to fail and learn from your mistakes, to hone in on what works, and constantly keep on evolving and adapting. After over two years in business, my go-to strategy when I feel like things aren’t moving quick enough, is to look back on what I have done already and celebrate every little win along the way like being booked onto another podcast or opportunities like this where I get to share my story on another platform. I also remind myself of where I’m going and why. Knowing why you do what you do creates the discipline to keep on going even if things don’t immediately work out, because you learn to fall in love with the process and to back yourself up as you go.
What impact do you feel you have been able to create with your work so far and how would you want to grow in the next few years?
So far I have been working with over 40 people worldwide. Seeing how they have changed their lives for the better is why I do this work. For me as a coach, there is no better feeling than seeing the shift happening in people’s eyes as they start to trust themselves again, reconnect with their values, reignite the fire in their souls, and take massive action steps towards a life that makes them happier. My clients came to me from all walks of life and have achieved so many amazing things from landing their dream jobs, leaning into their authentic leadership style and becoming inspiring leaders, to starting their own side hustles or even leaving corporate completely, becoming a better parent, moving abroad, or leaving toxic relationships. It’s that minimum 1% change that they all got through coaching, that has transformed their lives to the better over the long-run, and this is what I aspire to continue on doing for even more people in this world.
While the global pandemic of COVID-19 is associated primarily with adversities, it has also brought about a true boom in startups, with successful entrepreneurship in many countries. The pandemic has impacted all of us in one way or another. Would you like to share your experience on a personal and professional level?
2020, the peak year of Covid was also the year I burnt out. Whilst this obviously has created the shifts in my professional life that I have already mentioned, during this time I also had to work through the reality of my past relationship. Being on top of each other really has brought the toxicity to the surface and I had to learn that this relationship was not the one for me anymore. However, we kept on trying to make it work, and even got married in the hope it will all turn for the better. But on the wedding day itself, which was a year later, I just knew this wasn’t the person I could imagine spending the rest of my life with. And even the wedding itself wasn’t what I imagined thanks to Covid. I couldn’t have all my friends and family by my side and it all just didn’t feel right. It was only 3 weeks after that we called it quits and we started the divorce process shortly. This was a scary situation to navigate due to all the expectations of others, but I knew I had to trust myself and my gut if I wanted to be truly happy in a relationship. Which I can now happily confirm that I am, with a wonderful partner!
Your journey and your vision are very inspiring, but are there any achievements or accomplishments you would like to mention?
The one theme that keeps on popping up throughout my life is the self-trust I learn to put in myself again and again. Despite people saying I can’t do certain things, that I shouldn’t do something or that I’m not good enough, I always took the leap and did the scary thing. And I will continue to create my own blueprint through life as I go, trust my intuition, and help others to do the same but their way.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
The one change I would love to see and that I’m actively working towards is that women at all ages and from all walks of life, learn to trust themselves and do their own thing. We all are so incredibly capable, and most of it we learn as we go anyway. There is no better moment to get started or to keep going than now. Self-trust and self-belief are the driving forces behind everyone’s own version of success.
What’s the most important thing you have learned in your personal life and professional journey? What is your personal motto in life?
My favourite mantra that has accompanied me for decades is this: “I am. I can. I will”. It reminds me that I am enough as I am right now, so I can do the things that make me happy and that I will achieve them. I see this reminder daily as I have a paper stuck to my wall in my office as well as a wooden poster in the living room.
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women’s leadership today?
We have come a long way already, but there’s still more ground to cover until we’re even equal to our male counterparts. However, I see this happening at two fronts. The first one being the culture and systems that are currently in place that need to be updated and improved through trial and error to find the least discriminating way of hiring women into leadership positions as well as making sure that working conditions support them as they do reach those positions. The other front we have to do more work on is within ourselves, we have to lead by example and challenge the status quo instead of just keeping quiet and accepting things as is. Change always starts from within, and that means it starts from within every single woman out there to do her part to create the world she wants to live in as well as generations to follow.
With your grit and determination, you are making a considerable impact, breaking through, and serving as role models for many budding entrepreneurs. What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?
Just this: You are, you can, you will!