Today we’d like to introduce you to Estelle Marais.

It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?

Working in the financial sector I soon realised that my clients need more from me than only a financial plan and I wanted to give them the support they needed. How we think about money always plays a role in our financial results, and in turn our financial success. As we say in the trade, it is often not the financial plan that fails the client, but the client who fails the financial plan. With a background in coaching and Neuro-linguistic Programming, I was very motivated to find a way to help my clients cultivate a healthy relationship with money. Being in private practice, not working for a fixed salary, I directly experience the importance of having a healthy and positive approach in everything you do. The quality of your approach will be reflected in the results that you see in your job or career or practice, whatever the case may be. And even further than that, in my experience mental and spiritual health both have a direct impact on my success in my practice. I wanted to share these things with my clients. I have a passion for working with people and helping them improve their quality of life and here I found the opportunity to do just that and in a way that is really meaningful, as personal finance plays a role in every area of life.

I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?

I believe the biggest challenges that we ever have to overcome, are those that we create ourselves. I guess part of the reason why I have a passion for helping others overcome money issues, is because my unhealthy relationship with money was one of the biggest challenges that I have had to overcome. That is also why I really understand the struggle that many people face and the fact that it plays a role in every area of your life. Another crucial aspect in a person’s functioning, that is often being overlooked, is being healthy physically, mentally, emotionally and vocationally. For many years I struggled with chronic headaches, fatigue and joint and muscle pain that were extremely difficult to diagnose. Looking back, I honestly don’t know how I got through it, I can only say that I am immensely grateful for the support from my family. Finally, being healthy I feel like I simply have to make the most of every opportunity, now that I am able to do so.

Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?

I help people change the way they think about money in order to have a healthier financial life. I believe that financial well-being is something that anybody can achieve, regardless of their background or income group. I am a Certified Money Coach(CMC)© and I am also trained in NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) as well as TPT™(Timeline Paradigm Technique) and certified life coach. My clients have a variety of problems such as under-earning, not coping with debt repayments, conflict in a marriage around money, or lacking discipline in working towards financial goals. These issues inevitably spill over to others areas of life and that is why many clients experience not only their financial situation improving, but their overall level of happiness improving after going through the coaching process.

What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?

The best piece of advice that I can give, is practice awareness. Take some time at the end of each day to reflect about what happened during the day, and also to look at the bigger picture. Are you still on your way to where you want to be? Are the things you are doing contributing to you reaching your goals or are they standing in your way, because it really is always either one of the two. You are either working towards your goals or working against them. And we are very often working against reaching our goal, but of course not consciously. That is why it is so important to reflect and take stock every now and again, to become aware of those things that you aren’t aware of when they are happening. A second piece of advice, which really goes hand in hand with the first, is to always trust your intuition. It may happen that you get it wrong once or twice, but the more you trust your intuition, the more clearly it will start to speak to you. And as that relationship develops, you will reach a point where you never hesitate and never doubt your intuition.

Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?

To me enjoying well-being and being happy is a big part of success. And I really want to add to that being authentic. Without well-being, happiness and authenticity you cannot be successful in the true sense of the word. Once you have those three elements, I would go further to say that when you do the things that you said you were going to do, in other words reach your goal, and you do that with grace, ease and gratitude, then you are reaching success.

What’s next for you?

My personal mission in life is to create beauty and celebrate life and to help others do the same through coaching and education. I will keep finding ways to increase the impact that I have by growing my reach and footprint in innovative ways.

Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more.

Anybody can contact me via email at hello@estellemarais.com, on my website www.estellemarais.com or telephonically +27842556376. All the services I provide are available online, we schedule Zoom calls where in-person appointments are not possible. You are also welcome to follow my Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/estellemaraismoneycoach, and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/estellemoneycoach/ where I share some valuable tips.