“Have you thought of becoming a coach? You’d be good at that. You sound like you truly care about the people you speak to.”

The smile on my face belied the inner turmoil that I was feeling. Not that I was not grateful for the complimentary words that I was hearing. In fact, I had already heard them more than once, and it was becoming harder to ignore. No. It was because I knew what was coming next.

“However, for me. I don’t think that this will work. I really like you, but the product doesn’t work for me. Thanks for your time, though. Would you like one more coffee?”

There it was. Another refusal. My frustration threatened to erupt. Somewhere, in the dark recesses of my mind, I noted the stress on the ‘really’. In the moment, it provided scant conciliation. I had answered emails and at this particular meeting, answered two A4 sheets of questions. Keeping my smile rooted to my face, I made up an excuse as to why I could not stay to take him up on his kind offer. I think it was that I had already spent a lot of time with him and I had another meeting coming up. Regardless, the meeting ended shortly after.

Not long afterwards, I was seated in a slightly upmarket coffee shop, with a piping hot and reflectively dark cafe lungo contrasting against the brilliantly white cup that it sat in. I reflected back on the meeting, my mind’s eye conjuring up the images and playing them on my internal screen. What could have changed? What could I had done differently? 

The aforementioned frustration boiled over as I struck the table with the palm of my hand, startling my lungo and drinkers around me in unison. My mood darkened as I watched tendrils of dark liquid spread across the wooden table. Not for the first time, I felt like quitting the whole thing and starting again.

Looking out of the window and watching the populace walk past me, without so much as a curious glance in my direction, my mind tugged on a thread. Coaching…have you thought of becoming a coach? As my mind continued to tug, I felt the churning and spark of a new idea forming. I could almost feel my neurons rapidly travelling in my mind. A smile creased my lips as I felt a new energy course through my veins.

It took a few more years, but that was the day the concept of The Loading Circle, was born.