Hannah Kupoluyi is the founder of All Women’s Network which started the ‘Birth Your Vision Coaching Programme’ in January of 2020.
The ‘Birth Your Vision Coaching Programme’ was funded by The Faith & Belief Forum and LBBD. This followed her award-winning achievement in 2019 from Faith & Belief Forum with her work in empowering women through a personal development training program. She was awarded the funds to help women in her community start their dream business and turn their visions to reality.
This award was special as it was presented by Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE, the Queen’s Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, and Debbie Weekes-Bernard, the Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement.
The programme was intended to span six months to ensure that women execute their entrepreneurial, professional and personal goals.
However, one month in almost all public and private places of business were closed, social distancing became an official national order and schools were now conducted in the virtual sphere. Hannah had to home-school her three children while dealing with the programme’s participants, many of whom were also mothers in the same predicament as her.
The programme has traditionally always taken place in public spaces and within close physical proximity between the recipients and Hannah herself. She faced the difficult decision of postponing or giving up on her passion project that she worked tirelessly to deliver to her long-awaiting recipients, and wondered how one would now remodel the dynamics of something that was well in the middle of its development and amid a global pandemic.
What began as a coaching programme provided to eight women in the Greater London area suddenly expanded to a worldwide forum that extended to women across to the United States of America.
On a personal level, we are obligated to comply with the new governmental guidelines pertaining to the health and safety measures of ourselves and loved ones. This, of course, is separate from the emotional and psychological challenges that come with living in a pandemic.
This was then coupled with the professional obligations to uphold the integrity of her brand and deliver this service to her trusting recipients. How does one begin to consider navigating such seemingly insurmountable obstacles?
Well, Hannah’s recipients were women seeking to change their lives by way of willpower, grit and commitment. Hannah had to demonstrate and embody these principles not just within the framework of this programme but also outside of it. In practice, this meant having to consider conducting this programme with new and untested arrangements. It meant having to take a non-remote service model to a completely virtual service model. It meant shifting how this programme was conducted in its entirety. Hannah asked her supportive recipients for some time as she taught herself the intricacies of the technical world including social media and the vast array of telecommunication applications. This was a mission that required essentially starting the project from scratch.
Fortunately, her recipients were receptive to the big change and even offered her suggestions which she incorporated.
What began as a coaching programme provided to eight women in the Greater London area suddenly expanded to a worldwide forum that extended to women across to the United States of America. This would not have been within the realms of possibility had Hannah conducted the programme in the traditional format. The restrictions imposed by this lockdown forced her to consider new avenues which ironically extended the geographical reach of the service she provided. The confinement of this global pandemic metaphorically became the keys to her growth. Hannah partnered with an organisation called Free2embraceme, which supported with mindset coaching sessions her recipients. The founder, Neusa Catoja, is a mindset coach.
As a result, Hannah has not only embodied and demonstrated the principles sought by her recipients; willpower, grit and commitment but also equipped them with the practical and theoretical wherewithal to accomplish their own goals. Many of the women receiving her service were able to become certified in their respective fields, register and launch their businesses and challenge some of their self-doubts. These women are now well on their way to success and the seemingly insurmountable challenges that come with a global pandemic were not enough to disrupt them or Hannah’s great work.
