Debora Luzi: Finding my space and owning my voice in a crowded online space was challenging for me

“Finding my space and owning my voice in a crowded online space was challenging for me. I used to look at other people content and compare myself to them. ”

Shares Debora Luzi – the founder of The Writing Academy for Entrepreneurs.

Debora left her corporate job because one of her twins had a nearly fatal accident at the nursery. Making sure that she is a businesswoman and a present mama became her number one priority and catalyst for change.

With her job, she also left the safety net and financial security behind her. Her journey didn’t follow the usual career change script of finding the transferrable skills. Debora decided to listen to her intuition, inner calling and combine healing with writing.

Debora directed her healing abilities to heal business owners on their journey to attract more clients and more income. She now teaches entrepreneurs and small business owners how to turn their words into sales and write powerful content with ease that connects, converts and impacts millions.

Debora is not afraid to share about the struggles and challenges she had to overcome while re-designing her career. In this interview she will share how she turned the self-doubt into a powerful catalyst awakening her confidence and unlocking new business direction.

Where do you come from and where are you based now?  

Ciao, I am Debora, I come from Italy, but I have been living in the UK for more than half of my life. I went to the UK when I was 18 years old to work as an au-pair and learn English. I came because I wanted to escape one of these “I will die in this job” positions that my dad wanted for me. It was a bank job, and I am sure if I had stayed, I would still be working there now, so I would not be able to share my beautiful story with you, dear reader.

I had planned to stay only three months, but I ended up staying while doing different jobs, including receptionist, babysitter and bartender. I grew this massive desire of travelling the world and experiencing other cultures, so I went on to travel to more than 55 countries, often working in a few of them. 

 

As a child did you have a dream job?  

Oh yes. I had a few. I wanted to become a doctor and set up my own clinic in remote countries like Tanzania, Mozambique or India. From a young age, I had this desire of healing the world. I also wanted to be a detective and a teacher. The dream of becoming a teacher was the one that I kept alive for a long time.

Unfortunately, my parents were in a challenging financial situation, so they could not send me to university to study to become a teacher. Somehow, I knew that the universe would not make me forget about this dream and would gently guide me to pursue it.

 

 

When and how did you discover direction for your ideal job, career or business?

It was more than 15 years after going through a divorce and becoming a single mother. I realized that somehow, I had created the situation I put myself in because I was reliving my mum story and not mine. I knew I had to heal so much about my life if I wanted to give my son a brighter future and a happier mother. So I adventured in this beautiful healing journey through coaching and many different modalities, which I experienced on myself and started to take courses and diplomas to heal others. 

How did you recognize your genius – what are you best at doing in your career or business?

After opening my very own successful healing practice, other people started to ask me how I would get clients so efficiently. They were struggling, and many had even more qualifications than I did. So I started to give advice and help others to grow their business, and I eventually left my healing practice and directed my healing to heal business owners on their journey to attract more clients and more income.

But still…..I knew something was missing. What was making me so successful in my business? What was the thing that helped me to attract my clients? One day after another positive comment in one of my social media posts, I realised that the way I showed up, wrote and expressed myself was my magic potion of success. My authenticity, rawness and my motivation to others were my magic powers.

 

What is your job or position in business now? Why you do what you do right now?

So, you might remember me saying that the universe made me sure not to make me forget about my dream of becoming a teacher. Well, let me take you to that part of the story. After receiving praises, and critics on my content, I felt this need to become a better writer, to learn more about content strategies and persuasions.

While searching for schools on creative writing, I heard a soft but unyielding voice coming from above.

“Debora, You are a good enough writer, open a writing academy and start teaching people how to own their voice online and write their own content to market their business with passion and authenticity.”

You can imagine how shocked I was. English was not even my first language; I even made spelling mistakes.

But, the whisper was clear; I had no other choice than to open my own writing academy. And so I did it the same day, and after two hours, I already had three paying members. You can never doubt the whisper.

Work and life balance – what does it mean to you and how do you keep it? 

Work and Life balance are super important to me. I left my corporate job because one of my twins had a nearly fatal accident at the nursery. Making sure that I am a businesswoman and a present mama is my number one priority.

I had to set lots of boundaries. I only work from 10 to 3 pm as I pick up my boys every day from school, and I do not work at weekends unless I have a specific project a few times a year. I don’t see clients or am not present in my groups and container at the weekend. I also look after my energy a lot. I have a daily spiritual routine that I would never compromise on. It is part of my work schedule.

 

What have you learned on your dream job journey? What were the most difficult things you had to overcome?

You might have picked up a few already. Since I was a child, I have always loved writing, but my writing was often dismissed as too imaginative, and one of my former boos described it as too informal. Finding my space and owning my voice in a crowded online space was challenging for me. I used to look at other people content and compare myself to them.

I believed my writing was not good enough and that the way I was writing was too simple and not grammatically correct. I also thought that I had nothing new to say. Who would want to listen to me? I was so shy at first. I would comment, write posts and then delete everything straight away.

Then, I slowly started to believe in myself and think that yes, I had something to say and that there were people ready to listen to my stories and motivation; there were people ready to learn from me, the teacher.

 

How did you manage starting your business financially?

It was not an easy ride. I left a very secure and well-paid corporate job, so it was very challenging when my husband and I left our jobs to start our own businesses. However, I always found a way to sustain my family financially.

When I did not have clients, I created other ways to have extra income. For example, I made beautiful healing crystal jewellery ( which I still make and sell), healing sprays and hair accessories with crystals and feathers. The sales of these saved me so many times during these months when I was building my clientele.

 

Which 3 tips would you give to someone who is right now considering changing jobs, career or starting freelance?

The first-ever advice I would give is this:

 

1. Start now, because tomorrow it might be too late. I recently had a health scare which made me reconsider so many things about my life.  Tomorrow might never come, and we cannot afford to lose this moment. I would never want to die and regret things I have not done for fear of failing or being judged.
2. The second is…be truly, utterly, unapologetically yourself in the real sense. So if you swear, swear, if you are passionate, inject passion in all that you do. If you are loud spoken and opinionated, bring it on. Always be a full version of yourself and not a half version of someone else you might think is more successful than you. The world needs your uniqueness, whatever this might be. 
3. And lastly, send perfectionism on a deserted island with lots of coconut water, so they will have no time to return. Unfortunately, perfectionism is one of the main reasons, so many people fail to follow their dreams and create and execute an idea or project they desire. 

I created many things that were not perfect which sold very well because the passion with which I delivered them was more magnetic than perfectionism. I always believed perfectionism is boring anyway.

 

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Author: AdriAna Kosovska

I work with women in 30s and 40s to help them to find and thrive in their dream career so their career not only looks good on the outside but also feels great inside.

Certified coach,  founder of ZERO TO DREAM JOB and TALENTED WOMAN