From Adversity to Entrepreneurial Success: Cheryl Sharp’s Journey to Building a Thriving Accounting Business

Hello everybody and welcome to the You Can podcast. I'm your host Sarah Jolly Jarvis and today I am joined by Cheryl Sharp who we're going to be talking around kind of out of adversity comes opportunity and Cheryl's journey to start to get our business and all that that involved.
So welcome Cheryl. Please do tell us a little bit about yourself.
yeah cool hi i'm cheryl and um thank you for inviting me on today um so i'm cheryl i um

i'm a business owner I'm a mum a wife and a question and I set up my business in 2014 as an accountancy business to it was just after I left an abusive marriage and it was an opportunity for me to take some control back of my own life to get some flexibility around the boys and to get some financial freedom and just freedom in general generally but specifically that financial freedom that I desperately needed and wanted yeah and I'm sure we're going to go into a lot more detail as we go through. So, you know, when you set up your business, so, you know, you left that marriage and you had the boys with you, you know, from what were you looking, what were you currently doing? What was your job? So, I didn't actually have a job at all when I first left him.
So I had absolutely no financial freedom. I then went and joined a counselling practice in London.
And I was working five days a week, but around the boys. And luckily it was a friend that had given me a role there and they would let me just

set my own hours so I literally would drop the boys at school at nine run down to the train station jump on a train get into London for 10 to start at 10 leave at half two again running back down to the train station to pick the boys up at half three and then on a Friday they would generally go to their dad so I'd say do like a full day um but yeah it was very that must have been stressful yeah it was fun it was a lot it took a took a big toll really because it was just constant on the go and how long did you do that for uh timeline's a bit out now but probably about a year or so it's quite a decent length of time and before that were you were you stay at home and that's why you weren't financially dependent yeah I stay at home and I did um I did his account he run his own business and I run his accounts and things and some other bits and pieces so I kind of had my hand in it but wasn't working full-time at all

it was more just that was a massive change yeah massive that was that that must have taken a real a real big kind of leap of of everything it did but I also enjoy working and I enjoy having that independence and being my own person so yeah I I enjoy working which is probably a bit sad but I do I do too because I feel quite good at it so I'm like actually the parenting time side of things sometimes I'm like I feel like I'm really winging it and I'm really I don't feel quite as good um but it's quite nice to be able to to go to work and have something that you're you think you know what I'm I'm really I'm really good at this so how did so you're setting up your own business how did that come about how did you fit that in that so I was moving um house and where I was initially I could get into London and out in an hour so kind of fitted and worked. But where I was moving to was another hour away.
So I had no chance at all. I wasn't even near a train station.
So there was just no way it was going to work. So I thought, what can I do? I spoke to a few people in the area and there was nothing available in school hours because back then school hours wasn't really a job.
How long ago were we going back? That would have been 11, 12 years ago. So, yeah, school hours working was not a thing.
And the flexibility side was nothing. So it was either part-time a few days a week or nothing else and obviously term time as well you can get any term time only jobs literally you have to work the full 52 obviously with holiday but a full 52 weeks of the year um so I was like oh this is not gonna work because I had no help whatsoever I knew nobody where I was moving to.
So it's not like I could even ask friends to help me out because I didn't know anyone. What possessed you to move somewhere? Where did that come around? Oh, it was a long story short.
I was seeing a guy at the time and all his friends were there and I had no real ties where I was. So I was like okay let's move and um okay yeah I went with that um although I really believe that everything happens for a reason and it was there was something that was meant to get me out to that location because that's where I met my current husband who is my Prince Charming um and if I hadn't have done that move then I would never have met him so I do I do feel like I do feel like feel like that.
With big moves, it's definitely something that's meant to be around it. Yeah, definitely.
So I was just like, oh, well, this is not going to work. I can't find another job.
And the accounting practice I was working for said they'd give me some bookkeeping to do from home. That's how I initially started with them in the first place it kind of was going in a bit of a full circle and they'd outsource some to me and I was like okay well maybe I can set up on my own and I can do other people's bookkeeping and accounts and stuff so I was like okay let's do it then so I set up the business one of my friends was doing some tax returns on side so I kind of chatted to her a little bit and understood how it all works um set up the business and then the accountancy practice never actually followed through with the work they promised me so I was like okay what do I do now but I'd already kind of committed and I'd already got myself in that mindset so then it was a case of right well now I well, now I need to find out how to get clients.
And the only thing I knew from my ex's business was he went networking and he did B&I, all the breakfast ones. But when you're a single mum with two children, you cannot go to breakfast club.
So it was a case of, right, well, what now? So it was then a case of, right, I need to find some daytime networking daytime networking which again 11 years ago was not that many around um so it was just WIBN that I found I went along to one and then I guess the rest is history from there which has grown and grown and grown and things now are a lot more flexible there are a lot more freedoms around and there's a lot more networking that is good for mums in my situation so definitely so so how when did you transition because I found you and became aware of you and we had conversations online so you're on Instagram so how did that how did that fit in where does that fit in and where does where does the in-person stuff how much in-person stuff do you still do um so I went for a stage where I did no in-person networking because I'm a complete introvert and not my type of thing um I don't find it easy or enjoyable and it really drains me so for a long time I stopped and we completely went online word of mouth and I didn't really I don't want this to come across because I didn't need to network because we had enough and I still had a bit of handing so I've made the connections I've made all the um built all the relationships and things so I still had a lot of people that were referring and I didn't need to go out face to face um and then obviously COVID happened

and everything so nobody was going face to face um and yeah recently it's been a case of right I'm ready now to go back out and do a bit more so I have now started going back out and I'm starting to go to different groups and it's really nice because where where the business is going we're kind of in different locations as well so it's really nice that I can branch out and go to different areas that I hadn't before because before I was very much in like Bishop Swartford and Hertfordshire way where now I'm more in the Essex way and I'm branching out more up there from North Essex and even going up to Cambridge and things so it's really nice to meet new people outside the area scary and it drains me and I dream but once I'm there it's quite nice and I do like meeting people and getting to build those relationships um but I still enjoy it I think the online it feels safer yeah yeah yeah yeah and you're pretty active online as well aren't you yeah I've taken a bit of a break at the moment because I've been a little bit figure the business pages are really active still because the team look after them but my personal page um yeah I've been a little bit less active recently because I've just been trying to work out I think a lot of business owners will speak is every time you get to a different stage in business you start having a little bit of like where am I who am I because you're leveling up and it's like you evolve don't you evolve and you've got to meet the new version of yourself and I think I'm going through one of them stages at the moment where I'm not quite sure well I wasn't I'm there now but now I've just got to replan now to where I know where I am but I went through a stage of I wasn't quite sure where I was what my role was where I stepped back from the accountancy business on the day-to-day side so I'm just running it now so it's like okay well I am still technically an accountant because I am still well-fired and trained. However, I don't actually do accounts anymore.
So I'm not an accountant. I run an accountancy business.
And I'm trying to get my head around that a little bit and some of my passion bits as well. It's like, how do they all intertwine and connect? Yeah.
Everything. So, yeah, it's been a bit, but I will be back very soon.
So that of because it is it is a real journey isn't it if you think about where you start off from and the way that you connect with clients and then how it evolves and you evolve your business evolves um your ideal client evolves and so yeah your messaging does evolve was this an intentional evolution or is this just what you've you know you did you sit

down and look at business trajectory where you want to go with it and and make intentional shifts or has this been a kind of evolving thing it's been an evolving thing a little bit strategic a little bit let's see where it's going kind of thing so initially I knew I wanted to work with mums and I knew I wanted to help people similar to me get freedom through their business and let's face it accounts is scary for most people if you're not trained accountant or bookkeeper or have any interest in that kind of line of work it's very scary for business like this and it's one of the unfortunate parts of for most people anyway it's one of the most unfortunate parts of running a business you have to deal with it um it's like sales and marketing yeah i feel like we're the unwanted extras um so so yeah i wanted to be able to help women with that and to do it so predominantly i was working with women and mums specifically um and then as my team grew my team were mostly mums at the time so kind of that felt natural but then as my team grew even more they wasn't all mums and but they had their own families on what they deemed as families so like their pets their friends it's the family they make it's priorities it's priorities outside of isn't it exactly yeah so it felt inauthentic not inauthentic but it didn't feel quite aligned and messaging and everything so that kind of evolved to be more the family the lifestyle that you want so it was still there but it just was I suppose sharpened little bit yeah um and I think as I'd done more work on myself my mindset and I voiced one of my long long term aspiration if I won the lottery goals to my coach that's sharing which was which was what what was your long-term Oh, I really haven't shared this with many people.

I would love to have some kind of centre, I guess,

some kind of place where women who have been in abusive situations can come.

They can have some, not respite, but they can come.

They can learn how to run a business

they can learn how to be themselves again have help mindset um have a daycare so you've got you can bring the kids and the kids aren't a barrier and just somewhere safe to work with other people where you know it's safe and people just get you so some kind of center like that and a bit more but yeah that's that's amazing I'd love that that would be good that would be good so are you making steps towards that hopefully your coach is like right okay she's like okay well that is a dream not unachievable dream but it is a longer term dream she said so what can we do now she's very much like let's take the first first step yeah what's the baby step and so the baby step initially was well i need to share my story i don't need to but that's part of it to raise awareness to share that it is possible for people who've come from adversity not just abuse relationships there's all different types of adversity but it is possible for you to turn your life around and that not be your story that be part of your story a chapter a couple of chapters depends on how long it's been but that's you can do it you can go on and do whatever you want to do afterwards so I think that was the first step for me and then helping other women to set up their business is my next step and that's where I am at the moment is I want to help people that have been in that situation and are free because I'm not the right person to help people get free but I have plenty of contacts so I can help people point them in the right direction but it's not me but once they are ready to then start that next chapter I can be there to help them to set up a business to grow a business if they've already got a business to get back into it to grow it to however they want it to be um and that's kind of my steps towards what I want to do longer term and that's the thing isn't it you don't have to have the whole be chipping away at. And also it's like, well, what with that are you trying to do? And it's like, actually you can provide the support, the aspiration, the opportunities without having that physical centre.
And that's the thing is, is sometimes we have, it's like, well, I've got to wait. I've got to wait until I've got this and I've got to wait until I've got that.
And it's actually, you can be doing those things in the meantime. the meantime and that's you know it's what can I do right now with the resources I have so two questions of that because like yeah because you said about first first steps before isn't it and it's really it is breaking it down um did you have help when you you decided to leave did somebody or did you do that off your own back yeah I felt all off my own back but I wished I'd had somebody yeah but I didn't have anything and I guess part of that was I wasn't admitting to myself I needed the help um because I think that's a big thing as well a lot of people are scared to ask for help but also scared admitting that they need the help yeah because it is a big But I think it's a really, really brave thing to ask for help.

And I wish I'd felt brave enough to do it sooner.

But again, things happen for a reason.

And I truly believe that the reason I wasn't ready

is because I hadn't met the right person.

And when I met the right person to help me,

I asked for help and I got the help.

And I was able to work on myself.

And for a long time, I did have a counsellor and my coach my coach is a business and mindset coach so we've got that perfect blend and I needed the counsellor to get me over the initial real depression and anxiety to pop the side of it and I wouldn't say I'm cured no one's ever cured but I've got that under control mostly now and yeah yeah I just need the business and mindset side so I've been with her now for four years and um yeah worth her way of gold and do you think you would be where you were because that's interesting because a couple of episodes ago I was talking to somebody over mentoring um and you know do you think that you would be where you are without your coach no definitely not no she's really has I can't even describe it and put it into words but she's helped and it's not she's unlocked something in me the work we've done together is um yeah she's helped me to believe in myself give me the confidence and self-worth and everything else that I needed to be able to go on and grow and the proofs in the pudding because beforehand um and I'll stick with the business success because it's quantifiable but literally when you look at my business before working with her and within two years of working with her I doubled what I'd done in six years I doubled in two so I think there's proof there yeah that it works definitely it works it works and yeah it does pay for itself doesn't it it definitely does and I now it's really weird because I speak to a few other people who work with her as well it's like I know now when I'm needing a session because or I get close to a session because I feel like I'm dipping dipping dipping dipping dipping have a session and top up and then carry on it's really weird I don't that probably doesn't explain it very well but no it does make sense because I think it is you you get the momentum don't you and I think that's the thing with working on your own is it's it can get really lonely um and even if you're not in a position to have a coach or a mentor or anybody like that right now it's having it's it's getting those boosts and that might be listening to a podcast or talking to other people in a similar position to you or just tapping into like listening into conversations for example on the podcast but also in groups of other people where you can say actually yeah other people are going through a similar thing for me this person's really inspiring because they've gone beyond inspiring books it can all help you to kind of top up that energy and momentum to kind of keep going isn't it yeah definitely and I think the thing is working for yourself is when you have a boss you're generally going to have deadlines on things that you're working on and for me as an accountant I've always had deadlines because we've got the HMRC filing deadlines so the client work has always had the deadlines but the working on the business has never had deadlines.

It's never had anything.

And if I don't do something, well, you know, I haven't done it.

I'm not accountable to anyone.

So even just that side of having a coach, I'm accountable to someone now.

And if I say I was going to do something by the next time I saw it,

you can guarantee I'm going to do it.

Not that she's going to tell me off, obviously, but it's that whole,

you know, like when your parents are disappointed. It's that, isn't it? And also, I think there is, because I read The Chimp Paradox.
And in there, he talks around your chimp likes to, like, if you're going to, if it says it's going to do something, it likes to follow through on it. And I think there is that.
I mean, I think the analogy he used in the book was like something like you tell people you invite them around to see your newly decorated room um because then you'll decorate it so you know there is definitely something to that which is a lot harder to do on your own it's a lot harder to give yourself a pep talk and there is that kind of feeling of like well you know no one's no one's telling me off in fact it was interesting because there's a couple of correlations with you that I hadn't realized um the horsey side of stuff because you you put

out a post about um which I was like oh I knew I knew there's a reason I liked that woman um and um

and so yeah you know obviously I I'm very fond of my horses and then um the other thing was you

running the London Marathon and I think sometimes it's very much I'm going through the training

Thank you. and so yeah you know obviously I'm very fond of my horses and then um the other thing was you running the London Marathon and I think sometimes it's very much I'm going through the training now I applied for the last 11 years I've applied and um I've managed to get a place with Macmillan um which is a charity very close to my heart and so um and so I'll be running for them and um but it is that because you're on the treadmill and you're like, I could walk now.
And it's like my head's actually going, just press that button, that button, that button. Now we'll slow it down.
You could just walk. And I'm like, no.
And it's that constant. But that's the thing is you can press that button.
You can walk and no one's noticing. But you're not progressing.
You're not developing as you want to be. And that's the but on a day-to-day basis it's so hard to keep to keep pushing and and to and to not give yourself that easier ride um just for me for me you know it can be very difficult i've spoken to people who you know they're in relationships which are abusive and they don't necessarily know you know because you know you've got the the blaming and the gaslighting and everything else that can go with it um for somebody who's like you know what this person makes me unhappy and I feel unhappy and I'm less and less confident in myself what would you say to that person what's the starting point with this I think the first one is recognizing this isn't what I want and that's really hard for

a number of different reasons because quite often you'll be like well it's me generally it's not you but you're made to feel it's you and then it's the confidence in you isn't it but also then it's like well I think you become resigned to it because you're like well I know this all right I'm not happy or it's not perfect but I know it and it's it's safe for that reason not safe as in you are safe but it's safe because you know the situation it's familiar. But you don't know what anything else looks like.

And that's scarier than staying quite a lot of the time.

But I think the first step is recognising yourself that something's got to change.

And then when you're ready for that, reach out to somebody.

Women's Aid and Refuge.

Refuge, you've got the national helpline, which I can give the details for we can put the show notes if you want um and somebody there will be able to help you and help point you in the right direction and help you to make those arrangements you need to leave i would also recommend speaking to your employer because not many employers will have um policies or any references where to go but that's the mission that i'm on to change because i think all employers should because it's an easy way you can support your team so why wouldn't you um but just see what they can do to help as well because even like simple things like if at the moment your wages are paid into a joint account asking your employer to put them into a separate account can make all the difference because then you've got your own money and you can yeah to leave um so it's little things like that that people can start doing and if you are a friend of someone that you can see someone else is going for a loved one or a friend again speak to refuge because they've got people they're trained to support friends and family to help them support their friends um and just listening and not judging i think that's a really big thing is a lot of people on the outside can't understand is why don't they just leave and it's not that simple for what i've just said most of the time is because they're scared to leave or they've got this image in their head especially if they've got children mum dad and children who don't want to break the family up so there's all these things as well as not feeling that they can or they should or anything else so it's you can't force somebody to leave you have to they have to make that decision for themselves yeah definitely and I guess from an employer point of view there will be employers who they'll be able to see the change in that individual and you know they're probably like oh thank goodness you've realized too um or you know they're able to see that that's what's wrong um and it is the first step i suppose is is admitting it and saying it out loud isn't it it is and just to a trust sometimes it's easier to say it to a trusted friend sometimes it's easier to say it to a stranger it just depends on who that person is but even even if somebody wanted to reach out to me online on instagram or facebook I'm not facebook on there sorry instagram or LinkedIn for example just reach out to say I think this is me yeah do it I mean I'm here to lend a hand lend an ear I can't necessarily help you get out of it directly but I'm always open to listening and because sometimes it is easier to speak out to a stranger because it feels safer because you're not committing to telling somebody you know you know yeah no that makes a lot of sense and you know from your your story where you are now you've got your business you've got very clear aspirations you're on a team day um you know it is that is it is very very possible you know you you left with no job no financial stability no nothing no you are proof that it is doable it is if I always say if I can do it then so can other people um it is possible it is hard work don't get me wrong there's been some hard work there's been lots of tears I've had to ask for help um I've had days where I thought I can't do this I'm just gonna give everything give everything up. And why am I doing it kind of thing? But they're the bad days.
The good days way outweigh the bad days. And yeah, if I can do it, anyone can.
I'm nothing special. And that's the thing is, is it makes, I was talking to somebody recently on a podcast and we were saying about how when you're in a situation, in a situation even if it's not a good situation as you say it's you're not necessarily actually safe but you haven't died yet and so your body wants to keep you in that situation your head wants to keep that situation because they know that you're not dead in that situation whereas and it's that whole like that's that's the thing with our kind of programming is it's very, it's very sort of, it's very outdated.

And the thing is, is it's not around.

There isn't this thing over, you know, actually, it's your body, your brain is not designed to keep you in a place to make you happy.

It's happiness or anything else or actually feasibility.

It's in the short term.

We're all right here because we're not dead.

Thank you. to make you happy it's happiness or anything else or actually feasibility it's in the short term we're all right here because we're not dead and it is yeah your your body your brain is like you're safe here because you know here oh that's scary over there we don't know what that is and I with the horses even more so now get that because they, this still amazes my husband, they are scared of the tiniest little things.
They literally are scared of their own shadow sometimes. And it's because their brain doesn't know that that's okay.
And it's fine. And that's exactly how we feel in those kind of situations.
We don't know the other side. We don't know what's coming.
We don't know. And that is scarier than the current situation.
Yeah, which is absolutely understandable why people stay pet. But there is a way.
And you've lived that. And you are proof that you can make that happen.
And you're on your mission to help other people do the same thing. Yeah thing yeah I think that's the biggest thing I want to show people through telling my story um it's not to show off or be arrogant or anything like that I'm not what I want to show is it is possible and there is hope afterwards and I think that is the thing I desperately want to share and show that it is possible and you don't have to stay stuck and it's not yes don't get me wrong it is going to be hard there are going to be moments that are scary but once you push through and you're there it's so worth it yeah yeah definitely well thank you so much Cheryl for your time it has been so lovely to chat to you and um guys we will pop those in back those bits of information and where you can find Cheryl in the show notes.
Cheryl, where's the best place to find you? Probably on Instagram. I'm at IamCherylSharp.
Okay. Cheryl, C-H-E-R-Y-L.
Sharp with no E. Just to be awkward.
But other than that, a totally uncomplicated name. Not anything.
Very Google-able. Yes, my son says that all the time when his friends google me at his school oh the joys well thank you so so much errol it's been a pleasure speaking to you

and join me again next week guys where i'm going to have a solo episode

um we're going to be talking more around growing your business so that's it for me guys this week

bye for now thank you