Meet Katie, a location independent business mentor based in Wales, UK

edRunning an online business doesn’t usually happen by accident, it is often a logical decision or natural stage in someone’s life and Katie is the perfect example of this. Katie has run many businesses over the years and these experiences (bad and good) empower her to mentor women all around the world.

So I have invited Katie to share her story and tell us a little bit more about how she got started online and her plans for 2019.

Please tell us a little about yourself, where you come from and your professional background?

Hi, I’m Katie Colella, I’m a Business Mentor & Sales Funnel strategist working with women in online business.

I’m a mum of two, step mum to three and wife to one! I was born and still live in South Wales, UK. I started my first business at 18 and have founded many businesses since.

These have been offline, online, product and service based, so I’ve tried loads of different things.

So you haven’t always been working online, what made you decide to start your first online business?

After my husband and I sold our guest house we took stock and decided to do some research before starting my next business.

I had a few months break and thought about what I enjoyed.

At this point the way of the world – in my opinion- was online, and I believed that this was the way forward for whatever new business I decided on. I thought about many things but eventually decided on a product business.

After 5 years in that business, I had fallen out of love with the business and decided to sell up. At this stage, it was a given for me that I start another business and at this stage, I decided to become service-based and help other women in business.

Nowadays, your business is 100% online but still, you organise workshops, full-day training sessions locally and you are running a 3-day business retreats. Tell us a bit more about this.

I have wanted to run a retreat in addition to the other in-person activities for ages and I really wanted to attend one too.

At the same time, an amazing client of mine decided to launch her first retreat- at a very affordable price tag and I just thought- why not just do it.

I believe in taking action wholeheartedly, so stopped thinking about what retreat I could attend, and started thinking about my own.

I really wanted my retreat to be business based but also include plenty of self-care as well as free time. I wanted it to be about empowerment, women coming together to help and support one another and in turn help each other to grow- in business, mindset and in ourselves and what better way than to all come together, in-person.

So I ran my first business retreat on the beautiful island of Ibiza in Spain, exclusively for 10 amazing women who learned what has worked for me to grow all my businesses from scratch.  We also had time to read, to relax, to meditate, to practice yoga, grab a massage or to simply sit in the sun and be with yourself. These were incorporated into the retreat, to make time for you to be YOU.

Tell us 3 things you love about your Location Independent lifestyle

I love the freedom that my business brings. If I need to attend my children’s school for something – I don’t have to ask permission, I can simply go.

I love the fact that when I holiday (which we like to do as much as we can) I can choose if I want to work or not. If I need to check in on something I can, but it’s my choice.

I love the balance my lifestyle brings me.

What advice would you give to anyone willing to become Location Independent by starting their own online business?

To believe that it can work and to take action. Nothing will happen if you don’t believe that it can and nothing will happen if you don’t start taking action. Simple but true!

Hope to see you and connect with you online – https://katiecolellasocial.co.uk/

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Thank you very much, Katie, for this inspiring interview. I love the fact that you have built and run so many different types of businesses (offline and online – products and services), that’s definitely a huge strength at the moment of mentoring and accompanying your clients in their business creation or growth stage.

Want to read more Global Entrepreneur Success Stories? Make sure to check out the other Interviews here.