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Ask An Entrepreneur – Sarah Taylor, Integrated Sexology

Sarah Taylor of the United Kingdom stops by LionessMagazine.com to answer our Ask An Entrepreneur questions. "I was successful in my former business as a copywriter and new media strategist, but I’ve always been far happier working for myself. I don’t do well in organizations with rules and hierarchies."

Answers By: Sarah Taylor, Founder of Integrated Sexology, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Ask An Entrepreneur Sarah Taylor - Lioness Magazine
Sarah Taylor

How long have you been in business?

I am a sexological bodyworker (working towards my certification this October); I’ve been reading tarot for nine years – professionally since 2007 – and teaching and writing about it since 2010. Strangely, or perhaps not, I’ve found these two professions are much more complementary than they at first seemed.

Why have you chosen to dedicate yourself to this particular business/industry?

First, I’m interested in our secrets – the dark places inside us where we keep parts of us hidden (including from ourselves) – and the adaptive behaviors and patterns we unwittingly put in place over the years to make sure they stay hidden. Second, I’m interested in the possibility of liberation from those secrets, and the experience of how life expands when we free ourselves from them more and more.

Both Tarot and bodywork deal with the uncovering of secrets – and my intention is to work with them with sensitivity and compassion so that my clients get nothing that they weren’t ready for.

What makes business/product unique?

The marrying of Tarot and bodywork; they’re both ways of accessing our inner wisdom or intuition – just from different points of entry: the non-physical and the physical.

You could have worked for anyone and would have been successful, why become an entrepreneur?

I was successful in my former business as a copywriter and new media strategist, but I’ve always been far happier working for myself. I don’t do well in organizations with rules and hierarchies. The last company I worked for understood this and let me do my own thing as much as possible. But ultimately I realized that not only was I failing to thrive in the corporate world: what was calling me was something altogether less conventional – marginal, even – and I needed to go it alone. We’re on the edges of uncharted territory, Tarot readers and sexological bodyworkers alike – and entrepreneurship allows for a level of flexibility that surfing that edge asks for.

What was your last, “why did I go into business for myself” moment?

I can’t remember the last time I had that kind of moment. The alternative for me is unthinkable.

Every female professional should have __________.

Dare I say that I don’t believe in “shoulds”? Yes, I dare! The idea of liberation that underpins everything I try to stand for extends to my belief that every female professional is able to make decisions about what’s best for her – even, perhaps especially, when others (me included) feel they have other ideas.

If you could steal some business mojo from another mogul, who would it be and why?

A “soul-mogul”, who would probably feel distinctly uncomfortable with the word “mogul” attached to her at all: author, activist, and Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, for her compassion, humility, and a sense of self that comes from meeting what life has brought her with courage and openness. She inspires me to bring that same child-like curiosity, intelligence, and strength to my life and work.

What is your business motto?

Follow your fears; they’ll take you where you need to go.

If you could give other entrepreneurs three tips, what would they be?

Don’t underestimate the power of your intuition – your body is a great barometer as to whether that offer/deal/contract is a “Yes!” or a “No!”

You might already have potential business with people you know but have discounted for one reason or another; give them a chance to say yes to you.

Start with a strong, and consistent, corporate identity that feels absolutely right to you. There’s something to be said for establishing an alignment between who you are, and how you present yourself, from the outset.

Has there been a piece of technology or software that has been a lifesaver to you?

WordPress. With a little bit of savvy, some time and some judicious research, you can have your own web presence up in a matter of days with minimal cost.

What is your goal for the next year?

To be busy enough to hire an assistant.

When someone is telling their friend about your business, what do you hope they say?

That they are more able to love and accept themselves, and that their experience of life has changed because of that.

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