The 9-word sentence I told my husband that completely floored him

One morning in December 2023, I checked my accounts.

As a business owner, it’s a pretty mundane, standard part of the job, and I wasn’t expecting any surprises.

Suddenly, I gasped.

That’s the moment I realised, I’d done it. I’d achieved my goal and made £1m.

I’ll say it again. One. Million. Pounds. It’s a huge amount of money, something plenty of people don’t earn in a lifetime. Something I’d previously thought of as impossible.

Yet it had been my goal to hit that landmark since January 2023 – and I’d managed to do it within less than a year.

I’d love to say that I rushed out for champagne, or headed off on holiday in what I thought would be a big life-defining moment. I felt total elation… but it was also business as usual. It felt just like every other day as a working mum.

As strange as it sounds though, none of this would have been possible had I not laced up my trainers and headed to my first parkrun back in March 2019.

I’ve always been a big fan of goal setting – I read something earlier that year that said you’re 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. So, that’s what I did (and still do) every single day.

Originally, my goals were all centred around my business. I work with businesses to help them make more sales through my online membership, 1:1 calls and a mastermind group I run, as well as regular speaking opportunities.

I wanted to start a podcast, and write my own book, too. When I managed to tick off these tasks by August 2022, these improved my business enormously both in terms of visibility and credibility.

Soon, my goals expanded beyond business, so I decided to focus on personal fitness goals, too.

‘I’ve decided I want to teach myself to run,’ I announced one day to my husband and family.

This came as a surprise to them because I was not, nor had I ever been, a sporty girl.

At school I was never picked for the netball team, and couldn’t catch a ball to save my life.

In adulthood I’d joined a gym, tried dance classes, and even had a personal trainer for a while but the fitness bug never really bit me.

Still, running appealed to me because I could do it whenever and wherever I wanted – it could fit into my busy schedule.

I also thought that it seemed easy – you just put one foot in front of the other, surely?

I really didn’t think it would be that difficult, so I didn’t have a plan to ease myself in. Instead, I just bought a new pair of trainers, laced them up, and hit the pavement.

My first run was a rude awakening, though.

I think I managed two and half minutes before I became a hot and sweaty mess. My husband even joked that it was hardly worth putting my trainers on for!

Trudging home defeated, I could have quit there and then. But I still went out the next day, and the next.

If I gave up, I would have easily given up on my other goals – and that just wasn’t an option.

My running progressed slowly. I thought I’d quickly be able to run without stopping, but I didn’t have the stamina and fitness level for it and eventually I realised that, maybe, I did need some guidance after all.

That’s when I decided to join my local parkrun.

I’d seen pictures and adverts for the weekly event online – a free, regular community run – as well as seeing lots of runners who’d just finished their 5ks, but I’d never been tempted to join.

I thought it was for serious runners, people who were super fit and had been running since they were young – not someone like me.

However, my first time was amazing. I went by myself and the people were so friendly. I immediately loved the community element and accountability to keep me running.

After eight weeks, I remember thinking: ‘Oh my god, I can run for 10 minutes without stopping!’ And, three months in, I started to be able to run 5k easily.

When lockdown came around, it threatened to throw my progress off kilter – both in my business, and fitness – so I decided to set myself new goals to keep me on track.

One was to start a new community for business owners (which I’m pleased to say has now grown to more than 10,000 people), and another was to keep working on my running by setting the biggest goal I could: entering the London Marathon for the following year.

Although I couldn’t run that far yet, I had faith I’d get there. I started by combining walking and running a few times a week, and I made sure I went to the parkrun every Saturday – even if I was away from home, I’d attend the local parkrun in that area.

Eventually, I reached my running goal and completed the London Marathon in October 2021. I’m not going to pretend the marathon was easy, or that I was the fastest runner. In fact, I crossed the finish line at six hours and five minutes, but it was never about the speed for me.

It was about proving to myself that I could do it; that I could progress from 2.5 minutes to 26.2 miles if I put in the work.

I also realised: If I could teach myself to be a runner, then surely I could also teach myself to grow and scale my business, too – and make a million pounds.

All I had to do was take my business goals and break them into chunks, just like I did with my marathon training.

Suddenly, that million pound goal didn’t seem so impossible.

I created courses and group programmes so I could help more people without working every single hour of the day.

I also offered in-person events, provided daily WhatsApp support and regular Zooms to support business owners with monthly training courses, hosted my own events and in-person days.

After adding all these new aspects to my business, things grew quickly and before I knew it, we were in December and to that moment when I refreshed my bank account.

It took some time to sink in that I was now technically a millionaire, but naturally it wasn’t long before I decided to set my next audacious goals: to make £10m by 2027 and to have one of the most successful sales agencies in the UK.

That’s something I’m already working my way towards.

I also want to take my son, Ernie, who’s neurodivergent, on as many adventures as we possibly can and use my platform to raise awareness, too.

And, of course, I plan to keep running.

Attending my weekly parkrun taught me that any goal is achievable if you break it down into chunks. It also taught me you have to keep moving forward, even when things seem impossible.

There have been days where I’ve had very little time to work on my business, and plenty of days where I haven’t felt like putting my running shoes on. But, generally, those are the days I need it most.

My advice to anyone is just to do one thing everyday to move you forward. Sometimes just one step (or one very short, sweaty run) can make all the difference.

As told to Jenna Farmer

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.