Success Redefined - An Interview with Maria Coulter

Maria Coulter, through her business Construction Coach, is on a mission to bring change and make a difference to the industry. She helps SMEs and micro businesses start their own revolution while they grow into stronger, more profitable and happier businesses. She also volunteers as a Non-Executive Director for the Construction Industry Council and Chairs their Diversity and Inclusion Panel. She delivers Fairness, Inclusion and Respect training for The Supply Chain Sustainability School, has set up online communities that support small business owners and has her own podcast, The Construction Revolution. Here she shares her views on success and what matters most.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I don't remember thinking anything specific. I think it was probably when I was around 15, I started to think that I wanted to be a joiner. I really enjoyed doing woodwork and technical drawing and I think I was just naturally drawn to the practical side of things.

Do you remember thinking you knew what success meant or what being a successful adult looked like?

I don't recall really thinking that when I was little but I think it depends on the times that you live in. We didn't have all of the influences and the social media that young people have now. So our view of the world was very much based on what was around us. The role models when I was younger tended to be pop stars and people on television. I always looked up to my parents though. I'm from a working class family in the North-East, but I always felt like I was very loved and supported and that my parents were good, kind people with good values. So I felt like they were really good role models for me. 

How has your idea of success changed through your career and what does success mean to you now?

I feel like I've really developed my own success, I guess. If I'm honest, when I was working as a Project Manager and as a Quantity Surveyor in the industry, I never really felt successful. There were good projects and good outcomes but I'd never really felt like I knew what the end game was or what success could look like for me. I think it wasn't until I found my passion and decided to become a coach, that was when I really got the feeling of what success could mean. Seeing the impact that the work I've been doing is having on people is really, really positive. Seeing the results that a lot of my clients have been getting, and the impact that that could make, makes me feel successful.

You mentioned coaching was a passion of yours. What is it about coaching that makes it such a passion?

Coaching totally changed me. When I had coaching, that was what led me to become a coach. That was when I first started really learning about myself, and what makes me who I am and I learnt about my core values and became fascinated by the psychology of the workplace. Learning what people need to thrive in the workplace and feel positive in their environment. I think learning about that and becoming a coach, you feel that you can do something to make a difference. Having been in the industry and knowing the kind of the challenges and what needs to change, it's really good to be able to do something positive to influence that culture.

What's been your proudest moment?

Oh, gosh, I've had a few to be honest. A few years into my business I won the first Nottingham Post, Women in Construction award which was really exciting. Being on the Queen's Birthday Honours List to get a British Empire Medal was amazing. And recently, I got invited to Buckingham Palace and met the King as well, which was a very proud moment. So there's been quite a few things.

What's been your biggest challenge when it comes to trying to achieve success?

My own head! When I started my business I was really naive and I knew I had to follow my passion, but I just didn't know how I was going to figure it out, there were a lot of scary moments. A lot of waking up in the middle of the night thinking “What am I doing?” “How am I going to do this?” And I think I just couldn't get out of my own head. I think when you’re in business on your own, that does happen. 

What's the best career decision you've ever made?

Starting my own business, without a doubt. Totally.

How do you deal with failure or making mistakes?

I use meditation. Meditation is a really good tool for me. Tapping into myself and asking questions. I’m a spiritual person and that spiritual connection really helps because it makes me feel more resilient and I understand things a bit more. Realising that even if something hasn't worked out, something else will, and that it can lead you in a different direction. So I think that intuition and tapping into yourself, I've definitely learned that helps me a lot.

Do you feel like you've had to take risks in your life to try and create success?

Definitely. Starting my business was a massive risk but I knew that if I didn't do it, I would regret it and I wouldn't have been happy. I think I’ve got that risk taking streak, to be honest. Early on in my career I took a risk moving to London and to work in New York, when I didn't know anybody and saying yes to go and work in Dresden in East Germany, when I could barely speak the language. I have definitely taken risks.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing women in the workplace, when it comes to success?

I think we can put an awful lot of pressure on ourselves. I think we can keep ourselves small and suffer from things like Impostor Syndrome. I felt like I had to be ten times better than a man to be in the same role. I felt like people were looking at me all the time to make a mistake because I was a woman. A lot of that could have been some limiting beliefs in myself but also, I don't think we push enough and I certainly didn't ask enough questions. Like I say I never really knew what the end game was or what my progression could be. I felt like if I just worked really hard, I’d get promoted like everyone around me and I didn't, but I also didn't really know or understand what I needed to do, to actually get promoted. 

How do you feel about the phrase having it all? What does that mean to you?

I think it depends on what “it all” looks like for you. I don't have any children so I don't have that balance between children and work and I guess some people think that having it all phrase is all about work life balance but I think it's all about just finding the right balance for you as an individual. I think it's just about really knowing yourself. It’s about working to get the lifestyle that you want, and it's understanding what that lifestyle is, and what those choices look like. 

What's the biggest challenge you find with balancing your home life and running your own business?

There's just never enough time! I'm in an expansion phase at the minute, where I’m starting to grow my business and getting into the realms of delegating and getting support but I just feel like I never get everything done. It just feels like the to-do list is never ending sometimes.

The best thing I've done in the last 12 months, was to get an office, so I don't work from home anymore. Which is brilliant. I feel like at the end of the day when I leave the office, I’m leaving work behind, and I'm going home to do stuff that I want to do. So I feel like I’ve got that boundary, which is a really positive thing for me.

How does happiness play a part in success for you?

Well, I think it’s all about happiness. Just to be happy is successful, isn't it? I think a lot of the time with success you link it to business and goals and all of this big stuff. We think, I'll be happy when I'm successful and you forget to be happy where you are now. It’s really important to be mindful of what you've got around you and take it in a bit more.

How does wellbeing play a part in your definition of success?

I think it's really important because if you burn out, then you really struggle to do the things that you want to do. I think looking after yourself is really important. I've definitely started to do that a lot more as well. I'm conscious of getting a good night's sleep and I've started doing yoga recently and I do try and make time in the morning to meditate and that definitely helps me with the day ahead.

What motivates you?

I think with my business, I’ve always felt like it's always been a mission rather than a business. My goal and my mission is to reach 1000s of people and impact on their lives and support them and connect them and work towards building a better way of doing business in the industry. So that is a big motivation. I love connecting people, I love bringing different perspectives into the industry, I really thrive on that. I feel really privileged to do the work that I do because I do really love it.

How important has relationship building been for your career and success?

Massive! I'd say it's probably the most important thing that I've done. I've been in business eight years now and all the voluntary work that I've done has just made a massive difference. I put myself forward, meeting people, going to events, it’s all of those connections that have made a massive difference. I don't think my business would be doing what it's doing, if I didn't have those connections.

Who's helped or influenced you most along your career journey?

I think the first person that influenced me majorly, in my career, was when I was a Project Manager and it was actually a client of mine who became a mentor after the project. He was one of the first people that really believed in me and believed in what I was capable of and that was really great. If I was struggling, I could just give him a ring and he’d share some words of wisdom and reflect things back to me and that was a real game changer for me. But there's so many people that have influenced me, since I've started doing business that I couldn't even tell you. Whether it’s seeing what everybody's doing or all of the books that you can read or all of the content that's out there, there's just so many inspirational people that we can learn from right now.

How do you like to help others achieve their version of success?

I think it’s about getting them to identify, what do they want? Where do they want to be? I'm doing a group coaching programme at the moment and it’s getting business owners to think about where they want to be in 12 months time and what’s the most important thing that they want to achieve and why that's so important. It’s really tapping into that goal, so that they can start to work towards it.

And what's your biggest goal for this year?

For me, it’s about that concept of reaching 1000s of people and finding different ways of doing business in the industry. I'm also going with the flow, as well as having goals, because I couldn't have envisaged a few years ago, what I'm doing now and it’s very different to what I thought I was going to be doing. I do like to create that space to be able to allow stuff to come in.

If you could change one thing in the world, or your industry, in the next 10 years, what would it be?

Oh, gosh, that's a hard question. I think it would be people having the confidence to do things differently and push back. Getting out of that group thinking that we've got to do things one way, as it’s the way it's always been done. To get people to open up to different ways of thinking but also really understand themselves a lot more, I think is really important.

If you could give your 15 year old self some advice what would it be?

It probably would have to be, don't worry that you did rubbish in your GCSEs because you'll still do all right.

If you had to share one “secret to success”, what would it be?

Get to know yourself and think about what you really want because deep down inside, you know what you want and where you want to go. That's the biggest thing you can do because that's what’s really going to propel you forward.

If you’d like to find out more about Maria’s work please visit her website at Construction Coach | Maria Coulter or connect with her on LinkedIn.