HI, I’M Marianne CANTWELL
HI I’M Marianne
Cantwell
Hello there!
If we don’t know each other yet, an extra big hello.
I’m so glad you stopped by.
I know this is an ‘about’ page… but before we talk about me, I’d like to talk about you:
Because if you’re here, odds are we have a few things in common. For one thing, I’ll bet you don’t quite fit into the box that other people sometimes assume you do – right?
I’m with you on that – as you might guess from the photos around this site, I’m more than one thing too…. and multifaceted humans like us are my people. So welcome :).
Read on to find out a bit about me, and why that is:
01. A few years ago I wrote a book on finding your really-right direction, quitting your job + growing your own thing (that fits the life you want *and* your personality… so you don’t have to leave a piece of yourself at the door to get paid).
It turned into a bit of a bestseller, and has been translated into over half a dozen languages.
(The new extended edition is available now: check it out here).
For the last 10+ years I’ve run an online business, creating courses (and global online events) for thousands of people around this topic.
(This work is fully online and has let me travel around the world with my little laptop… hence the photos of weird and wonderful locations).
02. I stepped onto the TED stage to give a TEDx Talk called The Hidden Power of Not (Always) Fitting In.
It’s for those of us who don’t feel like we’re just ‘one thing’ – who are good at looking like we fit in the various worlds we move in… but secretly, on the inside, a little piece of us never feels we 100% fit into any of them.
The talk gives that trait a name (“liminal”) and explains why it is not something to hide, and why the difference you may want to hide might be more powerful than you think.
I wasn’t sure how it would be received but the idea seemed to hit home: it was listed by Entrepreneur as a top 10 TEDx Talk to watch and has been viewed half a million times, as people see themselves in it and share it… so if you’ve ever felt that way, you are definitely not alone!
03. Much like you, I’m someone who cares (I very much identify as a “highly sensitive person”, or HSP.)
And I want you to know this because sometimes, in the loud online-business world, it feels like you have to shout to stand out.
Here we play things differently. We’ve honed that art of helping people of all personalities find their right thing AND have it take off in a way that fits them.
If you like that, then you’ll love:
04. Work with me (December enrolment special!)
Whether you want to grow your thing (without fitting into someone else’s box!), are looking for that ‘right idea’ in the first place, or something more personal…
Your timing is perfect!
This month (December 2022) I’m enrolling private clients who want to figure things out / get moving the right way for real.
Random skimmable facts if you’re curious 😉
I grew up in Australia, lived in London (UK) for most of my adult life, and now live between sunny California and London… but am often found in my favourite spots around the globe (my work fits in a laptop!).
In the last few years I’ve travelled to / worked from Italy, France, Portugal, Germany, Mexico, Colombia, UK, Mauritius and Australia.
While I do love travel, I’m also a ‘nester’ who is more than a bit design obsessed. In fact a few years back bought and re-designed my own ‘tiny home’ in London from scratch.
(I call it the ‘treehouse’: it’s on my favourite cafe-street, by the canals I love to wander down when I’m back in town).
I’m a speed reader… I read everything and I read it fast!
Some favourite authors: Steven Pressfield, Yuval Noah Harari, Elizabeth Gilbert, Cheryl Strayed, Jay Griffiths.
These days I’m all over Samantha Irby, Patti Smith’s biogaphy (a fave!) and Douglas Adams.
I love personality profiles (when you work with us you’ll see why the way we use profiles here means they don’t put you in a box, they instead free you up to be more you).
If you’re curious: I’m a classic ENFP (Myers Briggs), Questioner (4 Tendencies) and ‘Star’ profile (in Wealth Dynamics)
One thing people rarely guess about me is that I live with on and off anxiety (and have had bouts of depression): those things have shaped many business + life decisions over years.
People usually don’t always see that on the outside as I’m usually so smiling and happy, but I share it here to say: you don’t have to be some mythical always-on-it super-human to make things work.
Many of my clients have ADHD (me too!👋) or other things that make us a tad different on the inside (even if we may be good at looking like we fit!)
I’m all about helping you create and grow your right thing because of who you are, not in spite of it.
I believe that words are more powerful than we give them credit for: the words we use unconsciously shape what we end up thinking is possible for us.
Which is why I love giving words to the things we’ve always half-thought, but never had a name for (see “liminal” in my TED talk for one example!)…
… giving words to those things we always thought were ‘just us’ and so never talk about. Until someone, somewhere, works out how to….
And a whole new world might just open up.
05. My thinking has been featured in Business Insider, Inc.com, BBC World (television), The Guardian, The Financial Times among other places.
I was interviewed on about 30 podcasts the other year and I‘m looking forward to more!
A popular conversation topic is always “why your weirdness is your edge” (why the thing about you you are tempted to hide at work or in business might really be your secret superpower).
Which seems to be a theme, because:
06. My most shared quote is “weaknesses are just strengths in the wrong environment”…
And I firmly believe that.
There is a home for every personality and strength – it’s just a question of finding that home or creating it to fit you.
It’s a simple idea, but in a world that can often tell us we need to be more like other people to be good enough… I figured it was worth including here ;).
Lots of love,
Marianne
PS: if you like the sound of any of this and want to get my Friday Love Letter (with fresh free range thinking landing in your life just occasionally) drop your name here!
