Donna-Marie
I am a mother of three, mentor and inspirational voice to many. My life story is not what defines me, I chose to rewrite the script. My current role is as a Transformational Life Coach helping individuals to design the life they want using NLP and Time Line Therapy © A committed lifelong learner who has multiple professional qualifications. Recipient of the prestigious Harry Leslie Award received whilst working in the Finance Industry in the 1990s and an ILM Certified Leadership Coach. A true survivor of stalwart character, who as a result of my own personal life challenges is able to inspire so many in knowing that anything they choose to pursue and achieve, really is possible. I am presently scaling my business learning processes and developing a program to deliver and in doing so making an international impact to those that need ME. My nationwide initiative EDEN Project is the development of a dream in progress, making my home into a safe place where peace and restoration is found. It will be available to women on their own or with their partners that need support to make it through the tough times that they face in life that overwhelms them leading to devastating outcomes, if help is not sought. A safe place for women who have felt invisible, ignored and insignificant for too long yet they have so much untapped potential, yet to be elicited with compassionate Life Coaching.
What were your initial years of growing up like? Tell us about your life before starting your professional journey/venture/initiative and what inspired you to choose this career.
I was raised in a family of 4. My parents from pre-school age instilled in us the importance of education, working hard and later on I found that my faith in Christ as a born again Christian from the age of 8, enabled me to be guided in my life. It gave me alongside my parents values and beliefs a moral compass that steered me. I was fortunate in deciding from a very young age as a result of having a deep love for babies that I wanted to be a nurse and midwife. My mothers professional background was Nursing. Spending time with her and her patients, being in the surroundings influenced me to do the same profession. It led me to do a Pre-Nursing Course moving me from Derbyshire where I lived in the UK, in a respectful and scenic close knit village to life in Romford, Essex | Greater London. The change was an understatement, more people, more noise, exposure to the wiles of life and I can honestly say I am thankful for how I was raised and how I chose not to steer away from the standards of my upbringing. I can remember the first time I was going to go out with my Nurse colleagues to a Club and I rang my parents at 18 and asked their permission. Yes, I did! I was a country girl at heart and the noise and uncertainties which were too many when out late at night did bother me a lot. So, I was never a party goer, I did go out, but only to settings that I felt comfortable in and I remain the same to date. I did and still do however love to dance! My dad was a Supervisor at a Tyre Company called Pirelli Tyres. I refer to him now as a savant in his ability to create a vision in his minds eye for how he wanted to change a property to look differently and then he did it and would resell it and make profit! So, he worked at Pirelli doing both day and night shifts and I watched as he laboured also in property development with my mum, from a young age, their 30s, both leaving work and working again at one of their houses, driven by the vision that my dad had and my mother supported him in achieving it. Property Development led them to become owners of two Small Residential Care Homes in a town called Heanor in Derbyshire and life once there improved more so for our family. My brother remained in Derbyshire as I lived in Essex and when I visited, I loved being home and helping wherever I could. Residential Care Home Ownership enabled my mother to retire in her late 50s, and this is what changed their life and gave them the financial security that gave our family a comfortable life. Because of the demands of the businesses we never really got to spend a lot of quality time together and my parents who intended to travel more on retiring, sadly never got to as within 5 years of retiring my father had a massive debilitating stroke that caused him to be wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. My parents were greatly missed in my younger years, as they were in pursuit of an income that would afford the comforts of life that they wanted for their family. And so, living in a lovely bungalow in a private cul-de-sac road from the age of 5, there were many evenings that I remember sitting rocking on the edge of their bed looking out of their bedroom window for the car to come around the corner. A babysitter was not my mum or my dad and now having healed some of the deep emotional wounds I have had for years, I know this fact is why quality time with my loved ones, family and friends is what drives me to design the life I want for myself and others with Project EDEN. I started in Nursing like my mum but I was a nurse that had lived seeing what business could do for me and so I took the first opportunity of having a business at the age of 18 and went into Student Nurse Training with my first Retail Business as an Amway Business Owner and loved it. I also joined an amazing company called World Book | Childcraft after having my first born and as a result of buying educational resources for him I became a Sales Representative and in quick succession moved up in ranks to leadership roles retailing Educational Books, then Nutritional Packages for Nutrition for Life – A Health & Wellbeing Company whose products benefitted me, my family and my clients. On starting my Midwifery training, I soon had the opportunity to join the Finance Industry as well. I was always looking to better myself and once qualified I made the decision to become a Part-Time Midwife and work as a Self Employed Tied Agent to Windsor Life Insurance Company as a Financial Consultant and my love for business grew. My dad used to always say to me, “Why can’t you stay in one job for long“. The truth was I worked a job but I had a Business Owner | Investor mindset, what I had grown up seeing and once I saw anything that unnerved me, I sorted it out and left and there were a few where I voiced my upset about what I had seen and they asked me to leave. Within a month I always had another J.O.B! Ill health plagued me throughout my life and I lost many employment years in convalescence from a medical or surgical condition or operation! My years were short lived in Midwifery, 5 years in total due to ill health resulting in me resigning as a Tied Agent with Windsor Life, leaving Midwifery and becoming the First Residential School Nurse in the Borough I lived in and I was proud to have that title. Ill health really challenged me in life; It caused me to be anxious, depressed and uncertain about too many things and too often. I have had too many operations, postoperative complications and three near death experiences to date. God however, has me here for HIs purpose and I am still being called to do greater things in the years ahead of me. In every setback in my life, my faith grew stronger and my relationship with Jesus increased and solidified to the point where I knew I could as long as I kept studying HIs Word and build a prayerful relationship with Him, I knew He would get me through if it was His will for my life, so I pressed on. Fast forward many years I studied in many sectors believing I could learn and be whatever I chose to put my mind to and I did and that is why to date I have so many qualifications, some practiced for long periods of time and others briefly but qualified nonetheless. Nurse | Midwife | Financial Consultant – Recipient of the Prestigious Harry Leslie Award | Educational Consultant | Breastfeeding Support Worker | Certified Care Confidential Abortion Counsellor | Life Coach | Mentor | Advocate | Life Management Consultant where I draft and execute Law self taught that I have studied for over 30 years now drafted and represented cases as a successful McKenzie Friend | NLP Practitioner using Time Line Therapy © | Will Drafter | Mortgage Consultant | Founder of B.L.O.S.S.O.M Ministry online.
Was there any turning point in your life that changed your journey? If so, what was it? Please tell us the backstory behind it.
I think going into Coaching in 2004 happened just before I became a Residential School Nurse and it helped me to be a better School Nurse and support students and staff that presented with challenges inside and outside school. I was trained then by Jeremy Lazarus and certified for the first time as an NLP Practitioner. In 2010 I retrained again with Andy Harrington and saw it as CPD and revision of a profession I loved. In 2022 I had the opportunity to pursue International Life Coaching studies with NLP and Time Line Therapy © with Ralph Watson and I knew at this point this is what I was destined to revisit and this time I was going to make a huge impact sharing my story and how through every adversity is sown a seed of equal or greater benefit was being actualised in my life. I lost my father in May 2020 and nearly every year since he died had different diagnoses and I was sick of being sick to be fair and I wanted my life back. So, I made a decision and then executed my plan to regain my life and live it on my terms. I truly believe during an emotional meltdown in Feb 2022 that it was God that enabled me to find Tim Han Global Behavioural Expert whose Success Insider Course I purchased and then Ralph Watson online who trained me again in International Life Coaching. I did as my eldest son Daniel advised me to and that was to invest in myself, I had spent my whole life being there for others, and lost myself in the challenges of life, now life was going to be refocused and I had to learn to love me. In doing this it led to my separation from my husband in October 2022 after being with him for the past 40 years this July 28th 2023. 40 years together, 28 years married. I had never really lived alone since I was18 and that in itself was a huge struggle to overcome but I’ve done it, revoked my divorce application because my prayerful journey with Christ led me to know that divorce is not what I wanted for my life, in my life and part of my life and so as my husband is a man of few words, he agreed to revoking the divorce application. The past 8 months has been a rollercoaster of emotions and I have learned so much about myself. Loving myself is the greatest gift of all. If I had not done the Coaching Course with Ralph Watson, I would have continued to remain unhappily married, denying myself, making my children happy, seeing my husband daily and slowly ‘drowning‘ in my thoughts daily that were making me emotionally and mentally broken to the point where I did not want to really exist anymore, because existing I was, I was not living at all. On completing the course it led me to see what a great coach I was and I had to take the advice I facilitated for others. Oh how scared I was, I’ll just continue as I have always been, I don’t want to chance losing the relationship and closeness I have with my children, I would say to myself and continued until one fateful day I continued to lie to myself and then on October 15th 2022, my marriage was over! The family dynamics changed forever and I had to learn to live alone but God got me through it and restored my family and now in July 2023 I can say that my family is whole again, my husband has agreed to my divorce application being stopped and we are to live separated and I am happy with that. I, Donna-Marie Foster, married for life until death do us part and I am glad this will be the case and I can honour Christ and the marital vows that I took, with Him in the centre of it all. He is also the one that can make impossible things possible, and so I leave my marriage in His capable hands knowing what He wills. Time is a great healer. I see a future life where both of us will be so much happier and thanks to me and my faith and trusting God, we survived the pain that life challenges brought our way and mastered how to live united separately. LIFE COACHING with Ralph Watson whilst having Psychotherapy for Past Traumas I was not for years loving myself as I should have been and the knowledge I gained enabled me to find the inner strength to separate from my husband. Living with him was destructive to my life as I was living a lie to what my true self was and it was my living environment in a marriage that I was not happy in and stifling my beliefs and values that almost claimed my life. I have accepted that I lived with a marital partner that had no regard for any of my dreams or aspirations and that was robbing me of living my purpose. 2023 arrived and I knew my life was going to be as I created it to be and I was going to give it my best shot as I was now free to BE, strong in mind and soul and daily I pray and know my body WILL be stronger one day.
Tell us about your goals, interests, and role models.
My goals are to now as mentioned to own EDEN – A Safe Place for women to seek guidance in how to kickstart and revive the life they have with 1-1 Coaching and a Restoration Program. I like Gospel Music and Concerts | Dancing | Singing | Writing | Table Tennis Role Models in my life have been my parents, Regional Director Frederick Tucker who was like a second father to me. Our relationship was a real reflection of unconditional love between different races from different eras. Reading Self Development books I have read over the years I would say that Jesus of Nazareth followed by the many great leaders I have met and read about over my 58 years have shaped me into the virtuous woman that I am.
Everyone has their own set of challenges when starting an entrepreneurial journey. Still, the most essential part for others to learn is how you deal with those. Would you like to share with us your challenges and your coping mechanisms?
Challenges have been too many Mind Challenges – Self Worth, Self Esteem, Self Love, Self Regard, Self Respect – My faith kept me and in the end after having an emotional and mental breakdown after my father died, Psychotherapy with a great male Psychotherapist helped restore my brokenness, and my soul repaired during a Sozo. After many years of being shattered into tiny pieces after living through the many life traumas I had survived, I for the first time in a long time felt different after the SOZO! The Bible – Scriptures – Christian Leaders – Pastor Danny Welbeck has to be mentioned here, he was instrumental in saving me from losing my faith and getting me out of my Valley of Baca. I coped by crying and stating my pain to all that would listen. If I had kept it all inside, I would have surely died. The Word of God, Gospel Music, Fasting & Prayer and Holy Communion have been my go to and constants in suffering in my older years because I have experienced the benefits of doing all.
What impact do you feel you have been able to create with your work so far and how would you want to grow in the next few years?
The impact is my innate ability to connect with people on a deep spiritual level as when I get into my flow, the presence of God encapsulates me and those I am with and takes the narrative on a trajectory that He is orchestrating. I believe as I pray to be used, my great love for people, that God is fully aware of, he uses me to connect to them empathetically, compassionately and most importantly authentically and solutions to presenting situations that my clients wanted to address, flows out of their mouths, facilitated by me. The impact I create changes more than the life that I have spoken to, it is far reaching as those in their innermost circle will see the change and be affected in a positive way, by the change that they see. So, families change, self belief, relationships, workability, confidence. Change happens. I lead them one step closer if not more, towards living as they really want to instead of remaining trapped in the worldly constructs that have led to their presenting states.
While the global pandemic of COVID-19 is associated primarily with adversities, it has also brought about a true boom in startups, with successful entrepreneurship in many countries. The pandemic has impacted all of us in one way or another. Would you like to share your experience on a personal and professional level?
The pandemic saw me lose my father to a world system that controls many and has them doing as they control them to do. I could have become bitter and evil or better and continue to do good. I chose the latter. I lost my daddy forever and the following month I lost myself. It has not been easy recovering from the depths of grief and despair but by the grace of God I have done it. The pandemic exposed to the world more so a system that had nurses and doctors, consultants and patients believing that drugs that they were being administered, was ok for them to take and in my dads case, drugs given to him as a renal patient, they were not and could never have helped him! The reality of what my family were subjected to and countless others, on the face of his medical records, dad nor any renal patient, would have survived having the drugs he was given as frail as he was. So, within two weeks he was dead. Professionally I have risen like a phoenix from the ashes to do all I can to empower and inspire those ready for ME, because I was born for a purpose and those that are waiting for my voice will now hear it and live out their purpose. I will be the change I have always wanted to be. I look forward to living in a world where intelligent people stop following others and bleating like sheep. I want to live in a world where instead they rise up and design the life they want to live for themselves and in doing so, inspire the next generation to do even better than they have. I truly believe my children and my children’s children will have a bigger global impact in this world than I have. A digital world means you go global, why stay local and nationwide, when AI enables us all who can, to create anything and with the right team behind us, take it to the masses.
Your journey and your vision are very inspiring, but are there any achievements or accomplishments you would like to mention?
I want to mention one achievement and that is my achievement in being able to take all of my pain and sorrow before God. My faith in Christ Jesus and I have to mention Him and trust that this will not go against me having a great business relationship into the future with Fuzia Talent but I know you are asking me to be me, real and authentic and so, those that know me know that Christ is in every conversation because if it had not been for my relationship built over the years with Him and my belief in all He has already done for me which enabled me to cry and what seemed like die inside, I died to my ego in those 3 years 2019 – 2022 and He brought me through it all. I would not have had the strength to overcome what I have survived since I went through life changing situations in September 2019, then May 2020, June 2020 and July 2020! I now know who Donna-Marie Foster is finally since October 2022 and to date I have chosen to live not being driven by my ego but to live life choosing to love no matter what, Christ’s real agape love towards others, extended to even those that hurt you the most. I have chosen to focus on those that need me and in changing their lives, I am and will change my own.
Would you like to share with our young budding women entrepreneurs the change you would like to see in the world if given an opportunity?
The change I want to see happening in the world is for people to realise that they have a voice that has been stifled for too long. They have power in their spoken word and their vote, that they have handed over to political parties that have absolute power and authorities that permit them to wield their corruption and impact lives in detrimental ways. Populicide happens daily before our very eyes and we know it. Too many of us have been subjected to it indirectly, yet we do nothing as a nation of people. We remain numb and dumb to the judicial systems in place knowing too many of them are corrupt and are so easily bought. Money talks in our world and that is a straight up fact. I want to see a world where we decide to really treat others compassionately, empathetically, understandingly, honestly and authentically. A world where we are really concerned about the lives of our fellow men, so that the balance of life that we all hold in every conversation from a position of power, which we all have, can be delivered in a way that we as fellow “brothers and sisters” in this world can eventually stop hurting each other for selfish gain. For what it is to gain the whole world and lose your soul. Evil has to be eradicated and we can all contribute to seeing that this is achieved. Programs such as mine will raise awareness, inspire and provoke the hearts of humanity to STOP – THINK – EVALUATE – REDESIGN whatever it was that they were doing before for the improvement of not only their lives but in doing so, Companies, Employees, Families and every home around the world.
What’s the most important thing you have learned in your personal life and professional journey? What is your personal motto in life?
You cannot really trust any human being 100%, not family or friends. For it takes one situation at any specific time where a circumstance can cause either of them, at any given time, to choose to do the unthinkable. God gave us choice and we do with it as we choose to. The Mantra I have said for years and now extended is: Changing lives one day at a time. Making my focus the lives of others and never just mine.
Women are a growing force in the workplaces worldwide, standing shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. There are cracks in glass ceilings everywhere, with many women breaking through to carve out a space right at the top of the pyramid. What are your thoughts about women’s leadership today?
We are a formidable force, needed for creation to have been as it is, for without the womb of a woman this world would never have been as we now see it. Global impact can only be and will always be led by women in some way shape or form. Why, because if a woman had not birthed a child a leader would never have been born. So, we are the best leaders that can be in any industry we choose. Women may not be in a leadership position in a company, however a woman indirectly is ‘the leader’ because she is the leader and manager of the household that the CEO dwells in and without her management and leadership stance in that capacity, too many male leaders would never have reached the great heights that they have been afforded. So, my thoughts about women leadership is that we should forever strive to become what we were destined to be. The thoughts since childhood, adolescence, that we as women have in the still of the night, or whilst walking alone, the thoughts that make us experience fear, doubt, concern causing our speech patterns to be destructive and serve no purpose! Those thoughts should drive us closer to our dreams and aspirations and we should ACTION THEM always in all ways! Women, those with good intent, don’t leave yourself behind, no matter what you must remain loyal to yourselves. Even when the world and all the negatives you see posted on social media, comments from friends & family members, weigh you down, keep on keeping on. Too many women blow out the candle that was lit when they were young, for fear of never being able to achieve their dreams, when the truth is, if they just stepped out in faith and humbled themselves to know that making mistakes is the way to success, anyone, like everyone around you that is a great leader, young woman, hear me, you can be exactly the same. The great leader in you needs you to, with dogged determination, release her.
With your grit and determination, you are making a considerable impact, breaking through, and serving as role models for many budding entrepreneurs. What would you want to say to our young women leaders/audience reading this?
I would like to say that I took my time and answered these questions from my heart, not knowing what I was going to say or how it was going to impact the lives of the readers. I hoped that it would impact them in a way that ultimately helped them to change the trajectory of their lives and pursue a life that made them happy and enabled them to live in their ‘flow‘. There is no place like it when you just feel at one with the universe and what you are doing is effortless. I want so much more for them and in doing what I was purposed to do, in time I believe as a result of my positive intention many lives will be blessed. I am blessed to be a blessing. If what I am doing now is all I can do on a daily basis, I know that every positive step I take, I will get a piece of my jigsaw, and it will be given to me by my Creator and as long as I trust and believe this to be the case, and continue to pursue my dream, the picture of my desired life will become clearer and that which I create will be a beautiful masterpiece because His divine timing and His divine hand is in everything we do, those of us that trust Him and only want what He wills for us. Nothing more and nothing less.