Rob Edmundson Coaching
Hi There,
This is my story
Hello
My name is Rob Edmundson
As a child I was brought up in a strong and loving matriarchal family, consisting of my mother, grand mother and aunt, the eldest of three children and the only boy.
My father, a merchant seaman was absent for the first couple of years of my life.
When he retuned home to take a position with the local energy company he struggled finding his place in the hierarchy of the family and as a result the only person that he had control over, was yours truly! This manifested itself in physical and mental abuse during my childhood years, yet my two sisters were never subjected to this behaviour.
Career choices were very limited when I was leaving school and due to my fathers influence within the electrical industry I was placed into an indentured apprenticeship with the North Eastern Electricity Company. Although I was working and earning a small wage that contributed to the household finances, I was still being bullied by my father. This behaviour only came to an end when I was roughly 18 years old and had the strength of character and physique to challenge him with retaliation.
Although this was not my chosen career, it gave me the opportunity to get a college education and a trade at my fingertips.
Whilst going through the apprenticeship, I joined a local scuba-diving club which enabled me to indulge in a childhood passion, I had been enthralled with diving documentaries by Hans and Lotte Haas on TV.
On completing my apprenticeship I worked as a tradesman electrician, ending up in a factory as a maintenance electrician. I could not see a future in this job as it was repetitive and boring with little prospect of advancement (Stalled Career). This realisation that it was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life was a pivotal point. What I really wanted to do was enter the world of commercial diving.
To this end I telephoned a diving company in Great Yarmouth ‘every week’ for approximately one year, this dogged determination eventually was rewarded by being offered a chance with the diving company to work, with the proviso that if I couldn’t cut-it then it would only be a short engagement. This for me, was a tremendous risk. I was married with a young daughter to provide for and a mortgage to boot. I gave up a job with a regular income, took a pay drop and would be working away from home. I was utilised by the company at the yard in Great Yarmouth repairing electrical equipment, until an opportunity presented itself for me to go offshore to complete the subsea Survey of a coal rig in the southern North Sea.
This was the beginning of a great career adventure from a lowly Air diver to a Saturation diver, which at the time I was in an elite group of only about 500 Saturation Divers worldwide. Moving onward and upward into supervision, construction superintendent and shore based project manager in Norway.
The offshore industry is transient in nature, contracts would last between six weeks and two years therefore I was continually having to sell myself and skill set to prospective employers over a period of some 15 years. This required a great amount of self belief and tenacity, it was accomplished, using the telephone, sending out Curriculum Vitae and sometimes travelling many miles to present myself to the various company HR departments and managers as well as networking with associates within the offshore industry to secure work.
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Due to a downturn in the offshore industry I found myself once again ‘stalled’ without work and had to return to the UK. I was fortunate enough for a friend to see my potential and was given the opportunity to move into the financial services industry. The job was on a commission only basis. The work ethic that I had been brought up with (my grandmother who had at one time worked three jobs) kicked in, I utilised the skills that I had developed in the offshore industry (telephone, Mail and face to face) to contact potential clients. I worked hard to educate myself in the financial services industry gaining certification and excelling with the various companies that I associated with, this culminated in the setting up of my own Financial services company, which was very lucrative and successful for many years.
Constantly having to re-sit exams due to ever changing regulations, it became difficult as a sole trader to keep up with the increased regulatory paperwork, exams and to make a decent living as well. So once again I was in a ‘stalled’ position.
Fate intervened for me once again, a friend offered me the opportunity to work with a publishing company. I utilised my very versatile and transferrable skillset to very quickly rise to a the top marketing executive, breaking sales records and trail blazing new heights, which afforded me financial bonuses and awards galore. Although the Financial gains were significant, this didn’t hold any Great challenges, I was once again having to work away from home. With this in mind I started to look for work offshore.
I revamped my CV and put it out to various agencies, I secured work in Saudi Arabia working for a company allied to the Royal Saudi Naval Force and Royal Saudi Air Force. After completing a 12 month contract I moved to a Company in Dubai working as a Saturation Superintendent on an offshore construction barge. Because of this successful and profitable operation I accepted the job of general manager for the company. I had now come full circle in my dream. After completing a 3 year contract I returned to The UK.
As I have a strong work ethic I Initially did some voluntary work with the Blood Bikes organisation, this required an advanced motorcycling qualification which I attained and went on to coaching advanced riding, I also became Chairman of a local Advanced Motorcyclists club.
I have always enjoyed the passing on of knowledge. Throughout my career I had coached Divers under my supervision, coached sales techniques to both financial & publishing associates. This spilled over to my hobbies, where I trained Horses, waterskiing, snow skiing, scuba diving and PTI).
During my long and varied career I have overcome the stalling of my career various times by:
managing stress to build resilience and avoid burnout. In turn there was always a rediscovery of passion and drive.
Not comparing myself with others, having self belief, confronting the fear, networking, keeping a positive mindset and coming out of the other side successfully.
If you can relate to any of this and want to book a complimentary discovery session to see if I can help You, click the button ............>>>>>>>>>
