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background
I met Rugare while working full time as an engineer. I had a dream of starting my own engineering firm, but I felt stuck and fearful about whether I could actually do it while supporting my growing family. I came up with justifications and excuses as to why I couldn’t, such as not having enough experience or knowledge. I convinced myself that one day, some day, I would leave and go out on my own but I was waiting for some ideal moment and letting the months pass by.
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Coaching Experience
My first meeting with Rugare was a huge turning point. Rugare challenged me to quit my job and run my own company. Being coached by Rugare was challenging at first. Rugare helped me distil CDSE’s vision and values and worked through practical challenges, such as how to land my first client. In those early days, I asked my community for support with looking after my family financially as I grew the business. At the time I thought asking for help meant I was a failure, but Rugare empowered me to reframe this as my victory.
I hired sought-after engineers and began attracting the best talent. Rugare has been CDSE’s high performance coach from the start and coaches our entire team, creating a no blame, high performance culture. We’re all trained to lead from the same vision and values and act with integrity.
Three of my favourite tools that Rugare has taught me are:
- Distilling my vision and values – this took time, but once it became clear, everything exploded for me.
- How to restore integrity with anyone – this tool has empowered me to develop incredibly strong relationships built on trust with our clients and team.
- The power of acknowledging others and allowing them to feel seen and valued.
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outcome
CDSE grew with unprecedented velocity and became debt-free within the first year of launching. CDSE disrupted the engineering industry with its ways of working and sought-after culture. Within four years, we have grown into a multi-million dollar company with nearly 20 employees. We have engineering projects across road and rail and service both private and government clients. Each staff member who joins CDSE is coached by Rugare, ensuring our vision, values, and ways of working are upheld.
I’m very proud of our brand and the reputation we’ve created. With our vision to Create Extraordinary Communities, we’ve been able to disrupt the engineering industry’s expectation for staff to be all consumed in their roles, with little work-life balance. Providing my team the opportunity to be coached by Rugare, they no longer live in fear or past patterns and decide what they want. This is the most fulfilling part of what we do at CDSE. Everyone here can bring workability to their lives and pursue their dreams and passions.
On a personal level, my life feels so abundant right now in terms of what’s possible for me and my family. I still pinch myself thinking about it. My family and I can have experiences I could only dream about before.