Sometimes, the future is difficult to see. Other times, it appears right in front of your eyes.
At the age of 38, Sharon Styman was an executive in a thriving Tweed Heads engineering and construction company that she and her then husband had built from the ground up.
However, by the early 2000s, Sharon wanted a fresh challenge. All she needed was clarity around what it might be.
"At the same time, and pretty much across the road, Southern Cross University's Tweed Heads campus – (forerunner to today's Gold Coast campus) – was being built," says Sharon.
"I had always wanted a university degree and here was a campus being built on my doorstep. I asked myself: Is this my chance? Is 38 too old? Or is 38 precisely the right time?
"I was at a turning point in my life and career. Business success had taught me a lot about strategy. I knew a scattergun approach to business did not and does not work. I understood the power of strategic, long-term planning.
"I was also sharing that knowledge and experience with others. In the late 1990s, I started a business coaching service after identifying a shortage of resources to support business owners."
While business coaching was still relatively new in Australia, Sharon recognised an opportunity to translate her coaching into a private enterprise.
"I could see my future, and Southern Cross University helped set things in motion."
Enrolling as a mature age student, Sharon completed her Associate Degree of Business Administration in 2006, followed in 2010 with an MBA. She has since completed Company Directorship training with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Today, through her eponymous company Sharon Styman , she is an Australian leader in coaching, counselling and strategy for businesses and individuals. She has also held directorships with multi-million-dollar businesses and provided expertise for industries ranging from professional services, automotive and hospitality to recruitment, health and fitness, and construction.
"Every business is different," she says, "but when it comes to achieving growth with stability, there are qualities that connect every one – leadership, business development, profit, personal and professional development, sales, marketing, continuous improvement, and customer services.
"It also goes deeper than that. Human beings fascinate me. Human dynamics too. It is only natural that the challenges of running a business can test our energy and our determination to keep going.
"I help business owners rediscover what drives them, reconnect with the joy of business, and translate that renewed self-confidence into more efficient and enjoyable operations. In business, personal fulfilment nourishes progress and profit."
In this process, Sharon is her own example. She admits her own self-confidence is quite a contrast from the girl who once wondered if she would ever make it through secretarial college.
Sharon was in Year 7 when her family moved from the Hunter Valley town of Muswellbrook to Tweed Heads.
"As a girl, I was different," she says. "I was never the most gifted of students. When others were talking about their vision of what and where they wanted to be, I had no clue as to what a vision was. I was directionless. I ended up enrolling in a secretarial college and thought 'OK, so this is the path I am on'."
Years of travelling followed, creating plenty of vivid memories though no clearer vision of her future. That was until she returned to Tweed Heads and co-founded an engineering and construction company.
"With a blend of strategy and enterprise, we were able to exponentially grow the business and ultimately sell it to a publicly listed company," says Sharon.
Next came a successful stint in property management, but it was her fledgling coaching career where Sharon saw most potential and fulfilment. This quickly proved true, with Sharon's success leading to board roles with organisations including The Family Centre community support initiative, recruitment agency Nortec and tourism group Destination Tweed. In 2020, she became the first female board member of Twin Towns Clubs and Resorts.
More recently, Sharon has shifted focus, launching the Transformative Coaching for Aspiring Women initiative to provide business and life counselling for professional women.
"I believe every woman has an innate strength and unmatched potential waiting to be rekindled," she says.
"Life's demands often overshadow our personal needs. At times this leads to a loss of drive and a sense of being overwhelmed. I can empathise with that. I have also come through it.
"For women, personal-professional growth is not easy to maintain. Sure, you can attain it, but how do you maintain it? If you are not building a strong foundation for yourself, you can lose traction and direction.
"While the finish line is different for every one of us, getting there in good shape is the objective we all share."
The notion of finish lines is apt.
"There was a time in my life when I wondered if I would ever get to the starting line, let alone the finish line," says Sharon.
"That is why Southern Cross University is so strong in my memory. The second phase of my life started there. It is a remarkable institution, one that is shaping lives. It certainly helped to shape mine."
