How Théa Watkins Turned Inclusion into a Business Superpower

Leaving behind a 27-year corporate career, Théa Watkins took a leap of faith that transformed her passion for people into a thriving practice. Through The Théa Watkins Consulting, she now empowers leaders and teams across industries to lead with courage, inclusion, and purpose. In this edition of the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight series, we explore how Théa turned uncertainty into momentum—building a values-driven business that amplifies potential, deepens trust, and fosters workplaces where people feel truly seen, heard, and inspired.

Hi, Théa! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?

I serve leaders as an executive coach, team facilitator, and organizations (large global organizations, smaller organizations, and non-profits) as an inclusive team facilitator and coach, using the principles of inclusion to support strategy - identifying gaps and co-create strategy to improve the lived work experience for everyone. How do I serve - via individual and team coaching and facilitation, focusing on the principles of inclusion, I help improve leadership skills and leadership and team effectiveness. What is the impact - I support people in realizing their full potential, creating organizational environments where people feel inspired and empowered to realize their full potential - this is great for the individuals and helps improve the bottom line for businesses everywhere. Individual coaching improves leadership effectiveness, communication, collaboration, confidence, courage and influence amongst other things. Team effectiveness is improved by increasing connection and understanding, increasing trust levels, improved communication and collaboration and inspiring and empowering teams to reach their shared goals and become high performing!

Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.

I began by describing my journey as terrifying yet exciting, having given up a huge corporate job with all that goes with it. About a year in to my new venture I began to realize that all the relationship building and my inclusion and coaching training were beginning to pay off. People were viewing me differently - my confidence was growing as I continued to push myself outside my comfort zone. People were asking my advice and really appreciating my expertise and support. This is when I knew I was on my way, and the more momentum built, the more my purpose and passion fueled my business growth and my people were able to see and feel my energy in all its authenticity.

Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.

I had always thought about taking on an advisory, consulting, or coaching role, at some point later in my career, as I love working with people and supporting them to succeed. I have coached and mentored people as a leader in the corporate world for decades, and it has given me great fulfilment. However, I never found the courage to do this while in full time employment - it was too scary, there was too much at stake I thought , However, being quite honest, when I was laid off after 27 years, space was created for me to think and imagine what running my own business could look like and that space and thinking time motivated me to go for it. I was fortunate to have a few opportunities early on, supportive and kind people in my network who wanted to see me succeed,  and from there, the momentum built. 

Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?

LinkedIn gives me a platform to showcase some of my activities and thought leadership, however it has been most valuable to me for networking and building relationships - this has been the most valuable thing I have done as I have built my business. I didn't really even have a proper profile while in corporate, and certainly was not active there. 
Another thing is having a simple CRM system - this enables me to keep track of relationships, follow-ups, and opportunities.

We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.

Early on, I bid on RFPs, and they weren't successful, even though I believed we had a great team of experts and our approach and value add was not in doubt - this was disheartening. However, I learned so much from the process and from the people who had invited me to partner with them - it was a fantastic learning and team experience. This set me up for the future - I learned how to go through the process and that it probably wasn't the easiest way to obtain business; there are other, far more effective ways of doing this. It was invaluable.

What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?

This may not be that unconventional, however, learning to set aside fear and do it anyway - that taking a leap of faith has been so important. This applies particularly to my networking - as a more introverted type of person I did not enjoy networking initially, I did not consider that I, or my story was that interesting - however I soon learned that I had a lot more to offer than I believed and it became easier. I now have much more confidence in this area, and hands down, this has been the activity that has added the most value to my building relationships and my business. I actually love it.

What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?

You know far more than you allow yourself to believe. Leave those limiting beliefs at the door and go for it - experience is so valuable as is expertise and the ability to build relationships, connect and relate to others. You have so much to offer the world and do not underestimate the value you bring. Playing small helps no one, and do not be afraid to shine. 

Want to dive deeper into Théa's work? Check out the links below!

• Visit Théa Watkins Consulting's website: theawatkinsconsulting.com
• Connect with Théa Watkins on LinkedIn: Théa Watkins
• Follow Théa Watkins on Instagram: @theawatkinsconsulting
• Follow Théa Watkins on TikTok: @theawatkinsconsulting