Multiskilled businesswoman Marsha Parcou talks to Cosmocreole about her quest to inspire women to glow through self-care and self-love by guiding them with her health and life coaching programmes. Marsha has ten years of experience working with the Seychelles Tourism Board. She is the owner and shareholder of Chatterbox Cafe Seychelles and the lifestyle and coaching brand Fasinasyon. Marsha has now ventured into health and life coaching.
What sparked your interest in life coaching?
When I was in secondary school, I always wanted to be a psychologist but decided not to go through with it. At one point, I wanted to be a social worker. All along, part of me wanted to work with people. I wanted to help other people, but I realised I never could until I learned how to love and accept myself by helping myself first. I must say it was not an easy journey. At a very young age, I was surrounded by negativity, and part of the struggles was confronting the negativity and limiting beliefs that I was stuck with for a very long time.
I struggled with weight loss, relationships, loss of loved ones, no work-life balance as I did not know how to cope, which was detrimental to my health. I lost myself in the process; I lost my confidence, self-esteem as I became dependent on people’s and family opinions and validations. I had high expectations from them, and I depended on them to make me happy. If I’ll be honest with you, I was a very miserable woman, and deep down, I knew I had to do something about it.
2017 was one of the hardest and challenging years for me, but I am thankful for it. That’s when I decided to take control of my life by accepting who I am— Marsha; loving Marsha; letting go of things that I have no power and hold of—people’s actions, behaviours, opinions and letting go of situations that are beyond me. The only thing that I have control over is ME—my thoughts, words and actions.
From then on, my life shifted completely, and I am in a better space: finding my purpose and true value, which is to impact, serve and empower other people.
What was the process to become a life coach, and what kind of service do you offer your clients?
I am accredited by the Health Coach Institute, USA. I coach using International Coach Federation (ICF) tools and exercises whilst delivering my unique framework for transformation. I provide the support, structure, and strategy to empower women to become more successful and learn to love themselves along the way.
As a coach, I meet my clients where they are in the process of finding themselves. We are all imperfect individuals, and we are all a work in progress. I am happy to say that I now have the knowledge, skills, tools and techniques (solutions) to facilitate the transformation of my clients.
We are judged by society, and society puts a lot of pressure on us – to behave and act a certain way to be accepted. But the truth is none of these is true; they are merely stories and beliefs that only us has the power to change the narrative. So, as a health and life coach, I launched my services; I feel it’s my duty to offer my services to others who need help coping emotionally and mentally, especially during this pandemic.
“Keeping a healthy lifestyle means an alignment balance in mental, emotional and physical mindset.”
What type of programmes do you offer?
I develop my own programmes, and the main one is ‘The Star Programme’, which is based on the inner light that issues around us have dimmed. I focus especially on women from different walks of life, emphasising a healthy, well-balanced life based on my personal experience as a career-driven person.
The star programme is for six weeks. It focuses on self-love and care, acceptance, forgiveness, letting go, developing healthy habits and routines for positivity, and dealing with self-procrastination. A good example is the pandemic has brought changes to our lives—once you accept the new way of life, you have better ways of coping and managing it. Another example is you cannot undertake a fitness regime without paying attention to your eating habits and keeping a tab on your mental health.
The overall benefit after you have completed any six weeks programme is that you get a loyalty card, becoming a life-long member of “Fasinasyon” with a 20% discount on any other programme and selected Fasinasyon products.
Apart from coaching, what other services do you offer?
My programme has two sides, the coaching and the beauty side. I have developed my own beauty products, called Fasinasyon, entailing body wash, scrubs and other products that make up the balances of lifestyle care. This service, packaged together, is quite new and unique.
Fasinasyon is the Creole word for ‘fascination’. I believe that every person should become fascinated with the way they work, and through this, properly understand how they can nurture, cherish and accept who they are through self-care and self-love.
As the world shifts its focus to wellness and ethical beauty, Fasinasyon, promotes a healthy and holistic approach to managing and developing our relationship with our body, mind, and soul.
Fasinasyon’ was born from a very personal place. I used to let the pressure of running my businesses, maintaining my family and keeping up appearances get in the way of my growth to greatness. Now, the things that used to challenge me only push me further.
What has been the response to your life coaching business so far?
I started coaching in April 2020 during the pandemic as I believed and felt it was the right thing to do during this difficult time. The whole world shift, our lives changed, what we know, what we love, our home, our jobs, our businesses, our security was no longer the same. So I stepped in as it was the time to be resilient and reach out to support wherever I can as all we can do is stand and support one another to get through this as everyone is feeling it.
Coaching is quite a new concept in Seychelles. Still, I must say the outcome is beyond my expectations, and it’s given me absolute satisfaction to serve, lead and impact others in a positive way, knowing that I am making a difference in someone’s life.
On the products side for Fasinasyon, the beauty range is moving very well, and the products are also stock at the Seychelles duty-free shop at the airport.
What are your plans for Fasinasyon?
My dream is to expand my brand and service outside Seychelles and continue providing the support, structure, and strategy to empower even more clients.
Like you have said, with the pandemic, things have shifted; what would you say to any women struggling?
My message to these ladies is to accept the situation around you, do not fight the situation. The more you fight or resist it leads to anxiety, depressions and negativity. The best way to start is to be positive, think positive and take one day at a time, reach out to people who can help you.
