Sheena Wheatley IN the first instance, says Sheena, she considered herself a wife and mother, with her job as a lecturer in hairdressing coming second.

Sheena Wheatley
IN the first instance, says Sheena, she considered herself a wife and mother, with her job as a lecturer in hairdressing coming second.

In her forties, however, faced with rebellious children and problems in her marriage, she sought refuge in her own personal development and started learning neuro-linguistic programming techniques.

It took almost a decade of learning and training before she felt ready to turn her personal journey into a rewarding business. Now she runs a company called Changing Perceptions, advising corporate and private clients on how to communicate more effectively and present them selves more forcefully.

"I was in my fifties when I started and now I'm 60, but I don't intend to stop," she says. "I'm just starting to really enjoy myself. One of my driving forces was to be myself as a person in my own right - that and to have some financial independence."

Her children are now happy and settled and, although they have separated, Sheena remains on good terms with her husband.

It was only through her own experiences and journey of self- discovery, she says, that she reached the point where she could set up her business. "I joined several business clubs until people understood and were convinced about the merits of what I could do before it really took off," she adds.

"Age is only a number, and one of my goals is to work with older people and be a role-model. You have to live it and do it."