Just before writing this, I’d been to our local vet to collect our youngest cat, Freyja.

Our darling girl was handed over in a beautiful gift bag, complete with embossed silver lettering.

Inside the bag was a lovely little box, with decoration to match the gift bag, and inside that was a small, polished, beechwood urn, complete with brass name plate.

Also in the bag was a hand-signed condolence card.

Today’s cost: £326.08

On January 3, when I’d taken Freyja to the vet to have a strange lump looked at, she’d had an examination and an antibiotic injection, in the hope that the strange lump might go away.

Cost: £85.48

On January 6, when Freyja was under anaesthetic, the vet called to say the lump, which only seemed to have grown since her last visit, was “nasty” and inoperable. They were taking biopsies, stitching her back up, and I could collect her that evening.

Cost: £641.74

That day, knowing our baby girl would need to be kept safe and calm, and needed to rest as much as possible, I did an emergency pet store dash – I bought a small crate for the living room, an über soft, warm, furry mat for the base, a small litter tray, new litter in case our existing bag of wood pellets irritated her wound, new bowls and, of course, extra special post-op food.

Cost: £85.75

In total, that’s £1,139.05p for a dead cat.

It sounds really callous putting it in those words, doesn’t it?

And yet, if we chunk right up to the headline outcome, that’s what it amounts to. Our beautiful, velvety-soft, silver girl is no longer with us, having been on this planet for a little shy of seven years.

Here’s what chunking up doesn’t account for though…

The deep care, concern and love our entire veterinary team shared with us through the shocking, and utterly unexpected, short illness of our baby girl.

If doesn’t account for the compassion, empathy and support on that final visit, when the kind vet talked us through every step, gently moved a box of tissues onto the table, then left the room for us to spend as long as we wanted to say our goodbyes.

It doesn’t include the lovely messages the veterinary team wrote for us on our Facebook post, where we shared Freyja’s passing. It doesn’t account for the sympathy the lead vet displayed for us, her understanding and love for us and our furbaby, when she explained what she’d discovered on the operating table.

It doesn’t say anything about the love and care shown by the staff at the pet shop, when I explained what was happening.

And it absolutely doesn’t show the care and attention to detail by the lovely staff at the pet crematorium, or the kindness in the veterinary receptionist’s voice when she called to tell us our little girl was back with them ready to come home.

£1,139.05p went towards deep care and compassion, understanding, expertise, experience and holding and supporting Asha and I through a horribly traumatic experience.

And so, my wonderful, life-saving, business-enhancing, confidence-building coaches and solopreneurs, please, please, please stop worrying about putting up your prices or charging your worth.

It’s not about the numbers nearly as much as you think.

What you bring to the table, the unseen, intangible support, ease and encouragement you provide for the people you serve is always worth far, far more than the amount on the invoice you send.

When you show your clients how much you care, how much you’re rooting for them, and when they can see and feel the difference you’re making in their lives and businesses, the good ones will not balk at you charging a professional fee for a professional service.

The amount we paid out for our little cat in her final weeks was but a drop in the ocean, compared to the value of the care and support we received.

There’s a lesson in that for us all. 

Until next time,
#UnleashYourAwesome
Taz X

Here’s a pic of our beautiful Freyja. We hope it makes you smile like her presence in the world made us smile. Rest In Peace beautiful girl. You will be missed xxx

PS: Want to work with me? Here’s how…

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