“Press Pause. Breathe. Reset” with Sophie van het Erve

Photo Credit: Sophie van het Erve

Sophie van het Erve is a co-founder of The 1 Reset, a transformational life coach, certified by the International Coaching Federation, the Institute for Professional Excellence (iPEC), and a Master Practitioner for the Energy Leadership Index assessment. Prior to founding The 1 Reset, Sophie spent ten years in the corporate world working for sales teams at Oracle and Google. After finishing her Master's degree in International Business at the University of Maastricht, she located to Dublin, Ireland, after which she packed up once again to settle in San Francisco, U.S.A. . Currently, she calls Lisbon, Portugal her home.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

Most certainly! I was born and raised in a rural part of the Netherlands and grew up in a very loving family. From a very young age, travel was on my mind. And that’s how I ended up living in Belgium, South Africa, Ireland, the USA, and now Portugal. After finishing my master's degree in International Business, I worked for sales teams in large multinational corporations. In 2021 I co-founded The 1 Reset, to focus fully on our mission to “create a like-minded community of people who choose to live in joy”, and work on a 1:1 basis, moderate small group online series, ánd facilitate retreats. 

What inspired you to start your business?

A series of serendipitous events, I’d say. I was looking for a new step in my career, knowing that the most logical step-up was not truly what I desired in my heart if I was being honest with myself. I was coaching on a 1:1 basis next to my job, but was not ready to make the jump to that full-time yet - something was missing. Turns out, it was a partner. I met fellow co-founder Jomar (Reschreiter) during our coaching certification training, and we stayed in close contact. She knew that my dream life for the future was to be able to facilitate retreats across the world, and she also knew I was struggling during that first year of COVID. I couldn’t see my family, felt alone, and locked up. So, she asked me to join her on an adventure: set up a retreat, as a one-off. With nothing to lose, I said yes. That initial retreat never happened as COVID restrictions got tighter right when we planned to go live, but the two of us spend those 4 days together and created this entire company right there and then. Everything we are doing right now was drawn up in those 4 days. From that moment on, I just knew, and there was no looking back. 

Where is your business based?

I am based in Lisbon, Portugal, and Jomar is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. But I like to think of our business as global, as we are planning to have retreats across the globe (currently, we have retreat locations in Greece, Portugal and Arizona), and our other services are mostly virtual. 

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

We started our business in a hotel room in Arizona, right at the place where we were meant to have our first retreat. That first day, all we did was create our partnership agreement - we discussed everything. What did we both want out of the company? What are our dreams, our vision, our wishes? We even created a clause in our agreement that neither of us is a mind-reader (yet), and naps are encouraged. We discussed different scenarios, how much time and money we are willing to invest, and all the nitty-gritty details. We review our agreement from time to time, but it’s so comprehensive, there’s hardly anything to add as our company grows. To have such a good and strong foundation has been instrumental in the smooth running of our company. I cannot recommend highly enough to start with this if you are working with a partner, it will spare you of many grievances along the way.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

When we started, we focused on our personal networks and word of mouth - and we still do now actually. Both of us have wide-ranging networks that are very different from each other, simply due to the lives we’ve lived up to this point. We use social media, but use that more as an inspirational tool to connect with our the community, versus an acquisition tool. When either one of us shares our mission and vision in person seems to be most effective; clients can feel the energy and passion we have for this. 

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Now COVID restrictions seem to be more manageable, I am so happy to put on in-person retreats again. There was so much uncertainty with COVID, it was scary to invest in a retreat while not knowing if it was allowed to happen, or would have to be canceled at the last minute. As putting on retreats is such a big part of my vision for The 1 Reset, it was challenging not to be able to do that. We pivoted to online series in the meantime, and to be honest, it took me by surprise how much I love them, enjoy putting them on, and seeing the impact we could still make! I cannot imagine not doing them now. 

How do you stay focused?

Firstly, by taking breaks. It has been a tremendous gift to not be tied to a 9 to 5 mentality anymore. Instead of forcing myself to sit behind my computer screen when I already know I’m not going to be productive anymore, I grant myself permission to take a break. To go for a walk, to have a coffee in the park, or to sit in the sun and read. To pause. So I can reset. And then, when I’m back in my office, I can do what I want to do with energy and focus. And a good soundtrack definitely helps me as well! 

And secondly, I do like structure and work well in it. So, I have a document with all tasks outlined, from short to long-term, and a priority level linked to it. I take a look at that each day, and decide on that day what I want to focus on, and keep track of progress. I suppose that’s the business, logical part of me that is benefitting me here.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

Simply by being us. Jomar and I are such comically different people, the dynamic we both bring to the company is our magic, which will be hard to reproduce for anyone else. We differentiate ourselves by our vision and mission and how we show up in the world, in our lives, and in our company. We don’t focus on just one aspect - we focus on the full picture. We started The 1 Reset because regardless of where you are in life, whether you are single, married, divorced, working, stay-at-home parent, an entrepreneur, or a student, and regardless of all your interests, one thing we all have in common is that we sometimes get stuck in auto-pilot, and getting off that hamster wheel can be challenging. And that is where we come in, to reset intentionally. To stop the wheel from turning, so you can decide if you want to get back on, how fast you want to go, or whether you want a different one altogether. 

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

I mentioned this earlier, but mostly by engaging with our personal networks, and putting ourselves out there. Finding speaking opportunities at local organizations, talking to friends of friends about what it is we are trying to do. It’s been amazing to see who knows who, and what that new connection can result in. 

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Find a coach! Seriously. Even though I am a coach myself, and I know how life changing it can be, I always have to laugh after a coaching session for myself, because it is so incredibly effective and impactful and I somehow keep forgetting that. I work through my inner doubts and all those inner critical voices that tell me to stop trying. To just get out of my own way. I have gotten so much done, thanks to the guidance of my coaches. Of course, I might have gotten there all by myself, but it would probably have taken me at least 3 years longer (if not more). To have someone to hold you accountable, to present you with a mirror so you can discover that almost always the one who is holding you back from reaching your full potential is yourself, is invaluable.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

My favorite book is actually a journal: The 5 minute Journal. I have used that journal for close to a decade now, and I honestly can say it changed my life. It brought a lot of light in my life when I wasn’t in a great place, and whenever I feel a little bit ‘off’, I often realize I lapsed with my journal practice. So I always pick it back up again, and have kept doing so for the last 10 years. 

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

I’ve recently joined a women’s entrepreneurial group here in Lisbon, and it’s been fantastic to meet so many amazing women who are all entrepreneurs and working on their own dreams, and to ask for help, tips and advice and truly be heard. 

Who is your business role model? Why?

It changes! As Jomar and I are building on a community of like-minded people, I meet so many amazing people who are bringing energy and passion into their lives and companies. When speaking to one of them, I am energized and in awe of them, and I just want to infuse a fraction of that in my own company. 

How do you balance work and life?

Right now it is not an issue at all for me, as I am very much in charge of my calendar and work. And I love what I am doing, and it is giving me a ton of energy to work, so the balance is just not an issue or even a topic I think about. As I am in charge of my own calendar, if I feel I am getting tired or pushed to the limit, I schedule in off-time, and share this with Jomar. We hold each other accountable as well. Our vision is to live in joy, so nothing we do with The 1 Reset will ever work against that, or else we will change it. We want to live up to our vision!

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Yoga has been a very important way for me to decompress. Whenever I feel like it’s too much, I try to fit in a yoga session, and it almost always turns out that was all that I needed to feel a lot better, and find perspective. Plus, a good glass of wine with friends is high up on that list as well. 

What do you have planned for the next six months?

We are putting on several of our online series (the Expand Series to expand your awareness of who you are so you can create your life accordingly, as well as the Explore series, which provides clarity in what you want out of your life and how you’ll get there). Plus, our first retreats in Portugal! We have beautiful places selected for our retreats, so I am so incredibly excited to share this with our Reset community. 
How can our readers connect with you?

Through our website www.the1reset.com , or email me directly at sophie@the1reset.com . On social media you can find us with the @the1reset handle, and follow me on LinkedIn ( www.linkedin.com/in/svanheterve ) to join my monthly book club, in which I pair lessons learned from impactful books with coaching perspectives and questions to ponder.