My name is Claire Kristensen, but you can call me Queenie, all my friends do.
I have always known I was put on the earth to help people. I never fitted into pigeon holes, I didn't 'think outside the box', I came to realise when you free yourself of life’s conditioning, there isn’t actually a box at all. I have travelled all over the world, from Egypt to Ancient Greece and seen some of this worlds greatest wonders. I’ve walked through the inner workings of the Hoover Dam and stood on top of Empire state building. I got married in a 13th century castle in Edinburgh (that turned out to be haunted as hell), I’ve visited amazing cities like Barcelona, Venice and Vegas. I’ve travelled to Africa, worked in London, got drunk and lost in Dublin and flew over the Valley of the Kings in a hot air balloon. I’ve done countless jobs (that I hated) and picked up more qualifications then I can count. Everything from Building Surveying to Reiki. (See my qualifications HERE)
I worked hard, was totally driven to achieving my dream lifestyle, but every avenue led to a dead end. I stumbled through life trying to find the way to my big dream. But nothing ever seemed to fit, ya know? Nothing I ever tried made me happy for long. The tan would fade, the adventure would become a distant memory. The skills I learned, once I’d mastered them, no longer challenged me so I’d grow bored. I spent years working on my own personal development but never truly felt fulfilled. nothing ever seemed to ‘click’.
I had this desperate feeling I had something important to do and that I was running out of time but nothing I tried would make the feeling go away. So I kept plodding on, searching for that ‘one big thing’ that would make me feel fulfilled. (You know, aside from my family) Then I reached a point were I felt like there was one big lesson still left to learn. So (like a dickhead) I said a prayer. ‘Whatever it is bring it on. I’m ready for it. I’ve been through Hell and back, whatever its, I can take it’ and do you know what happened? Within 48 hours I was rushed to hospital dying of pneumonia!
It was Christmas and my family had all caught the flu. I recovered quicker because I’ve had it before. So I popped out the shops to pick up some essentials: bread, milk, calpol. A few hours later I felt dizzy, so I went to bed. I woke up and felt like crap. I threw up a few times but the kids needed seeing to and my husband Tonny needed help. He was really ill too so we worked it between us as a good team should. We had dinner, we went to bed. All four of us in our huge bed. I woke up at 11ish and felt like shit. I threw 2 lots of different painkillers down my neck and went back asleep. Two hours later I woke up again and felt 10 times worse and I remember thinking, wow this is bad. After all those painkillers I shouldn’t feel this bad. Then I passed out again. And woke up again an hour later literally dying. Every breath was agony, like someone plunging a knife in my back over and over and over again. (And I was in labour for 68 hours! So believe me im pretty tough when it comes pain) But this was just something else. I couldn’t even sit up to tell Tonny to phone an ambulance. He was at the bottom of the bed (to make space for the little’uns) so I had to kick him until he woke up. He phoned the ambulance and grabbed the nearest thing to get me dressed in. (Which turned out to be my Gryffindor tracksuit!) I was rushed to hospital but on the way there they had to pull the ambulance over because my blood pressure dropped dangerously low but my heart rate was off the scale. They stopped the ambulance because they thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was just 33 years old.
For four days I lay in a hospital bed unable to move, intravenous drips hanging from my arms. I suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for months afterwards where even just going for a wee left me so exhausted I would have to sleep for hours. Every breath was excruciating, but I knew life’s greatest lessons come through the hardest times. So I knew this wasn’t happening to me. It was happening for me. And through all my pain, all my suffering, all my fears, I learned that the answer I was seeking had been hiding deep inside me all along. The jobs I hated had gave me a broad range of business skills so I could help other people in their careers. My life trials had tempered my soul and hardened my resolve, I knew I was meant to change this world. It wasn’t just delusions of grandeur. I was destined to be something more.
My children and my family had filled my heart and shown me what love and pain is really all about. 68 hours of labour and is nothing compared to the pain of lying in a hospital bed, slowly suffocating, thinking you’ll never see your babies again; thinking you’ll never be able to hold them and tell them, from the depth of your soul, how much you really love them.
The world I have travelled has broadened my mind showing me the wonders of different cultures, spiritual beliefs and how, deep down we truly are all just the same. We’re all looking for love, we’re all looking for happiness and we are all trying to cope as best we can. After years of being bitch slapped about by life, I have been taught how to be strong and analytical and how to trust my instincts (and randomly, how to survive life threatening situations including terrorist attacks)
I was raised by a single Mum in the 80's before single families became fashionable. When times were tough for single parents. We never went hungry, but my Mum sometimes did. She worked two jobs to support my brother and I, and taught me to work hard, be passionate for things I believe in, have strong morals and to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. She moulded me in to the strong women I am today.
My big brother was my first love and my worst nightmare. He bullied me ruthlessly, always pushing me until I lost it and would try to fight back; but he was 4 years older so at age 12 when I was a petite young girl, he was 16 and a 6ft man. Ironically the same height and build as the man who tried to rape me #metoo #; Looking back, I think my brothers soul always knew something bad was in my future. My first memory is of him wrapping his arms around me to protect me when my Dad was hitting my Mum in the kitchen. He must have been about 5. I was frightened but he kept me safe.
So when I was grabbed by the back of my hair in the toilets by a work colleague at the Christmas party, and forced face down over the sink, I reacted. I came round round swinging, just as my big brother had taught me. With sheer anger and rage and the fury of ‘if im going down, im going down fighting, you fucking bastard’ I fought him off. And it made the difference from being raped, to nearly being raped. But it came at a cost.
The man who tried to rape me later became my boss and when I finally recovered enough from the shock to report him (2 years later), I was forced out of my job. He was a good family man you see. He’d never do such a terrible thing. (Until he tried to do it again to another member of staff and got sacked) But the trauma of the attack and the shit storm that followed took it’s toll and I had a breakdown which led to two years of depression. Unable to function let alone work, I lost my investments, my home, my business and eventually ended up bankrupt as I struggled to overcome depression and return to work during the global economy crash when thousand of people, the world over, were loosing their jobs too.
After loosing our home we ended up living on a council estate where there were regular drive by shootings, drug raids and gang wars (I live in England by the way) all whilst raising two babies (who were 2 and 1 at the time), being at full time University and helping my husband recover from depression. (That was tough couple of years!) But that led to me writing my first book Easy Labour.(www.easy-labour.co.uk) so good always comes out of it if you choose to fight the good fight.
If that wasn’t crazy enough, I was also working in London with Virgin Trains the day of the London Bombings. Our train had arrived in Euston shortly after the first attack. When our station was evacuated, we had no idea what had happened. Communications had gone down. When we evacuated the station we had no where to go. We waited on the street, at the designated muster points. Fortunately, we had evacuated most of the passengers out of the side exits. Because they knew you see, the Terrorists. That the station usually evacuates out the front. Where the passengers can catch their buses out into London. That's when we heard it. The explosion. The almighty boom that made the ground shake and ripped the bus heading for Tavistock Square apart. The bomber had accidentally detonated it too early, saving countless lives including my own.
Throughout it all, I knew there was a purpose. There had to be. These weren't just random events. They were happening for a reason. Like the phoenix raising, renewed and stronger from the ashes of their suffering, it was just part of a bigger process. To be broken down so you can come back stronger. So I took it all on the chin, rolled with punches and remembered to laugh through the tears. And of course, there was good times too. Like meeting my husband Tonny at 16 who brought laughter in to my life at a time when there only seemed to be stress and heartache. We’ve had a lot of good laughs Tonny and I. We've travelled the world and seen some amazing places. The picture above was taken at sun set as Tonny and I cruised down the Nile visiting ancient temples on our Honeymoon. I've visited New York, Barcelona, Germany, Spain, Africa and Greece. I conquered my fear of heights in The Grand Canyon and learned how to shoot guns in Las Vegas (Zombie Apocalypse anyone?), where I also got tattooed and went on a shopping spree in Tiffany’s whilst drunk! We once got so drunk in Central Park that we had to get a rickshaw to take us to the exit because we couldn’t find our way out! On one adventure we drove all the way across Europe all the way to Venice! I’ve sailed the high sees, travelled across the Sahara desert at night where I watched shooting stars falling across a sky that was absolutely breath taking; and it breaks my heart to think that most people on the planet have know idea that a view of Heaven is right above us every single damn night, but our city lights drown it out. I lived in a haunted house and have spent the night asleep on an old train next to a Nuclear power plant (not all adventures are comfortable ones!) I have pursued all of my passions and am qualified in a variety of Holistic Therapies (I'm big on health). I’m also trained in Reiki and am naturally attuned to the essence of Feng Shui. I’m a psychic medium (Yes, I can talk to dead people. Well they talk, I just kind of listen) I can read tarot cards and tea leaves (although im not very good at tea leaves to be honest) I've been a trolley dolly, a barista (I love coffee), dealt tables in a Casino and worked in an acupuncture clinic where I got sacked even though I was volunteer! (If you're not meant to be there the universe will find way to move you along!)
I've worked in sweaty cafes and high end hotels. Did I mention I'm also a qualified Building Surveyor? I love architecture and engineering and walking through the inner workings of the Hoover Dam was like an engineers wet dream. It was AMAZING. (And yes Tonny got to do the Super Man thing too!). I studied International Construction Management at the University of Bath (I had my own property developing business before it went down the swanny with the economy crash) I've worked along side celebrities including Micheal Owen, Gary Barlow, Cherie Blair and Coleen Rooney to name but a few. I also met Richard Branson at a party once. He said he liked my Tshirt. It said: I gave up drinking, smoking and sex - it was the worst 10 minutes of my life!
But through it all, I never quite found what I was looking for. I always had this empty feeling like I was running out of time. I knew I was meant to help people (I'm really good at that) but after the pneumonia, it all started to make sense. Things gradually started to fall into place. Whilst I was lying on the couch dying (watching Oprah) Tony Robbins came on. And I remember thinking I’d love to do that (Talk in front of thousands of people) so (because your subconscious is a bit of a knob) my next thought was Well you can’t do that! (and because i’m ME and i’m stubborn and a tough little cookie) my next thought was; Why the hell not? and I swear, as Divine Inspiration goes, 3 people that week said to me, ‘You should be a Inspirational speaker, you’re really good at helping people’ So I did. I trained as a Master Coach with the International Coaching Academy under the tutorage of a self made Millionaire (and fellow Scouser John Haynes) where I learned about the psychology of personal development and change. I then went onto study Executive Coaching at the prestigious University of Cambridge which is the second oldest University in England and ranked 6th in the world. And as I started down this road of helping people and coaching them (that yes you are actually allowed to follow your dreams,) I finally found what I was looking for. It was you my friend. I'm here to help you find your way too.
My Mission
Is to help you live the life you've always dreamed of. To help you clear out the things in your life that are holding you back and pissing you off. To help you get from where you are now to where you want to be in the future. Because you know this right? You know you are destined for great things. You know you can live the life you've always dreamed of! But some how life is getting in the way, and it isn't making sense. You've got bits of the puzzle but you can't see the picture and somehow its not fitting together how you thought it would and no matter how hard you try, you don't seem to be getting where you want to be. Remember when you were a little kid and people would ask you, "What do you want to be when you grow up?' and your little heart would swell with excitement and wonder at all the possibilities and all the dreams you had? Well, my friend, I'm here to help you put that magic back into your life. Because you can have it all. Dreams can come true.
Check out my videos on life skills / health hacks & other weird and wonderful stuff
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