In 2011, after 11 years in the Corporate world of Retail, I took a leap and set up a Leadership Coaching and Consultancy business. Taking that leap was the most liberating, confidence boosting and life affirming decision I ever made.
I now specialise in helping senior leaders and directors at a crossroads in their career to figure out what's next. However, our conversations are rarely just about their career.
I also work with individuals outside of the corporate world who come to me independently. These tend to be MDs of small to medium size businesses or people wanting to make the leap into running their own business.
HR Directors refer senior leaders to me who are high performers with the potential for more, but have something holding them back. They ask for my support to help their leaders figure out what's getting in their way and then overcome it. I also often get asked to support newly promoted Directors to help them overcome that good old chestnut of imposter syndrome.
I would describe the experience of working with me as having conversations with a skilled friend. I aim to make sure you feel as comfortable as you would be chatting to a friend, but at the same time be challenged to talk about things you wouldn't normally talk about.
My career started on the check-outs serving the customers at Tesco, and ended up in the Group Leadership Academy developing the Leaders. This progressive and at times challenging journey in the fast paced, ever evolving world of one of the UK's largest Retailers, gave me the foundations upon which I have built my approach to helping people make changes in their lives.
My education is a mixture of art and psychology. I have a Master's Degree in Visual Communication (Graphic Design) which was all about the psychology of perception and how you visually communicate effectively with people. I also have a BSC in Psychology, which has given me the foundations of understanding human behaviour, and a Diploma in Coaching, which has refined my approach to helping people make changes in their lives.
What makes me different to other Executive Coaches is that I blend my practical experience of having worked in the corporate world with insights from therapy and psychology. I am neither your bog-standard Executive Coach, nor am I a counsellor, but I am a hybrid of the two. I bring the therapy world into the business world by translating all the psychobabble into everyday language that makes sense in our day to day lives.
A Marketing Director described my style like this:
“You make me go to places I'm afraid to go to, but I want to go there with you”
