Coaching for thoughtful, capable people who care deeply about doing life well
Designed for people who...
Work really hard on emotional regulation. Listen to all the psychology podcasts. Understand exactly why they're reacting that way...
Still find the thing upsetting as hell.
Get paid to solve complicated problems all day. Come home and solve everyone else's for free...
Then quietly wonder why, if they're so capable, they still can't seem to solve themselves.
Perfect for smart cookies who
don't need more advice
You’ve got a brilliant brain. But when you’re inside your own thinking, you’re simultaneously the the analyst, the critic, the person with something at stake AND the person trying to decide what to do about it.
No wonder it gets noisy in there.
For serial overthinkers, more analysis isn’t the missing ingredient.
Coaching isn't about having another clever person to solve your problem for you. Instead, it's about having someone alongside you to ask the question you haven’t asked. Notice the contradiction you just skated past. Slow you down when your brilliant brain is racing towards yet another solution. Challenge an assumption. Help you notice when the voice you’re treating as fact might actually just be fear. And occasionally say: “Hang on. Did you hear what you just said?”
You don’t need to think harder. You just need somewhere different from which to look.
Why I coach...
I was around coaching for nearly twenty years before I finally found the courage to become a coach myself.
During that time, I got very good at playing the accomplishment game. Straight-A student. First-class degree from one of the best universities in the world. A stint in publishing as a managing editor. A PhD and a senior lectureship at Lancaster University.
Marriage, motherhood, mortgage. I thought I was Doing Life Properly™.
Yet coaching kept calling me. I had brilliant mentors and friends who became coaches, and working with them gave me something surprisingly difficult to find elsewhere: space for the yearnings. The doubts. The questions that didn't fit neatly into polite conversation. So I started training as a coach myself. Multiple times. And multiple times, I found an excuse to stop.
Eventually I realised why: coaching has no backstage.
As an academic, I could wrangle, plan and polish everything in private before anyone saw me. As a coach, I have to be me in real time. I can’t plan what you’re going to say. I can’t perfect my response in private and come back three days later with a beautifully referenced answer complete with footnotes.
I have to show up. Listen. Notice. Take a risk. Trust an instinct. Often get something wrong. Laugh with someone. Cry with someone. Change direction when I realise we're heading down a rabbit hole.
For someone who thought her professional success depended on never letting anyone see the whites of her eyes, that is terrifying. But also beautiful. And absolutely how I want to live.
These days, I’m less interested in presenting a perfectly polished version of myself, and much more interested in what happens when we bring the whole person – capable and uncertain, ambitious and exhausted, sensible and ridiculous, brave and scared – and stop assuming the messier bits need to be hidden before we begin.
I don't think we were ever meant to do life alone. I’m enormously grateful for the people who have been willing to stand beside me while I figure stuff out and I would be honoured to do the same for you too. ๐
WHAT WORKING TOGETHER LOOKS LIKE
I work with people over eight-week blocks. We meet every two weeks, which gives us enough continuity to go somewhere interesting – and enough space between sessions for you to go away, live your life and see what actually happens.
01
Four 60-minute coaching sessions where we have a proper conversation
We'll meet every two weeks, online, by phone or in person where practical. These sessions give us chance to get into the interesting stuff – and enough time between sessions for life to happen, which is where the real learning lives...
02
Between session fieldwork while you go away and live your life
At the end of each coaching session, we’ll agree something for you to experiment with or reflect on.
This is NOT homework to get right. Sometimes you’ll do it. Sometimes you’ll forget. Sometimes you’ll avoid it spectacularly. Sometimes you'll try it and discover that we were barking up the wrong tree. altogether. It’s all good information.
03
We keep the thread alive with supportive check-ins
The best learning often happens BETWEEN coaching sessions, when you're reflecting on what you've learned and trying to apply it to your life. That's why you have the option to stay lightly connected to me by text or voice note between sessions. This allows us to celebrate wins together, troubleshoot sticking points, adjust in real time and catch related topics for future sessions.
How I like to coach
I start from what you need on any given day. Some days you might need somewhere safe to put everything down for an hour. To think out loud, be listened to properly and stop holding everything together. On those days coaching might look like: "Hey, pull up a chair. Tell me what’s going on in your world."
Then there are days when you're ready for more of a challenge. That's when I like to take us exploring, literally or metaphorically. This can look like going for a walk and talk, taking a journey in our imagination or moving chairs around to explore different perspectives on a familiar issue. It can also involve making up a story about a superhero, having a conversation with an imaginary gremlin (yes, really!), or getting curious about exactly why you feel your chest contracting every time you think about taking a holiday.
Each time, we'll end the session with a little piece of mutually agreed upon fieldwork – something for you to try out, notice or reflect on which will take us deeper into your topic.
As your coach, I’m ALWAYS on your side – even, and especially – when I'm not on the side of the story you’re currently telling yourself.
Curious? Let's talk...
It's really important that you get to talk to me and figure out if this feels right for you before you jump in. So, if something on this page has made you curious, drop me a message on WhatsApp. If I think we might be a good fit, I’ll arrange to do a free trial session so you can see for yourself.
If you like it, great! That becomes the first session of our 8-week block. And if not, no worries, we can both enjoy the conversation and move on with our lives.
I'm currently training with the Co-Active Training Institute and charging £295 for an 8 week block.
If you're eligible for Access to Work, coaching may be something you can get funding towards. Some employers will also fund coaching through learning, development or wellbeing budgets. I'm happy to provide whatever information you need to explore either option.