Let me introduce myself...

I am an introvert who loves living a big life in a quiet way! My parents call me their butterfly as I get bored easily and am always looking for the next challenge. In my corporate career, this has meant constantly looking at ways to improve my skill set, and going for opportunities in exciting projects, or promotions to continuously grow and improve. Taking challenging roles and projects expanded and grew my abilities and experience - but every time I moved into a new position I had at least a 6 month learning curve, and a crisis of confidence that I could actually do the new position. Looking back I can see how these roles gave me a strong set of transferable skills in business, management and leadership, but during the transition into new roles, the doubt in myself could be crippling - and, at the time, working harder was the only strategy I had to get through this.

How differently would you show up if you had genuine confidence in who you are and the value you bring?

I have no doubt you are doing an amazing job. But do you feel that? Do you know that you are good enough exactly as you are? Becoming at peace with who you are and harnessing your natural strengths can increase your energy, improve your communication and influencing skills and help you feel that you are doing as an amazing job as everyone else can see that you are doing.

I know how those doubts can eat away at you. I know how you can become your own worst enemy - telling yourself things you would NEVER say to anyone else. I know the feeling that you have to put on a mask to be someone ‘more’ when you are at work. I know the sleepless nights worrying about the next day, fearing someone is going to ‘find out’ you are a ‘fraud’ and are not up to the role; scared that today might be the day that you are 'proved' to be the 'loser' or 'failure' you believe you are. I know that complete feeling of overwhelm because I have been there. And not just once - I was there every time I took on a new role or promotion. It was exhausting! I wanted to prove myself, and prove that the person hiring me made the right choice. Going for the roles, I could see the possibilities and what I could bring to the table. Achieving the positions made me feel I had to prove they made the right decision, and lived in fear that they would find out I wasn’t up to it. I worked stupidly long hours, which could lead to many outcomes from feeling resentful, burnt out, or, having an emotional meltdown in the office.

So, how did I break the cycle?

I have always been interested in people: What makes us tick? Why are some people more happy and confident than others? Why do we sometimes have motivation to follow our dreams, and other times we prefer to keep to the status quo? I was attracted to coaching because it is forward looking - it is accepting where you are, deciding where you want to be, and planning how to get there. I love a good strategy and felt a lot of what I did intuitively in life was aligned to coaching practices. So I embarked on my own journey to become a coach, spending years training and gaining qualifications in advanced life skills, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), Everything DiSC® (a psychometric tool), emotional intelligence, hypnosis skills, positive psychology coaching, group coaching and facilitation, relaxation practices, imposter syndrome coaching and executive coaching and mentoring - all of which have enhanced my own self awareness and ability to ‘experiment’ with my behaviours to create effective strategies to improve my own performance - ultimately becoming the ‘best version’ of myself and feeling genuinely comfortable in my own skin by appreciating my natural abilities and strengthening these. Being the real me takes less energy, gives great results and people easily can get a sense of who I am and what I am about.

Learning to accept myself for who I am - my perceived warts and all - has led to increased emotional freedom. Knowing what I bring to the party, and knowing where I want to develop have all strengthened my sense of self. So now, I can really show up. As me. No apologies, no trying to fit a mould, no worrying I will get ‘found out’.

And I want to share this with you - to help you feel genuinely confident in your uniqueness, to see yourself as others do, to truly harness your natural skills to excel in a life and career you love, to wake up (after having a good night of restful sleep) knowing your worth and the value you are bringing to the table, to show up in all your wonderful glory!

Still Want To Know More About Me?

Here are 10 facts about me - some will hopefully make you smile, some may surprise, but all are 100% true!

1. I love, and live by, the saying “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever,” Mahatma Gandhi.

2. I believe success means different things to different people and defining what success means for you and putting plans in place to achieve this is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. I am a huge fan of lists and regularly am updating my own ‘bucket list’ and 1-5 year plans with both career aspirations, and experiences I want to have - including amazing destinations I want to visit! Pinterest is also a great way for me to create and easily add to various ‘vision boards’ so my life goals are always growing and evolving!

3. I decided not to go to university at 18 years old because I didn’t know what I wanted to study, but always said I would get my degree when I had figured this out. Fast forward to my late twenties, and I was still trying to figure this out - but had discovered the Open University and that I could study modules that interested me and they could be combined - meaning I could study courses in creative writing, business and finance, forensics, nutrition, entrepreneurial skills, marketing, psychology, genetics, health and interpersonal skills! So, in 2014 after 5 years of part time study alongside a full time job, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Open degree - and it still makes me smile when I remember putting the tick next to this achievement on my bucket list goals!

4. My first ‘proper’ job was a dental nurse and I passed out on my first day watching a root canal procedure! I learnt quickly dental nursing wasn’t a long term career goal so decided to write to banks and financial organisations in my home town asking about jobs, and was offered a data inputting position in a subsidiary company of Lloyds Banking Group. Over the next 17 years I worked in various departments, including legal, IT support desk, IT development for internal systems, marketing, internal communications, project management, product development, and worked across many brands within the group - AMC, Lloyds TSB Agriculture, Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, Scottish Widows, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB. I loved working at the bank but in 2014 there was another restructure and it felt like the right opportunity and time to move on, so I took voluntary redundancy to pursue new ventures, which, to date, have included contract work for SaaS and web hosting companies to help solve business problems, working for a purpose-led healthcare organisation to support with their learning and development, and coach their managers and staff to be the best they can be, alongside working in a private coaching practice supporting individuals in 1:1 coaching.   

5. I do like to take advantage of all opportunities that come my way, and experience as much as possible. One challenge I completed was a mini-triathlon where unfortunately I got caught in a current when swimming in the sea and had to be rescued by a canoe! I did continue and am proud to say I finished, coming in 100th - out of 100!

6. Another challenge I set myself, that definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone, was when I gave my first public talk on the topic of leading an extraordinary life. I ended up in tears as I was preparing, it wasn’t my best talk, but like with anything new, you have to start somewhere! I learned from the experience and taking action built my self-confidence. 

7. As well as having my first book, Live a Big Life in a Quiet Way, published in 2020, I have had over 80 poems published and am listed in the Who’s Who of Poetry (under my maiden name).

8. In 2008 I ran the London marathon - slowly, but I did it - and seeing my always supportive husband at mile 25, cheering me on like a madman, definitely helped me get over that finish line! Since then I have taken part in several marathon distance walks and find having charity challenges a great way to stay motivated.

9. I am tone deaf, but can play the violin, and was a first chair in a youth orchestra. I have also busked for charity (possibly receiving money from generous shoppers to try to stop me playing, but either way, it was all going to a good cause!)

10. In 2012 I had the privilege of being an Olympic Games volunteer at Wembley Stadium.

What’s Next For Us?

So, now you know about me. I live by what I believe - to be constantly curious, to experience as much as I can, and to be open to the opportunities life gives to live the most amazing life possible, on my terms, as defined by me.

Are you ready to do the same? Are you ready to give yourself permission to be fully present in your life, to know yourself as well as you possibly can, to unapologetically stand tall in your awesomeness, to create a life you love, and to feel genuinely confident in the person you are?