I work with business owners and senior leaders who are doing well on the outside, and know, privately, that there’s a higher level they’re not quite operating at.
That gap between how things look and how they actually feel? That’s where I work.
I’m an EMCC Senior Accredited Executive Coach at EIA Senior Practitioner level, ILM Level 7 qualified in Executive Coaching and Senior Level Mentoring, and I hold a first-class degree in Psychology. I’ve spent years and a significant amount of money doing this properly, because in an industry where anyone can call themselves a coach, I think that matters.
I started out in the charity sector, managing a team of eight and a budget of £250,000 by my mid-twenties, running a national financial education programme that trained thousands of people a year. I then led a management and leadership internship programme for postgraduates. I loved the work. I was good at it.
Then in 2018 I was made redundant. Two toddlers at home, no plan, and the sudden need to figure out what I actually had.
I built a direct sales business from the ground up, grew a team of over forty, and featured consistently on top sellers lists. But somewhere in the building of it, I kept coming back to the same thing: I didn’t want to spend my life building on someone else’s vision. I wanted something that was mine.
Around 2021 I moved into coaching. I completed my ILM Level 7, two years, hundreds of hours, proper qualification, and launched the company in January 2025.
The redundancy, the rebuilding, the working out what I was actually made of, all of that is now in the room with me every time I coach. The process of being forced to draw out what you have, figure out who you are, and build something from it? That’s exactly what I help people do.
I’m not a cheerleader. I’m not going to spend six sessions listening to you talk and nodding encouragingly. That’s not what you need, and frankly it’s not what I find interesting.
What I do is help you untangle what’s actually going on. Underneath the presenting problem, underneath the busy-ness, underneath the version you’ve been performing for everyone else. I ask the questions that most people around you won’t ask. I name things directly. I won’t let you stay where you are if I can see a way forward.
But, and this matters, I do this in a space that is genuinely safe. No judgement. No agenda. No feeding back to whoever commissioned the coaching. What you say in the room stays in the room.
People sometimes describe leaving a session feeling lighter. Like they’ve untangled the wires. Like they’ve finally downloaded everything out of their head and can see it clearly enough to do something about it.
That’s what I’m going for, every time.
My approach draws on my Psychology background, my ILM Level 7 training, and my own experience of building and leading. I’m not an outside observer who has read about leadership. I’ve managed teams, held budgets, navigated redundancy, and built something from scratch. That’s in the room too.
The coaching industry has a problem.
Anyone can call themselves a coach. There’s no regulation, no required qualification, no minimum standard. Some of those people are brilliant. Some are doing real damage. I’ve spent years and proper money doing this the right way, ILM Level 7, EMCC Senior Accredited Executive Coach, hundreds of supervised hours, because I think the people who trust me with their leadership deserve someone who has actually been trained to do this.
Leadership is personal.
There is no template. If you try to lead like someone else, everyone can tell. The work is figuring out what leadership looks like when it’s genuinely yours, and then doing that, under pressure, consistently.
Most leaders haven't been taught how to lead.
They’ve been promoted because they were good at something else. They’ve been thrown in at a higher level and expected to figure it out. They’ve been on generic programmes that produced flipchart paper and no lasting change. The gap has nothing to do with ability. It’s operating level.
I care about you, but I will not let you stay where you are.
I live in Yorkshire, which I love, and I spend as much time as possible outdoors, walking along the canal or wrestling weeds at my allotment. I have two children who are growing up faster than I can keep track of.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a football fan. Or at least I didn’t think I was. But I now find myself at the side of a pitch more often than I ever imagined possible. Some weekends I’ve watched five matches. Whether it’s cheering on the kids or watching the mighty Bantams at Bradford City, I’m starting to wonder if I’m becoming one after all. My main hobby at this stage of life appears to be facilitating other people’s hobbies, which, it turns out, is basically what being a mum is.
I have no social media on my phone. I turn off notifications. I have strong opinions about the impact of constant connectivity on how people think, lead, and feel about themselves, and yes, I do talk to my clients about this when it comes up, which is often.
I read a lot. I’m a person, not a brand, and I think that matters in a coach.
clients coached
paid coaching hours
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client satisfaction
100% of surveyed clients rated overall satisfaction at the highest level across all 16 dimensions, including the quality of challenge, safe space created, progress toward goals, and likelihood to recommend. The most common response to “what would you improve?” was nothing.
The first step is The Sharpened Leader® Diagnostic Call. 30 minutes, free, on Zoom.
It’s called a diagnostic call because that’s genuinely what it is. We won’t spend the time on a polished pitch or a tour of my services. We’ll use it to look at what’s actually going on for you right now. What’s working, what isn’t, where the real friction is, and what a higher level of operating might look like in practice. You’ll leave with a clearer picture than you came with, whether we end up working together or not.
If I think I can help, I’ll explain how. If I don’t, I’ll tell you that and point you somewhere more useful.
