What is life coaching?
With roots in sports and performance psychology, coaching is now an internationally recognised tool proven to be effective in all kinds of work and life situations. Coaching is a talking and listening process, a partnership built on trust, within which clients can explore options and ideas that they may not have immediately available by themselves. The coaching process affords clients time to think, reflect and come up with an action plan to make changes for a happier, more productive and more fulfilling life. Working with a certified coach can help you set and achieve goals, be accountable to act, clear the clutter, highlight limiting beliefs, understand processes and behaviours, and find solutions to propel forward motion.
My coaching approach is embedded in humanistic principles. I believe that you are the expert in yourself, and I facilitate the discovery of finding your answers. The relationship is built on trust, openness, challenge, creativity and authenticity. My process is non-directive, non-prescriptive, and client lead; I don’t tell you what to ‘fix’, I don’t offer unsolicited advice, and I never judge. Our relationship is strictly confidential and wholly ethical. Building trust is paramount. I am a qualified Associate Certified Coach within the International Coaching Federation and am bound by this ethical code.
My processes of active listening, suspending preconceptions, observations of verbal and non-verbal communication, sharing hunches, and encouraging vulnerability, all serve to create an incredibly powerful growth environment.
“The greatest gift you can do for another is not just to share riches, but to reveal to him his own.” - Disraeli
Who needs life coaching?
I think we have all experienced feelings of feeling stuck, lacking direction, confidence, productivity or resilience at one time of another and if not acknowledged, these feelings can lead to unhappiness. Coaching can bring positive changes to people who are ready, willing and able to engage. I’m incredibly passionate about coaching and the transformative power of this relationship and believe that everyone could benefit from this time to reflect, explore and be heard in a safe environment.
Through coaching, I have seen radical changes in people’s view of themselves and others, increased creativity, better communication, higher productivity, improved performance and healthier relationships.
Shift happens.
How much is life coaching and how long is the process?
The short answer is, everyone is different and so it depends! The longer answer is, my initial recommended route is a free 30 minute ‘chemistry session’, followed by 6 x 90 minute sessions.
A chemistry session is where we chat about your reasons for seeking me out and the current situation you’re in, and you get to know me too. The first proper session will likely be defining our contract – a very important part in coaching which we set out your goals and objectives, wishes, desires, areas that you really want to make changes in. This is the starting point of building the accountability process and enables me to track your progress so we are really adding value and staying on track. This does, and often will change. It is a benchmark in the coaching process to set goals to positively achieve and other goals will arise from the initial ones.
I don't charge a fixed rate as I want to make coaching accessible to everyone who is ready to show up and do the work. I work on a pay what you can model depending on your personal circumstances and modelling the spirit of transparency.
Who am I
I graduated college in Dublin, Ireland, in the 90s and began my transition to professional life as a receptionist in a recording studio, giving away my age, wisdom and experience. Working my way up the music industry ladder, I hustled my way into running a venue and became a concert promoter, before finally making the leap to London and into music management. For the next twenty five years, I worked in management alongside David Gray, then went on to manage Damien Rice, Mahalia, John Smith and Lisa Hannigan, whom I still manage. From festivals and recording studios to tour buses and hotels, award ceremonies to dressing room toilets, a thousand flights and a million miles, it was a whirlwind that took me all around the world several times. I love meeting people from different cultures and having once in a lifetime experiences. Music brings me immense joy and I feel privileged to have worked closely with such inspirational artists, and so many great people over this 30 year career in music. Whilst working full time in music management, I achieved a life long ambition (having left school aged 15), I did an Open University degree in my area of special interest- and proudly obtained BSC Hons Psychology. I enhanced this later with Integrative Humanistic and psychodynamic counselling skills and further training as an executive coach, and am now an AoEC Accredited Associate Executive Coach and ACC member of the International Coaching Federation. I also am trained as a group coach facilitator and enjoy the challenge of managing groups of people to focus on a common goal.
So how did I get from music management to coaching? One thing they have in common is a close working relationship with another person. As my professional life evolved it became clear to me that working with people, helping them to recognise and achieve their goals, was one of the aspects of my job that I loved. In later life, I became aware that there are aspects of the music business that I was really resisting. By working with an amazing coach, and some long suffering whiteboarding friends, in 2021, I arrived at a career pivot using my strengths to be of service to as many people as I possibly can. If I can provide an impartial safe space for people to open up, explore, be vulnerable and encourage them to make different mistakes then – great!. In my current season of life, I embrace the vulnerability of working with hundreds of people, from all experiences, cultures and walks of life, listening, sharing appropriate experiences and acknowledging that through this process, they can find their own answers. In addition to working with private clients and groups coaching workshops, I also volunteer weekly with FareShare Sussex and Circles South East; both organisations are close to my heart.
