I grew up telling stories. In some instances – like why my dad’s company car suddenly had so many extra kilos on the clock – they weren’t technically fiction as much as they were lies. Since those early days, I have found and embraced integrity, and now I stick to stories that have a basis in truth, and value to add in their telling.

I qualified as a language teacher and spent the first almost-five years of my career doing the right job in the wrong context. Training, teaching, coaching and a general focus on becoming a better person through helping others to do the same, have always been inherent in the jobs that made me happy. I had the misfortune to be forcibly laid off after spending six months doing a job I didn’t enjoy. A good 16 years after that first retrenchment I faced another redundancy, but this time I could see the blessing that it was. It was through coaching that I could change my perspective; I learned how to take what looked like grave misfortune and turn it into a personal opportunity.

I am an Integral coach, an accredited Belbin Team Roles coach, finalising accreditation in the CliftonStrengths coaching tool, partway through my journey to learn about the Meta ways of coaching and accrediting in the Integrative Enneagram in the coming months.

If you want to offer a topic for a blog post or ask a question for advice, visit the contact page. If you feel stuck and you’re considering coaching, get in touch. There is no better time than right now to start building the life you deserve.