My Story
Read my story about my journey to becoming a Transformational Coach.
MY STORY
How it all started
I’m often asked by clients about my story. So, I’ve written a bit about my journey so far for those who might be interested.
From a very early age, I knew I wanted to do my own thing. I was ambitious and driven. I wanted to run a successful business just like my Father and Grandfather. By the age of 21, after an incredible 3-year stint at Lynne Franks PR, one of London’s top PR agencies, I decided to start my own small PR agency and managed a band. That’s when the cracks started to appear. I began to question what I was doing, where I was going and what was my purpose in life. By my mid 20s, I was suffering from high anxiety and panic attacks. So I embarked on a quest to find some answers and heal.
TRUE CALLING
Call to Adventure
What followed was a 5-year journey of deep self discovery and personal development. In the process, I met some amazing people, some on their own quest, others helping people like me to navigate life changing transformation. From working with a Shaman, to having Therapy and Hypnotherapy, to going to Life Training workshops, to hands on healing, yoga weekends, meditation workshops, sweat lodges, sound healing workshops and more, I immersed myself in everything this journey had to offer. I read self development and spiritual books and had seemingly unexplainable experiences and moments of ‘awakening’. Throughout this journey, it became clear that my purpose was to shift consciousness, albeit I had no idea quite how I was going to manifest this at the time. And this was all before the birth of the Internet, which was to become my next adventure.
choice point
Being an Entrepreneur
At this point, I came to a fork in the road. I knew it at the time but I gave in to my own fear and fate took a guiding hand. I had been teaching self esteem and people on purpose courses, was running Men’s Groups and had produced a video called The Complete Guide to Men’s Health (sponsored by BUPA). But then my brother and I came up with an idea for the Internet, which was still in its infancy in 1994. With nothing but an idea, a laptop and evangelical like Entrepreneurial spirit we created one of the earliest Internet companies and won a DTi award for innovation in the process. It all happened so fast. Before I knew it, I was back running a business, with the personal development world fast disappearing in my rearview mirror (little did I know it was going to take another 25 years before I was to fully return to it). I threw myself into pioneering Entrepreneurship, which I found incredibly exciting, challenging and rewarding, all in equal doses. Yet, I couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that this wasn’t my path.
PATH
Consulting for Digital Entrepreneurs
I continued on my Entrepreneurial path, which led to me to become a digital strategy and marketing consultant for e-commerce and tech ventures. I had taken my accelerated learning of running an Internet business to help other digital Entrepreneurs and start-ups make their vision a reality. But this nagging feeling simply got worse and worse. Anxiety reared its head again, especially in my professional life. Perhaps it was this anxiety, coupled with a growing sense that I was still not following my true path that drove me to start to listen. To truly begin to tune into my inner voice.
“Growing uo my Grandmother taught me how to have a ‘glass is half-full mindset’ and my Father encouraged me to embrace the University of Life. I believe we have greatness in each and every one of us.”
AWAKENING
Following my passions
At this time, I discovered a new passion in my personal life for endurance sports and in 2005 I completed my first Triathlon. I was also compelled to re-read Tony Robbins’ seminal book ‘Awaken the Giant within’, which had been part of my original quest of self development and discovery. I was spellbound and instantly decided to apply his CANI (Constant and Never Ending Improvement) model to my Triathlon and endurance sports training. 17 years on and I am still consistently training on a daily basis and have taken on exciting sporting endurance challenges including an Ironman, Marathons, Open Water Swim events such as the Dart 10K river swim, Cycling Sportives and more.
BREAKTHROUGHS
Firewalking with Tony Robbins
A year later, having re-acquainted myself with ‘Awaken the Giant Within’, I attended Tony Robbins’s ‘Unleash the Power Within’ weekend at London’s Excel Center.
I will never forget the moment as I fire-walked across hot coals at this event with thousands of other participants, the river Thames stretching out in front of me. I smiled, as just a month before I had literally swam in that very river competing in the London Triathlon. I was growing to love life’s coincidences and synchronicities.
NOW OR NEVER
Answering my True Calling
However, it wasn’t until a month before my 52nd birthday, after a moment of self-reflection, that I knew it was time to make a change. To make a significant shift in my journey. I remember sitting with my morning coffee in a local Starbucks writing a stream of consciousness in my morning journal. I had a light bulb moment as a flash of inspiration went through my mind. Suddenly it all made sense. I wanted to be a Coach. I felt a rush of energy and within a month I had booked on a coaching course right before my birthday, and I haven’t looked back since.
From the very first training module, I knew this was my calling. Wanting to be the very best I can be in service of my clients, I immersed myself in my coaching training and studies.
BEING & DOING
Becoming a professional coach
It only took me 25 years to return to my true calling of becoming a professional coach. But I wouldn’t change the experiences I had on the way, no matter how challenging they were and how long the transition took as they inform the work I do today. I look back at my past with gratitude.
Almost 5 years on and I work daily with Founders, Senior Leaders, Leadership Teams and Groups. I am living my true purpose and am aligned with my vision to work with Leaders, their teams and communities around the world to help make a positive impact and shift global consciousness.
So what’s your story and how can I help you live the life you were born to lead?
Journey of
self-discovery
I’ve found that by learning to listen to what’s important to me, developing more of a growth mindset, having self-compassion and living for the moment has brought me more resilience, meaning and fulfilment into my unfolding journey of self-discovery.
Let’s Talk
If Coaching feels like it might be the next step on your journey of self discovery, please book a free 30-minute discovery call to find out more about how my coaching could help you and to see if we’re potentially the right fit to work together.
