My why.

The careers officer at school suggested I join the police force, because I was tall. I had other plans.

I’ve spent over 30 years in the creative industry, most of it in advertising and all of it connected to respected and ground-breaking spaces for innovative ideas. I’ve been the only female copywriter in the creative department (well it was the 80s) and pushed on to become a founding partner in a successful agency. I’ve lead marketing teams. I’ve helped diverse creative talent find jobs. And now, I coach.

Those are the career highlights. The not so good bits in between might add a bit of colour, but nothing to read here.

One thing I am very familiar with is that feeling of being stuck, lost and the loneliness that comes with it. That place where the thought of change feels impossible and no amount of helpful advice can persuade you otherwise. The pressure of weighing up the practicalities against an intuitive yearning. Or worse still, feeling numb.

I came to coaching with an acerbic cynicism, I thought it made me sound smart, but truth is it was masking rock bottom confidence. (That’s years of working in a competitive, critical environment for you.) Coaching gave me the space to really see and hear myself. It wasn’t pretty and I hated the sky level anxiety that came with every opportunity to speak up. But bit by shaky bit I started to steady myself - reclaim my creativity and let go of the stuff I’d borrowed over the years, that didn’t fit.

What stuck is how vital it is to work at maintaining and protecting creative energy. And that applies to all of us, regardless of whether creativity is in your title /job description, or not. To deplete your creativity is to deny what makes you human, curious and able to thrive.

My why is to support creativity; build confidence, champion unconventional thinking and help to get stuff done. (And let’s not tiptoe around money. Living well is non-negotiable.) I look to science, but make room for magic and that’s how I am proud to call myself, the Shapeshifter.

Trained & certified by Carole Ann Rice, one of the UKs leading coaches. PURE academy.

Accredited Member of the International Authority of Professional Coaching & Mentoring, the only professional accreditation body for the coaching & mentoring industry to be approved by the British Industry Ombudsman

Certified practitioner of the ICF approved Collage Coaching Technique™

FRSA Fellow Royal Society of Arts

Beating Imposter Syndrome one meeting at a time.