A bit about me…

Likes: good food cooked well and paired with the appropriate drink (think steak and red wine, Mexican food and a margarita, seafood and fizz), doggies (especially mine see how cute she is below), holidays and exploring new places, hot tubs, cold tubs, swimming in the North Sea. Yes, really.

Dislikes: making firm plans too far in advance (let’s keep it loose!), anything repetitive, having to dress up for an occasion, queuing, waiting, admin, especially pointless admin.

What are we going to eat? This was (and still is) the question asked in our family as soon as plans were made for something. It would inevitably end up in a bit of a debate about what we fancied and whether we were cooking or eating out. So I think the foodie in me comes from a long line of family members making delicious food that everyone wanted to eat, and my dad and uncles grew their own veg so there was always something homegrown and picked earlier that day for dinner. Sometimes even killed and plucked!

Career wise, I wasn’t one of these people who know what they want to do, I just kind of fell into university and did an interesting modular course that really suited me (until the dissertation part, that definitely did not suit me!). Then I got a temporary job whilst I looked for a proper one, and stayed at the same company for years doing a range of things. Jack of all trades, master of none as the saying goes.

The rest of the saying is less well known, and it’s “often times better than a master of one”. Which suits me because I do like to do what I do to the best of my ability, but once I’ve mastered a new skill I want to learn another. I’m really passionate about learning and development and I’ve always got something on the go whether I’m trying to learn more about cooking, trying a new recipe, or developing skills and experience in coaching or business or leadership.

Coaching and resilience are both things I got into as a result of my passion for learning. I was working in a job that was repetitive and I didn’t feel I was learning anything so I found a course (it was a coaching one and it was a free introduction) and signed up. I’ve been qualified for years now but I continue to learn about coaching every day, there’s always an opportunity to improve.

I became a resilience trainer when the company I was working for was looking for volunteers to deliver resilience training in house, but the material was quite dry so over the years I’ve spent a lot of time, like with the coaching, working out what resonates with people and how to make the training useful so it’s not just a tick box exercise but instead is something that really makes a difference and helps people deal with adversity and challenging situations. I realised that it needed to be something easy to apply and personal to the trainees, so they could develop resilience and most importantly maintain it when times get tough.

I’ve had times when I’ve suffered from burn out and ended up quite ill as a result. Knowing the signs and recognising them early on makes it possible to avoid it, which in turn makes recovery faster and easier. The further down the path you are, the harder it is to turn things around.

Most of the personality tests or skills assessments I’ve done of the years have come to the same conclusions; I like variety, challenge, pressure, I’m a bit of a rebel, like autonomy, I’m competitive and I’ve got a thirst for knowledge and learning. Oh and I get bored easily, did I mention? So it was no surprise when I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago. I always knew I was different I just didn’t really know why. Over the years I’ve developed lots of mechanisms to help me do the things I need to do, but the mundane will always be a challenge for me I think. Thank god for cleaners! I’m really lucky that I get to spend my time doing a variety of things, including coaching, training and learning. With those all in the mix, no two days are ever the same.

I’m passionate about helping people be the best version of themselves, and often when people struggle it’s when they go through periods of change and challenging times that all seem to come at once. I want to provide resources and support so that when those times arrive and someone needs help, they have access to the right information to make life better for themselves, and coaching and support if they want it too, at an accessible price point. I believe coaching should be available to everyone and not just high earners or executives. I’m working on developing more resilience solutions that are free or at very low price point but in the meantime have a read of my blog for my latest thoughts on how to be more resilient.