My Experiences

I have worked as a professional HR practitioner for 12 years. I have worked for 3 employers - all major blue chip international businesses, one in oil & gas, one in mining & metals, and one in construction & development. In that time I have worked with international teams right across the spectrum of HR activities, in advisory, managerial and training roles. My real passion, however, has always been in developing others; helping people gain greater self-awareness in order to take development steps and realise their own potential. I knew also that I was often complimented on engaging with individuals in difficult situations in a very pragmatic, logical and supportive manner and I started to think about how I could focus on this skill set in my ongoing career. In 2012 therefore, to combine my passion and skills, I undertook an intensive coach training programme with Coaching Development, to become a coach accredited by the International Coach Federation.

As part of the course, I was regularly coached by others, and took the opportunity to figure out some of the questions I had about my own career and family. I spent one coaching session working on my career vision. Following one really powerful question from the coach, I had a strong image of myself at the school gate, regularly doing the school pick up, and realised suddenly that this meant I did not want to pursue a long term career employed within the corporate sector. At this point, I had one child aged 15 months…so the school gate reality was some way in the future! The image actually made me tearful, and the rest of the session helped me work out that I needed to work in a way that was totally flexible around the needs of young children, the local school and community, but was also a credible development on top of the career foundations I had already built.

After my second maternity leave, I decided not to go back to work, and to take the opportunity of the natural career break to focus on coaching as a new career!