My Life in a Nutshell
I was born with energy , positivity , enthusiasm, curiosity, humour, responsibility- fast forward 60+ years …
Originally a post graduate Research Biologist, I eventually retired from my much loved Science and Maths Teaching career in 2018- the last 30 years of which was in the Children’s Ward of a busy District and General Hospital and the initial 10 years in a mainstream setting. I was in the Senior Leadership Team for all my career -except for my very first year- as Head of House, Head of A level Biology, Safeguarding Lead and Senior Teacher.
As a side hustle, over the last decade I have organised and hosted retreats abroad in creative arts and well being and have worked as training officer for long term unemployed adults on a government training scheme
In 2011 I co-founded a charity, which I have been chairing ever since.We have helped over 1500 dancers access appropriate specialist dance medicine to manage their dance specific injuries.
I am married, my 4 children are now independent, happy and public-spirited adults and I now have a similarly autonomous and sociable Airedale terrier and two working kittens.
I manage my work-life balance by alternating coaching with learning art, ballet, seaside visits, improving my Italian and French,gardening.and am currently replacing the great love of tennis with my new passion- Golf.
How my experience informs my coaching ability.
I have extensive experience in communicating successfully with people of all ages and from all walks of life through my teaching and working in many high stress, difficult settings. Much of this is embodied in the DISC personality profiling tool I am keen to share with you. I have been able to build resilience and support for those facing extreme health challenge for themselves and their family members, including impending bereavement through my work in the Children Ward. I have vast repertoire of techniques for painlessly imparting information so it can be easily understood and remembered from both teaching but also in helping children and families come to terms with unwanted diagnoses and unpleasant treatments.
I have shown my own resilience in dealing with personal experience of trauma several times, and being able to turn it into something positive ie.the Charity and am keen to help others facing up to challenge. I have developed leadership skills through managing teams through many reshuffles, helping colleagues manage change and uncertainty by showing them ways to gain agency and evidence their work with statistics, and inspiring and managing volunteers in the charity.
I am quick to build rapport and discern the underlying unspoken issues having worked with sick children, stressed parents and even euphoric people on holiday dreading a return home, and am able to bring the appropriate amount of energy and humour to a sensitive situation. As a biologist I have a clear understanding of how we can be proactive and control the interaction linking our perception of the environment, our thoughts, feelings and the resultant physiology to create mood and behaviour. My NLP practice is directly related to this and enables me to facilitate the creation of more resourceful states in my clients to help overcome anxiety and other unwanted behaviours and habits.
I feel I am therefore uniquely placed to help people reinvent themselves to best fit their present circumstances -taking all that is good from their past and applying it with positive and resourceful focus to their future goals and aspirations
