About me
Hi, I'm Kate.
Thank you for visiting. It's lovely to have you!
Coaching is a second career for me; one I am grateful for having found and pursued. Before coaching, I spent 12 years in the dynamic, demanding and fast-paced (i.e. often whiplash-inducing and butt-kicking) world of media agencies & advertising. In my 20s, there had more than enough to keep me pulled in: variety, change, brilliant people, intelligent thinking, creativity …and perpetual deadlines! (Plus the odd freebie was nice, I’ll be honest). But the higher I climbed, the harder I found it to catch my breath.
When I became a working mum, I found things infinitely harder. The building pressure of juggling a busy, often stressful job with family life was burning me out. Despite giving it my all at work and home, week after week, I somehow never felt like I was doing enough. I always felt on the brink of being ‘found out’ as a blagging fraudster, bound to drop one of the many balls thrown at me in any given moment. I couldn’t see a brighter horizon to aim for, only a fog of indecision, jangled nerves and self-doubt. And so, without any better ideas, I just kept going.
Then the sh*t
hit the fan.
A difficult personal year came to a head when I pushed to burn out at the dawn of the pandemic thanks to crisis-mode work pressures colliding with full-time child care. But those paled into insignificance when just weeks later, I lost my Mum to cancer.
In the stillness that followed, I found the clarity to recognise and admit what I wanted and needed, and the courage to honour it.
I left behind the familiar and secure to build a new lifestyle and career around me and my family: one that has the balance, flexibility, independence, meaning and fulfilment that I craved.
But why did it take getting to breaking point for me to finally be bold enough to acknowledge what I wanted and go after it?
It can be so hard to put ourselves first, until we have no other option than to do so.
I want to see more women recognise and embrace what they truly want – because I know from personal experience that working out what that is can be so much harder than it sounds. I truly believe that if more women were encouraged to unlock their own answers and empowered to prioritise themselves, and then trusted in their capacity, capability, and agency to make things happen, it would not only positively impact their individual worlds, but the ripple effects would transform the world around us for the better.
Professional bio
I am a professional coach with a Diploma in Transformational Coaching, from Animas Centre for Coaching, an internationally-accredited coach training course built on foundations of psychology, change-theory and humanistic practice that equips coaches to work at a deeper level with clients.
I am a member of the EMCC, and an EMCC Accredited Coach at Practitioner level.
I have always had an interest in how we think, how we feel, and how we can use our awareness and understanding of these to improve our lived experience. I studied Psychology and Philosophy (BA Hons, Sheffield University) and am a trained Mental Health First Aider (MHFA England).
I am committed to my on-going personal and professional development; I am currently working towards ICF Associated Certified Coach credential, as well as expanding my skills into Group Coaching and Facilitation.
Previous clients have found my coaching to be
"supportive... considerate... challenging... empowering... freeing... personal... warm... impactful... focussed... kind... effective... subtle... calming... thought-provoking... reassuring... grounding... insightful... truthful... enlightening... deep... exploratory... helpful... revolutionary... profound... transformative..."
