Welcome!
I'm Helen, mum, dog owner, ex-marketeer and recovering people pleaser.
I'm an executive coach supporting heart-led capable, professional women, who also happen to mums, to let go of self doubt and find their voice while ditching the guilt that often comes with being a working mum.
I spent nearly two decades working in corporate marketing roles working my way up to leading teams and ultimately became the Marketing Director for a billion pound corporate veterinary company - until I decided to quit - before I broke.
I'd always been the classic people pleaser. I was proud of the way I could be a chameleon and mould myself into whatever the grown up in the room wanted from me.
This strategy worked for a long time, I got good grades at school and was regularly a top performer at work. But then 2 things happened, and things started to unravel.
One was that I became a leader. People expected me to have a perspective, but I had spent so long looking externally to find out what I should be saying, I couldn't find my voice.
The second was that I became a mum. On top of trying to be the 'perfect' employee, a whole raft of new pressures arrived as I strived to be the 'perfect' mum. I found myself as the only female leader on my senior leadership team with young kids, and the pressure got too much.
I felt forced to quit before I broke myself. And I was infuriated at the injustice. It's not like I was incapable, it's just that I'm a single human.
My story is a common one. The point at which women become parents is the main leak in pipeline of female leaders. But it doesn't have to be this way. As a qualified and accredited coach, I work with women to find a sustainable way to grow their career and stay present and calm with their kids.
Why work with me?
- I offer a relaxed environment that gives you that rare and precious space to actually think. If you think you don't have time for coaching - that's exactly why you need coaching. Otherwise you'll never get off the hamster wheel.
- My style is relaxed and safe, but also with energy. I'll balance support and challenge depending on what you need on the day, and we'll take as much time as you need to explore. But I'll also encourage you to take action, to do the brave and hard things that will actually make a shift.
- I've been where you are. I have two young kids and experienced the struggles of climbing the corporate ladder as a woman, a people pleaser and a mum. If you're finding it hard, it's because it is hard. It's not just you, it was also me and it's countless others too.
- I'm a qualified and accredited coach with the Association for Coaching. That means I'm properly trained by an organisation who are checked by one of the main international coaching bodies AND that I continue to engage in training and supervision (like coaching for coaches) to keep my skills sharp and my ethics in line with guidelines.
- I'm trained in a raft of techniques and tools specific to supporting women and mothers. I'm a trained 'Playing Big' facilitator by Tara Mohr, a motherhood studies practitioner having studied with Dr. Sophie Brock, and a Certified Fair Play Method Faciltatator as per the brilliant book by Eve Rodksy.
- I'm a bit sweary and quite obsessed with my dogs. That may sway you or put you off, but I think it's important that you know!
