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Ready for a new beginning?

From where I’m writing in south Manchester, it’s decidedly autumnal today. The rain hasn’t stopped falling, I’ve needed the (thankfully super-energy-saving) light on all day, and I’m wearing yet another extra layer.


Yet, there is a sense of newness in the air too. My neighbours across the road have had a baby. My diary is once-again crammed with in-person events at near-pre-pandemic levels. And it’s my first full day of self-employment.


Of course, it’s not my first career change. In my life, I’ve cleaned canal boats, been a babysitter, a supermarket cashier, a receptionist and a HR specialist before I found my way towards developing people. Most recently I embarked on a “gap year” in a research project, as I was keen to close the gap between research and practice when it comes to good learning opportunities and people management.


All of these, and many more experiences, have led me to where I am today.


Some of these career changes have been strategic. Cleaning canal boats aged 14 was surprisingly good money for the late 90s, but the work was seasonal, and I had a year-round music obsession. I needed to expand my repertoire to babysitting in order to fund my HMV, Woolworths and John Menzies habit.


Just as often, though, I’ve needed to respond to the circumstances I found myself in. Much of my career has been fixed-term contracts, and a couple of roles have ended in redundancy. I’ve needed to take opportunities where I could find them, and occasionally make the best of imperfect situations.


This move – my new business – is also a response to a dawning realisation that my passion is developing people, and I want it to be the focus all of my time. Over the last year, I’ve kicked the tyres with an excellent career coach, who helped me to test different directions, challenged my assumptions, and helped me to see how all of my past experiences could lead me to a more fulfilling future.



"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." Steve Jobs

Are you thinking of something new?


This year, I’m delighted to be offering 45 minute coaching sessions for this year's WLA Coachathon- a 24-hour, global coaching marathon taking place on Wednesday 16th November 2022. For a minimum donation of £25 donation to MicroLoan Foundation., we can work through your career goals, whether they’re as woolly as fog or as laser-focussed as lightning. 100% of your session fee will be directly donated to MicroLoan, supporting a woman in sub-Saharan Africa to start her own small business. With your donation, she can generate an income to feed her family, pay for healthcare and send her children to school. The booking website is now live. Visit www.coachathon.thewla.com and type my name in the search bar to book with me.





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