Embarking on a coaching journey is both an adventurous process to enjoy in the moment and an opportunity to create truly long-lasting life changes. Imagine treating yourself to a great mind massage, with benefits that continue on working for you after treatment; or taking yourself onto an exciting holiday, that enriches you with experiences and memories of a lifetime.

For me, coaching provided exactly that.  A feel-good experience that transformed the overall life path ahead of me. And that evolution continues…

There is plenty of material on the topic that you can browse through on the net but here’s a succinct definition of personal coaching, provided by The Association for Coaching:

“A collaborative solution-focused, results-orientated and systematic process in which the coach facilitates the enhancement of work performance, life experience, self-directed learning and personal growth of the coachee.”

When we’ll connect for our free introductory call I can run through what coaching is in more detail and answer any other questions you may have.

Coaching is for anyone ready to get curious, be challenged and better their life experience. 

“Real big goals, take real big effort that leads to really big rewards” – Gr8fool

Everyone’s coaching journey is different because each session is tailored to fit your subjective needs and your uniqueness.  It’s important that you find the right coach for you, hence coaches tend to offer free / no-obligation sessions to help you figure this out. 

Your experience is different depending on who you partner up with. Connect here to book a free call with me, to test the vibe and get to know each other.

There are situations where coaching generally isn’t the solution, i.e. serious mental illness, addiction, depression etc. for which specific treatment and therapy may be best suited. That said, coaching can have a real positive impact on your mindset and confidence to change, and provide extra support to work on your health and wellbeing.

I always wanted to play a part (no matter how small) in promoting wellbeing, happiness and love for life, in as many “niches” as I could access.

That said, I wanted, in particular, to get involved with younger generations and people in the corporate world, where perhaps the positive ripple effects of my coaching can spread broader and wider!

I’m so honoured that today, through Gr8fool, I reach such a great variety of people: coaching secondary school students, corporate executives and individuals of all walks of life.

My coaching has no niche, no limits, but has a purpose: to support people who want to become the best version of themselves, do the best they can, feel empowered by positivity, love and freedom, so as to make the world a better place for themselves, others, the environment and the whole nature Kingdom. #dreambig

I’ll start with the similarities. Coaching is a partnership that works to support and guide you in meeting specific goals in a variety of areas, whether they are personal or professional goals, business plans and growth or developing as a company executive.

The common objective is to support you in reaching your full potential in your chosen area(s) to become your best authentic self and to show up with integrity in all aspects of your life, whether personal or business-related.

Life coaching is focussed more on the individual and outcomes in personal areas of life, which may of course affect and interlink with professional aspects too.

A Business coach would work with business owners on their company strategy and help solve business-related issues as they arise, remove blocks around areas of the business, and improve the organization’s performance.

Executive coaches help with the personal development of an organisation’s executives, leading to improving the company’s results. They help facilitate positive change and achieving improvement goals, such as productivity, leadership skills, managing staff, and communication, etc.

Ooh, someone once referred to me as the “Queen of Positivity” and another “Sheer Fun!”. 

As your coach, I aim to create a confidential, supportive and safe space for us to work in, as a team, with the focus on YOU.  As a people-person with a positivity-bias, I tend to also look to have fun and make it as enjoyable for everyone, as possible.

I’m a certified coach, accredited and recognised by the Association for Coaching, a leading regulatory in the profession of coaching.  My coaching style is led by your level of readiness and learning style. We will work together to create a powerful synergy with YOU as the focus. 

I call myself Freedom Coach. Freedom is super subjective. To me: “Freedom means having choices, and to live Free is the ability to make the right personal and professional choices for who I am.” – Gr8fool

You can expect sincere care and confidentiality, non-bias deep listening, some easy, some triggering questions, belief and encouragement, and a push to create the right amount of motivation and accountability.

Coaching is designed to be non-advisory. I bring to the table my expertise in coaching practice and tools, while you bring in your expertise in YOU, your life.

I love coaching in a variety of contexts, from schools to corporate, and people of all ages and status, from students to Corporate VPS. Ultimately, with a key mission in mind: Make a difference in people’s lives by helping them uncover their authenticity and, simply put, experience more joy for life.

Some examples of areas of work:-

• Life feels stagnant and you long for an exciting transformation. Perhaps a career change, turning an old hobby into a new business or a complete overhaul (similarly to mine: read more here)
• You want help identifying what’s important to you, what’s holding you back from living a life you love and what can push you forward towards it.
• You have a dreamy vision and need clarity and encouragement from a fellow-dreamer, to support you in making a realistic plan to manifest that exciting next phase of your life.
• Recover your lost enthusiasm and release that sense of victimisation, to instead switch into a more energised player-mode and take back control over your experience more fulfilment.
  
• Your project or creativity have hit the wall, and you need help tapping back into your core gift and reboot your original passion so you can continue pursuing your vision with confidence and growth.
• You’re part of a school or education institution and wish to enrich your curricular with a programme to help students develop self-awareness, confidence, resilience and tools to boost wellbeing and make life more enjoyable.
• You’re a new business owner, unclear on the next step(s) to take. You want clarity on your WHYs and release any limiting blocks that stop you growing in your market with pride, passion and confidence.
• I support next-generation leaders in defining their personal branding, boost their visibility and improve their communication and executive stance, so they can positively inspire others and develop healthy business results.
• You may simply want more reasons to smile on a daily basis and experience a life of more joy, freedom and love.  Whatever those unique reasons may be for you; we’ll get curious and find innovative ways to make it happen!

For some time, it’s been a dream of mine to contribute to more positivity and happiness in both school and corporate institutions. How I got to coach at schools is a cool story in itself and I’ve written a blog about this in my blog. My experience with schools ranges from storytelling (personal volunteering and travel experiences) at schools in Italy and France, to delivering co-curricular club classes at a London secondary school.

The key objectives of my coaching at schools (teen coaching) are:

• Teach key concepts of life coaching and share coaching tools that they can practice in class and take away.
• Create a fun and safe space to speak openly, share and learn. To experience the benefits of talking things through, listening and generally to support their self-development.
• Encourage positive behavioural change by developing awareness and responsibility, brainstorming through specific situations from different perspectives and encouraging a growth mindset.
• Promote mental wellbeing, building on qualities such as resilience, self-esteem and confidence in their strengths and uniqueness.
• Build a toolbox for managing emotions, appreciating life gifts and preparing for the challenges: positive communication, empathy, gratitude, mindfulness, breathing, etc.

Best results are achieved when we both show up with positive intentions, authenticity, vulnerability and a pinch of foolishness. I find that allowing yourself to dream and get a little (or more than usual!), helps unleash the most unexpected ideas and insights.

Warning: Sounds simple, but it’s not necessarily easy. Change takes courage; to venture out of your comfort, try new things and challenge your old ways.  It also takes determination to keep the momentum high and take action. 

A lot of the coaching magic actually happens in between sessions. With each call, we’ll be looking to create homework for you to take away and commitment to do in between sessions. I can be as soft and as harsh as you may need me to be, to move things forward.

During my training as coach, I learnt “to let go and trust the process”. It’s incredible what can happen when brainstorming with someone who has your back, talking things through in a carefully guided manner. The ha-ha moments are so rewarding!

Coaches and therapists may sometimes work on similar issues and use similar techniques, but the approaches are fundamentally different. 

Both coaches and therapists work to enable positive changes in a person’s life.  Both are also (i) client-centred using a collaborative partnership approach (ii) work with the client’s whole life and often with emotional material, and (iii) help identify and understand interferences affecting personal effectiveness.

Key contrasts between a coach and other forms of counselling and consulting therapists:

• A coach does not provide diagnosis or give advice and instead helps find the answers an individual needs, within himself or herself, facilitating the discovery of those answers by asking questions and helping identify current behaviours that may need to be modified to reach the desired outcome(s). 
• a coach focuses on the “how” to achieve results and reach their chosen potential, through performance and actions (a shorter and more defined term) while therapists focus more on the “why’s” and the individual’s life and emotions (longer-term). 
• a coach need not be an expert or qualified in the field in which he or she will provide help.
• coaching works with the present and planning future actions, to achieve a future outcome; therapists (in broad terms for the purpose of this assignment) work mostly on past experiences and, generally, problematic areas to be treated, looking to provide often “medical-based” cures.

It is important to know the difference between coaching and other therapies to get the right kind of support. A coach must recognise when the client needs to explore other therapies to address their specific situation and to bring this to their attention.

If you’d like to explore the possibility of coaching with me, please send me a message and let’s book in a free introductory call, which usually lasts between 30 to 45 minutes. This is a great opportunity:

• For me to get to know you better and understand your expectations of coaching and if and how I could support you.
• For you to find out more about me and my coaching style, get a taster of my approach and see what it’s like to work with me.
• For both of us to test our connection and if we’re the right fit to team up and venture in a coaching journey together.

My coaching sessions generally run online, connecting by video call, using means like Zoom, Skype or Whatsapp or by (good old) telephone; depending on what works best for you too.  We agree on this together and I share the call details in advance.

Where possible to meet in person, we arrange occasional face-to-face sessions, which is always nice. Although the year 2020 has also taught us how to create great connections remotely. 

School and Group sessions or presentations can also run in this way (remotely) or, preferably, I visit your premises and the school in person, where that is a safe option. My coaching at school is normally held in the classroom or (even better) outdoors space, within the school premises.

Sessions are 45mins long and can sometimes run overtime to wrap things up nicely. So please lock in up to 1 hour in your diary as you may want to spend any spare time relaxing and resetting after each call, especially if you experience excitement, some overwhelm and tiredness.

Whatever we say and share during our coaching sessions is treated with the utmost confidentiality. During our guided conversation, I will take some notes (with your permission) so I can prepare a follow-up report to keep tabs of key points and commitments. 

I share the report with you, sending it to your chosen, most secure email address. The report will include useful references from our session, a reminder of your takeaway insights and actions, and useful exercises and/or resources.

The rest is in your court. As you can expect, real transformation and goal accomplishments do start with brainstorming and planning, but will only realise with action-taking. One step (big or small) at a time!

Most clients opt for weekly sessions (especially to kickstart powerfully) or every fortnight, and in between I make myself available for them to contact me with successes on their progress or with questions, for a motivational boost or an accountability chat, or for sharing topical resources that I think may support you.

By staying in touch, clients feel more engaged and stay more focused, hence achieve better and faster results.

Connect with Whatsapp or send me a message/email via the Website to arrange a free, no-obligation introductory call with. 

We’ll talk through how we could work together and I can make recommendations on what course of coaching would suit your needs.

I offer an easy purchasing process through the Website that will accept most payment cards [visit programme page]. Once that is confirmed and you’re ready to start, we book our sessions in the diaries.