My purpose in life is to help you step up, activate your courage and confidence and make the important stuff in your life happen.
I’m motivated to help people put an end to their endless inner critical dialogue, feelings of not-good-enough, stress and fear.
Nothing makes me happier than seeing my clients live with zero regret, feeling 100% satisfied with how they spend their time, and what they’re achieving.
Nothing thrills me more than hearing my clients say, “Yes! This is how I’m supposed to live!”
Seeing you succeed (sometimes against the odds) is my true joy.
How did I get here?
For as many years as I can remember, I felt like absolute shit about myself. I look back now and it shocks me how much I listened to my critical inner voice and believed it: No wonder he left you, you deserved it. You’re stupid. You’ll never get a decent job. It’s your fault you’re in this mess. You’ll never do better. Who are you to do that?!
And that’s not even the half of it.
I was an intelligent, tertiary educated, loveable and attractive young woman, who had everything going for her. I was extremely brave and capable of achieving great things. Yet I never realised any of these things about myself. I only saw ugliness, failure, stupidity, and a future of disappointments and unhappiness unfolding. I looked happy enough on the outside. Yet inside my shameful inner-world dominated, instantly sabotaging any ambitions, dreams and goals before they ever formed.
And then a pivotal moment: on the wrong side of yet another heartbreak, I discovered something called life coaching. This was back in 2005 before ‘coaching’ was even a proper thing, let alone the trendy and sexy profession it is today.
I overheard a girl at a party talking about how she’d got the boyfriend she’d wanted and my ears instantly pricked up. We became friends, and I started seeing her coach. After just a few sessions I knew deeply that I had to train and become a coach myself, and quickly.
I was new to New Zealand, heartbroken, with no funds to speak of, no decent shoes, no permanent place to live. But I did have buckets of determination and a strong intuitive drive.
Have you ever felt so profoundly uncertain and vulnerable that your courage kicks in with a vegence?
I wanted that career badly enough that I worked crappy temping jobs, waited tables and served drinks, and saved furiously to make it happen. With the power of personal coaching, I was able to cut through the inner cackle of not-good-enough and came out the other end transformed.
Fast forward to mid-2006. I’m just six months into running my own coaching practice. I’ve given up the part-time job I needed to support me while I established my business. I’m now generating a full-time income from a full book of clients. I achieved this success quickly. I’m getting emails every week from fellow aspiring coaches asking me how I’m doing it. I figure I could spend my time having coffees with them, or design a training that answered their questions. So six months into my new career and I’m training fresh coaches on how to build ethical and successful practices.
‘Failure’ is actually success in dark glasses…
Two years later in 2008 and I experienced a new level of success. I published an article in NEXT magazine about two clients who’d solved their crippling insomnia in only one 60 minute session with me. I appeared on live television giving sleep advice. That year, I earned a six-figure income and hired an associate coach to assist me with my client load. I sent sleep clients on to all my colleagues around the country, helping them build their businesses and significantly contributing to the wellbeing of the country.
Dream come true, right?
There was one major problem: I had every man, woman and their dog in the southern hemisphere (and some from the northern) who’d ever had a sleep issue contacting me wanting coaching. As a sole-practitioner I couldn’t possibly cope with that demand.
This success was an amazing way to build profit and reputation AND a sure-fire way to end balance and satisfaction. I was significantly overworked, stressed and before long I was dealing with my own insomnia! In short: I burned out.
With my new-found skills and confidence, I’d created a life and business that did not work for me. It was ‘successful’—but toxic.
Sometimes what seems like ‘failure’ is actually success in dark glasses…
I may have learned the hardest way possible, but I now know A LOT about creating a reputable, profitable ethical AND sustainable business, AS WELL AS living a life of true satisfaction.
Where am I now?
With an unwavering belief that we can always improve ourselves and a determination to keep chasing my ambitions, I evolved and created the business and lifestyle you see today. Is it an easy path? No. I’ve come up against many challenges. I’ve had countless moments where my doubting inner-world and lack of self-belief got the better of me. Yet I’ve continuously found ways of overcoming hurdles and surpassing the mental noise and fear to create what matters most to me. It’s those skills and strategies – and many more – I share with my clients.
I now only work with my absolute ideal client, not just anyone with a problem to solve. People who are ready for real change, who inspire me by being ready to rock up and do the work, and thrill me with their results.
- I work only with select coaches, whose values, aspirations and integrity match my own.
- I train only for those organisations whose values match my values.
- I take on far fewer clients, and experience far more joy in watching them succeed.
- I pursue only projects of passion and say a hard no to everything else.
I’m brutal when it comes to how I spend my time and who I spend it with. Some nicknames I’ve acquired among my colleagues are Boundary Queen and Super Coach. I like those names, they describe me well.
And best of all, I get to do this work mostly from my own home and still have an abundance of time to spend with my husband, children, family and friends, and in my community. I take holidays, do yoga, and peruse my personal aspirations as well as my business ones.
Because—and here’s the absolute bottom line–I do not want regrets. I don’t want my life to end and to have to say ‘I really wish I’d done that…’ I waste no more time. I want my life to matter. I want to leave my mark on the world. I want my grandchildren’s’ children to know who I was and what I did, and know that it mattered, had a positive impact. And I want to do all this with a high sense of wellbeing.
Are you with me? Because I want this for you too: It’s my joy to see you succeed; It’s my superpower to bring out your superpowers – consistently.
If my story inspires you, let’s meet and see if we can make magic happen!
To your future,
