MY story

I loved my course. I studied hard, filled my summers with internships and finished my degree top of the year. Academic success was important to me and I excelled at it. 

 

Out of university, I got my first job at a bank in a sales role. It was very exciting working in the buzz of the City of London. I loved the internationality of it. I felt like I was surrounded by the smartest and brightest. The trading floor was heaving with traders and salespeople who had graduated from elite universities from all over the world and who seemed very confident and self-assured.  

 

Over the next few years I climbed the career ladder rapidly becoming a director-level salesperson just before the financial crisis hit in 2007/08. My job involved regular travel to Europe to meet and pitch clients. It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.

 

When the financial crises hit I was in the eye of the storm as my then employer was one of the banks worst hit. I was made redundant.

 

I ended up not working for a while and got into yoga big time. My alarm would go off at 5 a.m. so I could be on my matt on the other side of London by 6:30 a.m. Yoga afforded me continued structure. It challenged me massively on a physical level and therefore gave me a sense of achievement. You see, I needed to always be achieving something. 

 

The real revelation of yoga was the breath work. Drawing inward, focussing on my own breath calmed and centred me. 

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An opportunity then came up at another bank where I stayed for nearly nine years. I was very lucky to have had a boss there who pretty much gave me free reign which counterbalanced the rigidity of the workplace. 

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I was performing very well at work achieving results that I would have never dreamt of. At the same time, I started becoming curious about what motivated people in my world and why they did what they did. Amongst other questions, I wondered:  

 

• what is success? what does it mean to different people? a promotion, leading a bigger team, more money?  ​

 

• why do some people seem to do the work for two without ever trying to change their situation? 

 

• that ace sales person that topped the sales board all year, why does she never smile?

 

• why do some people come across with an aura and gravitas that makes them overshadow others who may be more qualified for that role? ​

 

• what motivates people to show up for work every day? 

 

• why do some people feel like it is hard or impossible to bring their whole selves to work?

 

• how come certain people are able to use the corporate structure to their advantage while others seem to be stuck in a rut, without change or progression? ​

 

• why do some people burn out whereas others just cruise along or thrive even?

 

• my colleague’s flashy new car or watch, what does it mean to them? 

 

• why is it that some colleagues are aggressive and confrontational at work when they are calm and approachable outside of it? 

 

• why do some people hang on to their jobs that they seemingly no longer like, even when they say they have achieved everything they wanted?

 

• why is pay dubbed “compensation” in our industry?​

 

I didn't have answers to these questions but mostly a feeling and impression that some of us (myself included) were living on auto-pilot to some degree, in a daily routine that allowed us to make a good living but without ever stepping back to look at the big picture to ask ourselves whether there was room for us to grow, to evolve into something bigger, to become better employees, better managers, to make conscious life and career choices and be truly self-determined. 

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Subsequently I joined another bank as senior banker. We then almost immediately entered the strange world of Covid which meant working from home for nearly two years for me.

 

Ironically it was the pandemic that gave me the impetus to look at the bigger picture and make changes in my life. I left London and started having a much healthier lifestyle with lots of time spent outdoors.   

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It also led me to work with a coach for the first time. I wasn't sure what to expect but I most certainly wasn't foreseeing the deep impact our coaching sessions would have on me. My coach's empathic nature and deep listening and questioning skills peeled layer after layer off my thought processes and took me an a journey to my core values and beliefs. Core values as opposed to “shoulds” or “needs” that had been conditioned into me through the environments I was living in.

 

Once I was in touch with my authentic self, it was a game changer. 

 

I realised that I am more listener than talker, more observer than commentator, more enquirer than prescriber and… fascinated by the choices we make, the beliefs we have, the habits we develop, the emotions we feel; in short human behaviour in our individualistic, high-achieving and fast-paced world. 

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It was then I decided that I wanted to share the power of coaching with you, on your own journey to being your authentic self. It will be a game changer for you too.  

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I am an ICF member, having trained with Barefoot Coaching in the UK.