Celebrating 7 years in business

Celebrating 7 years in business

by | Nov 13, 2022 | Coaching, Creativity, Mindful Living

This month I’m celebrating my birthday, both personal and business, and it’s now 7 years since I left the corporate world to become self-employed.​ It’s also 10 years since I began to transform my life by building on my professional experience with qualifications which have led to what I’m doing now.​

I’m passionate about finding different and creative ways to support, inspire, and encourage people, and this year has brought several new approaches and experiences.

– My podcast – a series of conversations to spark curiosity, share learning and inspiration, and connect listeners with what’s important in their lives.

– E-book – I created an A to Z of Mindful Living in the form of a workbook which has a variety of activities, stories, quotes, and links to other resources like meditations and videos. It was a pleasure working with Donna McKenna at Pink Spaghetti PA Services Stirling & Livingston to bring this to life.

– Inspirational card deck – this has been my latest creation, and one that I have thoroughly enjoyed. There are 52 beautiful cards with original photos, doodles, quotes, and themes from my book ‘Roots for Growth’. The cards can be used for coaching, workshops, inspiration and self-reflection and I can’t wait to start using them with my clients!

– My book has continued to reach people in significant ways. One lady who had recently retired and felt very unsettled wrote to me to tell me she had found clarity, peace, and focus from reading it, and found a renewed appreciation for her career and her resilience. ​I’ve also had more opportunities to speak at events, radio shows, and webinars.

– I co-designed and delivered a leadership development programme​ on Strengthening Mental Fitness with Carolyn Murray. We have been bringing it to other teams since then and over 90% of participants so far have rated the programme as Excellent.

– I applied for funding towards this brand new, professionally designed website which helps me to tell the story of what I do, why I do it, and provide more opportunities for visitors to connect through videos, meditations, and many of the above approaches. It has been a very worthwhile experience and a way to acknowledge and build on where I am now and develop for the future. Thanks Karen Wells at Indigo Nine!

– This year I also became an Ambassador for Women’s Enterprise Scotland who do incredible work to tap into the significant economic potential of women entrepreneurs, lobby for change and equality, and encourage women and girls to start and grow businesses in Scotland. It’s an honour to be chosen, especially on their 10th anniversary, and already it has broadened my horizons in ways that can bring benefits for other people as well as helping me to grow.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this time. I really appreciate it.

This Little Girl is Me

This Little Girl is Me

by | Jul 18, 2022 | Life Lessons, Mindful Living

This little girl is me, age 9, proudly clutching a brand new ‘Boots Minigrip’ camera. It was a Christmas present excitedly bought with a gift token, along with a pack of 10 flashes and some spools, and was the beginning of a lifelong passion for photography… noticing, appreciating, and capturing moments and sharing them with others.

Around the same time, her Gran gave her a Korky the Cat jotter, where she wrote stories for hours on end, with such enthusiasm the pages bulged with inky scrawls, rustling as each leaf turned over. Only recently, this memory returned after publishing her first book, ‘Roots for Growth’, and someone asked: “Did you always want to write a book?” It turned out, she did.

She had no idea then what her future would be like, or how much creativity would play a part in navigating through life. She had a happy, safe childhood with stereotypical daydreams of fairy-tale happy endings, unaware that significant adversity was lurking around the corner… and her husband would have to give up work due to a medical condition in 1997, three days before they got married. They had no idea back then if they would ever have children, and were blessed with two, now young adults and amazing human beings.

When she was growing up, she wanted to be a teacher or a nurse, and later, a graphic designer. The essence of all these roles has come through in writing, doodles, creating visuals, hosting workshops… supporting people to live mindfully, find their resilience and confidence, and understand themselves deeply so they can life life to the full, in alignment with who they are.

She was a sensitive child, not appreciating at that time what a gift her sensitivity could be. Challenging experiences pushed her to develop herself, personally and professionally, and create a path which would fit with her life and how it is evolving over the years… finding courage to take brave steps against the odds, time after time, and never regretting a moment.

This little girl is me.

Treasures below the surface

Treasures below the surface

by | Jul 18, 2022 | Coaching, Creativity, Holistic, Mindful Living, NLP

Did you know, I work with a variety of methods to support my clients?

It’s never ‘just’ a coaching session… I’d describe it as joining the client in their world and exploring the full depth of their experience.

Energy – sometimes I notice subtle shifts, other times I use structured modalities like Reiki or EFT (Emotional Freedom Therapy/Tapping). This can have a profoundly healing effect, and I think it’s one of the reasons why so many people say they leave feeling ‘lighter’, both physically and emotionally.

Body Wisdom – how often do you notice an instinct… a gut feeling… a voice in your head… a feeling of resistance… or maybe something else comes to mind? Often this wisdom becomes more noticeable in hindsight. By working with an experienced facilitator you can tap into the infinite resources of your inner knowing, without having to wait for hindsight. And once you do, it’s amazing how your curiosity, awareness, and intuition develops!

Space – a fascinating technique called ‘clean space’ offers spontaneous wisdom by using the space around and within us to bring new awareness in a very short space of time. It’s one of my favourites!

And I often work outside, in nature, as the environment can bring some really interesting, spontaneous signals to pay attention to.

Timeline – a powerful NLP technique (Neuro Linguistic Programming) which is a way of exploring how we relate to our experiences in context of time, gain unique learning, and connect with resourceful experiences in the past, present, or even the future. This can be stepped out on the floor, drawn on a piece of paper, or simply by closing your eyes and drifting to a point in time.

Metaphors – these pop up from our unconscious mind with an uncanny knack of providing solutions, insights, confidence… and much more! Since I learned how to work with metaphors I have found so many useful resources within myself and with my clients… and had a lot of fun doing so too!

Language patterns, habits, and beliefs – what we say to ourselves and others, and the beliefs we hold, can significantly shape our experiences. Learning what helps and hinders us can bring lifelong benefits to wellbeing, relationships, leadership, parenthood, work… or any other aspect of life. With this awareness and choice we can live more consciously, embrace challenges and opportunities, and bring the best of ourselves to those around us.

Meditation – as a qualified meditation teacher I tailor guided meditations to individual clients, offer classes and events on mindfulness, and record complimentary meditations on all sorts of topics like gratitude, breathing, body scans, and visualisations.

Creativity and writing – Over the years I have developed ways for clients to get into the flow of their creativity through drawing, writing, speaking, photographs, crafts, and meditation. Whether it’s in a group setting or individually, working with creativity can boost energy levels, create a sense of deep connection, and bring a fresh outlook to challenges and opportunities. And now a variety of creative interests are woven into my work.

It’s had such a profound effect, I even wrote a book and created an inspirational card deck from scratch!!

All of these gifts have been generously shared with me, and I love to share them with my clients.

A treasure box came to mind for this post as it represents treasures which are buried, waiting to be discovered or remembered.

What treasures are waiting to come to the surface for you?