My Story
After graduating from University with a degree in music, I worked for a charity providing arts-based therapy for people with disability. It was inspiring work but I had a longing to experience working in the music industry as a performer and teacher.
I was lacking confidence to take the leap but my mother-in-law, Judy Rich, was a brilliant life coach who coached me through my transition into life as a self-employed musician.
By leaving my job behind I felt like I was taking a risk and stepping into the unknown.
The power of this experience inspired me to embark on coach training with the Coaches Training Institute (CTI), the oldest and largest coach training organisation in the world.
This training was more stimulating and exhilarating than I could have imagined and after I certified I went on to complete the CTI Leadership programme.
Jazz music and coaching have a lot in common; the importance of listening, leaving space and the ability to improvise in response to what is happening in the moment.
The best bandleaders bring repertoire and direction that allows their fellow musicians to shine. This is what I am inspired to do as a coach.
But over time I built up my portfolio of work as a jazz vocalist, performing across the UK, writing and producing albums and teaching at the University of Bristol.
I was struck by how having an ally, Judy, as a coach had enabled me to make things happen that I hadn’t thought would be possible.
Coaching provided a space for me to see more clearly how to move forward.
My experience of becoming a mum has ignited a passion for working with women.
It is often a time for regaining strength both physically and mentally, and looking to rediscover your purpose in this next phase of life.
I now work as a life and grief coach alongside being a mother. Taking leaps into the unknown hasn’t always been the easy or obvious route, but I have never looked back.
My journey into grief coaching
Throughout my work as a coach, I have noticed that loss is a topic that comes up again and again. I was inspired to specialise in grief and end of life coaching because I wanted to support my clients through this transition in the best possible way.
I undertook End of Life Coach Training, a programme accredited with the International Coach Federation.
I have walked the journey of grief myself when my dad lived with dementia for 8 years.
I grieved for the progressive loss of his abilities, health and personality.
I grieved for the loss of time with my mum as her caring responsibilities became more and more intense, and we were separated by the covid pandemic.
I grieved for him when he spent his final days alone in a nursing home during lockdown and he was denied the death that he and my family had hoped for.
I also witnessed the hard, sad but beautiful rollercoaster of my mother-in-law, Judy, and her 9-year journey with breast cancer.
She inspired me to peruse the grief and end of life coaching training program and doing so gave me the gift to be more present to her in her final months.
Judy chose to be very active in her dying process, receiving end-of-life coaching and talking about her wishes with family. We could be there for her in person at all hours of the day and night and she died peacefully at home. These two experiences of loss were so different for me. And your journey will be different from everyone else’s.
What you are feeling is more than likely a very normal experience of grief, never linear, always a messy bundle of feelings and emotions.
I have a real passion to walk alongside people in their unique journey of loss, and to support them through this transition into life beyond loss.