I was born in the small but beautiful Island of Saint Vincent in the Caribbean or West Indies as some know it. I came to this country in 1966 as a small child growing up in Islington in the North of London.
I started my career after training to be a hotel receptionist in the hotel industry. Within a short time I was promoted and by the time I left to have my son (later to be sons) I was Reception Manager.
After having my sons I in a voluntary capacity within the education sector.
When my sons were in secondary school I retrained to make myself more employable in the market at that time.
It was when my sons were in the school system that I realized that there was a need. That need was for the children to be aware of the vast career opportunities available to them, that they needed to be encouraged and taught to have belief in themselves and grow their confidence. It was whilst they were at secondary school approaching options year that I realized there was something missing from the school system. Year 9 was the first time that careers were discussed and the discussion did not encourage me. The scope of options suggested to them was very small but moreover there were no discussions about them as individuals, what they liked, what they were good at, what things inspired them? There was no thought to what prevented them from working hard in certain subjects whilst working in excess in others.
I was confused and concerned and pondered about what the solution could be. Whilst I was discussing this with a friend, who happened to be a lecturer, she suggested that I might be interested in a course she was teaching. That was when I took my first coaching course – Coaching for Development. After that course I realized that this was something that could certainly help and be part of the school system. Unfortunately the red tape and not having the right connections meant that I was unable to break through the education system at that time. I still believe today that if we could introduce coaching in schools, not only would standards rise but we would have many more rounded students coming out at the other end. They would know their strengths which they could work to and recognize their weaknesses and work on them if it was a requirement for them to attain their goals.
Despite this set back, I now had a passion for coaching and continued to train and develop my coaching skills, coaching as many people as I could as well as using my skills working on my own self development. I was coaching alongside my PAYE job, but in the main I was not charging as I felt the individuals I was coaching could not afford to pay.
My most recent course with TLD (Total life Dynamics) made me realize that actually not charging clients was detrimental to them as well as myself. People generally value what they pay for much more than what they receive for free. After working through some of my own limiting beliefs I recognised that not only could I charge clients but I could set up my own coaching business because I would be doing what I love to do.
As a result I got myself a coach – that was the thing that I had been missing! – once I made the decision that I would become self-employed, I was offered redundancy and now I have set up my own coaching business. Coaching individual through to release the Butterfly effect in their lives, facilitating them to make the small changes, that not only have a lasting impact but creates the knock on impact enable them to live the lives they truly want. I still have that passion to see young lives changed and so will also be focusing on coaching ex-offenders.
I believe that coaching opens the doors to the vast possibilities in life.
