A bit about me.

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I live in North London, am married and am Mum to two (mostly!) fantastic teenagers. 

Growing up, I was the youngest of seven children (yes, you did read that right). I'm also a twin.  Home was a bit of a melting pot:  I learned a lot about people and relationships, whilst trying to figure out my own sense of self.  As the  youngest, and invariably smallest, member of the family for most of my formative years, I honed skills for life:  I discovered my resourcefulness, my grit, and that in good times and bad, humour is my kryptonite. 

GCSE's, A Levels, University followed. I landed a role with a great employer who believed in me, saw my potential and sponsored me to do my Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management.  Ready for more, I moved from the (figuratively) safe frying pan of a small not-for-profit into (what, to me, felt like) the roaring flames of a £billion high growth FTSE 100 PLC. I  worked hard, got progressively promoted and  pretty early on in my career found myself with a place at the top table alongside CEO's and their leadership teams.   It was exciting,  challenging and fun.  I used to anecdotally say that I didn't sleep for the first 3 years in that role, read for 'I am very busy and therefore must be very important', or perhaps  it was  the other way round... but as a 'badge of honour' it was probably closer to  the truth than I cared to admit: I was prone to work excessive hours, sacrificed weekends and sleep sometimes, and strove constantly to 'be/do better' whilst keeping every plate spinning: all mostly to try and impress the critic in my head. 

Everything was going 'to plan': My career was on fast-track;  I'd recently got married; we'd bought our first house; and we were expecting our first child.  Then inexplicably and out of the blue we lost our baby.  Overnight  things went from the best of times to the worst of times.  I decided I needed to take a break from my career, to reassess and figure things out. I faltered and my career faltered too. 

When I returned to work it wasn't easy, but I started to put things back together in  a way that was much more aligned to who  I was becoming and wanted to be.  I became more attuned to my values and strengths, started to  spot unhelpful mind talk and limiting beliefs, and was better at recognising my needs and setting boundaries much earlier. I was also more compassionate in how I talked to myself.  I was 'the same, same, but slightly different': I had got back in touch with what mattered most to me.   I know that life isn't always a straight line; my experience sparked a career long sense of compassionate curiosity about people, our potential, our resourcefulness, and our humanity, and it continues to inform the way I work today. 

Fast forward and I've built a varied, interesting  and successful career. In 2023 I founded AWE Coaching and I now offer coaching services alongside my role as a senior HR Leader.  Coaching enables me to spend more time doing what I love most about my career, supporting talented individuals to reach their full potential, and less time doing what I don't (downsizing and the sharp end of employee relations). 

The name of the AWE Coaching is inspired by three things: 

• AWE is an acronym for 'And What Else?', possibly the best coaching question you will ever be asked; 
• By definition, 'AWE' denotes wonder, curiosity, reflection and deep respect - foundation stones for coaching; and
•  AWE represents the first initial from each of my three children's names. 

Away from family and work, I love being active combined with being outdoors.  I'm an enthusiastic (if a relative) latecomer to a range of endurance challenge events, be it long distance walking, hiking, running,  or climbing mountains, all preferably solo, against the clock and somewhere beautiful. When I'm not planning the next adventure, the rest of the time I can usually be found with a good book or a podcast and a strong cup of tea. Or the dog. (The teenagers are usually nowhere in sight because well, they're teenagers).