I believe that to be happy and fulfilled as women working in the fields of journalism, media, social and tech we must not sacrifice our confidence, our work-life balance nor sense of self.

All too often we ‘masculinise’ ourselves in order to succeed and fit in at these traditionally patriarchal industries, losing the confidence to be our authentic female selves along the way.

Then there’s the pressure of being different, sometimes the only female voice in the room, which can lead to devastating feelings of ‘imposter’ syndrome, confidence loss and anxiety.

As a trained coach and mentor, I transform my clients’ confidence, helping them to realise their potential and getting them to where they want to be in both their work and home life.

Having spent 20 years as a senior journalist and news editor at BBC News and BBC Sport, I understand first-hand the demands of working in these tough environments; work-life balance can also suffer too with shift patterns, workload and difficulty ‘switching off’.

I’ve also fought for equal pay, equal job opportunities and equal respect in very male-dominated departments, while some male colleagues have (probably unintentionally) patronised me, mansplained subjects or talked over me in meetings.

I’ve had all the big clichés happen to me, from being mistaken by a member of the public for the work experience tea-maker when I was a manager, to once discovering a more junior male staff member I managed earned significantly more than me.

I also faced major challenges when, in my thirties, I went almost clinically deaf and had to keep up with the demands of my journalism career with very little departmental support, causing exhaustion, confidence loss and huge amounts of anxiety. This on the back of trying to manage lifelong Crohn’s Disease with mindful lifestyle choices and not always being able to succeed with work shifts and demands.

I was extremely lucky to get my hearing back after several surgeries and vowed, going forwards, to always live the most content, fulfilling and enriched work and home lives possible – knowing full well life throws us some interesting curve balls at times (Covid anyone?) – and I want to help others do the same.

This is how my coaching business began in 2017 and I’ve loved seeing the women I coach thrive.

I also have a background as a Samaritans listening counsellor and, although coaching is all about moving forward with action, I have lots of experience going back many years listening, empathising and building trust.

Please say “hi”

Get in touch for a free coaching and mentoring session (lasting 75 minutes) to enable you to see if coaching is right for you. There is absolutely no obligation to have more.

For more information on what coaching is, what it can do for you and the difference between coaching and mentoring, please visit my Frequently Asked Questions page.