After my first baby in 2011, my outlook on life and priorities changed. Whilst on maternity leave something clicked. I was enjoying time with my son, noticing the changing seasons and living in the moment. I became aware of a real urge to do something new, something rewarding and something more personally aligned to the real me.
Ignoring this realisation, I returned to senior management. Health complications from my life/work imbalance became apparent and crystallised the need for action.
I asked a careers consultant to challenge me on my values and beliefs. It is fair to say there were a few ‘light bulb’ moments. I became increasingly envious (a powerful emotion!) of the autonomy, creativity and flexibility of entrepreneurs. In fact, at least five years prior I had an initial consultation with a corporate coach but the chemistry just wasn’t there.
The moment I realised I wanted to build on my existing skills base and become a coach was like finding the final missing piece of the jigsaw from down the back of the sofa! Having a high C DISC profile, I did a lot of research into the different accreditation bodies and various training providers. I spotted that The Coaching Academy was running a Two Day Certificate Event in Manchester, which provided me with a great opportunity to familiarise myself with them and their training style. Was this the Law of Attraction at play? I was most impressed and really fired up.
Following redundancy and the birth of my daughter, I had my interview for the course exactly one year later. I started the course in April 2015 when she was just four months.
I started grafting in earnest in September 2015 between nursery/school hours and coaching my practice clients, sometimes in the evening. I found it so rewarding to facilitate my clients’ learning, development and progress towards their own personally aligned goals!
I qualified in September 2016 and have just started the Corporate and Executive Coaching Programme. I am now setting up my coaching business so that it complements my family life. With such an unusual name, I have decided to go by Oriel Coaching. Oriel is actually a bay window, which is rather appropriate given that it allows you to see a wider or different perspective!
I have been amazed by the positive power of the coaching relationship from both sides and am passionate about empowering women to achieve their own definition of success. I am really looking forward to climbing the next rung of the ladder and this time I am confident it is leaning against the right wall!
“If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.” - Stephen R. Covey
The Coaching Academy was established in 1999, and is now the world's largest coaching school.
In that time we have trained over 14,000 people to become life coaches.
We are accredited by the International Coach Federation and the Association for Coaching, and we're rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
