As they say in the adverts – I was born in the Midlands, but I was made in the NHS! Being a nurse is integral to who I am, my values and the way I measure my life’s worth. It sounds dramatic, I know, but it is all I have known for the last 40 years. I knew who I was and where I belonged because I was a nurse; so, when I recently retired, I was a bit lost, I found it hard to recognise my new purpose and my tribe. It was debilitating, and I felt like I had misplaced part of myself.
In 2023, I started training as a coach, first completing the International Coaching Federation’s level 1 and then moving on to level 2. Turns out after over 100 hours of training as a coach and participating in A LOT of coaching, I realised my tribe are still the carers of the vulnerable, the courageous people who turn up every day to do an increasingly hard job where sometimes they feel invisible. Health and social care leaders, healthcare educators and healthcare regulators are still my people, and I realised that my purpose remains to see them clearly; to value the contribution they make to the future of health and social care and use all my experience, knowledge and compassion to enable them to be and feel awesome.
With is realisation, I set about reflecting on how I could continue to relate my professional values to a new chapter, and I recognised that the nearest thing to being a nurse I could be is a coach! As a nurse, my purpose was to see the visible and the invisible and lean into both to be the best for my patients. The same can be said of a coach – a professional partner who understands your journey in full HD; the challenges, the regulatory and financial constraints and the personal impact of an extremely pressured environment. And who wholeheartedly believes in what you are trying to do. So, I have taken a leap into the unfamiliar and set up a business to give me a platform from which to support health and social care leaders in designing and delivering solutions and transformation for their people.
I specialise in coaching individuals and groups, mentoring aspirant leaders, and facilitating team development. I am open to working as a partner with any organisations that provide health and/or care, education or regulatory support to health and social care in the creation and delivery of personal or professional development. The most important thing to me about my business is that it adds value to you and your business.