Why I'm passionate about coaching

Going through my school years as a left-handed, partially deaf little girl was a painful start in life. The schooling system wasn’t what it is today. Children who needed that extra-support were shamed and discouraged from achieving anything at all. I was told, time and time again, that I would never amount to anything. I stopped going to school (unbeknownst to my parents) at 12 years old, hardly able to read and write.

At 29, I had 3 wonderful girls under the age of 5. When my eldest got older, she started coming home with homework that I soon realised I couldn’t help her with. This gave me the courage to go back to school. I attended the local senior school and sat in the classroom alongside 16-year-olds; can you imagine this happening nowadays?! I had to put the humiliation I felt to one side and remember why I was there. Although at times my classmates would giggle at something I said, I became someone they could trust and ask advice of. It was during this time that I realised I have the natural ability to support people. I got my GCSEs, and I later went on to obtain an undergraduate BA (Hons) degree in Cultural Studies.

Attaining qualifications gave me the opportunity to work with the local authority managing an e-learning centre. I was helping members of the community, mostly young single mums, achieve literacy and numeracy qualifications. These women had little confidence or support around them. They needed a safe and reassuring space, and ultimately, someone to believe in them. The course completion rate was high, and the grades were outstanding. This is when I developed my passion for coaching.

Before starting DEG Coaching, I worked in the healthcare sector for 15 years as a Practice Manager. I was able to develop my own team and my own coaching skills, however, I was left to find my own way and felt let down by my management team. This meant that I didn’t have the skills or the tools to be as good as I could be, for myself, my team, and the organisation. So many leaders, managers and up and coming talent face this same neglect. My purpose is to change people’s experiences, both professionally and personally to enable them to be as effective as they can be, for themselves and their business