“I bring a valuable blend of coaching skills and lived experience as an undeniable approval-seeker to serve other women on the path to better honouring themselves.”
About Me
Wife, Mother, Coach & Self Lover
Hello lovely, thanks for stopping by and taking a moment out of your busy schedule for us both. I’m Claire and however you’ve found me, I’m so glad you did. I was born and raised in leafy Surrey, South-East England and am still living here today with my husband and our two amazing children. I am so many things to so many people – just as you are. I am a Wife and a Mother which possibly give us something in common already. I’m also a Life Coach and converted self-lover and this may well be why you’re here? If so, I am excited that you’re considering working with a Life Coach to better honour yourself and bring your own vision and goals back to life. I know what it’s like to lose sight of them and to push away anything that’s important to you, in order to keep up with work and family commitments. But you’re here because something’s gotta give. In fact it’s not something. It’s someONE. And that someone is you. You are the only one who can give back to yourself and bring about the change you are looking for. So this is less about me, and if you choose to work with me – it becomes all about YOU. In the meantime, whilst you consider that all important decision, I hope that my story resonates…
Me with one of my babies
My tweens will not let me take their photos anymore, but Luna on the other hand, is not so fussy! Here she is showing me the love and giving me a kiss.
Motherhood is hands down my greatest accomplishment in life. I remember being about six years old and tending to my dolls with a deep longing for them to be real. I waited twenty two years for that dream to become a reality. It’s the thing I wanted most in the world. I never dreamed I would lose connection with myself in my role as mum to the extent that I did, but I also know that it’s far from unusual. There were several things that led me to my realisation: a lack of opportunity in my professional field, a creative urge and wants for myself that felt far too selfish to indulge in, my fast-growing children pulling away from me, a toxic job that gave me digestive health problems, the covid-19 pandemic that took my anxiety to the next level; and this fire inside me, burning, raging, out of control. I knew I could use this beautifully fierce fire within and that it wasn’t all bad. But I also knew that if I didn’t turn inward to tend to it, I might just self-combust.
My Story
Four Little Words Changed My Life
After a 20-year career in corporate communications, becoming a mum to two amazing children and juggling work and motherhood for over a decade, I am all too familiar with self-sacrifice. But in 2020, my whole life came crashing dramatically into question following a few short sharp words that were to change everything for me.
I’d been working flat out in an Event Manager role at a school, that allowed me to flex around school runs and holidays. It was every mother’s dream job on paper, but the role was isolated, laden with expectation and with no support. It was also the first role I’d ever held where I felt a total disinterest in me and what I was contributing. Somehow I soldiered on in a working culture that wasn’t aligning with my own values and without any sort of vision for myself, refusing to acknowledge that it was burning me out.
It was only when a Senior Leader, who often managed to make me feel very insignificant, asked me out loud and in front of my colleagues “Why are you here?” that I could no longer ignore myself.
I don’t believe he realised his question would cut quite so deep. But his insinuation that I didn’t belong with the wider group was the last straw and absolute confirmation that I didn’t belong there.
My innermost self was floored and my upright, rational self could no longer ignore her pain. I didn’t have the answer in that moment and I didn’t stand in my power because I had none. I had freely given it all away in my quest to please everyone but myself.
I quit that job the very next day and at the time it was the breaking of me. But in the days and weeks that followed I began to see it differently. I saw how it was the making of me. Because it led me to many realisations, to question myself, my worth, my values, my truths, my fears, my vision, my potential. It led me HERE.
"I was so caught up in making things work around my family that I'd ignored everything that was important to me in a job. In fact I'd ignored everything that was important to me for a very long time."
I knew it was time to start better honouring myself. So I embarked on a journey of self-discovery and new learning. I decided to retrain in something that I could use my natural qualities and refined skills in. I’d already tuned back into my love of writing and started my own blog. I was documenting everything I was feeling at this time in my life, researching, reading, immersing myself in all things self-development, learning to reconnect, and growing in self-awareness.
With lots of patience, perspective, self-trust and compassion, I stopped looking to please and seek solutions that suited everyone else. I made the first decision I’d made by myself, for several years, without opinion or influence from anyone. I decided to train to be a Life Coach and start a business that would allow me to work flexibly around my family and fulfil my ambition of serving other women going through what I had.
I said YES to myself
And I started to feel empowered, passionate and purposeful again.
My training with Beautiful You Coaching Academy
I was called to this course and this course was called to me. It popped up in response to my online search for Life Coaching at a time when I felt lost, and confused about where I was taking myself. Five people had told me at varying points in my life that I would make a great coach. It hadn’t felt like an option before because of all the rationale that crowded in concerning the career I had built, and of course, what other people would think. But I was done with that. I knew I had to start listening to myself and honouring myself, and working towards a vision for me. I watched the video for the course, which lit my soul. This was ‘feelings-based’ coaching with an emphasis on feminine energy, and helping people to realise their true self, needs and desires. I listened to a talk by the Lead Trainer Julie Parker – who had me at ‘Hello’. I knew then that some things are just meant to be – and that this – was meant for me.
So Here I Am...
So here I am now, as an internationally recognised Life Coach with the Beautiful You Coaching Academy and a contributory writer for ‘All Things Self’. I’m committed to ongoing personal & professional development and deeply honoured to be serving other women whilst they navigate their competing priorities and learn to serve and love themselves again after years in devotion to their families and employers.
If you like the idea of a coach and companion to help you rediscover yourself and what’s important to you, to set meaningful, life changing goals with you, to cheer you on and to see you through with your self-intentions, I hope to be the one to walk at your side.
My Vision
A world where women and all those who identify as such, are free to be themselves, to honour & love themselves with no limits. And where my coaching & communication for women’s authenticity & empowerment stimulates positive change at both an individual & societal level.
My Values
Truth
Connection
Compassion
Courage
Brilliance
My Mission
To hold safe and brave space for clients to feel just that. To be a source of light, love and possibility to women wanting to live by their truths and to express themselves comfortably and with confidence.
As Seen in...
DEI Statement
My commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
I strive to achieve inclusion beyond that of feeling seen, heard and valued. I work to foster soul-led connection and empowerment at an individual level, coming from a place of total non-judgement, and with deep appreciation for differences in our multiple social identities and lived experiences. I actively seek to work with a diverse range of people to continually broaden my knowledge and understanding of the impact of societal oppression, with a determination to make a positive difference to world equality and in celebration of diverse communities. My continued interest and commitment to this will help me to both learn and ‘unlearn’, to make mistakes and to see them as progress, and to serve individuals, groups and communities from a place of high awareness and with ever deepening understanding.
I extend my wholehearted thanks to those who have contributed to my growth and learning in this fundamental area, including Beautiful You Coaching Academy, Annie Gichuru, Kemi Nekvapil, Desiree Adaway, Nik Tovey, Cameron Airen, Ericka Hines, & Andrea Ranae.
Please note that any reference made to ‘women’ includes anyone who identifies as a woman.
