This is a much more than a job or career for me. It’s my passion, my calling, my life’s work.
My life hasn’t always been like this… I believe so deeply in transformation because I’ve burned in the flames of life experiences + risen, like a phoenix out of the ashes. Many times.
I know, first-hand that we can be more than what happens to us. That there is a light deep within us that burns so brightly it cannot be put out. A potential that is always there, always present, waiting to be unlocked and for us to return home to who we really are + do the work we were always meant to do.
I often wonder how my life would have turned out if I hadn’t made the leap and gone to therapy all those years ago and built new foundations for myself. I think there is a high chance I would have been in prison or dead. Before I made the leap, my drug-use, behaviours and relationships I was involved in were becoming scary.
My Journey
the beginning
In hindsight the single best decision I have ever made, was to get help + not struggle along on my own. A decision to go to therapy, shortly after my mum died when I was 17 and I can only describe as a period of having a break-down, not that I knew it then, would completely change the trajectory of my life.
In the quest for freedom, healing and self-discovery I’ve come to know a resilience, strength, stamina and courage I didn’t know was possible.
And with it I’ve experienced guidance, freedom, joy, intimacy, purpose and meaning that I didn’t know existed.
It was one of the hardest times in my life, but it also taught me the preciousness of time and the importance of living with courage and bravery. I learnt that we could transform even our hardest experiences into growth. By changing our inner landscape, our outer world can - and will- begin to change.
When you go through an experience like that and realise the power we have to shift and change, despite adversity, it’s a natural to want to share it with others.
Therapy was so life-changing for me, that it inspired me to work in the public + third sector ad later train as a therapist. It has been a fundamental catalyst in giving me the confidence to make huge transitions in my life. I will forever be grateful for those insights, support and transformations and it remains a powerful driving force in wanting to share those gifts with others.
breaking point
In 2016, after years of working on my business, I was finally starting to gain momentum; I was being asked to talk and write for others, I was consistently fully booked in my practice, and doing some really interesting collaborations. Then I hit a new challenge, one afternoon, I literally fell off the treadmill. I could hardly walk home. I got diagnosed with adrenaline fatigue (burn-out).
It took me 18 months to recover fully, and it was a huge lesson in how important it is to take care of ourselves, physically, emotionally, spiritually and to keep the balance between productivity and self-care. It redefined my version of success. I re-examined my values. I changed my priorities.
I developed a different way of living and working.
Heartfelt living; filling my own well up first. Self-esteem as a non-negotiable. Spending time on the things that I love with the people who are precious to me.
My work also naturally began to transition, I was seeing more and more “successful” clients, neglecting themselves, anxious all the time, not having any time for rest or play, relationships failing because they are so busy, stuck in their heads, not really knowing why they are doing it anymore.
I could relate to that.
“And then day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk to blossom”
-Anais Nin
the next chapter
I began to re-evaluate and query my next chapter. In that process, I realised I needed to take the next step in my career. I wanted to bring everything that I’d learnt together and create bespoke, tailor-made programs that could hold the new paradigm of success > a holistic version of success that is based as much on cultivating inner wealth , as outer wealth.
So I closed my beloved counselling practice (a VERY hard decision) and launched my coaching business which leads me me to my present life.
A country girl at heart, I recently sold my house in Bristol, put all my belongings in storage and went cottage-hopping with the The Chihuahuas <aka The Love Batteries > , before manifesting my dream cottage, “Herimone”, in the South Cotswolds and moved in 3 weeks later!
I run a boutique coaching business from the Cotswolds, offering bespoke coaching programs to national and international private clients and work as a freelance leadership coach for Meriton Foundry Asset covering the Bristol, London and Cornwall sites.
2023 will see me expanding into offering my first online courses, Fortune, The Foundation and immersive experiences.
I’m looking forward to meeting you.
All the love,
Ismene x
.
