An opportunity to speak freely and be listened to without judgement. It offered me an opportunity to take a pause, breath and check in. I found it easy to get bogged down in lessons that didn’t go so well, adjusting to new placements and things I needed to do to improve. Coaching sessions with Julie provided the space to talk about these things but also to celebrate the wins that often get forgotten.

I’m so very grateful for all your help Julie! I really believe that the mindfulness routines and practices that you introduced me to have been the foundation of finishing my teacher training. It would have been a very different experience without that coaching space. It was the staple during my training year. Knowing that you were there for support, advice, listening and cheering me on made on all the difference. Gracias & merci 🙂 

• For me, coaching has been several  lovely conversations with you throughout the year.  One call was amazingly well timed after a really difficult day and it helped me to reflect on what had happened and make sense of it.  The other conversations I thought  I didn't really need, but actually they were massively beneficial and probably helped me to avoid further difficult days!  • Your coaching  has helped me to keep things in perspective.  You have certainly encouraged me to identify my successes rather than dwelling on what has gone wrong.  You are a good judge of character so you have helped me to realise that some of my natural personality traits are beneficial for being a teacher and you have also given me some practical tips as to how I can transfer my life experience and put it to good use in my new role

Julie has a way of helping you to put things into perspective and evaluate how you can change your behaviour and actions for the better.    She helps you to think about what puts stress on you as a person and the things that you can do to alleviate that pressure so that you can find the year somewhat enjoyable.  Coaching is not telling you what to do, it is something that guides you to think more effectively and give you a couple of home truths.  

Julie helped me so much throughout the year and is probably one of the reasons I managed to finish the course.   During a family crisis halfway through the course, I had to have some time off.  Julie gave me coaching sessions whilst I was home and really helped me to process how I was feeling and how to channel different emotions.   I cannot thank Julie enough for the support that she gave me during that time, as personally I was finding it hard to talk to anybody.  As well as giving me help with personal life, Julie really helped me to prioritise and organise myself to ensure that I was not just constantly working.   I was given support in setting boundaries and ground rules of when I should be working and when I should give myself some time off.  

Julie not only made a huge difference to my PGCE year, she has made a huge difference to me in my personal life and I could not be more grateful.   Thank you so much, Julie!   

Julie has such a unique and nurturing style of coaching. I have spent time talking to a few people over the years and sometimes feel like an idea is planted for you to see how it fits with what you are thinking or feeling. Julie has an incredibly special way of giving you a safe space to share your thoughts and feelings and let them grow by asking the right things at the right time. It's so helpful to have someone to help you untangle a difficult thought or feeling and not feel like you were rushed to the conclusion, but you got there by yourself and most importantly, that you can plan the way forward, it really does inspire a level of self-confidence that I haven't had before. Julie has really helped me to feel more confident in myself during some very challenging times and taught me that if I just tune in to myself then I can find really effective ways to move forwards in the direction that I want to. Julie creates such a rich space to help you to nurture yourself and explore all of the wonderful things you have to offer the world. She has so many unique ways of coaching, from a meditative journey, all the way to just sitting and having a good laugh about a situation and everything in between. I have started a session in tears and ended with a beaming smile on my face, ready to face the day, all because Julie has taken the time to tune in to me and what I need and given me the safe space to process what needs to be processed. Julie has been and continues to be so helpful and nurturing, whether it be through Zoom sessions or a little positive voice note in between sessions, she's more than just a coach in so many ways.

'For me coaching is creating a space where someone helps you to navigate your own thoughts and allow you to feel what you need to feel. '

The coaching support I received from Julie was second to non and I can honestly say that the training course would have been a lot more difficult without her input. During my experience of training, I found that Julie was there for me emotionally when I faced personal challenges and academically when I needed direction. Julie picked me up at my lowest points, encouraging me along the way, and always listening in a non-judgemental manner. Julie’s life coaching skills have helped me to reflect and celebrate successes and to resist perfection. Now I am fully qualified I use the skills that Julie taught me so that I am able to fully enjoy my work alongside a healthy work life balance, and I treat myself often!

'Coaching (and Julie!) has helped me to understand myself better, to appreciate myself for all I have been able to accomplish and to work on the parts that I feel do not serve me. My thought process has changed a lot during the last year, I still sometimes have negative thoughts or self doubt but I am able to look at them objectively and don't end up catastrophizing. I knew it was ok not to be ok but I am not much more comfortable with what that actually means in my life. '

Coaching has enabled me to become more self aware and recognise and build upon my strengths, giving me greater confidence in my work setting

I learned to look at things from a different view which made such a difference

Learning to meditate made such a difference

Thank you so much for your time, we all thought you were brilliant and we also agreed that once we have agreed our direction of travel and are ready to share it with the rest of the team we feel that having you do something similar for the team in the morning will really be beneficial. There was a lot of love and respect in the room after you left which really helped us move forward in the afternoon

I've really learned not to worry so much about what other people think

Retelling classic stories isn’t something new however, it takes a highly talented author to take real life examples of modern day abuse, co-dependence and domestic violence rewrite them as classic fairy tales

Into The Woods does not invite us to judge either the men or the women. Instead it takes us though life journeys of dashed hopes, danger, and fear; of untold human suffering and despair of the kind that far too many women experience

May these tales provide courage, hope and an opportunity for change and in doing so awaken future generations of women to their full potential

'I would like to sincerely thank you for everything that you have done for me during this year. Due to the pandemic and the constant changes, it has been extremely stressful and difficult; however, thanks to your support I have been able to refocus my goals and prioritize. I have worked on my emotions and tried to listen to them instead of rejecting what my mind and body were trying to tell me. I am so grateful to have met you, you have played an important part in my journey, and I am sure that everyone would benefit from your coaching. Thank you again, this experience would not have been the same without you. You have been amazing and you have helped me in a really tough time I will be forever grateful.'

"Coaching sessions with Julie have been invaluable as a part of my training. They are an opportunity to get everything that has been stressing you out off of your chest and receive some helpful advice on how to stop stressing out in the future! Julie always makes sure that you take away practical things from the session that you can implement in your life going forwards to help you cope with situations that you can find difficult."

'I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for being my lifeline throughout my training last year and as we headed into the Pandemic. Your role is truly invaluable. You were a shoulder to cry on, a realistic empathiser and so wonderful at bringing me back down to earth when I felt completely overwhelmed with information. ' Your practical yet sensitive advice was very much needed amongst the chaos and many of the techniques you taught me continue to help me now as a teacher and will for life.'

'You have given me the permission I wasn’t always able to give myself. '

'Julie is without a doubt an expert in her field of work. She shared specific strategies with our group to sustain our physical and mental health and in turn a good work-life balance. She taught us how to categorise personal commitments by their importance/urgency, which was a blessing when my ‘to-do’ list seemed overburdening.'

'"Julie has been such a real help to me and I have really enjoyed working with her. Coaching has been most beneficial. As somebody who has struggled with being confident and taking ownership, Julie has been indispensable. We have talked about finding voice and coming to terms with adversity. She has helped me massively and would recommend her coaching to anybody. Thank you Julie!"