My Story
How I accidentally stumbled on purposeful service-driven work aged 15 and learnt a few times over how to reignite myself.
And now how I help people embrace and navigate their career to find an exciting forward direction and a deeper sense of purpose.
Aged 15 I was eager to add value and serve.
I got my local newspaper and rang every job advert I thought I might have a slight chance with, pitching myself over the phone.
Rejected by most, I got my break with work experience as a waitress for the local health farm Champneys Forest Mere - a job that changed me and made me over a period of five years.
Being the teenager that read all the health sections in magazines and who took an interest in how to optimise wellbeing, a job at the local health farm couldn't have been more of a perfect fit.
Not fully conscious of it at the time, I discovered just how health-giving work is when you feel purposeful, aligned and have the environment to grow.
I loved everything about this job. My engagement was off the charts - I worked extra shifts, I asked for more responsibility and I flourished with the team camaraderie.
Reigniting my fire for health
Ten years later I found myself with a 1st class degree in Management and on the upwards track in a great consulting job at IBM.
Whilst I absolutely loved my time at IBM, after a while I could feel I didn’t quite know where I was going long term and who I was. I was unsure of myself and how to navigate this.
It was whilst watching the incredible athletes at the Olympics, I decided on quite a radical course of action - to re-engage my love of helping people be healthier...
In 2012, when I was 26 my health blog and business Happy Sugar Habits was born.
And I was reignited with a new mission and sense of purpose.
I couldn't wait to learn, write, share about health habits. Over five years I trained as a health coach and taught myself everything from building a website to digital marketing; writing over 500 articles on sugar and health. I built a 5000-strong e-mail list, was featured in Grazia and The Daily Mail, and on a weekly basis received e-mails from readers all over the world who were inspired or helped by my content .
When you are truly ignited, great things can flow.
The realisations that meant the most to me
After 100’s of health coaching sessions, I started to understand health and behaviour change in a new way.
Often I could see a lack of fulfilment in peoples’ working lives or a misalignment with their values as the emotional driving force towards sugary habits or other unhealthy coping mechanisms.
At the same time, my heavy reliance on this business as the basis of my self-worth combined with the loneliness I was experiencing at that time in my life lead to an entrepreneurial style burnout.
Something needed to change…
I needed to again, reignite.
Inside of me, a new mission was born.
I wanted more people to be healthier and happier through their ‘work’....
To feel the engagement, the aliveness and the fulfilment that I had felt in my career and I knew was possible.
To learn and grow rapidly towards their potential increasing their confidence
To find belonging with likeminded people
To make brave moves that kept them true to themselves and excited to wake up everyday
To consider their wider wellbeing and values in career decisions
I set about a new career to help shape the future of work to be healthier and purposeful for all which involved going back into values-led organisations to learn whilst allowing myself to up my self-care around hobbies, relationships and financial stability.
Where the cultural narrative of those around me was to ‘quit your job’, going back to the stability of a 9-5 at that time in my life led me to meet my partner, find the perfect dance community and develop inner confidence and trust in my own decisions.
I worked for a Future Of Work consultancy, followed by a wellbeing tech start-up where I got some fantastic management and leadership experience. I then started to facilitate learning and professionally coach, training with the incredible Co-Active Training Institute and becoming accredited with the International Coaching Federation alongside becoming an NLP Practitioner.
I now pride myself as someone that can hold all options on the table for any individual - there is no one ‘right’ path, just a set of unique squiggles that give purpose and meaning at any one time.
During the pandemic, I was lucky enough to support 100's of professionals with their careers through The Portfolio Collective; helping people understand IKIGAI and establish themselves in a new world of work. I have developed some unique techniques and approaches to help people work through their own reigniting process, but with all I do, health and how someone feels internally is the foundation.
I do not require my clients to shun old sugar these days, but I do know that working with me has untold health benefits!
A bit more about me…
In 2015/2016 I lived and worked in Ubud in Bali and Chang Mai in Thailand - working on my business Happy Sugar Habits whilst running an entrepreneurial mastermind called Tribewanted
Whilst in Bali, I was on the winning team of Startup Weekend - one of the most incredible team experiences I’ve had!
Dance is an important part of my life - Ballroom, Latin, Ceroc, Salsa - so yes I’m also a Strictly fan :)
Recently I’ve got into the wild swimming scene and am a little addicted
I seem to be the friend on call for relationship advice and I kind of love it
I eat 92% dark chocolate every day
I live in a 240yr old house in the Cotswolds where nothing is straight!
Career coaching plus
Taking all that I have learned together with my understanding of behaviour change, psychology, wellbeing, business and entrepreneurship along with 100’s of hours of coaching, consulting and mentoring I have become somewhat of a career and purpose-finding magician. You can read more on the influences to the way I work here.
Building in some mindset-enhancing and accountability-inducing elements to my programmes, embarking on a Reignite journey with me is now much more than a package of coaching sessions - it’s a full support system that 100% makes sure you come out the other side shining.
Life is short to be in the dark too long. Would you like to reignite sooner rather than later?
