Yorkshire lass.
Scientist. Leader.
Threshold guide.
I've spent over 25 years working with leaders in science, in manufacturing, across some of the most demanding organisations in the world. And I've spent even more years doing the same work on myself. Which means when I sit with you in the middle of a threshold, I'm not reading from a textbook.
How it started
I started out as a scientist.
Which turns out to be excellent training for this work.
Scientists are trained to look underneath things. To find out what's really going on rather than accepting the surface explanation. It turns out that's exactly what leadership development requires and why most of it doesn't work as well as it should. It stays on the surface. Skills, behaviours, competency frameworks. All useful. None of them though, is the whole thing.
I grew up in Yorkshire, studied various branches of science, became an Analytical Chemist, then a people manager, then a leader in manufacturing and FMCG. I've worked with AstraZeneca, Mars, Matalan, Unilever, General Mills, Rowlands Pharmacy and a good few others. Thirty-five years of real organisations, real people, real results.
But the moment that changed everything happened before any of that.
At 21, I had a car accident that I was lucky to walk away from.
Just after it happened in that strange, quiet moment that follows something enormous, my 21 years flashed before my eyes. And I was seriously underwhelmed by what I saw. Like is that it? Is that what I've managed in my 21 years on this planet?
The doctors weren't initially sure I'd work again. (Tiny side note: as a right-handed Analytical Chemist where precision is everything, breaking and dislocating every bone in your right arm and hand isn't ideal. In amongst all the gritty determination to get back, I also learned to become a left-handed Analytical Chemist. Did anyone say ambidextrous? Choices, choices.)
It took a couple of years and some fabulous medical staff to rebuild what was broken. And me a couple of years of gritted-teeth determination to get there. But I did. And from that point on, I made a promise to myself: make the most of every single day. Do everything at 100%.
That accident is why I mean it when I say there's no point in living if you can't feel alive. It's not a quote I found and liked. (Although I am a Bond and Fleming fan). It's something I lived into at 21 and haven't put down since.
The journey
I've been crossing thresholds consciously for over 25 years.
And by consciously I mean I've been using the same tools on myself that I use with clients. Every crossing. Always. Which means each one has taught me something the previous one couldn't.
Scientist to manager. Manager to leader. Corporate leader to coach. Coach to something that doesn't have a clean job title - a guide to leaders crossing the thresholds that matter most. Each one intentional. Each one deepens what I bring to the next. The commonality, a shift in my identity.
Some crossings are relatively clear. You get the call, you have a rough sense of what you're moving toward, you know what you'll need to let go of and off you go. Bumpy in places, but you can see the general direction.
My most recent one was different. The call came through loud and clear. The destination? Not so much. Things started to leave/end, and not always things I'd chosen to release. The road of trials had some seriously steep inclines and a few ravines I hadn't planned for. The long dark night lasted months. And it was only in hindsight (and isn't it always hindsight) that I could see it was leading me here. To this work, in its fullest form.
"So yes. I know this territory. I've got the muddy boots to prove it."
Now I share this because many of the leaders who come to me are in exactly this place. Moving toward something they can feel but can't yet see. Answering a call without knowing where it's taking them. And it's easy to think there is something wrong (with you), but there isn't. This is what a threshold feels like from the inside.
What I bring
Qualifications matter. So does other stuff.
Others describe me as cheerful, curious, imaginative and passionate. I also get comments like quirky and nutty; I take those as compliments, it means I'm shining bright.
I'm genuinely curious about people - what makes them tick, what's getting in the way, what they're capable of that they haven't fully accessed yet. I'll ask you the question that nobody else has asked. I'll notice the thing you almost said. And I'll tell you the truth, warmly, honestly, and with the occasional observation that might make you laugh at yourself. (I do this to myself regularly. It helps.)
I've been studying this work for over 25 years - archetypes, NLP, transformation tools, storytelling, visioning. Because it helps so much and because curiosity is how I'm wired. I study new material, experiment, practise, and take what genuinely works into the room. The stuff that doesn't work can exit stage left.
The pieces of paper
Do I sound like someone you'd like to work with?
Then let's have a conversation. 30 minutes, genuinely no pressure, it's designed for both of us to work out whether this is the right fit. If it's not, happy days, if it is also happy days. There is no obligation or hidden agenda. Just a conversation about your threshold and whether I'm the best guide for it.