When looking at my career, I wouldn’t say I have ever been someone who has followed a ‘regular’ path (if such a thing even exists). I recognise that I embrace contradictions; I love connection with humans on a deeper level - and yet I started a fully remote tech company, I am the talkative, fun and lively one, and I can happily speak on stage in front of hundreds of people - and yet I enjoy and seek out solitude at every opportunity… and now, at the time that AI is challenging society’s view of connection, creativity and productivity, I am combining the technical work I do with studying the subconscious, intuition, and everything that truly makes us human.
It’s been many years since I completed my A-Levels in Psychology, Sociology and Critical Thinking, and clearly even my 16-year-old self was interested in exploring our psyche and any subject that explored deep ideas and meaning. For today’s me, Intuitive Psychology is something I felt immediately drawn to, the second I heard about this exciting new Advanced Diploma I knew I needed to be involved.
It seems obvious to me that in a world of rapid acceleration in technology, humans will need to connect with their humanity and authenticity more than ever before. Individuals will find themselves looking for answers, and be drawn to deeper self-reflection, and seek out meaningful human relationships that simply cannot be replicated by robots no matter how advanced the technology becomes.
Whilst the advances in tech interest and excite me, the highlight in growing my company has been the human connections with our wonderful team members and clients. I love helping people to become the very best version of themselves, helping them to overcome anything that has been holding them back, and breaking the mould of what a ‘workplace’ looks like.
I feel uniquely positioned to take my insights from the world of tech and innovation, my experience in developing exceptional leaders and creating a multi-award-winning company culture, and my new learnings of the human psyche and intuition to help as many people as possible to change their lives for the better by embracing all of their parts.
Studying again for the first time in over 15 years has not been without challenges, I am finding balancing self-study and meeting my coaching hours tricky at times and life can feel like a big balancing act. Throw into the mix that I am very much committed to my role as CEO of my company, as well as a mum of two young children, I am mindful that at times there simply aren’t enough hours in the day - no matter my commitment - to do everything perfectly. Letting go of perfection is something I have worked on in recent years and I find this part of me rearing its head in some of my self-reflection practices, journaling and coaching within my course. I am learning to accept that some days I will feel able to take on the world - and other days the house will be untidy, kids will have chicken nuggets for tea, and I will avoid my laptop as my brain is begging me to relax. And this is ok.
One thing that has surprised me so far in my studies, is just how transferable so many of my leadership and communication skills are. I proudly recognise that these are some of my strongest qualities along with the resilience that I have developed in navigating the ups and downs of running a rapidly growing company. I have never (formally) coached anyone before, and I am finding that learning the foundations and ideas that set the stage for effective coaching has been interesting and valuable for me. Despite my lack of prior coaching experience, when I arrive to a session, ready to coach a client, I settle in very quickly like I have been coaching for years. I feel myself fully connected to the human sitting across from me in that moment and I intuitively know what it is I need to do.
I am seeing exceptional results in my peer coaching sessions already, and frankly it blows my mind just how impactful an hour’s session can be when you regulate a client’s nervous system and connect them with their own intuition. The shared ‘aha’ moments are so powerful, and there is no greater feeling than a client arriving to one our sessions bursting with pride at the progress they have made.
As I embark on Module 4 of my studies, I feel incredibly grateful to have found something that I connect with so profoundly, that enables me to bring all of my skills and interests together, and that encourages me to connect with my spirituality. I am wholeheartedly embracing myself from this moment on as a messy, complicated, contradictory, and yet connected, intuitive, beautiful human being. I am so very excited to see what the rest of my months studying with the Intuitive Psychology Association bring.