I help people move through difficult conversations with more courage, care and clarity.
Whether you’re facing tension at work, wrestling with challenging thoughts, experiencing strain in a close relationship or confronting big societal issues, I create a calm, safe space to talk honestly, unpack complexity and work to find productive ways forward.
Better conversations. Better outcomes.
The Difficult Conversations I Can Help You With:
#01. Difficult Workplace Conversations
#02. Difficult
Personal Conversations
#03. Difficult
Societal
Conversations
#01. Facilitating Difficult Workplace Conversations
Workplace Mediation
I support people through high-stakes workplace conflicts, where communication has stalled and trust has broken down. Instead of having to resort to formal grievance procedures and involving costly lawyers, mediation offers a constructive way forward. I work sensitively to understand what has happened, getting beyond the presenting issues, to uncover the needs and goals that underpin them and find practical, human ways to move forward so everyone feels heard and respected. I am a certified TCM accredited mediator.
Team Facilitation
Forged over hundreds of workshops with large x-functional and C-level teams, I am an expert faciltiator. I have an intuitive sense of inter-personal dynamics, how to draw out the unsaid and how to carefully surface and resolve disagreements so that decisions are made and more importantly, kept, once everyone leaves the room. I am a firm believer in a clear and well-planned agenda and approach, combined with the flexibility and calm ability to adapt and pivot as required by the needs of everyone in the room.
Team Coaching
I work with teams who feel stuck, anxious, or on edge with each other. Through structured conversations and gentle challenge, I help you surface unspoken tensions, build more honest dialogue, and create safer, more energising - and ultimately more successful - ways of working together.
#02. Facilitating Difficult Personal Conversations
Individual Coaching
I coach leaders who are carrying a lot; pressure, responsibility, and the weight of other people’s expectations. I create space to reflect, feel, and be honest and lighten the load, so you can lead with more clarity, courage and care for both yourself and your team.
Life Planning
I work with entrepreneurs who are starting to wonder what comes next. As a Client Partner at Free then What, I work with you to explore what really matters in your life, what your priorities are and, in collaboration with a financial planner, show you what choices and options you have - and how to make that happen. This is driven by you and your priorities, supported by my own experience as an exited founder who has engineered a new career direction to align with my new priorities.
Therapist [In training]
I am currently half way through training to be a counsellor and being able to support individuals and couples who are struggling to talk about the things that matter most. By offering a calm, non-judgemental space where difficult feelings, patterns and stories can be explored, I am looking forward to helping you reconnect with yourself and each other.
#03. Facilitating Difficult Societal Conversations
Deliberative Democracy
Through Deliberative Democracy approaches, we can get beyond the social media fuelled world of polarisation, finding common ground that exists beneath the peaks of tribalism and identifying ways through the trickiest challenges we face as a society. I am using my skills as a researcher and facilitator to support organisations running deliberative processes, bringing together representative samples of people across society, sharing expert perspectives and facilitating conversations to find common ground and informed consent.
Marketing Consultancy for Good
I have spent the last 25 years working in marketing, strategy and research, helping businesses understand people and answer their biggest strategic challenges. In the last few years, I had a particular focus on Sustainability and how we address one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. I now support organisations addressing big societal challenges and how those skills learned in the private sector can be put to the good of making the world a better place
Why Difficult Conversations Matter To Me
I know what it’s like to feel burnt out, stuck in cycles of overwork, and trapped in conversations that never seem to shift anything.
My own experiences with mental health, breakdown and rebuilding have taught me how powerful it is when someone really listens and stays with you in the hard places.
That’s why I created Conversations That Count.
I bring a calm, grounded presence, a lot of care and a willingness to name what’s usually left unsaid.
Whether I’m mediating at work, supporting a team, or sitting with you one-to-one, my focus is always on helping you feel safe enough to be honest and supported enough to grow.
Like most of us, I spent a large part of my life trying to avoid difficult conversations, in the naïve hope that if I just ignored it, somehow things would just magically get better. But then, December 29th, 2012, I read some advice that changed my life in a Daily Telegraph article on the best advice received by celebrities: Always walk to the sound of the gunfire Whilst the words haven't aged well, the sentiment has endured. It is a truth that I think we all know, deep down. Things don't get better by ignoring them. But at the same time, it is not easy to just resolve to embrace difficult conversations. They are so emotionally charged, that unless handled in the right way, they carry huge risks. I spent the last 13 years founding, and scaling a consultancy, where this principle ran like a stick of rock through the company; with colleagues, with clients, with partners. And like any muscle, the more we exercised it, the stronger it became and the easier it was to do it. And then, as I had my own battles with mental health and then burnout, I experienced first hand quite how powerful difficult conversations are. I have, as a result, pivoted my career to now focus on this as my purpose in life. Better conversations. Better outcomes.