Life is short.
Feelings matter.

Seeing worth and value in others came naturally.

I’ve always found it so easy to see potential in others. But in relation to myself, following the distress of caring for Grandad, my brain responded with the complete opposite. I lost years, decades, to emotional intensity that undermined my health, energy and potential every single day.

For almost three decades I lived with persistent feelings of anxiety, low worth, inferiority, inadequacy, shame and guilt. There was evidence of security, healthy relationships and achievement all around me, yet inside I was utterly disempowered by my emotions.

I’ve always loved teaching my brain to learn new skills.

When my second daughter Sophie was born, my husband Paddy was travelling internationally with work, and so we discussed what our next family phase might look like.

We were keen for one of us to be practically available to the children. I was welcoming that opportunity, and so my thoughts moved on to how I could provide my best contribution whilst I took a career break to be with the girls.

We realised that if I was working full-time, we’d be looking to use that income to expand our house, so we could have the space our growing family needed.

This gave me the idea of learning construction skills so that I could do the building work on our house whilst the girls had their nursery and school hours. A double-storey rear extension and loft conversion followed, requiring me to learn all the skills needed to do this: groundworks, foundations, plumbing, plastering, electrics, carpentry, blockwork and landscaping.

It was whilst I was in the later stages of the build that Covid hit. Until then, I’d been managing to keep my challenging emotions at bay by staying incredibly busy with the girls and the build. Staying busy had been my strategy all along for attempting to avoid my profound anxiety, inadequacy, low worth and low confidence.

Lockdown changed all this. Suddenly everything stopped.

Covid became a turning point. Emotional distraction was less easy with a lockdown in place.

As I watched my girls giggling and playing in my sunny July garden, I remember thinking:

“I ‘should’ feel so grateful right now. I’m healthy, we’re financially secure, I have a loving partner, I’ve excelled as a teacher, have two daughters (who are super lovely!).”

YET… I feel just as anxious, inadequate and insecure as I did when I was 11. Perhaps there’s something I’m missing. Maybe there’s another way? I wonder what emotional change my brain’s actually capable of that I don’t yet understand?

I finally got curious with an internal focus. I didn’t know where to start, but the teacher in me wanted to pursue logical, practical answers.

Through learning and practical experimentation, I began to change the way my brain was producing emotions at source. The impact on my emotional life was profound. This illuminating transformation inspired both the concept of Emotional Empowerment and also my company name: Coaching Illumination Ltd.

For around a year and a half, I learnt, applied, reflected and refined what I was discovering.

“I feel so powerful.
This is who I get to be now.”

One day during this period, I’d been focusing on teaching my brain to generate the feeling of worth. I was walking along a small lane in my village when I noticed warm, wonderful sensations rising up inside me and I suddenly recognised I was feeling worthy. An emotion I hadn’t experienced since I was 11. I beamed beyond belief at the wonder of what I’d discovered.

Feeling adequate, settled, confident, calm and peaceful followed, and my brain learnt to generate many more emotions that transformed my life for ever.

I hadn’t planned a business.

My Dad and best friend noticed the difference and asked me to coach them. When the same skills and concepts transformed their emotions in ways that were equally powerful, I realised I couldn’t simply keep what I’d discovered to myself.

I began helping others, continued learning and refined my process. That work became Coaching Illumination and the Emotional Rebuild Framework™.

Kindness is critical for emotional freedom.

Compassion for ourselves matters just as much as the care we offer others. My interest in kindness extends into educational ideas and projects, including Sophie Cards. You can explore this side of my work in Ideas & Impact.

You are best placed to support YOU.

Given your brain generates all of your emotions, you will always be your own best source of emotional insight and support.

Your emotional potential is amazing. I’m not in the world to tell people how they “should” feel; rather to empower them to enjoy their version of their best emotional life. Helping people understand and feel the impact of these skills will never fail to delight me.

It brings me complete joy when I witness my clients experiencing positive change. And seeing this ripple out as social impact in their families, workplace and community. For me, it’s what life’s all about and it’s an incredible privilege to be trusted by others to help. I want you to develop skills you can keep using to wonderful effect, for the rest of your life.

Professional connections & community

Associate member

British Neuroscience Association

2025 finalist

Women’s Business Awards

Openmind™

Certified Practitioner

I’m supporting

Wiltshire Treehouse