A quarter-life crisis is a period of intense soul searching that arrives when we are first confronted with the question of what to do with our lives. That’s according to Chloë Garland, the founder of QuarterLife, a company that works with individuals and organisations to help people in their 20s and 30s not just survive, but thrive. In this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, Chloë sheds light on the generational shifts that have prolonged adolescence, and how many of us encounter our...

The question of what makes a life well-lived is at the heart of Alex Whitton’s work, both as a coach and as the CEO of a charity that supports young people to realise their potential. In this episode of the Coach’s Journey Podcast, Alex tells Robbie about the story of his career so far, from studying at Oxford University, to his volunteer work with young people, to running a social enterprise and then deciding to become a coach. He describes how he emerged from a mindset of scarcity into...

Jo Wright admits she had to get her dad’s permission before deciding on No More Sh*t Managers: Seven Steps to a Coaching Culture as the title of her book. Thankfully he agreed and the book has made Jo a bestselling Amazon UK author as her message about the power of a coaching culture spreads to people and organisations around the world. In this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, Jo tells host Alex Swallow about the foundational experiences in early life that instilled her with a belief...

When Alex Swallow sees people doing great work, he experiences an almost evangelical urge to help bring others into connection with that work. His ability to do just that, and to boldly spread the reach of ideas, initiatives and projects worth championing, led him to become The Influence Expert – a coach and thought leader who helps individuals, companies and institutions to grow and deepen their impact on the world. Alex is also one of the new hosts of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, and this...

This episode is sponsored by Heyday: https://heyday.xyz/ New developments in artificial intelligence make the news headlines so often that many people – including coaches and their clients – are wondering just how AI advances will affect their jobs, their careers and their lives. In this sponsored episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, AI expert Samiur Rahman offers a rare insight into the way machine learning is shaping the future of coaching by fuelling the creation of tools that can save...

Despite being told that one day coaching would lead her to burn out, Katie Harvey has discovered that the opposite is true: coaching gives her energy. Now into her third decade as a coach, Katie has carefully honed a practice that enriches her life and allows her to express her core values through her work, and in this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, she explains how she did it. Katie reflects on how coaching has helped her to move beyond a binary view of the world in order to sit...

Joey Owen is a coach whose unique gifts allow her to connect with the humanity of her clients. Joey ’s formative training in drama and in theatre for development instilled her with the ability to unlock people’s innate creativity and confidence. With that skill she has enriched the lives around the world, helping individuals, organisations and communities to thrive. Joey is part of the new team of hosts at The Coach’s Journey Podcast, but in this episode she answers Robbie’s questions about...

Coaching found Julie Starr without her looking for it, and she started to practice coaching before she knew what it was. As a project manager of large-scale change initiatives in big organisations, Julie was someone who people naturally turned to with problems ­– often complex, personal matters that required care and attention to their inner world. Julie acquired skills to enhance her ability to perform this role; tools like neuro-linguistic programming helped her to navigate one-to-one...

Neil Mackinnon describes himself as a curious human, and his curiosity has guided him throughout a remarkable career in which he has been immersed in creative projects, surrounded by creative people, and focussed on creative potential. Crucially, he has also spent a great deal of his life listening and being truly present to what has occurred around him, and these qualities aided a sense of catharsis and newfound aliveness when he first experienced coaching. Neil is one of the new hosts of...

What do we do when faced with big decisions about the future? How do we get in touch with our intuition and trust in the choices we make? The Coach’s Journey Podcast has been at a crossroads and in this episode Robbie announces some exciting new developments that will shape its future. He also introduces some very special guests, who are not just guests! These guests – Neil Mackinnon, Joey Owen, Ruth Saville, Alex Swallow and Alex Whitton – are in fact the new team of hosts who will be...

Every coach has a human story, and these stories contain the wisdom, vulnerability and invaluable lessons that inform our work. In this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, Claire Pedrick and Lucia Baldelli share some of the human stories that have shaped their lives and careers, leading them to become Master Certified Coaches and co-authors of a powerful new book. That book is The Human Behind The Coach, and it’s about the inner work we need to do to cultivate a simpler practice and to...

When Toku McCree first learned his purpose, he wondered where it had come from and who had said it—even though he was alone with his thoughts when it came to him. He describes in this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast how that particular thought, when it arrived, felt “untouchable” and instilled in him the purpose that now guides him through his life and work. Toku spent more than two-and-a-half years living in a monastery, and insights from his former life as a Zen monk permeate his...

Imagine being able use your skills, expertise and resources in a way that makes the world a better place, while meeting all of your own needs as well. It is a bold, brave goal and one that Sarah Fox, founder and CEO of Do Good and Do Well has put at the very centre of her work as an EMCC accredited coach, mentor, teacher, trainer and facilitator. In this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, Sarah shares the personal and professional experiences that shaped her vision for a company that...

As a self-described introvert, it was a surprise to Susana Gonçalves when she found her calling in coaching. In our conversation in episode #52 of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, Susana explains how she experienced “an awakening” that led her forward from her background in IT, engineering and finance. When the organisation she worked for invested in team coaching, Susana witnessed first-hand the evolution of her colleagues as they worked with a coach, inspiring her to invest in her own...

Matt Thieleman admits that for many years he “wholeheartedly dismissed” the coaching industry. He also says he denied an important part of himself. Now, as the author of This Is Coaching and a renowned transformational coach, visionary and featured TEDx speaker on the topic of mindful leadership, Matt is adept at identifying when people and organisations have shut off vital parts of themselves. In this episode Matt talks frankly about the barriers he had to overcome to allow the hidden...

Heart-based leadership is an approach to solving problems, building relationships and creating flow that expert practitioner Marie Reig Florensa uses to transform individuals, teams and organisations. In this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, Marie describes how, during 15 years as a producer on live television shows, she became adept at living in the moment and honed her intuition as she navigated the “big live opera” of broadcasting. Marie shares her journey of self discovery and...

Many of us live out our lives while tied to our careers, our homes, our families and our friends. This can be joyous, but for some it is stifling. Ray Martin lived that life and achieved great success, even being named Daily Telegraph Business Leader of the Year in 2002 as the CEO of a company that developed business leaders. But when his personal life changed dramatically, he realised his work was not making him happy and he set out on a mission to discover his authentic self. Now, as the...

Bill Small’s voice is a powerful creative tool that has been creating songs and conversations throughout his life as a professional musician, entrepreneur and business coach. In this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, Bill describes the challenge of blending his passions for music and conversation in order to create the life he wanted, highlighting key shifts in his mindset that enabled a balance to emerge. During 35 years of performing and playing music and 20 years helping small...

Lindsey Lewis was a sensitive child. “The one crying about the bird that fell out of the nest,” as she puts it. Her intimate connection to living things was a challenge early in her life, but in this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast she describes how she harnessed the power of her sensitivity to become a passionate, brave and creative coach. Throughout her life as a magazine editor, communications consultant and now as the owner of a thriving coaching business, she has always taught...

Henrietta Nelson has always been interested in people’s minds. She describes how, during a decade spent working as a solicitor specialising in insurance litigation, she would study her colleagues’ faces, observing their drives and motivations. After a friend recommended a two-day course at The Coaching Academy, Henrietta felt the pieces begin to fall into place. Becoming a coach has given Henrietta fresh perspective. In this episode she talks about facing down feelings of impatience, and...

In this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, I invited a true master of the art of listening to interview me about my own journey and the transformations that have happened – and continue to happen – along the way. Raquel Ark, the founder of listening ALCHEMY, deftly opens up a conversation in which I share what it was like to realise that my life was not what I wanted it to be, and how the pain of that realisation prompted me to look at uncomfortable things. I now know that an...

Claire Pedrick was speaking at the ICF Conference in 2019 when a publisher approached her and said: “Have you got a book in you?” That book is Simplifying Coaching, and in it Claire offers a rallying cry for filtering out the noise of the coaching industry and honing in on the very human essence of transformative conversations. In this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, Claire traces the steps that led her into a burgeoning coaching landscape around the turn of the century and reflects...

How can we be free to do the work we love? This is the fundamental question at the heart of my conversation with coach, community builder and eternal adventurer Allegra Stein, who is navigating a crucial turning point in her multifaceted career. Following on from our first conversation on the podcast, in this episode Allegra and I tackle an issue faced by coaches at all levels: how to stay creative and uphold your values while carving out a viable business. After more than a decade in...

Jennifer Garvey Berger has a new book out, called Unleash Your Complexity Genius. It is the fourth published work by the co-founder and CEO of Cultivating Leadership, and when she says that her books are getting shorter there is a sense that it's because she's honing in on the rich essence of her life's work. In this episode of The Coach's Journey Podcast, Jennifer and I share a conversation that traverses adult developmental theory, complexity, vulnerability, and the transformative power...