Welcome.
I’m a career and leadership coach helping people to grow and transform their career, their relationships and lives. Witnessing people take charge, find choice, access their talent and become more confident and excited about their lives, is why I do this.
Coaching is a personal journey of knowing yourself, your values and patterns as well as managing that inner voice, so that you get more out of life for you, your work and your family. My coaching is neuroscience and NLP-based and informed by polyvagal theory.
Before coaching I worked for decades as a Strategist in Marketing Agencies on brands including Microsoft, Specsavers, Lloyds Banking Group, Renault, John Lewis, SSE, Citibank and Hendrick’s Gin.
I’m committed to learning and improving my practice in service of my clients. I am certified by the ICF, trained and certified by arguably the gold standard in coaching – CTI. I am also a Firework Career certified coach and an NLP Master Practitioner.
Who I work with.
Career Coaching
People often come to me feeling stuck. They know the career they don’t want but not the one they do want. Others have a clearer idea—they want to shape the direction of their career or find ways to make their current job fit their needs better. I also work with people facing redundancy, helping them navigate their next move—whether that’s finding a new role, starting something of their own, or stepping into retirement with confidence and clarity.
Leadership Coaching
I work with ambitious mid-level and senior leaders on all kinds of goals—whether it’s getting clearer on their own leadership style, handling tricky relationships, shaping the culture they want, managing their recent promotion or motivating their team to be more effective. Sometimes, they just need a sounding board to help them think things through. Leadership can be a lonely place, and having the right support can make all the difference
How I came to coach.
I always enjoyed my work, and I knew my colleagues and clients were a big part of that. Their stories, our collaboration, getting familiar with our working styles and how we grew together as a team. That set me alight. Over time I became increasingly aware that something needed to change. There was something missing, and I couldn’t ignore it any longer.
I wanted to work with people more deeply, to support them in a more meaningful way. I also craved more freedom in my day - the ability to move, step away from screens, and have greater variety and flexibility. That desire led me to coaching - a career shift that has given me all of that, along with a deep sense of fulfilment.
Beyond coaching.
I live in North London with my husband Jeff. When I’m not working I’ll be on my bike, or getting close to nature, travelling, being with friends or whirring away on my sewing machine with deep joy and lots of swear words.
What clients say…
“Looking back, I should have changed careers years ago. It had run its course. But I couldn’t see an alternative, so I stuck with it. Shivaun challenged the assumptions that stopped me moving. But more importantly, she dug right into what I really want and what I would enjoy. I was a lawyer. I’m now transitioning to academia. I didn’t realise how much I dreaded going to work until I made the change. It’s a whole new world.”
“I resigned because I wanted more meaning from my work. My boss introduced me to Shivaun. Through coaching, I realised that I could bring my own pro bono client into the agency and that satisfied me completely. But I didn’t see that possibility in the first place. Get a coach!”
“Shivaun is a very calm and thoughtful coach who very effectively guided me through topics I bought to discuss. This enabled me to approach and think about them in ways I hadn’t before and have clear actions and goals at the end of each session. She’s also a great listener and I felt very valued throughout the sessions. I have come away with new perspectives about myself and how I can move forward with my career. Thank you!”
“I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started coaching sessions but I have found that Shivaun’s empathy, understanding and ability to ask the right questions at the right time, have got me thinking about my issue in ways I didn’t think possible. I would highly recommend getting in contact with Shivaun if there is something bothering you. Talking it through and looking at the situation from different angles worked for me. A first rate coach!”
“Coaching with Shivaun has been invaluable in helping me tap into and channel my own resources. I have clearly defined my goals and have a vision for what I want to achieve. Working with her I’m developing the tools to get past the barriers when I get stuck and overcome my limiting beliefs. Her style is warm and supportive but what I really like is that sessions are targeted, directly address the issues and I walk away with actionable next steps to keep up my momentum.”
“Shivaun has helped me navigate life at a time of significant stress, and as I was making a big change to my life. Coaching with Shivaun has given me the space to reflect, remind myself of what is most important and feel more confident about my choices. Shivaun is a great listener, asks challenging questions and is not afraid to explore challenging topics, whilst at the same time being incredibly supportive and warm.”
“Shivaun has a gentle, inquisitive, thoughtful coaching approach which helps to draw out feelings and emotions, as well as focus on positive steps to move a situation forwards. She is empathetic and non-judgmental, and draws on a range of different coaching skills and techniques. Working with Shivaun has helped me to explore the deeper side of a number of issues and to look at things with a different perspective”
“The discoveries I have made during coaching with Shivaun have fundamentally changed how I achieve what I want. I’ve become aware of some obstacles that were stopping me and that alone has made many of them disappear. Coaching has brought me more clarity and acceptance and shown me where I was wasting energy. I’ve now re-established my goals while being true to my personal values.”
“I was quite ‘stuck’ with a particular issue that I just couldn’t resolve, despite talking it through with friends, at length. I just couldn’t ‘move on’. Until I started coaching with Shivaun. Oh my goodness, I have had an epiphany. She’s given me a magic carpet and helped me to fly. I can’t stop smiling, and there’s been a sea-change in my dealing with the problem that everyone has noticed, and the problem has not now just been addressed, but I’ve moved away from it and onwards, at speed. ”
“Shivaun showed patience, integrity and a lot of empathy but not so much that it felt insincere and she was just playing lip service to me.
There were a lot of ‘a-ha’ moments for me which were uncomfortable, confronting and liberating. Shivaun helped me navigate through these and let me work out what was important and most importantly how to quieten my saboteurs when they reared their ugly heads.
I would highly recommend Shivaun as a life coach.”