Inspired by Female Founders Rise

I was inspired to write this after completing the Female Founders Rise survey for The Rise Report — a brilliant project shining a light on women building businesses that make a difference.

The report will be published in January 2026, and there’s still time to take part. If you’re a female founder in the UK, I’d really encourage you to complete the survey and share your story. The more voices included, the more powerful and representative the report will be.

Filling it in made me reflect on my own journey and why I started, what I’ve learned and what still needs to change if we truly want to see women flourish in business.

So, here’s my story:

I was on Peta O'Brien-Day's The Soap Box podcast recently, and honestly, it was one of those conversations that left me buzzing for days. You know when someone asks you a question and suddenly everything you've been thinking about for years becomes clearer? That's what happened.

Peta asked me what gets me fired up, what makes me rant - and I said: I'm tired of watching people with everything do nothing, while people with nothing give everything.

I once had a conversation with a coach who said -

‘I've been coaching for three years, but I still feel like I'm winging it sometimes. I worry I'm not as good as I should be by now and when challenging situations come up with clients, I feel completely alone. I don’t know what I should do.’

Here's what struck me about her words: she wasn't lacking skill or dedication. She was lacking something that should be fundamental to every coach's practice but can often get overlooked entirely.

When Claire and I first began developing our leadership coaching training programme in late 2023, I knew it would be both super exciting and challenging. Our vision was ambitious: create a 5-day leadership development programme where leaders could immediately implement coaching skills while building on their existing experience. But it was a big undertaking as this wasn't our only work.

Wondering if coaching is right for you? This blog explains what coaching is, how it works, the different types of coaching available, and the benefits it can offer. Whether you're feeling stuck, facing change or simply want more clarity and purpose, find out how to choose the right coach and what to expect from the process.

Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by the problems you're trying to solve, blamed others for making things worse or found yourself constantly stepping in to fix things for people? Sounds familiar? You may be caught in the drama triangle.

As a change maker, you’re driven by a desire to make the world a better place but in the pursuit of positive change, it’s easy to fall into patterns of communication and behaviour that drain your energy and hold you back from fulfilling your mission. One of the most common traps is the drama triangle.