a bit of a read …

meeting Arianna

In June 1979 I participated in my first personal development seminar (Insight 1) which had been brought to the UK by Arianna Stassinopoulos (now Arianna Huffington of the Huff Post and Thrive Global). 

I met Arianna in January 1979 when a colleague of mine drove her and me to a ‘Women in Management’ event she was presenting at (my colleague had organised the event).  On the way we got chatting and she told me about her spiritual practices and her teacher.  She invited me to come to a group meditation evening in her home – she lived a short walk from my offices. 

the power of meditation

That meditation evening was pivotal for me – I experienced a deep ‘coming home’ inside myself.  My life didn’t change but my relationship with it did.  I went every Thursday night after that and decided to sign up for the first UK Insight Seminar which was organised by people studying with the same spiritual teacher. 

my first personal development experience

The Insight seminar was truly transformational.  I saw myself, the world, and everyone in it differently.  My heart opened to the living loving energy that flowed through it and that united us all.  I connected to a sense of purpose and knew I’d found a vocational direction.

working in mental health

I left my work in the plastics industry and took a position in Mental Health working at a day-care centre serving clients with long-term diagnoses who lived within the community. I was there for a few years and was promoted to Deputy Manager. It was a very fulfilling time for me.

becoming an Insight facilitator

I participated in as many personal development experiences as I could, embarked on numerous training programmes to develop my practitioner skills, and eventually trained to lead facilitate Insight Seminars – Insight 1, 2, and 3. 

coaching senior advertising executives & teams

In the early 90’s Insight became popular with senior advertising managers and creatives. Several of them asked me if I would work with them and their teams. Working at senior level in organisations – especially within a creative industry, was fun, stretched me, and had a potent impact beyond the people I was coaching.  It was exciting to be at the forefront of a new kind of development for people at work – back then, coaching in organisations wasn’t an offering yet.

horses, dogs, cats & leaders

Between the years of 2,000 and 2012 I added another dimension to my coaching practice.  My ex-husband was a ‘natural horsemanship’ practitioner. We lived and worked on a beautiful 20-acre Kent property and often brought our herd of horses, pack of Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs, and our farm cats together with my leadership clients.  Animals respond to what happens inside humans.  We ran many events that included interacting with the animal systems resulting in powerful insights for human participants.

virtually global

Prior to the pandemic, I conducted more and more coaching via video conferencing which enabled me to easily work globally with individuals and teams. These days a lot of my work is online.

wholeness & spiritual perspective in today’s world

My background in deep personal development with a spiritual perspective seems more and more relevant now as we all learn to navigate increasing uncertainty and instability in the world and in the market place. I believe it’s crucial for leaders to show up as whole human beings, with presence, compassion and vision.

discovering IFS

Several years ago, I discovered Internal Family Systems (IFS), and something clicked. Here was a seemingly simple, deeply compassionate model that brought together so much of what I had been exploring throughout my life and work.

IFS has since become central to how I work, both therapeutically in my private practice and in my transformational coaching with individuals, groups, leaders and teams. I love how it can bring clarity and calm in the midst of complexity — within ourselves, our relationships and the wider world.

In many ways, it feels less like another method I have added to my work and more like a framework that brings together much of what I have learned along the way.

doing my own work

Although I’ve undertaken a great deal of professional training, some of my deepest education has come through living my own life.

I grew up in a second-generation immigrant family, carrying some of the fears and protective patterns inherited from my Jewish family history (when my grandparents fled Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia at the turn of the century). Alongside much love, I absorbed messages about staying safe, not standing out and sometimes hiding parts of who I naturally was.

Life has brought its share of trauma, loss, difficult relationships and profound uncertainty. These experiences have taken me deeply into my own psychological, emotional and spiritual work — understanding the parts of me that learned to protect, adapt and hide, and gently reclaiming more of who I am.

That work continues. I don’t believe self-awareness means we avoid the challenges of being human. It gives us more capacity to meet them with compassion, courage and choice.

Doing my own work is fundamental to how I accompany others. I know something of this territory from the inside — including the ongoing journey of coming home to yourself.