Starting out

  • With a free 25 minute conversation. No pitch, no obligation. It’s how we work out, together, whether this is the right fit before anything is agreed.

  • A straightforward chat, not an assessment. I’ll ask what’s brought you to get in touch, you can ask me anything you want to know, and by the end we’ll both have a clearer sense of whether to go ahead. If it’s not the right fit, I’ll say so plainly, and that’s a perfectly good outcome too.

About coaching

  • Not mentoring, not motivational talk. Coaching is a structured conversation aimed at your own thinking, not mine. It helps you see a situation more clearly and decide what you actually want to do about it. I bring the structure and the questions. You bring the expertise on your own life.

  • A mentor or consultant often gives you their answer, drawing on their own experience or expertise. A coach works differently. I’m not telling you what I’d do in your position. I’m helping you think through what’s actually right in yours.

    Coaching is also not therapy. It isn’t a clinical or therapeutic relationship, and it doesn’t treat psychological conditions. It’s a disciplined thinking space for people who already function well and want to think more clearly under pressure. If something you’re carrying needs clinical support, I’ll say so directly, and coaching isn’t a substitute for that.

  • If you’re functioning well but something feels off and you can’t quite name it, that’s usually the right moment, not the wrong one. Coaching isn’t for emergencies. It’s for people who want to think more clearly before things get to that point.

  • I’ll tell you.

    Not every situation suits coaching, and not every coach suits every person. If either of those is true after we talk, I’d rather say so plainly than take you on anyway. That’s not a failed conversation. It’s a useful one.

About me

  • I qualified as a veterinary surgeon with first class honours from University College Dublin in 2004, and spent the years since working across mixed, emergency and critical care, and small animal practice, before moving into veterinary public health and regulatory work with the Irish civil service.

    I hold an MSc in One Health, awarded with distinction from the University of Edinburgh in 2023, a Professional Diploma in Coaching and Mentoring and a Professional Diploma in Team Coaching from Kingstown College, and further training in Train the Trainer methodology and Universal Design for Learning, and a certification in Women’s Brain Health and Neurobiology through the ICF-accredited “In Her Head” programme.

    Over twenty years working inside regulated systems is where this work actually comes from.

  • I’ve lived inside the systems I work on: veterinary practice, regulatory leadership, public sector roles. I also researched this directly, through dissertation work with Irish veterinary professionals. The thinking here isn’t borrowed.

  • Direct rather than soft. We start from where you actually are, not where you think you should be. I’ll ask you things you might not have asked yourself, and I won’t tell you what you want to hear if it isn’t true.

  • A few strands run through the work.

    Reflective practice and ethical reasoning, since most of what people bring me is a question about how to act well under real constraint, not just how to feel better about it.

    Adult development theory, which gives language for how people actually grow and change at this stage of a career, rather than assuming everyone develops the same way.

    Narrative identity, how people construct and revise the story of who they are, especially at points of transition, when the old story stops fitting and the new one hasn’t formed yet.

    Appreciative inquiry, starting from what’s working and what’s possible, rather than only from what’s gone wrong.

Practical terms

  • Four sessions is the usual starting point. Some people need longer, some find four is enough to get real clarity. We’ll talk about pacing honestly as we go, rather than committing you to more than makes sense upfront.

  • Individual coaching runs over video. Team and organisational coaching can be delivered either online or in person at your own premises, whichever suits your team better, although I find in-person team coaching can typically be more effective.

  • I don’t publish fees on the website. I share them in our first conversation, so you can decide with the full picture. For organisations, each engagement is quoted individually.

  • Payment for the first session is requested at the time of booking.

    After that, an invoice is sent following each session, payable within five working days, by bank transfer or Revolut.

  • I ask for 48 hours’ notice to cancel or move a session. The full details are in my terms and conditions.

  • What’s discussed stays between us. The limits are anything the law or safety requires, and I explain them before we begin. For team and group work, the limits are agreed with the organisation before the first session, and my preferred approach is that nothing confidential goes back beyond broad themes that emerge.

    If you’re in a regulated profession and weighing up whether seeking coaching says something about you, it doesn’t. It’s a normal part of how experienced professionals think through a difficult stretch of their career.

Not seeing your question? Get in touch and I’ll answer it directly.