Nicky Marr Coaching was established in early summer 2020. It was clear that most of our working patterns and family lives were being impacted by lockdown, working from home, home-schooling and anxieties about our own health and the well-being of others, and my own business – primarily in the area of event hosting, freelance writing and editing and PR – was also impacted. It made sense for me to sharpen the skills I’d acquired during my coaching training and practice since 2015, and offer sessions working with clients 1-2-1 online, at times to fit in with their family and work commitments, and my own.
Since launching formally in August 2020 the response and upturn in business has been both phenomenal and gratifying. Clients who were struggling to find their purpose during periods of furlough, struggling to achieve perspective through increased anxiety, and finding it hard to reinforce their own boundaries between work and pleasure when working from home, were guided by the coaching process to achieve their own solutions in these extraordinary times.
Company managers allowed themselves to ‘let go’ of their perceived lack of control over staff who were working from home; NHS staff were helped to compartmentalise and process just how difficult these times were for them, and to show themselves the kindness they needed to keep going when there seemed to be no end to the pressure.
And some clients came to me for entirely non-pandemic related reasons; they were seeking a new professional direction, struggling to find a way forward following bereavement, or generally feeling ‘stuck’ and dissatisfied. With a will to open up, be honest about their thoughts and feelings, and commit to finding a better solution, they are all finding increased confidence, self-esteem and purpose. The success is theirs, but it’s a privilege to walk alongside them as they find their new paths. Coaching might be the best thing I have ever done in my varied career; it feels like I have finally found my niche.
I am pleased to feature as Member of the Week because I feel there are misconceptions about what coaching is.
I don’t mentor, although I may occasionally offer advice if I have direct experience that I think would be useful to you.
I don’t pretend to know all the answers. You know your business, your personal life, and your challenges far better than I do, and I firmly believe that with the right coaching from me, you’ll find your own solutions.
I don’t seek your friendship, although that may naturally follow. I’m there in service of your personal and professional development.
What I do is listen – I really listen, and I question. I’ll hold you to account. I’ll question your motives. I’ll be a non-judgemental, confidential sounding board. I’ll create a safe space in which you can explore what’s really going on for you.
It might be that we’ll do a deep-dive into your past to work out the origins of the self-limiting beliefs that are getting in the way of you achieving your potential. It might be that I’ll ask you to visualise a future in which all your current obstacles have been overcome. I’ll never overstep the mark and push you into uncomfortable corners, although I may invite you to explore their contents when you feel ready.
My training has been intense, and deep, and has spanned six years. I have worked with individuals and groups for hundreds of hours, and I have thirty-five years of life as an adult in both corporate, creative and freelance environments upon which to draw.
My training is also continuous – this summer I will qualify as a specialist Transformational Coach, helping clients to make the changes to the deep-rooted learned behaviours that we all unwittingly adopt, often from childhood. I work with a highly-experienced mentor/supervisor and have established a network of UK-wide coaches for continual peer support and the sharing of best and new practice.
Coaching has changed my life, both through being coached to achieve clarity about the direction I wished to follow, and in the deep satisfaction it gives me to witness the changes in my clients. It’s my wish to share my knowledge of it with members of Inverness Chamber of Commerce so they can understand more about the process (which is still relatively new in Scotland!) and to offer them the opportunity to try it for themselves.
To that end, I am offering the first five Chamber members who contact me the opportunity for a free hour-long session, if they feel they would benefit from coaching, would like to learn more about it for their organisation, or feel they would like to introduce it within their organisation.
What have you got to lose?
Contact me at nicky@nickymarrcoaching.co.uk
Find out more at https://www.lifecoach-directory.org.uk/lifecoaches/nicky-marr