A warm, evidence-informed coach helping thoughtful professionals find clarity, build self-trust, and move forward with confidence.
I listen for what
you haven't said yet.
About Jo
Background & training
The experience behind the conversation.
I bring together academic research, professional training, industry and leadership experience, and a genuine investment in the people I work with. Here's what's in the room when we work together.
Psychology & positive psychology
8+ years of academic study and research in positive psychology and wellbeing science. This underpins how I listen, what I notice, and how I understand behaviour and change.
PhD research — belonging & identity
Currently completing a PhD exploring belonging, education and digital life. The questions at the heart of my research — who we are, where we fit — are the same questions that come up in coaching.
ACC-level coach training
Trained to Associate Certified Coach level through an ICF-accredited programme. Coaching is a structured discipline — not just a conversation — and I take that seriously.
Leadership & workplace experience
15+ years of industry experience across leadership, facilitation, and workplace learning. I understand organisations, teams, and the particular pressures of being a professional.
why i do this work
I've always been drawn
to what's underneath.
For as long as I can remember, I've been interested in people — not just what they say, but what they mean. The gap between the two has always fascinated me. What are they actually feeling? What's the pattern running underneath this? What do they know but haven't found words for yet?
That interest led me to study psychology, and then positive psychology and wellbeing. It took me into leadership, facilitation and workplace learning. And it eventually brought me to coaching — where I get to spend my days doing exactly that work with the people who need it most.
I work with professionals who are thoughtful, capable, and often quietly struggling in ways they can't quite articulate. They're functioning well on the outside. Inside, they're navigating something harder: a career that no longer fits, a leadership role that feels uncomfortable, a life that looks right on paper but doesn't feel right in practice.
What I do — and what I love about this work — is help people make the implicit explicit. Once you can name what's really going on, everything shifts. And once you pair that clarity with a practical plan you actually believe in, moving forward stops feeling so hard.
how i work
Warm. Rigorous. Always practical.
I don't have a fixed formula and I don't impose answers. Every session is shaped by what you bring. But there are a few things that are always true about how I work.
I listen for the pattern, not just the problem
Most people come to coaching with a presenting issue, a decision, a transition, a feeling of being stuck. Underneath that is usually something more interesting. I listen for it, name it when I find it, and together we decide what to do with it.
I work with you, not at you
Coaching isn't advice-giving. I don't tell you who you are or what to do. But I do ask questions that help you see things more clearly, reflect back what I'm hearing, and partner with you to figure out what you actually think and want. The answers are yours. I just help you find them.
We always leave with something real
Self-awareness on its own isn't enough. Every session ends with a clear takeaway: an insight, a decision, an action. Something concrete you can take forward. My clients often describe this as one of the most valuable parts of working together.
I bring the research, not the jargon
My approach is grounded in psychology, positive psychology and wellbeing science. But you'll never hear me talk like a textbook. The academic background informs how I listen and what I notice. It stays in the background so you stay in the foreground.
A career transition or change of direction
The tension between ambition and authenticity
Competing expectations from work, family and self
Stepping into or growing within a leadership role
Parenthood and the identity shifts it brings
A sense of being stuck without knowing quite why
is this right for you?
Coaching works best when you're ready to look honestly at what's going on.
I work best with people who are self-aware, curious, and genuinely ready to reflect, not those who just want to be told what to do. You don't need to have it all figured out before we start. You just need to be willing to explore.
My clients tend to be thoughtful professionals in their 30s to 50s, often navigating one or more of the following:
"Jo's direction and guidance in making sure the sessions had clear goals with key takeouts and outcomes was what I personally found most useful. I tend to go off on tangents, so it was helpful having Jo steer the sessions — especially in a way that made space for what I wanted to say but also guided us towards a tangible take-out. The way Jo linked what I was saying to these insights was very impressive."
Bec — career transition, two sessions
Work with Jo
If something here resonated,
that's a good sign.
The free clarity call is a 15–20 minute conversation — no obligation, no hard sell.
We'll talk through what you're navigating, and together we'll work out whether coaching with me is the right next step.