Liane-Louise Coaching
Journeys into the Woods
I’m an executive, narrative and identity coach and use the power of stories to help my clients navigate significant life and career transitions.
Stories are a fundamental part of being human. Listening to them, understanding them, and helping people to reshape them is what drives my work as a professional coach. As classic storytelling tells us, transformation happens when we enter the woods and confront the obstacles we find there.
My focus is on narrative transformation and identity change, supporting my clients to understand who they are now and who they want to become. I particularly work with those who are navigating professional or personal challenges in the shadow of loss, such as the death of a loved one, the end of a significant relationship, the deterioration of their health, or after retirement or a job loss.
Through compassionate and creative collaboration, I work alongside my clients, guiding them through challenges and uncertainty, to help them write the next chapter of their story, and find their way out of the woods.
WRITING STORIES - SHAPING IDENTITIES - CRAFTING CHANGE
Liane-Louise
With over 25 years’ experience in the creative industries, I understand the power of stories. We cannot live without them. They form the narratives we tell ourselves, about our careers, our identities, our futures, and become the foundation of how we move through the world.
But every good story has its challenges. At some point, all protagonists find themselves troubled by uncertainty or facing tests that feel overwhelming. Times when the path disappears, when loss rewrites everything we thought we knew about ourselves, or when the professional or personal identity we've built feels suddenly fragile or irrelevant. In these moments, we must journey into the woods.
Maybe you're an executive navigating grief while trying to maintain your leadership presence. Perhaps a career transition has left you questioning your next chapter. Or a personal crisis or loss has you wondering how to integrate this experience into your professional story without losing everything you've worked to build. If this is the case, I can help.
My role as a coach is to venture into the woods with you; to help you overcome the trials you’re facing and paticularly navigate the challenges that have been deepened by a personal loss. Together we will work to shape your own individual story and reach the other side of the woods where transformation occurs.
My style of coaching is conversational and creative and I approach all my sessions with compassion, empathy, curiosity, patience, and fun. I see my coaching as a collaboration where my role is to question, constructively challenge, and open up a space that will allow you to think things through, approach the situation from a different angle, and find the solution and story that is best for you.
The woods can be navigated. The path forward can be found. I am here to help you find it.
THE RED HAT
On one very memorable trip to Paris, I bought a striking red hat. I am not known for wearing hats and I had not set out that day to buy one. However, the big red, floppy hat screamed French summer chic and suited me well. I’d never owned such a hat before and I was enjoying the drama of it. It also, coincidentally, seemed to go with everything in my wardrobe which made it the perfect hat in practical ways too.
However, it soon became clear that this was no ordinary hat. Heading out into Paris, with all its many possibilities, something magical happened. When I put on the red hat, I became a different person. Confidence oozed from me, and I felt as if I could take on the world. All of my usual insecurities fell away. I was suddenly the woman with the fabulous, big red hat. The hat had given me magical powers. That night there was no stopping me. I met interesting people, danced with strangers, and fell in love with a handsome Tunisian man. The world was bright and exciting, and full of possibilities. Nothing could hold me back. It was an incredible night, and it all started with the red hat, which was quickly and appropriately renamed Le Chapeau Magique.
The truth is, the hat was just a hat. Gorgeous and red and stylish, for sure, but it wasn’t magical. But it gave me a different perspective and opened up that night to all the beauty of the world. We all need a magic hat. A lot of life, is the exact opposite of the magic hat moments. It is full of loss and grief and disillusionment. Amidst the dark times, we must remember that magic hat moments will come. Perhaps for you they will be a certain meal shared with loved ones or camping in the rain, or dancing bare foot in the kitchen. Perhaps you will also find your magic hat. For all the losses we face, both big and small, there are red hat moments that can be found and celebrated in between.
I often think of life as “a million little deaths” because it feels as though there are a million losses, big and small to navigate. But in French, a little death means something all together more joyous, and is therefore the perfect expression to also capture the fun and positive moments that bring pleasure rather than pain. I urge everyone to find the joyful moments that balance out the harder times. We just have to be open to seeing them. The world, after all, is full of magic hats!
TESTIMONIALS
“I always feel calmer, clearer, and more confident after a coaching session with Liane-Louise. She has coached me through numerous personal and professional challenges, changes, and crises.
She has a unique and powerful combination of intellect, compassion and humour. I love how she always has a quote or book reference to share at the appropriate moment. I leave every session wiser.
The moment you meet Liane-Louise you know she’s 100% on your team and won’t let you off the hook if there’s a difficult question to be asked. The best kind of coach.”
— Lucy Mullins, Co-Founder StepLadder and Ride the Wave
“I gained a huge amount of insight into my own behaviours and beliefs and was pointed to really useful and practical exercises that enabled me to identify my values and priorities in a way I hadn’t been able to before. The approaches Liane-Louise proposed and insights she provided were really thoughtful and she was collaborative in working through my options to determine practical steps I could take to begin making progress towards my next goals.I thoroughly enjoyed working with Liane-Louise and know that I wouldn’t have made the career progress I have without her support. I would highly recommend her coaching skills. ”
— Katherine Wells, Senior Management Consultant, Accenture
“Before starting with Liane-Louise I had some idea about coaching and how it helps people but I was shocked by how much Liane-Louise was able to get to the root of my issues very quickly! Her listening skills are incredible and her attention to vocabulary used was so helpful in helping me to look more deeply at some deep rooted beliefs about myself.
Since working with Liane-Louise I can honestly say she has changed my life and approach to showing up with confidence in the work place in a way I could never have imagined, I have been working at it myself for years. That only took 3 sessions! I will be seeing Liane-Louise for sessions as and when things arise for me going forwards. I cannot thank her enough. She really is an incredible coach.”
- Carrie Ann Stevens, Founder, Mind Body Balance Academy CIC
“Being coached by Liane-Louise has been an incredibly valuable experience. She creates a professional and supportive space where I feel safe to think, talk openly, and explore areas I hadn’t considered before. Liane-Louise challenges me in ways that encourage me to step out of my comfort zone and, with her support, I’ve explored concepts I never thought possible. Her meaningful questions and calm, confident presence have helped me navigate some significant personal and professional transitions with clarity and courage. I’m deeply grateful for her guidance and for having met a coach who brings both encouragement and challenge in equal measure. Liane-Louise is a tremendous coach”
— Frenchie Justin-French, Head of Markets Reporting & Analytics, J.P. Morgan
Get In Touch!
If you’re interested in working with me or curious to know more about how I can help, please drop me a line to arrange a free introductory call.
“…the great work before us is to learn to understand what around and about us and what within us must live, and what must die. Our work is to apprehend the timing of both; to allow what must die to die, and what must live to live…”
- Women Who Run With the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estes
“Wintering is a season in the cold. It is a fallow period in life when you're cut off from the world, feeling rejected, sidelined, blocked from progress, or cast in the role of an outsider...Perhaps you're in a period of transistion, and have temporarily fallen between two worlds...Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible”
– Wintering, Katherine May
“There are no truths. Only stories” - Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water