testimonials

“I worked with Cathy with a view to establishing better clarity of my ‘Purpose’ and thankfully that was achieved. However, beyond that I gained so much more value through the dialogue we had on the journey to achieving the above. She is an exceptional listener (at so many levels) and I am left feeling a high sense of energy and inspiration from the work we have done together. I would give the highest recommendation possible to working with Cathy!”

Colin Williams, Partner at DWDG LLP

“Cathy led a fantastic retreat that I attended. It was well designed, brilliantly delivered and having it delivered remotely meant it fitted well into my other commitments. It was well worth the investment; I found the exercises to be insightful and thought-provoking. They absolutely helped me to get clarity on the challenges and direction I want to take. I would definitely recommend Cathy’s work to others.”

Cat Tarbuck, Global Talent Development Manager, Robert Walters

“I have seen and admired Cathy’s work in practice a few times, so my expectations were high when I enrolled to her ‘Finding My Purpose’ masterclass. I was not disappointed! Cathy managed to combine deep knowledge of the subject with amazing elegance of delivery – something that I rarely come across, so we all learnt a lot in just one day, but felt energised after hours of work and hungry for more. The other beautiful mix that characterises Cathy’s work – deep insights and reflection are intertwined with really practical tools; I was able to surface my core values, spark some new thoughts, but also learn what to do in clients’ sessions and practice to gain confidence. So thanks to Cathy’s Masterclass, I reconnected with My Purpose and am now looking forward to help my clients to work on Theirs.”

Anna Slocombe, Career Coach, Facilitator and Leadership Development Consultant

“I attended ‘Re-Discovering Your Best Self’ Stay at Home Retreat designed and delivered by Cathy and Mike Mullins. Cathy’s and Mike’s calm and considered approach with inspirational story telling with well-designed sessions providing feedback including from other participants proved invaluable in helping me to discover my values and anchors. I am now inspired with a reinvigorated self-belief to explore new opportunities. I absolute recommend the retreat to anyone at a career or life cross roads.”

Ali Amirkhalili, Risk and Audit Leader

“I felt at ease immediately when I met Cathy, and knew I would enjoy working with her. Her knowledge and passion for her work shone through, and I knew I would learn a lot from our work together. She really helped me connect with my work much more deeply than I had before, and in a much more holistic way. She really tailored the session to my needs and I came away having exceed my goals for the session. I absolutely loved working with her and look forward to working with her again in the future.”

Frances Cushway, Career Coach

“I attended ‘Finding Your Purpose’ Masterclass led by Cathy and her colleague Gilly. The session was fantastic! Not only did I learn how to work with coaching clients to find their Purpose, I also discovered mine through the process of the day’s workshop :-). Cathy created a safe and inclusive space for learning and is clearly passionate and knowledgeable which comes across positively in her delivery.”

Claire Candy, Learning & Development Lead, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

“I had the pleasure of joining Cathy and Gilly’s first Mid-Life Career masterclass and recommend it highly for any experienced or new coaches who want to hone their skills to better coach this group. You will learn new and focused techniques and will gain access to a suite of mature exercises to incorporate into  your portfolio…and of course have fun and lots of space to practice on the day. Many thanks for an excellent session.”

Lorraine Eivers, Career Coach

“Dr Cathy Brown’s ‘Discovering Your Purpose’ Masterclass with Gilly Freedman, CCS, was outstanding because I now have a solid framework which I can use to support my own clients to discover their purpose. Plus it was such a powerful, fun and enlightening experience. I especially enjoyed collaborating with another great coach during the breakout sessions to craft my own purpose statement and to discuss the ways I could implement this into my work. I highly recommend this workshop for professionals looking to lead a purposeful life, what this means in tangible terms and how to harness purpose in their day-to-day lives.”

Czarina Charles, Flourish Careers Limited

“I have just been on a wonderful retreat run by Cathy Brown. The lovely calm atmosphere of the retreat, the structure of having four different conversations, the fluidity of each conversation with input from Cathy, the pair discussions and the small intimate group all contributed to a meaningful and refreshing two days away from everyday life. The beautiful surroundings of Parcevall Hall were an added bonus!”

Gilly Freedman, Accredited Professional Executive Coach

“Cathy ran a coaching masterclass that I attended and I was bowled over by her professionalism and her depth of expertise which she generously shared. She paced the training perfectly and was clear and concise, which meant we all got a wonderful high-value experience. She’s also very personable, and despite her absolute expertise, comes across as approachable and pragmatic with a keen desire to help. But, I suppose the most important part of this recommendation is simply to ask ‘Will I go on another of Cathy’s courses?” And the answer is – Yes – absolutely!”

Sue Haswell, Training, Coaching and Consulting

“I trained many years ago with Cathy on her specialist coaching programme for self-employment and I was recently a participant on Cathy’s ‘Building Resilience Retreat’ in rural North Yorkshire. It was a wonderful and insightful course. Cathy’s knowledge, sharing and nurturing of the group has given me so much personal learning. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend both her training courses and her retreats (I’ve booked on to the next one!)”

Sue Jackson, Accredited Master Executive Coach

“I have worked with Cathy for a few years now and found her to be a truly inspirational coach and trainer. Recently I have spent time working with her on ‘finding your purpose’ which was hugely beneficial in helping me make some key decisions. Cathy has a natural ability to connect, she was in tune with my thoughts and feelings quickly which ensured that the facilitation of the session was paced well, relevant and extremely helpful. Cathy is a natural when it comes to unpicking content and getting to the core of what is really important. I know that I will continue to work with Cathy in the future and would highly recommend her within the coaching arena.”

Nicola Wood, Director, Child’s Time

“I wanted to email you an update on where I am with our 1 year plan! I can’t believe what a difference a year makes … and it’s all down to you! SO … I just finished my level 2 in Horticulture at Regents Park campus of Capel Manor College. However, another exciting development is that I have recently got a part time position in a job share at The Royal Holloway University running an art department on the Media Arts courses! I will be teaching a few classes and running my own department across 4 different courses. I can’t quite believe I got the job, but I know I can do it! I also ended up this year working on a show garden at Hampton Court Flower show! It was an amazing experience. The group that worked on the garden are planning a trip to the south of France for a gardening holiday! We are going in August and I can’t wait! I’m also toying with the idea of coming back via Paris and completing my pilgrimage to Giverny to see Monet’s garden which has been top of my list for decades! It really has been such a huge year or me- and it all seemed to slip into place really effortlessly! Cathy I really can’t thank you enough for everything you did for me, you’ve helped me so much. I feel that I am on the right life path now and who knows what will happen next!”

Helen Mooney

“I enjoyed it very much, I learnt so much out of it. I now know what I have to put in place.”

Angela Thorburn, Avis

“Inspirational stuff, really enjoyable. Content good and exercises too.”

Stephen Calcott, BBC

“I found the questionnaire useful that was sent out prior and this helped me to identify and address some of the issues at hand.”

“I gained useful insights into the realities of life after work.”

“I appreciated being asked to reflect in some detail about my hopes, fears and expectations of retirement. ”

“The work on visualising the life you love was very powerful.”

“Cathy provides an incredibly valuable insight from a wealth of experience … more”

Rex Lampier

“The coaching has also provided the confidence to investigate new areas of learning as well as take my business ideas to the next level.”

Rex Lampier

“I have enjoyed it – I rarely enjoy talking about my own experience. I have a better understanding of my needs and my colleagues. Let’s hope I can remember and put it into practice. “

Rosemary Parke, Loughborough Innovation Centre

“I have found the workshop to be very helpful, and has provided me with a better understanding of how we work and respond in certain situations. Very interesting!”

Annie Shearman, Loughborough Innovation Centre

“I would not hesitate to recommend Cathy. She gave me a series of career coaching sessions which far exceeded my expectations of what was possible. The sessions really got to the core of my issues and Cathy provided valuable insight, advice and techniques to help me move forward with the next stage of my career. She was thoughtful, supportive, clear and focused and spent a lot of time and energy on my behalf. She was friendly, relaxed and positive. The help she has given me has made a positive difference.”

Louise Angell, Assistant Content Producer, BBC

“Cathy is a fabulous person to work with. She is kind, insightful and generous with her ideas, concepts and clear thinking abilities. She makes progression fun , seamless and totally manageable. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Cathy in numerous ways, from Gentle Touch Reflexology, book writing, career work and personal support. In every sphere she excels.”

Sue Ricks, Principal Lecturer, Reflexology

“Great fun, it was really really useful. A springboard to actions I need to do now for my husband and me.”

Jane Wheeler, Avis

“Very good – just at the right time – it would be good to review again at 9 months – 1 year before actual retirement date. It was good to have a mixture of ages as each person had different expectations.”

Nicki Fear, Avis

“I enjoyed it very much, I learnt so much out of it. I now know what I have to put in place. We all shared very well and talked it through.”

Angela Thorburn, Avis

“Enjoyable and interesting. It helped to focus the mind. Looked in a different way to giving up work. It is a new phase of life – not the end of your life. Cathy was relaxed, trustworthy, and a great listener.”

Jenny Lock, Avis

“A very positive course – very helpful. Thank you!”

Claudine Spera, BBC

“Inspirational stuff, really enjoyable. Content good and exercises too.”

Stephen Calcott, BBC

“The workshop has given me lots of useful things to think about and also some techniques for identifying what I wanted.”

Tom Sumner, BBC

“You have changed my life!”

Paula Smith, Cresco Innovation

“I recently had three coaching sessions with Cathy to spend time reflecting on my forthcoming retirement and to create a plan to practically manage the transition. Cathy’s approach was professional and planned. I felt that she considered my personal style and situation and tailored the sessions to my requirements. I really appreciated the time to focus on me and the preparation for the sessions ‘forced’ me to take the take to reflect and consider my situation (not something that I naturally do). The sessions were extremely valuable, I enjoyed thinking about my future and I feel very prepared for the next phase of my life.”

Gill Howe, Senior HR Business Partner, John Lewis