testimonials

“As a young start up we are often offered support in various forms, I can say,  without hesitation, that the single most contributing factor in what we achieved last year has been the impartial advice and direction provided by our sessions with Cathy. As a young organisation, we found that often our enthusiasm could be more of a hindrance than an advantage; clouding our direction. Cathy has an incredible ability to take your passion and enthusiasm and, in a moment of clarity, channel this into objectives, deliverables, drive and motivation. This not only sustains the passion for what you do but your business.”

“I have greatly enjoyed working with you and seeing the positive results from your work come through in the tenants growth.”

“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.”

“Picture exercise – help me understand the full extent of my business proposition and reflected on the bigger picture and helping me raise questions that I had not thought of before. Financial buoyancy exercise – understanding how others perceive me and the skills that I can share and name.”

“Cathy supported me during my transition to self employment. Her calm approach, amazing insight and detailed research for Testing The Water gave me enormous confidence by helping me understand the the critical success factors. I was quickly able to pinpoint the areas I needed to work on to set myself up for success. I was so impressed by the programme and I’m proud to say I am licensed to use it as part of my business. Cathy has now developed Testing The Water – getting ready for Protirement, The same rigorous research has been applied to create another excellent programme – and I’m looking forward to gaining my license to use it very soon! I’d recommend Cathy to any individual or HR specialist.”

“I have seen and admired Cathy’s work in practice a few times, so my expectations were high when I enrolled on 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.”

“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!”

“It’s been a pleasure working with Dr Cathy Brown over the past 12 months. She has helped us take a step back from day-to-day business functions and understand the bigger picture for our organisation going forward and how we can approach things in a more strategic and informed way. I am looking forward to working with her again in the near future.”

“I have taken everything as a learning step towards accepting changes that I have no control over (i.e. redundancy) and changing into a positive experience, chance of a new start.”

“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 challenges and on the direction that I want to take. I would definitely recommend Cathy’s work to others.”

“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.”

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

“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!”

“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 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.”

“Cathy worked with us for a number of individual and group sessions. We got a lot of benefit especially with the group sessions, working through and improving a number of the management aspects of the company including appraisals and a number of different regular meetings.”

“I felt at ease immediately when I met Cathy, and knew that 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 has really 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 exceeded my goals for the session. I absolutely loved working with her and look forward to working with her again in the future.”

“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!”

“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!”

“Good experience, really connected with everyone and would hope that everybody gets to attend this workshop. Great course materials.”

“Brilliant – so good for me!”

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

“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.”

“I am just writing to thank you both for such an interesting and enjoyable workshop last week. I really enjoyed the day and have felt very inspired and focused from it. I hugely appreciate the benefit of both of your experience and now feel I can move into the future confidently.”

“Cathy is a superb business psychologist with a rare combination of skills including the knowledge gained from her MBA and her qualifications as a psychologist. I have engaged Cathy to mentor and coach companies at the business incubation centres that I have managed, and I cannot recommend Cathy highly enough. Hiring Cathy to work with the start up businesses meant that our relationships with tenants were incredibly positive, and our clients truly valued the assistance they were given. Cathy has been able to give real help to every one of our businesses – she is a busy lady, but if you can get some of her time it will transform the way you do business.”

“Cathy provided me mentoring services over the last year, I was skeptical at the concept, but following our first meeting I warmed to the idea and found the meetings beneficial from a motivational aspect and caused me to look at the business from a different perspective. I would recommend Cathy to any start up company looking for guidance and personal support during their first few years in business.”

“Cathy provided an excellent coaching service throughout a period of around 8 months. She was a great listener and helped to bring together some new ideas for the business.”

“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.”

“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.”

“When you are starting a business there are lots of people offering all kinds of advice, the biggest job is to work out which ones to take advantage of, this has been very worth while and I have learnt a great deal about myself.”

“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.”

“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.”

“The coaching has been a positive experience for me. I have increased confidence as a result to influence my role in the business.”

“It was useful to discuss my personal situation and goals in confidence. Cathy was able to quickly understand these and provide impartial feedback. I particularly valued the coaching on business relationship psychology and planning for positive outcomes.”

“Cathy has helped me devise strategies for my business that fit the direction I wish to take it, and my personality. By challenging me to think about purpose, difference, goals and my own psychology, Cathy has helped me to navigate some tricky moments whilst ensuring I remain positive. I value my time with Cathy; her input is important to my plan and would recommend her to anyone.”

“You have changed my life!”

“Cathy brings a wide range of skills to her coaching sessions which allows for a lot of flexibility in terms of providing highly tailored support. The sessions are extremely motivating and provide the spark to ignite new ways of thinking.”

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

“A big thank you for your excellent workshop you ran at the CCS Alumni event. It was very well received (4.6/5) and I think people appreciate your thoroughness, and I certainly value the combination of theory, observation, congruence and applicability – a powerful combination.”

“Cathy’s ‘Testing the Water’ workshop was perfectly paced, relaxed and very productive. I would thoroughly recommend the experience to anyone considering a move to being self-employed.”

“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. “

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

“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!”

“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 retreats (I’ve booked on the next one!).”

“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.”

“Two days spent with you really helped me to identify what’s important to me and guided me to look in different places for jobs and lead me to this one – so thank you!”

“I wanted to let you know my news. I was served my notice last week and offered a job! The role is Parenting Co-ordinator for my local council and is a newly created role that I can ‘make my own’. I was so pleased to even get an interview, let alone be offered it on the same afternoon! It ticks so many boxes for me as it draws on my education background and the project management skills that I’ve developed while at Boots and it fits my Service and Work Life Balance Anchors, as it’s based half a mile from my home.

Two days spent with you really helped me to identify what’s important to me and guided me to look in different places for jobs and lead me to this one – so thank you!

Now that this is settled, I’m going to look at starting a Life Coaching course that I’ve found in Kingston College as a taster and start going to Nina Grunfeld’s Life Club (sounds quite good). I feel like a different person already.”

“I attended Cathy’s “Testing The Water” workshop run for BBC staff in May 2011. I found it extremely useful in helping me focus on what will and more importantly what wouldn’t work for me for a future business/career path. The day long course was nicely paced and very enjoyable. The workshop has given me lots to think about.”

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

“I recently received the ‘Testing the Water’ coaching programme from Cathy at Evolve to support me during the early phase of setting up my consultancy business Medsyndesign Ltd. The four sessions were extremely helpful and engaging, filled with much useful and thought-provoking information and insights. Cathy tailored the coaching content to my specific questions and needs. The client-led sessions had plenty of space for in-depth discussions and analysis of my proposed business and motivations. The coaching included a range of pre-work questionnaires, giving each session a focus that allowed me to refine the business aims, vision and USP. The programme is based on her own research work and years of experience of running her own business. I would recommend Cathy and her coaching and look forward to the chance to work with her again.”