Following 25 successful and challenging years in the same industry I had come to an impasse, I didn’t want to do what I was doing any more yet didn’t know what else I could do.  

A frustrating and worrying situation for me!  For 5 years I tried on my own to discover what else I could be good at but to no avail.  

Then I met Olivia and wow what a difference she made!  In just a matter of months, I had discovered who I truly was, what I was truly excellent at and what I should be doing as a career.  I left my job and started up my own business and am now on the most fantastic journey of my life.  

Thank you Olivia for your ability to read between the lines, for seeing beyond the surface, knowing when to challenge me and more importantly for enabling me to identify what I’m good at.  

Your power of perception is next to none and your talent for seeing the talent in others is ‘priceless’.

 Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Thank you for giving me the courage to change! 

I’ve done it – gone to NY and finished my course – I couldn’t be happier!!! 😉

This is where I am meant to be right now.

Thank you for the endless support. I really couldn’t have done this without you. You brought me back to me.

I never thought I would have come this far Olivia from when we initially met for coffee in Holborn which seems just a short while ago, I’m thrilled with our work together.

For over 16 years I had been trying to climb a career ladder that I wasn’t enjoying climbing at all. Despite working incredibly hard and giving it my all to succeed, there was always a niggle at the back of my mind that it wasn’t my true career calling and I was missing out on doing something so much more rewarding and enjoyable. Career books and advisors had failed to deliver a sought after outcome so I was stuck resentfully investing time and energy into an unfulfilling career.

 

About six months ago I was speaking to a friend who had been coached by Olivia and suggested, post a usual moaning session about work, that I gave her a call.  The next day I called Olivia and have never looked back. Straight away I was energised and excited by how quickly Olivia got me working towards what I needed from my career- analysing my strengths, motivations, needs and ambitions. Every week through exercises followed by a mentoring session Olivia helped me to unravel exactly what I needed to fulfil and satisfy my working life needs. Something I had never managed to achieve before.

 

Olivia’s style and programme is unique. Each of her exercises have been perfectly designed to help you really think about yourself, delve down deep and pull out ideas and thoughts you had suppressed for years or hadn’t considered significant. On top of exercises a weekly progress report helps you to stay focused and monitor your development and ideas ensuring that your initial goals and objectives are challenged and still applicable.  

What I loved about Olivia’s style is that right from the beginning she adds value through thought provoking ideas, she challenges you and emphasizes the importance of making the right choices for you, not the ones that will please others.

After finding myself in a job that I was getting very little satisfaction out of and realising that I needed to make a positive move to change my career for the better I am delighted that I decided to contact you and ask for your help.

I found the first sessions difficult and I found myself a little disappointed that I wasn’t getting anywhere but you always assured me that over time this would come and I would realise my career path. 

We spent a long time going through my values, strengths and my background, something which I find somewhat difficult to spend time working on and this all helped in my thinking.   

I felt I really opened up and I am delighted to say that I haven’t really looked back since. You’ve been really helpful in terms of looking at my values, strengths etc, and also on where I can go with my life and you have filled me with the confidence that I can do what I have chosen to pursue. 

I really appreciate the thoughtful and methodical process that you took with me, something which really helped bring out my inner thoughts and passion in life for what I should be doing. I truly believe that people should be happy in their job its just that sometimes we need a helping hand to guide us along the right path, something which I am extremely grateful for you in providing.  

One year later:  UnLtd are fantastic, supporting and consulting social entrepreneurs across the country it’s such an interesting and rewarding job.

Here are some thoughts I would like to share with you Olivia.

1) I found the whole process incredibly rewarding – this was the first time I’d been involved in any form of “one-to-one” counselling.

I went in to it with a open mind and happy to talk and this gave me, I think, the best possible opportunity to gain a positive result from the process.

I imagine that people who are a bit “closed shop” about talking about their feelings / dreams etc will limit their outcomes or might waste precious session time “prising open” that bit of their brain.



2) However, that said, I found it much easier to write down my thoughts rather than speak – the exercises whereby I wrote a page about my dream job scenario or my autobiography page I enjoyed, as well as producing some good work for you.



3) As you know, I didn’t quite feel that the imagination exercises we did in the sessions were particularly suited to me rather I much prefer the written form of these exercise. I acknowledge though, that its sometimes best to step out of the comfort zone!



4) The amount of homework exercises were pitched at the right amount for me. (I was able to complete some at quiet times at work which was a great help).

5) I liked the “multiple choice’ exercises (The Profile questions, the Excel chart ranking qualities) – these suited my way of thinking.



6) Finally, my personal situation meant that I could head down to your office for each session. Unexpectedly, it turned out this was a perfect way for me to prepare for the sessions – 45 mins in the car to switch off from work etc and the valuable reflection on the return journey!

Its amazing, when I read back, I see clearly the core values and skills we ‘uncovered’ over the last few months!

What can I say – you are a motivational defibrillator Olivia!