Welcome back to this new season of coffee with coops, where I’m chatting to brilliant guest about a belief they have changed their mind about, and the wider impact that’s had in their lives.

As ever we’re focused on…

☕ Small sips. Big shifts.

My guest this week is Martyn Davies, who I’ve had the pleasure of crossing professional paths with a few times this year through his entertainment business, Sober IS fun. Our conversation explores some of his professional work, but we really dive into the personal - for both of us - and I’m so grateful for Martyn’s honesty throughout, as we discussed:

* addiction of different forms

* growing up in the ‘rave days’

* later-in-life ADHD diagnoses, and the notion of self-medicating

* the reactions of others to his moving away from addictive activities

* realising that life ‘on the other side’ is anything but boring!

* book writing, and the process of working with an editor as someone with ADHD

* redefining labels, and hope for anyone who might be struggling

Keep in touch with Martyn, and stay tuned for more book news, via:

🖼️ Instagram

💼 LinkedIn

Martyn Davies is a passionate advocate for addiction recovery, now 8.5 years in recovery himself from alcohol, cocaine and gambling addiction. He uses his lived experience to inspire and support others on their own journeys towards recovery and healthier lives.

He has contributed to discussions in Parliament and national campaigns, helping inform UK drug and alcohol support frameworks, as well as delivering keynote speeches at conferences, events and for organisations across the country.

Martyn is the founder of Sober IS Fun, the UK’s leading alcohol-free events and comedy brand, and co-producer of Essex’s leading Men’s Health Awareness event, A Healthy Dose of Humour.

His first book launches in January 2027.

If you are impacted by any of the topics discussed on the podcast today, please do explore the following resources, whether for yourself or if you are supporting someone else.

* GamCare: National Gambling Helpline

* Club Soda: Mindful drinking community and courses

* Alcohol Change UK

* Alcoholics Anonymous · Narcotics Anonymous · Gamblers Anonymous

* Hub of Hope UK

Thank you for being here again this season. I’m truly grateful. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, please do go back and listen to any episodes you might have missed, and continue to share, subscribe, like, and leave a review.

It makes a real difference and helps the podcast reach others who might need it.

👉 Take a small sip. Feel the shift. Subscribe for weekly episodes of Espresso with Coops.

💬 These short sips are made to be shared, so pass it on to someone who needs it today.

💛 Make sure we are connected on socials, whether Substack, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Welcome back to a new season of Espresso with Coops!

As I’ve been hinting at, we’re back with a twist this time, as each episode I’ll be interviewing a guest about a belief they have changed their mind about, and the wider impact that’s had in their lives.

So our intention here is till the same…

☕ Small sips. Big shifts.

My first guest is the brilliant Clive Leach, international organisational and executive coach!

In this brief but broad conversation, we covered:

* career epiphanies

* how over-empathising in a corporate setting transferred into holding compassion in a coaching room

* Clive’s introduction to positive psychology, and relatedly the vision statement he created, and how much of that came into being

* the parallels between painting and coaching

* character strengths - which you can also explore for yourself with VIA

* and so much more!

I think you’ll get a lot out of this one, and to hear more from Clive, do check him out on:

💼 LinkedIn

🤝 Clive Leach Coaching Instagram

🖼️ Clive Leach Art Instagram

Clive is an international organisational and executive coach with over 17 years of experience in the application of coaching psychology to enhance individual, team and organisational performance. Clive has supported executives and organisations across various industries and sectors. His practice has extended to APAC, China, USA, EMEA & the UK. He partners with clients to support leadership and executive development, talent management, career development and well-being through a focus on evidence-based approaches to coaching and facilitation.

Clive is a published peer-reviewed author featuring in numerous publications on the application of coaching and positive psychology in organisational and educational contexts, and as a sought after speaker, he regularly presents at international scientific and leadership conferences. He has a Master of Organisational Coaching from the University of Sydney and a former visiting lecturer on the MSc Applied Coaching Psychology & Positive Psychology at the University of East London.

Clive has a keen interest in nature-connected coaching and partners with his dog Miss May as Pets as Therapy volunteers visiting local hospitals and care homes. He is also a practicing artist and has recently been working in integrating creative activity into his coaching workshops.

Thank you for being here again this season. I’m truly grateful. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, please do go back and listen to any episodes you might have missed, and continue to share, subscribe, like, and leave a review.

It makes a real difference and helps the podcast reach others who might need it.

👉 Take a small sip. Feel the shift. Subscribe for fortnightly episodes of Espresso with Coops.

💬 These short sips are made to be shared, so pass it on to someone who needs it today.

💛 Make sure we are connected on socials, whether Substack, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Where in your own life are you waiting for permission - logic, evidence, certainty - before you let yourself trust what you’re already feeling?

That question sits at the heart of this finale, and if you’ve been with me this season, you might already recognise it. It’s turned up again and again, in different shapes, without me ever planning it that way.

If any of these episodes gave you something to sit with, this one’s for you too.

The Freshly Ground season has been a challenge but a rewarding one, and trusting the process was a big part of the journey.

It’s short, as always - just over 13 minutes…but I hope it gives you something worth carrying with you.

☕ Small sips. Big shifts.

Thank you for being here for this season. I’m truly grateful. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, please do go back and listen to any episodes you might have missed, and continue to share, subscribe, like, and leave a review.

It makes a real difference and helps the podcast reach others who might need it.

👉 Take a small sip. Feel the shift. Subscribe for weekly episodes of Espresso with Coops.

💬 These short sips are made to be shared, so pass it on to someone who needs it today.

💛 Make sure we are connected on socials, whether Substack, Instagram or LinkedIn.

The penultimate episode of this season!!

I keep noticing something I can’t quite explain. Everything feels hard at the moment, big things that need sorting, on the world stage and closer to home. And yet, absolutely underneath all of it, I feel, dare I say it, a little bit of hope. Unexplained. Uninvited.

In this episode, I sit with the confusion of feeling hopeful without a reason, including the strange, stubborn hope of a country singing “it’s coming home” with zero control over how it actually ends.

This one might feel a little “out there”, but I have since had a few people say that they feel the same. I hope (see what I did there!) that it is an opportunity for you to reflect on a theme that can feel quite abstract.

☕ Small sips. Big shifts.

Thank you for being here for this season. I’m truly grateful. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, please do go back and listen to any episodes you might have missed, and continue to share, subscribe, like, and leave a review.

It makes a real difference and helps the podcast reach others who might need it.

👉 Take a small sip. Feel the shift. Subscribe for weekly episodes of Espresso with Coops.

💬 These short sips are made to be shared, so pass it on to someone who needs it today.

💛 Make sure we are connected on socials, whether Substack, Instagram or LinkedIn.

This week I’ve just got back from the European Conference on Positive Psychology, deep in talks on character strengths. Somewhere along the way I retook my own VIA profile. My new top strength: Love. Not what I expected.

Take the free VIA Character Strengths Profile here.

In this episode of Espresso with Coops: Freshly Ground, what a room full of psychologists from many different countries taught me about naming what you value, a soundbite from my conference partner-in-crime Kate Brassington on what stuck with her, and one small question to ask yourself this week: what would top your list right now?

☕ Small sips. Big shifts.

Thank you for being here for the final season. I’m truly grateful. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, please do go back and listen to any episodes you might have missed, and continue to share, subscribe, like, and leave a review.

It makes a real difference and helps the podcast reach others who might need it.

👉 Take a small sip. Feel the shift. Subscribe for weekly episodes of Espresso with Coops.

💬 These short sips are made to be shared, so pass it on to someone who needs it today.

💛 Make sure we are connected on socials, whether Substack, Instagram or LinkedIn.

I recently had the pleasure of sharing a wonderful conversation with Jessica Tefenkgi Ruelle 🌸 for her podcast over at Whispers of Inner Power.

We originally recorded our conversation via Substack Live, and if you’d like to tune in to more live conversations, as well as access all the articles and podcasts from Coffee with Coops whenever you like, you can find more on the Substack app.

But don’t worry, I’ll still be sharing everything with you by email too, and I’m so excited for you to catch up on this recording, if you couldn’t join us in real time!

Jessica’s mission is to support “highly sensitive women in business build the foundations they need to be visible online.” Many of her clients, as well as Jessica herself, have had to navigate challenging circumstances and tough times, while also continuing to build, scale, or at least keep things afloat.

It isn’t easy, but there are things we can do to support ourselves - and that goes for all of us, not just those building a business.

In this conversation, I share more about how my work and the coaching and other support I provide is really rooted in lived experience, and we explore the difficulties of dealing with complex grief and related emotions in different workplace or professional contexts.

Although our circumstances have been quite different, both Jessica and I have grieved the loss of a father, as well as facing other close losses, and we acknowledge how that grief process is never “done”, but we have to learn to move along through it. In talking about the importance of “doing the work” to enable this, for ourselves and those around us, we highlight the importance of building our own support network around us too. It doesn’t all happen in the therapy room.

I touch on some of the work I’ve done to facilitate workplace policies relating to death and grief, as well as advice for business owners who might feel like they need to just keep going - not least due to financial concerns - even while experiencing grief. It’s all about small steps.

We also touch on Death Cafés - which regular readers will know I have enjoyed exploring! - and keeping the conversation about death and grief open, in a way that encourages us to make the most of life!

I hope there’s a lot for you to take away from this conversation, and although we are chatting about heavy topics, you’ll hear that we managed to have a few laughs along the way too.

A beautiful connecting conversation.

Subscribe for more conversations like this...

🕯️If my conversation with Jessica has sparked a curiosity with you to join a conversation about grief, you’re welcome to come along to my next grief circle on July 28th at 7pm BST. There is no pressure to talk, you can also come along to just listen, and feel held in the space. These circles are free for paid subscribers with Coffee with Coops but you can also sign up to join a single session.

💛 Later this month I’ll be sharing another wonderful recorded conversation with you, this time with Emma Simpson, in which we explore more about grief and death, what it means to live well, finding community, and how to be our authentic selves. Stay tuned!

💌 In early August I’ll be sharing more news on what’s next for Coffee with Coops, and I can’t wait to take you with me on the journey.

In the meantime, maybe you’d like to share this conversation with a friend who would enjoy it?

Until next time,

Coops x

If you enjoyed this conversation and would like to support my work here without a paid subscription, you can offer a coffee for Coops here - thank you!

This week the word was metaphor, because the day after I did a Coaching Psychology CPD on using metaphor in coaching, I found myself testing it for real, dipping in the sea, asking my friend Jo a question I’d normally save for a coaching room.

I asked her what the sea was telling her about her life right now. What came back stopped me, and it’s the cleanest example I’ve ever heard of why an image can say what plain words can’t. In this episode of Espresso with Coops: Freshly Ground, Jo’s answer, why metaphor does so much heavy lifting, and one small thing you can try this week.

What would your sea look like? 🌊

📲 You can connect with my lovely guest on Instagram:

Gone for a Swim - Jo Good, Swim Coach.

☕ Small sips. Big shifts.

Thank you for being here for the final season. I’m truly grateful. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, please do go back and listen to any episodes you might have missed, and continue to share, subscribe, like, and leave a review. It makes a real difference and helps the podcast reach others who might need it.

👉 Take a small sip. Feel the shift. Subscribe for weekly episodes of Espresso with Coops.

💬 These short sips are made to be shared, so pass it on to someone who needs it today.

💛 Make sure we are connected on socials, whether Substack, Instagram or LinkedIn.

This week's word was loneliness because it’s Loneliness Awareness Week, and this year’s theme is Giving Loneliness a Voice.

Not the lonely-because-you’re-alone kind. The quieter kind, the fog that rolls into a full, vibrant life and makes you feel like you’re the only one.

In this episode of Espresso with Coops: Freshly Ground, I share where it crept up on me, plus three voices from Who’s Hungry? pop-up bakery event hosted by Dana Conway on why showing up in person still matters, and one small, brave thing you can do about it.

📲 You can connect with all three of my lovely guests on Instagram:

Dana Conway - Who’s Hungry?

Jessica Hayes - Love and Relationship Coach

Jess MacMilllan - Female Online Coach / Fitness Trainer

🔦 Resources

🔗 Loneliness Awareness Week / Marmalade Trust

🔗 Mental Wealth Resources

☕ Small sips. Big shifts.

Thank you for being here for the final season. I’m truly grateful. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, please do go back and listen to any episodes you might have missed, and continue to share, subscribe, like, and leave a review. It makes a real difference and helps the podcast reach others who might need it.

👉 Take a small sip. Feel the shift. Subscribe for weekly episodes of Espresso with Coops.

💬 These short sips are made to be shared, so pass it on to someone who needs it today.

💛 Make sure we are connected on socials, whether Substack, Instagram or LinkedIn.

This week, the same word kept showing up; in a training room, on a walk with female founders, and in something I wrote in Coffee with Coops at the weekend.

Expectations.

Not the big dramatic kind. The quiet ones. The invisible standards we hold ourselves to. The scripts we write in our heads before life even shows up. The gap between what’s happening and what we decided should be happening.

In this first episode of Espresso with Coops: Freshly Ground, I talk about the stress that lives in that gap, and why making peace with real life isn’t lowering the bar. It’s finding the right one.

☕ Small sips. Big shifts.

Thank you for being here for the final season. I’m truly grateful. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, please do go back and listen to any episodes you might have missed, and continue to share, subscribe, like, and leave a review. It makes a real difference and helps the podcast reach others who might need it.

👉 Take a small sip. Feel the shift. Subscribe for weekly episodes of Espresso with Coops.

💬 These short sips are made to be shared, so pass it on to someone who needs it today.

💛 Make sure we are connected on socials, whether Substack, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Welcome back to my podcast, Espresso with Coops.

Season 3, baby!

If you’ve listened to previous seasons, you’ll know I’ve often touched on grief, sometimes directly, sometimes at the edges. This season, I wanted to slow it down and sit with it properly.

Because grief doesn’t just arrive through bereavement. It shows up in break-ups, in diagnoses, in identity shifts, in the losses we don’t always name — and I hear this again and again from my clients. Often, it’s only when a light is gently shone on it that people realise this is grief.

So in Season 3, I’m getting a little closer. I’ll be sharing some of my own experiences of grief and loss and holding space for the many ways it can live in our bodies, relationships, and lives.

The format remains the same—short, honest, and gentle. My hope is that each episode offers you something to recognise yourself in. If it does, you’re welcome to share it with someone who might need it, too.

Episode 18: When Grief Lives in the Body

Grief isn’t only something we think about; it’s something the body carries.

In this final episode of the season, I explore how loss lives beyond our thoughts, why grief often shows up physically, and how small acts of regulation and self-soothing can help us gently move alongside it.

🎶 Musical snack: Whisper Of A Thrill by Thomas Newman.

(A classical accompaniment to sit with after listening. Not in the episode, just something to stir the soul.)

Thank you for being here for another season. I’m truly grateful. If you’ve enjoyed these conversations, please do go back and listen to any episodes you might have missed, and continue to share, subscribe, like, and leave a review. It makes a real difference and helps the podcast reach others who might need it.

👉 Take a small sip. Feel the shift. Subscribe for weekly episodes of Espresso with Coops.

💬 These short sips are made to be shared, so pass it on to someone who needs it today.

💛 Make sure we are connected on socials, whether Substack, Instagram or LinkedIn.