About The Guests:

This roundtable features five members of the Courageous Coach community:

• Amy Wilkinson – A down-to-earth, real-talk advocate for ditching coaching snobbery and embracing imperfection.
• Jane Gilham – Speaks powerfully about grief, transition, and finding courage in life’s hardest seasons.
• Donna Ward-Higgs – Brings heartfelt insight into the power of safety, self-awareness, and returning to community as a restorative act.
• Kathryn Smith – Shares her reflections from inside the NHS and academia, anchoring herself in the idea that she’s already enough.
• Gayle Tong – Champions the idea of community without comparison, and of learning who you truly are beyond corporate life.

And of course, your host Melissa Hague, whose vision, vulnerability and human-first ethos shape the Courageous Coach experience.

About The Episode:

In this heartwarming, laughter-filled, and deeply honest roundtable, host Melissa Hague is joined by five founding members of the Courageous Coach community: Amy Wilkinson, Jane Gilham, Donna Ward-Higgs, Kathryn, and Gayle Tong. What started as an experiment became a powerful conversation about what community really means in the context of coaching beyond credentials, beyond branding, and into what it means to simply be human together.

This episode explores the behind-the-scenes of building a values-led coaching practice while staying anchored in authenticity, connection, and courage. Expect real talk, no polish, and a powerful reminder that you're not alone on the path.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Community isn’t noisy, it’s nourishing: The Courageous Coach community isn't about constant WhatsApp pings or forced interaction. It’s a space to ebb and flow, show up when you need to, and know someone’s got your back without the pressure to perform.
• Courage is contagious (and deeply human): When one coach dares to be vulnerable, it opens the door for others to drop the mask. These conversations are rooted in real-life grief, identity shifts, imposter syndrome, and the courage to keep showing up anyway.
• We are humans first, coaches second: The magic of this community lies in not needing to posture. There’s no model-off, badge flex, or acronyms-as-armour. Coaching here starts with humanity, not hierarchy.
• You’re already enough, and still becoming: Many of the coaches speak openly about comparison, chasing qualifications, and wondering, “Am I doing this right?” The consensus? You grow as a coach by being yourself, not by collecting more letters after your name.
• Ongoing development is an anchor, not a tick-box: Whether it’s returning to a gathering, revisiting the programme themes, or simply staying connected, the work of being a courageous coach isn’t one-and-done. It's lifelong, evolving, and sustained by community.

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches 

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.

About The Guest:

This episode features no guest just the honest, encouraging voice of the show’s host: Melissa Hague. Melissa is a coach who helps others lead with courage, show up more fully, and build meaningful practices from the inside out. Her work is rooted in integrity, self-awareness, and the belief that being human is more than enough.

About The Episode:

In this solo episode of The Courageous Coach, host Melissa gets beautifully vulnerable as she reads a heartfelt letter to her past self, the version of her just starting out in the coaching world. This isn’t just a pep talk. It’s a grounded, soul-nourishing reminder of what it really takes to build a coaching practice with heart, humanity and courage. Whether you’re new to coaching or simply circling back to your “why,” this is a letter worth hearing.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Courage doesn’t wait for readiness: You don’t need to feel “fully qualified” or confident to begin coaching. Courage shows up when you do - uncertain, imperfect, and still willing to serve. The transformation starts not when you feel ready, but when you choose to begin anyway.
• You’re not missing a magic credential: That urge to do “just one more training” before calling yourself a real coach? It's a distraction. Real coaching is built through presence, care, and a willingness to keep growing, not through an endless list of certifications.
• The business side requires its own kind of bravery: Building a coaching practice is one thing. Turning it into a business? That’s a whole other dance with vulnerability. Pricing your work, being seen, and saying “this is who I am and what I do” takes guts, and it gets easier with practice.
• Marketing can be human, slow, and values-led: You don’t have to sound like a marketing guru. You don’t have to manipulate. Just speak from your truth. Let your content be a generous invitation rather than a polished performance.
• Slowness isn’t failure - it’s part of the rhythm: Quiet seasons with no new clients or visible progress can feel like failure, but they’re often where integration, healing, and refinement happen. Long-term success isn’t always loud; it’s consistent, honest, and sustainable.

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.

About The Guest:

Diane Lloyd, MA, PCC is a leadership coach, speaker, and facilitator dedicated to empowering midlife women to step into their full leadership potential with confidence, clarity, and courage. With decades of leadership experience and a deep understanding of personal reinvention, Diane has lived the transitions she now helps others navigate.

At 43, she made a bold career shift from a successful role in revenue development to becoming an executive coach, and now, at 57, she is reinventing her business to focus on supporting women leaders in midlife. Having personally experienced the challenges of perimenopause and menopause, Diane is passionate about ensuring that women don't lose faith in themselves during this critical life stage.

Diane created the Inspiring Midlife Leadership program, where women reclaim their confidence and access their courage with a view that midlife is a time of opportunity rather than decline. She holds the PCC credential with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and is certified in Navigating Transitions (TQ), Emotional Intelligence (EQi 2.0), and the Neuroscience of Coaching. Additionally, she teaches in the Certified Executive Coach Program at Royal Roads University, where she was honoured with the 2022 Kelly Outstanding Teaching Award.

When she's not coaching or speaking, Diane enjoys adventuring on Vancouver Island, exploring Okanagan wine country, diving into a great book, or finding peace on her yoga mat.

Connect with Diane:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dianelloyd/
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.dianelloyd.com
• Inspiring Midlife Leadership: https://inspiredresultsgroup.mykajabi.com/inspiring_midlife_leadership_program_2-0 

About The Episode:

Welcome to episode 21 of the Courageous Coach podcast, where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to be courageous with your clients, your business, and your life. In this powerful conversation, host Melissa is joined by leadership coach and facilitator Diane Lloyd for an intimate exploration of courage, vulnerability, and the transformative journey of midlife leadership.

Diane and Melissa, who first connected through their Dare to Lead training with Brené Brown, share deeply personal insights about their own courage-building journeys. This isn't just a theoretical discussion - it's a raw, honest conversation between two coaches who are actively doing the work themselves while supporting others on their own paths to courage.

From discussing the challenges of sitting with difficult emotions in coaching sessions to exploring how midlife women can step into their power to change the world, this episode offers both practical wisdom and profound insights for coaches, leaders, and anyone navigating their own courage journey.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Courageous coaching requires embracing hard emotions: Rather than rushing clients toward the light or trying to reframe difficult feelings, truly courageous coaches learn to sit with discomfort—both their client's and their own. This means being curious about shame, grief, and other challenging emotions rather than avoiding them or immediately trying to fix them. 
• Self-awareness without self-compassion equals self-cruelty: This powerful insight from Jessica Griffin reminds us that developing self-awareness is only half the equation. Without the accompanying self-compassion (and the important middle step of self-acceptance), increased self-awareness can become a tool for self-attack rather than growth and healing. 
• Intuition is both a whisper and a body experience: Learning to trust your intuition as a coach involves tuning into both the quiet voice that offers "drop-down one-liners" and the somatic signals your body provides. The key question Diane uses to access her intuition is: "What does my heart tell me to do?" 
• Confidence comes from courage, not the other way around: Rather than waiting to feel confident before taking action, courage is what enables us to take that first step, then another, and another. Each act of courage builds confidence over time, especially when paired with self-compassion when things don't go as planned. 
• Midlife women have the power to change the world: There's incredible untapped potential in women navigating midlife who are ready to step into their full power. By addressing the "invisible barriers" like perimenopause, patriarchal conditioning, and shame, midlife women can access their wisdom, emotional intelligence, and collaborative leadership style when the world needs it most.

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.

About The Guest:

Jean Burke supports purpose-driven leaders and teams to thrive, not just keep going. With over 30 years of experience in leadership, coaching, and workplace wellbeing, she brings a psychologically informed, deeply practical approach to helping people lead with greater clarity, connection, and self-awareness.

Her work is rooted in the belief that leadership is relational and that meaningful change happens when we pay attention to how we connect with ourselves and one another. Jean is an accredited psychotherapist, experienced executive coach, and Strengths Profile Master Practitioner, specialising in group dynamics, reflective practice, and healthier ways of working in high-pressure environments.

Jean's unique background in both psychotherapy and executive coaching allows her to work holistically with senior leaders, particularly those in high-stakes, high-pressure environments such as healthcare and social care. Her research on courage in psychotherapy provides valuable insights that inform both her therapeutic and coaching practice.

Connect with Jean:

Website: www.jeanburke.net

About The Episode:

Welcome to episode 20 of the Courageous Coach podcast, where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to be courageous with your clients, your business and your life. In this episode, host Melissa is joined by Jean Burke, a psychotherapist and executive coach who brings a unique dual perspective to the conversation.

Jean and Melissa explore the fascinating intersection of coaching and therapy, delving into the importance of self-awareness and the role of courage in both practices. Drawing from her research on courage in psychotherapy, Jean emphasises that courage is entirely subjective and unique to each individual practitioner and client relationship.

This rich conversation highlights the critical importance of real connection in coaching relationships, the everyday acts of courage that lead to meaningful change, and the essential self-work that coaches must do to show up authentically with their clients. From understanding our defence mechanisms to embracing the "curse of the coach," Jean and Melissa offer profound insights into what it truly means to be present and courageous in the service of others.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Self-awareness begins with understanding your defences and relationship with uncertainty - As coaches, we must recognise how we deal with anxiety and the unknown, because our ability to sit with a client's vulnerability and uncertainty depends on our comfort with our own. Understanding our defence mechanisms and how we armour up when feeling vulnerable is crucial for maintaining an authentic connection with clients. 
• Courage in coaching is entirely subjective and evolves over time - Jean's research revealed that courage looks different for every coach and grows with experience and development. What feels courageous for one coach may not for another, and what challenges you early in your career becomes comfortable over time. This subjective nature means avoiding comparison with others and honouring your own unique brand of courage. 
• Real connection requires bringing your whole authentic self into a relationship - Courage in coaching isn't about technique or skill-building—it's about the willingness to be genuinely present and authentic with another human being. This means being willing to name what's happening in the room, share your own vulnerability when appropriate, and engage with clients as whole human beings rather than just their professional selves. 
• The competence boundary between coaching and therapy is felt, not tick-boxed - Rather than rigid rules about when coaching becomes therapy, experienced practitioners develop a felt sense of when they're moving beyond their competence. The key is staying connected to yourself, using supervision effectively, and having courageous conversations with clients about re-contracting when needed, always prioritising the client's best interests. 
• Every day courage matters more than heroic acts - While we often think of courage in terms of big, bold actions, the most important courage in coaching happens in small, everyday moments—naming what you're noticing, sitting with not knowing the next question, or admitting when you feel out of your depth. These ordinary acts of courage strengthen the coaching relationship and create space for real change.

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches 

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.

About The Guest:

Amy Wilkinson is the founder of Fearless Foodies, a coaching and training company dedicated to empowering professionals in the food industry to communicate with confidence, influence, and impact.

After more than two decades in new product development, commercial and marketing roles within corporate food manufacturing, Amy took the leap to start her own coaching business nearly five years ago. Drawing on her wealth of industry experience and her passion for people, she now delivers transformative workshops and coaching that inspire emotionally intelligent leadership and confident communication.

Known for her engaging and relatable style, Amy helps individuals embrace their unique voice, navigate challenges with courage, and achieve their personal and professional goals by "feeling the fear and doing it anyway". What started as a solo coaching practice has evolved into a team of 10+ associate coaches, creating what Amy describes as not just a business, but a movement within the food industry.

Connect with Amy:

• Website: fearlessfoodies.co.uk
• Blog: ohforfoodssake.co.uk

About The Episode:

Welcome to episode 19 of the Courageous Coach podcast, where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to be courageous with your clients, your business and your life. In this episode, host Melissa is joined by the wonderful Amy Wilkinson, founder of Fearless Foodies, for her second appearance on the show.

Amy returns to share the evolution of her coaching business journey, exploring how she transformed from a generalist coach to building a powerful movement within the food industry. This candid conversation delves into the challenges and triumphs of building a coaching business, the transformative power of niching, and the daily courage required to show up authentically in business.

From her first vulnerable speaking moment to six women on Zoom to presenting to 300 people at Asda head office, Amy's story demonstrates how small acts of courage compound into significant business growth. We explore the balance between comfort and courage, the importance of self-awareness in business, and how to find the right support while avoiding the noise of "six-figure by Christmas" promises.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Niching amplifies your voice and accelerates growth - The more Amy niched into the food industry and then specifically product development teams, the louder her marketing voice became. By speaking directly to one person's experience and using industry-specific language, her content resonated powerfully with her ideal clients, leading to exponential business growth and recognition as a thought leader. 
• Small courageous actions create cascading opportunities - Amy's pivotal moment came when she vulnerably shared her burnout story with just six women on a Zoom call. This single act of courage led to increased authenticity in her social media, which built momentum and eventually resulted in speaking to 300 people at major corporate events, demonstrating how courage compounds over time. 
• Building a business that feels like you require deep self-awareness - Understanding her ADHD, rejection sensitivity dysphoria, and working style allowed Amy to build a business model that works with her brain rather than against it. This included outsourcing sales-focused content and focusing on attraction-based marketing rather than hard selling, creating sustainable success aligned with her values. 
• The evolution from coach to business owner demands different skills - While coaching skills allow you to work with anyone, building a successful coaching business requires marketing, sales, and business development skills. Amy emphasised the importance of investing in business education and finding trusted advisors who can provide both strategic guidance and emotional support through the challenges. 
• Early-stage compromises are necessary stepping stones - Both Amy and Melissa acknowledged that new coaches often can't afford to be selective about work in the beginning. Taking on projects that aren't perfectly aligned is sometimes necessary for survival, but the key is maintaining a North Star vision of where you want to be while being practical about current financial needs.

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches 

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.

About The Guest:

Dr Jo Hartley is a Career and Life Coach for Doctors who brings over 30 years of NHS experience to her coaching practice. After becoming a consultant in emergency medicine in 2007, Jo experienced her own brush with burnout in 2016, which began her journey of self-exploration and ultimately led her to discover coaching.

Jo's path to coaching wasn't straightforward - it involved completing a counselling qualification, multiple coaching certifications (including an ILM5 diploma), and a postgraduate certificate in career development, all while juggling family life and a demanding medical career. Her experience of burnout became the foundation for her calling to support other medical professionals who are navigating similar challenges.

As an integrative coach, Jo specialises in working with established consultants and senior clinicians who are facing workplace challenges, career transitions, or seeking to build more sustainable careers they actually enjoy. She combines her deep understanding of the medical profession's unique pressures with coaching skills to create a safe space for doctors to explore their humanity alongside their professional expertise.

Jo left clinical practice two years ago and now balances her coaching work with educational roles within the NHS. She delivers both individual coaching and workshops focused on well-being, personal growth, career development, and leadership skills. When she's not coaching, you'll find Jo walking her dog in the local countryside, a practice that has become essential to her own self-care and boundary management.

Connect with Jo:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.drjohartley.com
• LinkedIn: Dr Jo Hartley

About The Episode:

Welcome to episode 18 of the Courageous Coach podcast, where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to be courageous with our clients, our business, and our lives. In this deeply personal conversation, host Melissa is joined by Dr Jo Hartley, who shares her transformative journey from being a doctor to becoming a coach.

Jo and Melissa explore the profound challenges of identity shifts, the impact of burnout on personal and professional growth, and the courage required to step away from a 30+ year medical career to forge a new path. This conversation delves into the complexities of transitioning from being "the expert" to embracing vulnerability, the importance of authenticity in coaching practice, and the unique challenges of building a coaching business while managing the human side of professional transformation.

From emergency medicine to career coaching, Jo's story illuminates the courage required not just in the big, bold moves, but in the countless small moments of choosing authenticity over comfort, vulnerability over armour, and trust over control.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Identity shifts require courage and compassion: Moving from expert to coach involves letting go of the safety of "knowing" and embracing the discomfort of not having all the answers. This transition from doctor to coach exemplifies how identity changes challenge us to rediscover who we are professionally and personally. 
• Burnout can be a catalyst for growth: Jo's experience with burnout became the doorway to self-exploration and ultimately led her to discover coaching. Sometimes our greatest challenges become our greatest teachers and can redirect us toward more aligned work and life choices. 
• The expert's dilemma in coaching: Learning to move away from giving advice and fixes toward holding space requires ongoing awareness. The challenge isn't eliminating expertise but learning when to offer it appropriately and how to stay unattached to whether clients take that offering. 
• Authenticity attracts the right clients: When coaches own their full story - including struggles, vulnerabilities, and lived experiences - they naturally attract clients who resonate with that authenticity. Jo's willingness to share her burnout story creates permission for her medical clients to explore their own challenges. 
• Self-employment amplifies the need for boundaries and self-care: The freedom of running your own business can become a trap without conscious boundaries. Learning to prioritise quality over quantity, taking breaks, and trusting your gut about what work to accept becomes essential for sustainable practice.

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches 

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.

About The Guest:

Claire Pedrick describes herself as "a human who facilitates other people's thinking" - and this beautifully captures her approach to both coaching and life. As an MCC Master Coach with over 15,000 hours of experience, Claire has been coaching for more than 35 years and established 3D Coaching in the 1990s to bring together the simplest and best learning from coaching.

Claire is the author of two influential books: Simplifying Coaching and The Human Behind the Coach, both of which challenge coaches to move beyond performative techniques toward authentic human connection. She also hosts The Coaching Inn podcast, where she continues to explore what makes for true partnership in coaching.

In 2022, Claire received the Outstanding Contribution to Coaching Award from Henley Business School and a Points of Light Award from the UK Prime Minister. When she's not coaching or developing other coaches through training and mentoring, you might find Claire taking very long walks - in 2022, she walked 600km on the Camino in Spain.

Claire's learning lab consists of the coaches she listens to three days a week, and her current focus is understanding and sharing what makes for true partnership in coaching. She believes that the essence of coaching is simple, and that it takes time to learn to work that simply.

About The Episode:

Welcome to episode 17 of the Courageous Coach podcast, where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to be courageous with your clients, your business, and your life. In this deeply moving conversation, host Melissa Hague is joined by Claire Pedrick, an extraordinary coach whose work has profoundly shaped Melissa's own courage-building journey.

Claire and Melissa explore the transformative power of simplifying our coaching approach, moving away from heavy toolboxes and performative techniques toward genuine human connection. This conversation delves into the emotional landscape of coaching, examining why our industry might be raising a generation of coaches afraid to step out of line, and how embracing vulnerability and inner wisdom can create the conditions for true transformation.

From pottery classes to paragliding metaphors, this episode is filled with practical insights about courage, trust, and what it really means to show up authentically in the coaching relationship.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Simplicity over complexity: The most profound coaching often comes from doing less, not more. Your heavy toolbox of techniques might be getting in the way of genuine connection and transformation. 
• Vulnerability creates permission: As coaches, we have a "first mover obligation" to be vulnerable. When we show up authentically and allow appropriate vulnerability, we give our clients permission to do the same. 
• The nudist colony principle: If we ask our clients to be emotionally "naked" and vulnerable while we remain fully "clothed" in our professional armour, we create an uncomfortable and unproductive dynamic. 
• Courage is everyday and extraordinary: Courage shows up both in small daily acts (like getting out of bed) and in deliberately seeking experiences where you won't excel or be in control. 
• Human connection over perfection: Coaching is fundamentally two humans having a conversation. The moment we prioritise looking clever or following rules over genuine connection, we lose the essence of what makes coaching transformational. 
• Stepping out of line is necessary: The coaching industry may be inadvertently training coaches to be rule-bound and afraid to deviate from prescribed methods, limiting both coach and client potential. 
• Empathy requires humanity: True empathy in coaching isn't about remaining professionally distant - it's about appropriately sharing our human experience when it serves the client's process. 
• Courage is contagious: When coaches embody courage and authenticity, it gives clients permission to access their own courage and step into their potential.

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches 

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.

About The Guest:

Julie Luscombe is the founder of People Like Me Coaching and Training Consultancy and a certified burnout coach who's made Jersey her home base for supporting overwhelmed professionals.

With three distinct careers behind her - mental health nursing in the NHS, public health strategy work, and senior education roles - Julie brings a unique perspective to coaching that's grounded in real-world experience with mental health, suicide prevention, and health inequalities.

Her journey into coaching began during the pandemic when she used her holiday time and money to retrain as a professional coach, initially thinking it would be her "retirement plan." Four and a half years later, she's built a thriving practice specialising in burnout prevention and recovery.

Julie's approach is refreshingly human - she's known locally as "the circle of control lady" and believes in creating valuable thinking space to unlock the resources and potential within her clients. Her professional qualifications include being a Certified Burnout Coach, Approved Physical Intelligence Coach, Accredited Action Learning Facilitator, and holding an MSc in Public Health plus a Professional Doctorate in Education.

What sets Julie apart is her willingness to meet clients in their overwhelm rather than rushing them toward future goals - recognising that sometimes people need to settle their nervous system before they can think clearly about what comes next.

About The Episode:

What happens when a mental health nurse discovers coaching during a pandemic and decides to completely reimagine her career? In this powerful episode, host Melissa sits down with Julie Luscombe to explore her fascinating journey from the NHS to building a thriving coaching practice specialising in burnout prevention and recovery.

Julie shares the raw truth about initially wanting to focus on "flourishing" but discovering her clients needed something different: support through overwhelm, stress, and burnout. This isn't just another coaching success story; it's an honest conversation about the courage required to meet clients where they are, even when that place feels darker than we'd prefer.

If you're a coach struggling with boundaries, visibility, or wondering how to show up authentically with your clients, this episode is essential listening.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Courage looks different for everyone - Sometimes it's taking a massive leap, sometimes it's the small daily steps. The key is moving at your own pace, not what others expect of you. 
• Clients are already in the middle of something - Before we can focus on future goals, we often need to help clients settle their nervous system and find clarity in the here and now. 
• The power of "me too" moments - Sharing appropriate parts of your story creates connection and helps clients realise they're not alone in their struggles. 
• Self-employed coaches face unique burnout risks - The combination of helping profession work plus solopreneur challenges requires intentional self-care and boundary setting. 
• Visibility requires ongoing courage - From the initial terror of posting on LinkedIn to saying yes to clients outside your comfort zone, building a practice means continuously choosing courage over comfort. 
• Plot your restoration first - Julie's game-changing approach: look at your week and schedule what keeps you well BEFORE filling in work commitments. 
• LinkedIn can be your conference - Think of social media as sharing breakout information at a giant conference rather than marketing yourself.  Saying yes can be as courageous as saying no - Sometimes imposter syndrome makes us say no to opportunities we're actually perfect for. 
• Burnout recovery creates post-traumatic growth - Working in this "darker" space isn't depressing - it's incredibly rewarding to witness people's transformation.

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches 

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.

About The Guest:

Teresa Wilson has worked as a trainer and facilitator for over 20 years and as a coach for more than a decade through Teresa Wilson Coaching. She currently delivers training and coaching within the Civil Service and the NHS, and for leaders in the third sector. Alongside her one-to-one private practice, she also works as a Mentor Coach. Teresa became interested in shadow work as a way to free herself from the relentless habit of judging her coaching sessions and punishing herself for being a "bad" coach. 

She is also the co-author of the book, Seven Creative Gremlins: Write your way through doubt and fear to claim your creative life.

You can find her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/teresawilsoncoaching/) and at her website, https://teresawilsoncoaching.com

About The Episode:

Welcome to episode 15 of the Courageous Coach podcast, where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to be courageous with your clients, your business, and your life.

In this episode, host Melissa is joined by Teresa Wilson, a coach, facilitator, and a significant figure in Melissa's own courage-building journey. This conversation offers a rare and personal insight into Melissa's self-development, her struggles, and the profound realisations she has had about who she is as both a human and a coach.

Teresa and Melissa explore the transformative power of shadow work and self-compassion. They discuss how our personal histories shape our coaching practice and the courage required to confront and accept all parts of ourselves. This conversation is a beautiful exploration of stillness, embodiment, and curiosity, emphasising that the journey to becoming more of who we are is the foundation of authentic and courageous coaching.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What is Shadow Work?: Teresa explains that our "shadow" contains the parts of ourselves that were socialized out of us in childhood—qualities we disowned to fit in. The work is about integrating these parts to become more wholly ourselves.
• The Paradoxical Theory of Change: Discover how Gestalt therapy influenced Teresa's journey. The idea that we change not by trying to be different, but by becoming more of who we already are.
• From Self-Torture to Self-Compassion: Teresa shares her early struggles with an overactive inner critic and how she moved from judging her coaching sessions as simply "good" or "bad" to a more compassionate approach.
• "No Bad Parts": The conversation highlights the importance of meeting our shadow parts with curiosity and compassion, understanding that their intention is always benevolent, even if their messaging is unhelpful.
• The Power of Stillness and Embodiment: The critical role of creating enough stillness to listen to our body's signals (like a wince or cringe), which act as vital data for shadow work.
• Courage is Having the Courage to "Be": Teresa defines courageous coaching as having the courage to simply "be," which requires giving up the need to be an expert or get it right, and instead sitting in the humility of "I don't know".

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches 

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.

Episode 14 With Febriona Ruocco

About The Guest:

Febronia Ruocco is a Global Strategic Insights & Analytics Director and a dual-accredited Executive Leadership Coach. Over her career, she has led insights teams globally for renowned household brands such as Cadbury-Schweppes, Diageo, Heinz, Heineken, and GSK. Alongside her corporate leadership role, Febronia runs her own international coaching practice, serves as a mentor for Durham University, the EMCC, and WIRe (Women in Research), and is an Advisory Board Member at Durham University.

About The Episode:

Welcome to episode 14 of the Courageous Coach podcast, where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to be courageous with your clients, your business, and your life. 

In this episode, host Melissa Hague is joined by Febronia Ruocco. Febronia shares her journey from being a Global Insights and Analytics Director in the corporate world to becoming a dual-accredited Executive Leadership Coach. We chat about the surprising and beautiful integration of her insights career and her coaching practice, exploring the challenges and joys she has encountered along the way. 

Febronia offers a candid look at the process of unlearning the habits of a "fixer" and problem-solver, the difficulty of embracing silence, and the courage it takes to support high-performing leaders. This conversation delves into the nuances of self-regulation, the ethical use of power in coaching, and the profound importance of knowing yourself to truly empower others. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The Yin and Yang of Insights and Coaching: Febronia explains how her 20+ years in marketing and insights, guiding leaders through data, provided a natural training ground for coaching. 
• The Challenge of Unlearning: The transition from a fast-paced corporate environment to the coaching space requires unlearning behaviors like interrupting and the performative need to add value. Febronia found it difficult to sit in silence and not "pipe up all the time." 
• Embracing the Silence: The journey from feeling "so uncomfortable with the silences" to encouraging them as a vital tool for client reflection. 
• Power and Partnership in Coaching: A discussion on the different forms of power, the importance of "de-powering" to create an equal partnership, and using power ethically to serve the client. 
• The Courage to Know Yourself: Febronia’s belief that to be truly courageous as a coach, you must first face your own fears, understand your limits, and do the inner work. As she puts it, how can we empower others if we can't do it for ourselves first? 
• The Evolution of a Niche: It took Febronia two and a half years to grow the confidence to reposition her coaching practice to focus on high-performing corporate leaders.

Go Deeper with The Courageous Coach Program

If these conversations are resonating, you might be ready to go deeper. The Courageous Coach program is designed for qualified coaches in the early years of building their independent practice. If you want to coach with more courage, clarity, and humanity and grow a business that truly reflects who you are, this is for you.

You can find all the details here: https://www.melissahague.com/courageous-coaches 

Connect with Melissa

Come and find Melissa on LinkedIn. Whether you have questions about the program, want to share what resonated from this episode, or just fancy a chat, she'd love to connect.

Support the Podcast:

• Follow & Subscribe: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
• Share with a fellow coach: Know someone who could use a little courage boost? Pass this episode on—courage is contagious, after all.

Thanks again for listening. Until next time, stay curious, stay human and keep choosing courage.