Something's changed, or needs to. And you don't know what comes next.
ONE-TO-ONE COACHING FOR CAPABLE WOMEN AT A TURNING POINT
Or talk first. Book a free 30-minute call
WHERE YOU MIGHT BE
You're stuck, and you can feel it's about more than the thing in front of you.
Maybe something shifted in life. A job ended, a role changed, a chapter closed, whether you chose it or it chose you.
Maybe nothing's happened on the outside, and you've noticed patterns in yourself you want to change. You're going through the motions in a life that looks fine from the outside.
Maybe you want clarity about what comes next, and you've realised you don't have the space to think it through.
Successful on paper. Capable. Doing fine. And quietly asking whether this is it.
If the bigger problem is a mind that never switches off, and it's causing distress, that might be therapy rather than coaching. I offer that too, and you can read about it here. Coaching is for the woman standing at a threshold who wants to work out what's next.
WHAT YOU’VE PROBABLY ALREADY TRIED
The career-change books. The lists. The personality test that told you something you already knew. Podcasts on your commute. Long conversations with friends who love you and can't see what you can't see.
Maybe some therapy, which helped with other things and left this untouched.
I'm wondering if you've noticed that none of it has moved you. You understand yourself pretty well by now. The insight is there. The momentum isn't.
What's been missing is somewhere to think it through properly, with someone who'll follow where you go and challenge you when it's needed.
WHAT IT STARTS TO COST
Decisions that circle for weeks and land nowhere. Weekends that feel like admin. Being present at work and absent at home, or the other way round. The people close to you getting a version of you that's running on autopilot.
And underneath it, a slow drift away from who you are.
You know something needs to change. You're just not sure what, or where to start.
HOW WE WORK
There are three things we do, and we do them in whatever order the work needs.
We map where you are today.
What's changed, or needs to. What it's stirred up. We don't rush to an answer.
We make room for what that brings up.
Change touches old places, and what surfaces there usually matters. We work with it rather than push past it, so it stops quietly running your decisions.
And we find where you go from here.
A direction that's yours, drawn from what's true for you.
That's the frame, and it's the same every time. What happens inside it isn't. Some people need most of the three months in the mapping. Some arrive with the map done and need the room. The work moves and flows around you rather than the other way round, which is what makes it yours and not a programme with your name on the front.
When people ask what this work is like, the picture I reach for is two people walking through a wood.
One of them has been standing at the edge of it for a while, holding a question they can't answer from where they are. So they step in, and they lead. They stop at a fallen branch, crouch over something in the leaves, double back to a path they walked past a minute ago. The other one doesn't hurry them on or point out the quicker route, just comes alongside, says "tell me about that", and follows wherever the weaving goes next.
There's no route drawn up in advance and no clearing somebody else has picked out. But a wood looks different from the inside. Paths that couldn't be seen from the edge turn up underfoot, the light gets through in places, and the things worth stopping for start to say something about where this person wants to go. Somewhere along the way they notice they're already walking in a direction, and it's theirs. They found it at their own pace, with someone beside them the whole way.
Any tools or models I bring are offered as one way of thinking, and you're free to leave them if they don't fit.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF SUPPORT
I'm Louise Hiles, a UKCP-registered psychotherapist and EMCC Senior Accredited coach. I've worked with adults since 2016, in person in the Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne, and online across the UK.
The dual qualification means the coaching can go deeper when it needs to. When something difficult surfaces, I can stay with it rather than steer around it. You get the focus and momentum of coaching, in a space that can take the weight of what change brings up.
I found my sessions with Louise very beneficial to help me to organise my thoughts and take action on moments of clarity.
She has a natural way of observing which means she can easily highlight ways around a problem whilst empowering her clients to think and listen to themselves. I think her actionable coaching skills combined with her psychotherapy training means she has quite the edge over many other coaches
- BM, Self Employed Creative
HOW IT STARTS
You can start with one session.
Eighty minutes, online or in person in Newcastle upon Tyne, where we map where you are, what's changed or needs to, and what you want from this.
You can book that session on its own, or book the full three months from the start, with this as the first of your six.
You leave with the map and a clearer sense of where you want to go next. One session might be all you need, or you might want to keep going. Either is fine, and nothing is decided before you've sat in the room.
THE FIRST THREE MONTHS
Whether you book it from the start or carry on after your first session, the three months is a defined piece of work. Six fortnightly sessions, the first being the eighty-minute one.
Between sessions you'll get a short email check-in. Three questions, around five minutes, to help you notice what's shifted and what you want to bring next.
The fortnight between sessions is on purpose. It's where the thinking percolates and where you try things out. Dedicated time to think, with enough room in between to act.
When the three months are done, some people stop there with what they came for. Others find there's further to go. If that's you, we can agree to carry on monthly for as long as it stays useful.
WHAT PEOPLE TEND TO LEAVE WITH
A clearer sense of what comes next, yours rather than borrowed from what everyone else needs. Old rules loosened, the expectations you'd held as solid for years seen clearly. More choice in how you respond. And a bit more trust in your own thinking.
For a while I'd felt stuck. Unhappy with my work life and thought I was trapped within a profession I wouldn't be able to move out of. I had other things going on too - a loss of confidence due to menopause, difficult relationships at work that were all leading to feeling stressed, anxious and unable to see a way through it.
Inspired by someone who said they worked with a coach to plan their career I looked locally for that person - someone who could help me find a new direction.
I found Louise.
It felt like a treat to sit in her calm, cozy space and talk and unravel these things. I was partly confused what I was asking her to help me with but it became more clear with helpful activities, prompts and tasks.
During the five month period I worked with Louise I had a plan, a new career trajectory, and a way to transition - including how to organise my finances, how to speak to my employer and goals for myself - this year has been my 'get shit done' year.
I'd highly recommend Louise in helping you 'unstick' yourself and move forward with a renewed focus , energy and commitment to yourself.
- Michelle, Senior Leader in education
YOUR INVESTMENT
First session
£200 for eighty minutes.
The first three months
£900 for all six sessions, or three payments of £300, when you're paying for it yourself. That includes the first session, so if you've already had it, the remaining five sessions are £700 or two payments of £350.
£1,350 when an employer, a training budget or Access to Work is paying.
Either rate includes six sessions and email check-ins throughout, online or in person.
If you already know you want the full three months, book a free call and we'll set it up from there.
Continuing the work
Where we agree to carry on after the first three months, sessions are fifty minutes, once a month, at £150 each. No minimum commitment. We continue while it's useful and stop when it's done.
Coaching has had a really positive impact on my approach to my professional life, future career goals and beyond. The sessions allowed me to better understand myself and unpack some of the patterns that had led me to feeling overstretched and stuck. Louise created a supportive, insightful space for me to be honest and reflective, and I don't hesitate to recommend her as a coach.
- Clare, Local Government
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK
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Most coaches don't have a psychotherapy qualification. That background means I understand the patterns and history underneath the surface, so the work reaches further and holds better. You get the focus of coaching, in a psychologically informed space, and when change brings up something difficult, there's room for it.
Coaching isn't therapy, though, and it won't quietly turn into it. If it becomes clear that therapy is what's needed, I'll say so, and we'll talk through the options together. That might mean pausing the coaching, seeing a therapist alongside it, or me helping you find the right person.
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That's often the starting point, and it's welcome. Plenty of people arrive knowing only that something's changed, or needs to. The early work is mapping that together, so you don't have to have it worked out before we begin.
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Many people finish with what they came for. If there's further to go, we can agree to continue monthly, with no minimum commitment. You're never signing up to more than the first piece of work.
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Yes. My practice is neuroaffirmative, and I don't treat neurodivergence as something to fix. I've worked with women around a late ADHD diagnosis and what it changes about work and direction, and some of that coaching has been funded through Access to Work.
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Yes. I work online via video call and in person in the Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne.
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Book the first session. It's a real piece of work rather than a sales call, and by the end of it you'll have a much better idea. If you'd rather talk before booking anything, there's a free thirty-minute telephone call with no obligation.
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Often, yes. Coaching can be funded through workplace wellbeing and development budgets, and through Access to Work. The employer-funded rate is £1,350 for the three months, and I'll invoice them directly.
You don't have to have it worked out. You just have to be honest that something's changed, or needs to, and want the time to think it through properly.
Or talk first. Book a free 30-minute call