About

REAL Coaching & Development exists for one reason: to help small business owners feel less stuck, less alone, and more themselves again. After nearly 15 years of coaching, one thing has become obvious to me — people don’t need a perfect system or a shiny framework. They need honesty, clarity, and someone who will help them work out what feels right for them, not what the internet tells them they should do.

REAL began in 2017, long before it looked anything like it does now. Back then, it was centred around meditation — calm, clarity and breathing room for people who were overwhelmed by work and life. That grounding thread has carried through every evolution since. REAL has changed shape, but it’s never lost its heart: connection, perspective, and space to think clearly without pressure or pretence.

Somewhere in those early days, something small but significant happened. During a pottery painting session, I painted this without any real intention, but with REAL instinct. When I collected it later, it hit me: this wasn’t just an owl. This was a symbol of what I wanted REAL to stand for — perspective, steadiness, and straightforward honesty that helps you see what’s really going on. I called him Ken.

Ken is named after my grandfather (a blunt, funny Scouser with a gift for cutting through nonsense with humour and clarity). He loved owls, and he loved saying things as they were. That mix of warmth, truth and perspective is exactly what I bring to my coaching, which is why the name fit immediately. Ken became part of the brand not as a mascot, but as a reminder: see clearly, stay grounded, and trust what matters.

REAL is built on that foundation — not on trends or formulas, but on real conversations with real people. I’ve spent years helping business owners, leaders and teams grow in ways that feel true to them. Before coaching, I worked in recruitment, wrote books, built businesses, rebuilt myself more than once, and learned (sometimes the hard way) how important it is to create a working life that actually fits who you are.

I have navigated career transitions, leadership challenges, chronic health issues, marriage, divorce, parenting, and the reality of being human while still trying to show up professionally. All of that gives me a lived understanding of what people are carrying when they walk into a coaching conversation. It’s not just goals and strategy; it’s life.

The reminder that authenticity, practicality, and kindness matter sits quietly behind everything I do. REAL isn’t about pushing you into somebody else’s version of success it’s about helping you find clarity, make confident decisions, and build a business that feels workable, sustainable, and genuinely yours.

This is the work.
REAL people. REAL conversations. REAL progress.