About me

Learning to let it glow...

Why I do what I do

I was a painfully shy and sensitive child and to attract any sort of attention horrified me.  In many ways it still does.  Yet, at the same time, within me was a musician, creative and performer - traits passed down to me through generations and nurtured in a home that was always full of song.  

A pretty good all-rounder, I took a sensible path into professional services and took on the challenges placed in front of me to become a successful consultant, without thinking about whether this was the right path for me.  I also left music behind somewhere along the way. 

Whilst I didn't particularly love the technical content of my professional services roles I always found outlets for the novel and creative - being drawn to new things, what could be, and better ways of doing things.  I realised that I’m brilliant at articulating and proving the concept and brave enough to have a go.

And every now and then the performer and creative would find its way out in other ways, too - whether in the way I changed the energy levels in a meeting, made people laugh when delivering a tax seminar, or asked a group of graduate trainees to summarise their learning in the style of “the musicals”.   

Eventually I heard its call and decided to listen.  Through trying stuff, reflecting, and working with a coach myself, I’ve opened myself up to new ways to glow more brightly, whether that is singing in a band, public speaking, leading workshops, or leaving a comfortable job to set up my own coaching business.

Coaching has played a huge part for me in untangling the real me from everything I thought I "should" or "ought" to do, and releasing me to know and do the things I actually want to do.  One of those things is to bring the benefit of my experience to others, through coaching, so that they too can work out what makes them glow and what it is about them that will light up others if they only let it, and I'm an ignition partner for those who want to generate innovative ideas and bring them to life.

Ruth's "approach is not only professional but also empathetic, recognising that everyone has unique stories and barriers hindering their potential"

My professional background

In my 25 year career in the Big 4 I was a consultant to multinational companies on workforce taxation and, in my last five years at PwC, I led a £30m programme to transform PwC’s own £1.2bn Tax practice to deliver tax and workforce managed services.   I was (and still am) at my best when igniting my and others' imaginations towards what could be, acting as a catalyst to connect people and ideas, and being at the forefront of firing up ready for launch.

A speaker and facilitator on many technical and professional skills development courses for clients and colleagues, I have developed and directed graduate and leadership courses in the UK and EMEA and designed and led career development programmes for the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Association of Taxation Technicians.  

Personal development, leadership and life-long learning are areas of passion for me so I built on my professional status as a Chartered Tax Adviser by undertaking an Executive MBA at Henley Business School (in which I conducted prize-winning research on leadership development).  Most recently, I completed formal training as a coach.

My coaching credentials

In addition to 25 years' developing and coaching individuals and teams in my consulting role, in March 2021 I was awarded an Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching by Animas Centre for Coaching.  The course is fully accredited by:

"Working with Ruth was transformative for my career. With her guidance, I not only achieved a promotion but also progressed significantly in my role."