Dear Shirleyann,

I met SJ Educoach through a charity called “Mom On A Mission” (M.O.M) which I am also a member of.
From the first day of the programme, the objectives and the aims seemed doubtful and unachievable for me but as the training and coaching workshop carried on, day after day, my “self-empowerment and self-worth” took over my doubt-poisoned mind.

Like the weather condition, I was a ‘cloud, not seeking light for myself. However, I was able to empower and support others in the sessions by giving them my best.

Then, due to the coaching and workshops with Shirleyann (The Sun Shine) I began to understand “Me, Myself and I”. I have created healthy habits and worked on boundaries in all areas of my life. I have grown more confident, and came out of the mental bondage I was in. As a Reflexologist, I have planned to reflect on inner acceptance and forgiveness.

“I am no longer a cloud. I am currently a Sun shining: “Me, Myself and I.

I have appreciated your time and the knowledge you shared.

Thank you Shirleyann.

My name is Sherrel, I recently completed the Me, Myself and I programme with Shirleyann. This was my first time in completing a life coaching course such as this, initially I was anxious about starting this course but at the same time I could not help but to be excited to be coached to helping myself to have a more positive mindset and build self-confidence.

Throughout the programme Shirleyann created a welcoming and comfortable space allowing me to feel confident in expressing myself. Shirleyann’s approach in delivering the programme was very flexible and accommodating which made it easier for me to commit to completing the programme. Throughout the programme/session Shirleyann would engage very well with participants to ensure they felt comfortable and happy with the pace the session was being ran.

This programme was very eye-opening for me and has reinstalled into me that it is okay for me to say “no” when something is not okay with me rather than saying “yes” in order to please others. I now have a clearer vision of my goals and Shirleyann greatly helped to break them down for me into SMART goals which has helped to break them down into more achievable targets which would eventually lead to me completing the original goal set without becoming to overwhelmed.

I would recommend this programme to anyone who feels they are ‘stuck’ with where they are now and needs a little positive and professional guidance in moving forward weather its with their professional or personal development.

I would like to say a very big thank you to Shirleyann in reminding me that Me, Myself and I are important. x 😊

Shirleyann worked with the Senior leadership team at my school based in Kent.  We were highly impressed with the service she provided.  She communicated before, during and after her work was complete so that we were coached and supported through our journey.  As a leadership team we did not understand each other’s personal traits and therefore we were not as effective as we could have been.  Shirley Ann supported us by conducting a DISC personality profile so that we could have a better understanding of each other’s educational leadership.  She then went through our traits within our leadership coaching session and supported us in drawing up personal action plans, as a result of Shirleyann’s input, leadership and management was recognised by Ofsted in our 2022 inspection as an outstanding strength.  Your coaching has been really valuable in strengthening the team.  We are immensely thankful.

I became interested in Shirleyann’s one-to-one coaching sessions as I knew she had extensive educational management and leadership experience. I approached Shirleyann for coaching at a time when I was struggling to see a way forward in finding the right position as I relocated from working abroad back to the UK.

The sessions provided me with a valuable opportunity to take time out to reflect and think through next steps and to highlight my areas of strength and development.

Shirleyann is very easy to talk to and provides a malleable structure to the sessions which allowed me to talk through what was important to me at that time.

As a result, I have clear plan for my next steps and feel much better equipped to handle the challenges ahead. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend leadership coaching with Shirleyann and view the time we spent together as an invaluable investment in my own development as an educational leader.

Shirleyann is a safe pair of hands, being kind and thoughtful and wanting the best from her clients. My new mantra is I am not only creative (I paint), but also organised and good with the computer and I have learnt this by working with Shirleyann who made me think about my strengths and refine my weaknesses to work to my advantage. I have never seen myself as an organised administrator and now I do, so when asked to write this testimonial about the impact of coaching on myself I would say it is a huge leap in my own confidence to have worked through and fully understood what was holding me back. Shirleyann carefully held my hand. As a former educator she held me while allowing me to discover for myself and gain my own confidence in this area by using various coaching techniques. Since beginning coaching, I have addressed my social media sites, redesigned my studio, formatted my own coaching business and calmly dealt with my paperwork mountain. I no longer see these as hurdles just things on my to do list, which frees up my mind for more creative work. I now have more time to paint, coach and train because I am not overthinking the paperwork. Therefore, my goal of setting up my coaching business using online services and promoting my paintings is almost complete. As a former educator Shirleyann also knew that I needed to tap into my own strengths and put them to use on a different focus. I always felt her focus of the coaching was on me to discover for myself what I was capable of and Shirleyann’s experience allowed me to discover this whilst gently holding me throughout the process with those safe hands. This is my experience of coaching with Shirleyann and I am delighted with the outcome.

I started coaching with Shirleyann after years of health challenges, which forced me to pack up working. All in all, these experiences left me feeling inadequate and unfulfilled; which greatly recked my confidence and shattered my self-esteem.

I took up coaching with Shirl in a hope that it would help me to refocus and get back on track, so that I could once again live a life of value; where I could again become a productive player in society. I had so many ideas of things I thought I could do (that were conjusive to my medical situation), but my ideas were all over the place. Shirl supported me with contextualising my ideas and work through them in a sytematic way; clarifying my thoughts and setting targets and deadlines for each project/area of personnal improvement I was seeking to achieve.

As we progressed through the sessions I became more and more confident; feeling that I still have a lot to offer. My self-esteem has soared as I now feel that I can move forward, living a life of purpose.

Thank you Shirl – for helping me to get my life back!!!

Working with Shirleyann was a revelation from the start. She enabled me to view my personal and professional development in ways that I had never thought about before. Through her probing questioning and challenging converations she was able to elicit from me a clear and purposeful way forward that empowed me to bring about effective change in my life. Far from being a daunting experience, she was able to break down some fairly heavy issues into manageable chunks so that I could feel tangible progress from week one. As with any support the most powerful aspect of her help is that it has given me a framework to continue to develop myself beyond the coaching sessions. During the sessions Shirleyann was invariably patient, professional and insightful and was able to navigate my ramblings to get to the heart of the matter in each session.

The DISC assessment identified my strengths and my challenges. It gave me a better understanding of myself and things I needed to improve on. Shirleyann’s coaching technique enabled me to reflect and become aware of how to improve my work. I had time to develop an action plan during the session with planned time scales.

My coaching sessions with Shirleyann had started at the beginning of the year and it had been a great experience. Since I had just graduated from university, I was suffering from a great lack of confidence and with the help from Shirleyann, she had helped me openly admit and tackle these issues. For the past few months, these helpful sessions with Shirleyann were more than just an informal chat. They had helped me by slowly motivating myself to ensure that I can make the first move and to create small actions to steadily reach my ultimate end goal. With the help from Shirleyann’s sessions, I know that in the future I will be able to sit myself down and write down anything that I would like to achieve and ask myself how and when I will be making the first move to progress. Shirleyann’s sessions has been a fantastic eye-opening experience and she really knows how to blossom a garden and ensure that it grows. I feel that I have blossomed almost into a new era of myself as my confidence in myself personally and professionally has improved so much.

Shirleyann was really insightful in helping me to “see the wood for the trees” and pull out the key, re-occuring themes that I kept coming up with in relation to my goal and overall steps I felt I needed to take – but had trouble in deciding what to do first. She really helped me to gain clarity over my overall goals and next steps, which was hugely beneficial in dealing with the overwhelm of what to do. This applied to both figuring out which goal to do first, and also then how to tackle it whilst bearing in mind the other goals I wanted to achieve.

Shirleyann’s experience as a headteacher, I think, clearly comes through as her manner does remind me of a helpful schoolteacher with my best interests at heart and no personal agenda. She was clearly unbiased, non-judgemental and friendly without being unprofessional or cold. I hugely appreciated actually being heard properly. I would highly recommend Shirleyann as a coach who provides structure and forward momentum but without pressurising the client during the session.

Hi Shirleyann,

Thank you for all your help and support. Our coaching sessions have really helped me to keep moving forwards during a very difficult time when I’ve felt like giving up.

Because of our work together, I’ve been able to continue with my studies, and look forward to achieving my diploma soon. I’ve also been able to secure a new job in a different industry, which is going well.

But most importantly, you helped me see a light at the end of the tunnel and made me feel resilient through what has been the most difficult time in my life, as you know.

You’re a truly kind hearted and open person and an incredible coach. I will highly recommend you, especially to anyone who is struggling to overcome major challenges or roadblocks in their life. After our sessions I always feel uplifted and have a renewed sense of motivation and hope.

You are an amazing coach and you’ve helped me so much with my career, resilience, and mindset.

Thanks again,

Antonette

I was introduced to Shirleyann by my head teacher as I was struggling with workload and needed to find new coping mechanisms to stop work from affecting my life at home. Before working with Shirleyann, I would come home from work upset and really struggled to deal with the amount of work I had. As Phase Lead, I was in charge of monitoring my year group, working alongside new teachers, mentoring ECTs, leading and managing Phonics as well as dealing with the daily struggles of a class teacher.

As soon as I met Shirleyann, I felt comfortable and reassured that what I was going through was normal and that I just needed to be coached into a new way of thinking. I first of all created a ‘wheel of life’ which covered the 7 goals that I wanted to achieve. Each week, we worked on one of the goals. Shirleyann always challenged me when I was thinking of ways I would achieve my goal to allow me to think more strategically. Through Shireleyann’s help, I realised that a lot of the problems I was dealing with stemmed back from my lack of confidence as a child. She enabled me to think deeply about the problems I was facing and face them in a way that challenged me.

As a result of my coaching, I now have increased confidence within my job role and have made personal growth. I am able to prioritise tasks, communicate with members of SLT regarding my workload and now view life in a different way. My biggest achievement of all is having the confidence to say ‘no’. Before Shirleyann, I would try and complete all tasks emailed to me as quickly as I could so that I would not fall behind. I would not say no and so I let it take over my life. Now, I am able to say ‘no’ to tasks that do not need to be completed straight away and so have more time to spend at home with my family. I come home happy which was a feeling that I was not experiencing beforehand.

With the help and support of Shirleyann, I have also made professional growth. I now have a new job role as an Assistant Headteacher starting in September and feel confident that, with everything I have learned, I will be successful at my job whilst considering my workload and happiness.

Several of the delegate that attended the Dignity At Work training on the 20th February (last week) made a point of coming into the HR office on the 21st February, to say that the course content was excellent and very informative, much better than they expected, and also to say that Asari does a great job of delivering this training.

Today was really inspiring and I loved how you delivered the session with such confidence and engagement. It was really wonderful. I manage the SEND department and have Just done my MA on Intersectionality and the lived experience of black Caribbean parents with children of SEND and their challenge for diagnosis. So I found it really interesting to hear about the work you are doing,

Thanks again,

Nic Lace