About — Mind & Co

Hi, I’m Heather.

I’m a coach and psychologist, and the founder of Mind & Co.

I help professionals who are feeling stressed or anxious about work, to feel more balanced, confident and energised. I work with organisations and individuals, offering coaching, courses and workshops.

I use a combination of Positive Psychology, Cognitive Behavioural Techniques and Person-Centred approaches in my work. (If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry - you don’t need to! But you’re welcome to look it up if you’re curious.)

I’m often described as calm, empathetic and gently challenging. I love my work, and want to help others to feel that way too.

Why I do what I do

About eight years ago, I was working in a management consulting firm. In some ways, I was doing really well. In other ways, I wasn't. I was good at my job. I got top performance ratings, great feedback, a place on the high potential programme, a promotion, all that stuff. But I'd also started to feel quite stressed and anxious about work, quite a lot of the time.

Sometimes, that seemed ok. I felt kind of buzzy, stretched, alive. I was rushing around. Dynamic. Go go go. At other times, I felt really quite wobbly. I took mental health days before I knew they were a thing. I developed anxiety-induced IBS. I didn't feel like I could be honest about how I was feeling. I worried people would think less of me. Probably because, deep down, I thought there was something wrong with me. I kept asking myself, "Is it me, or is it the job?"

In 2017 I left my job to do a Master's in Psychology. I loved it, and learnt so much. One thing I learnt was that it was both me and the job. Aspects of my job were common drivers for work-related stress and anxiety. But some drivers of my stress and anxiety were internal, not external. I would take them with me, whatever work context I was in.

It's taken me time, headspace, and lots of learning to repair my relationship with work. I definitely still feel stressed every now and then. Some of my old drivers might get the best of me, or I might notice other ones lurking. But I am so much happier now.

That’s why I do what I do. I want to help people who are feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed about work. I want to help them enjoy their work more, find a better balance, and feel a lot less wobbly.

I coach people because I know from experience how powerful it can be to have a safe, non-judgemental space where we can acknowledge how we're feeling. Where we can explore what might be driving it. And where we can, step-by-step, work our way through it.

I run my courses and workshops because I want to share the ideas and tools that have really helped me, and still help me. I want to help people access them in a way that is supportive and evidence-based. I also want to keep them front of mind for myself.

My training and experience

I first studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, specialising in Genetics. I’m still a scientist (and geek) at heart, which is why I put plenty of research and evidence-based approaches into my work.

After benefiting from coaching myself for a few years, I was trained to coach others in 2016, as part of my management responsibilities at work.

I completed my MSc in Psychological Sciences from University College London in 2018. As part of this, I was trained in a niche psychotherapy technique and applied it in a coaching context. I decided to continue coaching and working with psychology, and set up Mind & Co.

In 2020 I completed my ICF-Accredited Diploma in Transformational Coaching, and also hold an ICF-Accredited Certificate in Group Coaching.

I now offer one-to-one and group coaching, and courses in resilience, mindfulness, emotional intelligence and self-compassion.

To find out more about me or my work, feel free to get in touch.