What is coaching and how does it work?

It’s a question I get asked quite a lot.

Usually on a first call, or sometimes just in conversation. And it makes sense—coaching is one of those words that gets used everywhere, but doesn’t always mean the same thing.

Some people think it’s about performance. Others think it’s a bit like therapy. Some assume it’s someone telling you what to do.

In this post we will explore what coaching is, how it works, and my approach.

A bit of context

I didn’t come into this work through a straight line.

I’d already worked across tech, startups, and running my own business before this became the focus. Like a lot of people I now work with, I was figuring things out as I went.

The first time I realised this kind of work might matter was during a conversation. I was interviewing someone, and by the end of it, it had shifted into something slower and more honest than a typical interview.

Afterwards he asked if he could pay me to keep talking.

That stayed with me.

What this work actually is

At its simplest, it’s a space to think more clearly about your life or work.

That might sound basic, but most people don’t really have that space anymore.

Life tends to move quickly. Decisions get made under pressure. You carry a lot mentally without really having time to unpack it.

So things start to loop. You think about the same problems in the same way.

This is where slowing things down can make a difference.

Not to analyse everything endlessly, but to actually see what’s going on more clearly

The holistic layer: mind, body, and capacity

One of the most important parts of this work is that it’s not just about thinking.

People often assume the main issue is mindset. But in practice, you can understand something perfectly well and still feel stuck.

That stuckness is often connected to things like:

• pressure building up over time
• emotional load you haven’t had space to process
• stress or burnout sitting underneath daily functioning
• your nervous system simply being “full”

When that happens, it doesn’t matter how good your thinking is. Your system doesn’t have the capacity to act on it cleanly.

So part of the work becomes noticing that layer too, such as how you’re arriving into decisions, conversations, and choices.

Sometimes the shift isn’t about insight. It’s about creating enough internal space for clarity to emerge.

How sessions tend to unfold

There isn’t a fixed structure.

You usually bring whatever feels most present—something in your work, a decision you’re sitting with, or a general sense that something isn’t quite working. This becomes the starting point.

Sometimes it’s practical and focused. Other times it slows right down and becomes more reflective.

But underneath it, there’s usually attention on:

• how you’re relating to the situation
• where tension or avoidance might be showing up
• what’s happening underneath the surface reaction

Over time, patterns start to become more visible. And when that happens, things tend to feel less tangled and more choiceful.

Why people often feel stuck

Most people don’t come in because of one clear problem, it’s usually a mixture of things.

Work pressure. Life transitions. Internal expectations. Fatigue. A sense of not quite being aligned with how things look on the outside.

And because it’s layered, the experience is often just “stuckness” or overthinking, rather than something easy to name.

When you slow that down, it often becomes clearer what’s actually driving it.

What this isn’t

It’s not advice, or therapy, and it’s not about someone telling you what to do unless its invited.

There’s no external agenda being pushed.

It’s more a process of making space for you to see things more clearly for yourself, (and getting shit done) and then move from there.

Is this the right kind of support?

It tends to work best when you are open to looking at things honestly, even if they don’t yet know what they’re looking for.

Not needing certainty. But being willing to explore and have faith in yourself and trust in a professional to support that to emerge.

If what you want is clear instructions or someone to make decisions for you, this probably won’t feel like the right fit.

But if you want more clarity, more awareness of what’s actually going on underneath things, and a different relationship with how you move through life or work, it can be useful.

Working together in Bristol

I’m based in Bristol, I work with people through life, career, and business transitions in person and online.

Most of the work is conversational, but it tends to go deeper than problem-solving alone.

It’s more about helping people make sense of where they are, and what direction actually feels right for them next.