My name is Jackie Fitzgerald and since 2010 I’ve been working as an executive and business coach in London and Oxfordshire. I’m now based on the Wirral, near Liverpool, but I have clients in the USA and all over the world.
I quickly realised that coaching doesn’t always go far enough in helping a client so over the past few years I’ve also trained in counselling and therapy.
You may be asking what gives me the right to do that. Fair question, so here I am in my own words:
I was the first person in my family to go to university and studied French and Spanish at King’s College London, where I spent the first 2 years feeling lost, terrified and out of my depth. I managed to sort myself out and graduated with a 2:1.
I then completely changed direction and started training to be an accountant, passing my CIMA exams first time in 1989. I worked my way through all of the usual junior finance roles and ended up as Finance Director of a very small bit of a plc in my early 30s.
Despite my own lack of confidence and belief in my abilities, which plagued me and cost me several promotions and jobs, it had all gone so well that I ended up as Managing Director of a company that provided infrastructure to major phone companies. That ended very badly from my point of view and led to a year of trauma, doubt and fear which in turn led to a really bad decision that cost me a great deal of money and 2 years of complete, but different, misery.
I hated every minute of those 3 very difficult years but I learnt so much about myself, especially how to manage my confidence and bounce back when I felt that life, and some pretty unpleasant people, were giving me a kicking. That knowledge and experience feeds directly into my coaching practice and I draw on those experiences and the things I learned every day. I don’t do pointless coaching or therapy, I do my best to help my clients get the results they want, as quickly as they can manage.
I have a MA in Coaching and Mentoring Practice from Oxford Brookes University where my dissertation topic was ‘An exploration of male self-confidence in the coaching context’. You can view the presentation I gave to the 2015 Coaching and Mentoring Research Conference.
I have also completed courses in hypnotherapy and CBT but mostly use BWRT™ and Warriors, Settlers and Nomads with clients, both of which can be very powerful and effective therapies.
So that’s me!
If you think we would get on and I could help you, click here to book a quick chat about what you need or give me a ring on 07485 248 353.