Kirsty McWilliam
Founder and Executive Coach
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Following a successful career as a chartered accountant with two of the 'Big 4' accountancy firms, Kirsty's passion for driving change in business turned to a drive and passion for enabling change in people and in 2008, Coaching Direct was founded.
Kirsty is now an experienced and accredited coach working from her base in Scotland. Alongside her own coaching, Kirsty is an experienced coach trainer and is passionate about professionalism in coaching, working with leaders on a 1-2-1 basis, and group settings using both emotional intelligence and strengths profiling to support personal development. As a business leader herself, Kirsty leads by example. Managing two successful Scottish based businesses, she knows the economic and political landscape that leaders of today face. |
Kirsty is an accredited coach and member of the Association for Coaching, a fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants and licensed by MHS to certify and deliver EQ-i2.0, the leading emotional intelligence tool.
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Our Core Coaching team:
Over our three tiered levels of coaches, here are our core team:
- Professional Coach - completed accredited training with Coaching Direct and is working towards personal accreditation
- Accredited Professional Coach - completed accredited training and holds own personal coach accreditation
- Executive Coach - completed accredited training, holds own personal accreditation and has been working with senior leaders for 10+ years
Cathy Thompson
Professional Coach Cathy joined Coaching Direct as an associate in 2019, bringing with her over 17 years experience in managing large and complex change programmes, working with senior executives to develop their leadership skills and embed a culture of coaching within a large corporate environment. Cathy is passionate about supporting leaders successfully navigate change and build resilience in this ever changing and increasingly high pressured world.
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Lorna Lothian
Executive Coach Lorna brings over 20 years working as a Talent and Development Professional, with extensive experience of working with leaders across the globe, in a large, complex, corporate organisation. Lorna's background lies in recruitment, organisational development and talent management and she specialises the design and delivery of talent management programs for senior leaders.
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Jenni Dixon
Professional Coach Jenni is an experienced HR and recruitment specialist with a 17-year track record in both private and public sector organisations. Jenni has two kids who keep her busy! She is CIPD qualified, trained in delivering the emotional intelligence tool EQ-i2.0 and EQ-i360 and has undertaken an Accredited Award in Coach Training. Jenni has an open communication style and is enthusiastic about supporting clients with their coaching journeys.
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An introduction to a few of the coaches in our Coaching Bank:
We are proud to work with some of the most experienced and skilled in the industry, each of whom has trained with Coaching Direct:
Susan McDonald
Professional Accredited Coach Susan is a facilitator, trainer and coach specialising in coaching, change management, assertiveness, management and team building.
With a background in Learning and Development and with 25 years at a UK retail brand, Susan works with Coaching Direct periodically as an associate trainer to deliver the accredited coach training programme. |
Louise Elliot
Professional Coach An experienced former retail HR leader, Louise joined Coaching Direct in 2018, bringing with her a wealth of experience in leading people in organisations, developing training and development strategy and in business partnering. Louise has a keen interest in personal development and career coaching.
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Fiona Penman
Professional Coach Fiona joined Coaching Direct as an associate in 2019, having trained with us back in 2018. Fiona brings with her 20 years of experience in people management across financial, retail and outsourcing sectors. Fiona has always had a passion for the development of people by using coaching approaches and developing leaders. Fiona has long held a deep seated interest in human beings, what makes us who we are and what influences our development. From there, she developed a passion for understanding how we can be the best version of ourselves we possibly can, and a desire to help others achieve this.
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Lesley Sinclair
Professional Coach Lesley is an experienced business professional and coach with over 20 years experience of leading and managing operational health and social care staff to be the best they can be. Lesley is comfortable and experienced in the art of negotiation and facilitation and regularly utilises and shares her skills as a coach and agent for change to empower and enable people to be the best they can be within the health and social care sector. Lesley joins Coaching Direct as one of our coaching bank associates, delivering coaching to the University of Edinburgh Medical School.
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Business Support:
Building and maintaining excellent relationships is key to the success of our business. That's why we have a team dedicated to the seamless operating of the systems and processes:
Sarah Christie
Client Relationship Manager A qualified project manager, Sarah studied with Coaching Direct, achieving the Accredited Award in Coach Training in 2012. Organised to the core, Sarah joined Coaching Direct in 2017 and currently manages our client relationships and reporting activity as well as coordinating the work of our associates and project managing our coaching banks.
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Jennifer Meldrum
Office Manager Prior to joining Coaching Direct in 2020, Jen spent 14 years at a leading department store with key roles including Sales and People Management, Office Management and Recruitment. Jen manages the day to day administration within the Coaching Direct office and is the first point of contact for individual coach training enquiries.
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Anja Allan
Client Accounts & Billing Manager A qualified AAT bookkeeper, Anja joined Coaching Direct in 2019 to work with our clients, providing an efficient invoicing and strong credit control process.
Anja works closely with Sarah and Kirsty to provide accurate client reporting data. |