About Sonya

I have a love, fascination and genuine interest for people, and what makes people tick. What makes those successful and hungry for more, and those that are content with the lives they have?

I believe we are all different and it’s our individuality that makes us special. I work with YOU to tap into your authenticity, ignite it and become outstanding. I will stretch and challenge you to look outside your current thinking and drive YOU to where you want to go, faster.

I have reinvented myself several times and all the learning and experiences along my journey finally come together.

So how did I get to be the Coach I am today?

Keep on reading

My Story

Childhood

My brother and I were brought up by my Mum. My Dad left when I was three years old. My childhood in the 70s, where divorce was not the norm and the colour of my skin was even more shocking for a northern town like Newcastle, wasn’t exactly a bed of roses. I spent my early teenage years fighting the racist bullies in the play yard. I would never be a victim and learnt quickly how to toughen up, be feisty and fight! …but deep down I was desperate for connection.

The Property Investor

My father taught me the importance of being financially independent, and, in his words, never to depend on anybody. He advised me to buy bricks and mortar at a relatively early age…and I did, just at the right time. Always a risk-taker, this risk paid off. Now I have a multi-million-pound property portfolio that has given me financial freedom. I always believe in investing in assets rather than material throw-away things, and expensive hand bags aren’t really my thing!

The Career Woman

For most of my life, my identity was a successful career woman, working in a man’s world: the finance industry.

I worked as a high-flying sales executive in the City for many years, travelling between London, New York and Miami and enjoying the challenge of the high-paced, high-pressured lifestyle. My passion and enthusiasm drove me to be the best and win sales award after sales award. I was that driven career woman who climbs the ladder all the way up – but where was I really going?

The final crunch came when I was very close to moving to New York for good. Then the recession hit, and two weeks before I was about to move, my dreams of living in New York ended abruptly. It was the sudden realisation that the company I’d given blood, sweat and tears for, didn’t give a shit. I was just a cog in the wheel.

I was successful but NOT fulfilled; the ultimate failure. It was a difficult decision, leaving the large salary, the pension, the perks, the colleagues, and my life as I had known it. But I did it, after much soul searching; I took the leap and left the rat race and its fat cats behind.

As one person put in my leaving card, “Some birds are not meant to be caged”.

“I believe that you have the power to change your life and live your dreams at whatever stage you are in life – and no matter what obstacles you think you have”

The Health & Fitness Guru

I had a passion for health and fitness which had started a few years ago after many motivational sessions with my Personal Trainer.

I became a runner – obsessed with the endorphins, and entered race after race.

After leaving the City it seemed to make sense to get my qualification as a Personal Trainer. I thought I was moving closer to what I wanted but still wasn’t fulfilled. I needed to use my business brain, and besides I was bored of dull workout clothes that were doing nothing for my glamorous side. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I missed my high heels!

The Entrepreneur

There was a budding entrepreneur in me, I was sure of it. After a chance coffee and meeting with my future business partner, my first business was born – a new brand in fashion fitness wear aimed at women who wanted to look good in and out of the gym.

I knew nothing about the fashion industry…I know a lot now. It was a steep learning curve, not to mention everything else that goes into running your own business. It’s not for the faint-hearted, working 24/7, no holiday, and weekends merge into a very long week. We’d reached that difficult time that most Entrepreneurs experience in their journey; we’d run out of cash but had investment on the table. After sleepless nights, more stress than I had ever had, I made a decision. After two and a half years, I sold my shares in the business and walked away.

“Every *adversity**, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit”*

Napoleon Hill

The Physique Athlete

My goal was to compete in my first bodybuilding competition.

They say it’s never too late to live your dreams, and after all, age is just a number. At 44 years of age, I decided to get on stage next to gorgeous women in their 20s and be judged in front of an arena of people, all tanned up wearing a bikini.

Despite being a hard-core gym fanatic, I still had a lot of work to do to be stage-ready for a bodybuilding competition. A serious amount of willpower and determination goes into being a physique athlete, as well as on-point nutrition and hard-core training. And so it began; I radically changed my diet, learnt a lot about nutrition, how to track macros, the importance of mind-muscle connection, and pose professionally (pouty selfies are nothing). But, most of all, I proved something to myself: you can live your dreams whatever your age, with the right mindset.

The High Performance Coach

I dedicated myself to personal growth after a challenging period came to an end. I lost everything: my relationship, home after 20 years, and as if that wasn’t enough, I decided to leave my job – and all in the same week.

In moments of meditation and stillness, I found my answers.

My connection and passion for people, my curiosity or should I say interest in understanding people at a deep level, linked with my feelings of wanting to give back and serve, made coaching the right fit.

I believe that wellbeing and mindset is fundamental to the success of any Leader, so it was important for me to understand more about discovering techniques, rituals and practices that can help.

“When you stop growing you start dying.”

Feeding the mind is part of my daily routine and I have worked with some of the greats, including Tony Robbins and Dr John Demartini. I’m an accredited Executive Coach and have studied mental health, stress and depression.

My commitment to you is to bring the very best of what I’m living, and learning, and keeping it authentic and honest as I go.

Testimonials

“The big win for me though, was the boost in productivity the sessions gave me.”

“Having never done anything like this, I was a little sceptical at first. Within the first session though, I was convinced that the coaching sessions with Sonya would prove to be incredibly useful. The sessions led me to explore aspects of my work and personal life that I hadn’t considered before. The big win for me though, was the boost in productivity the sessions gave me. They were motivating, plain and simple. I will be working with Sonya that’s for sure.“

“Working with Sonya was a powerful and special experience for me.”

“Sonya has a rare gift of empowering you to achieve more than you think you can yourself. I found myself acknowledging blocks that I didn’t even know I had and feeling energised and focused to overcome them and grow my business to do more good in the world. She has a strong ethos of wellbeing and getting you back to why you chose this path in the first place. I found this helped me keep sight of my own balance and not become overwhelmed with tasks in the way I have with other coaches. She also has a very good strategic vision and sees opportunities for growth and expansion without telling you what to do! I found the experience very refreshing and highly recommend it!”

“I found Sonya to be a thoughtful and insightful coach.”

“I’ve never done executive coaching before and was curious how the session would be conducted. I found Sonya to be a thoughtful and insightful coach. She is an exceptionally good listener and picks up on nuances in your conversation. She would never push a prescriptive view on you but instead helps coax a discussion and assists you in discovering the topics that are most top of mind and relevant. Her generally upbeat nature makes for ease of conversation and a relatability.”

– Anonymous CEO

“I feel in control and own the direction my business is taking.”

“Sonya has helped tremendously by mentoring through the early stages of self-employment, holding me ‘accountable’ and enabling me to start visualising what I wanted my business to be, and what I wanted it to look like. Sonya has a holistic approach to her coaching, which has allowed me to fully explore the obstacles presenting themselves in my business. I can not thank Sonya enough for helping me to unpick the tangled mess I viewed my business plans to be. I now have a clear and concise setup plan for the next 3 months and am optimistic for successful results.”

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