I’m Kate and I was recently part of a coaching and development project for staff with disabilities at BBC North in Salford. As part of the project, all of the participants enjoyed one-to-one coaching from Result CIC, and for me this has had some pretty immediate effects.

I didn’t really know what to expect from coaching, as it wasn’t something I’d ever experienced before, but Jane put me at ease from the start. We talked a lot about the variety of things I have done in my working life, which was really useful (not least for jogging my memory) because I’ve had a crazy range of jobs over the years. It can be difficult to keep all of that varied experience in mind when you’re working at a large organisation that does specific things in a particular way, like the BBC.

We focused in on the things that I’d enjoyed about past jobs as well as about my current role. It turned out that there were some things that were really important to me that perhaps aren’t as big a part of my working life now as they’ve been in the past – specifically having a strong connection to community, bringing people together, and having a sense of social purpose. It was really useful to have Jane’s outside perspective to help me spot this.

Over the course of conversation, Jane encouraged me to think about ways that I could reconnect with those things I’d enjoyed before, and we alighted on the idea of looking for opportunities to become a trustee or board member for an organisation quite different from my workplace. I felt like this would be a great way to regain that balance and also add new skills to my portfolio.

The next step was to think about how I could get there and who might be able to help me. I drew a ‘map’ of all of my connections – people from current and previous jobs, friends, family members, anyone I could think of who might be able to offer an onward connection, support or a useful perspective. That exercise was great as it really made me focus what help I actually wanted or needed from specific people. I also noticed that doing this map made me a bit more open to spotting opportunities (for example, a couple of people from my past got in touch over Christmas and I made a point of arranging catch-ups with them, some of which have also led to new projects).

One other thing I did – which seemed unconnected at the time – was set myself a challenge to draw every day. Initially this was just for me as a way of switching off from the day, but I began posting the drawings on my Instagram and Twitter accounts under #dailyperson so that I would feel I had to keep going, and I got some great feedback from friends. I actually found that doing one small creative thing everyday made me feel more creative in other areas and be more confident in my ability to have ideas.



I applied for a trustee role at a local women’s education organisation, and I was lucky enough to secure an interview. Because of my coaching experience, I felt confident to bring all of my career experience and personal values to the application process, and it felt great to reconnect a bit with that. Even better, I was offered the role, and now am looking forward to attending my first meeting very soon.

Coaching was a really positive experience for me, and I’ve carried on applying some of the approaches that Jane used to day to day life – I think it’s something I’ll always carry with me now.

Kate Fox

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