Leeds Based Client

” I got in touch with Craig because, although I was in a reasonably secure financial situation, I couldn’t stop worrying about my future with regards to money. My finances felt out of control, like a murky mystery that I couldn’t solve. I wanted to spend my time being creative and calm, not constantly worrying.

Craig helped me see that I had all the skills I needed to get my finances in order. With his guidance, I discovered my financial personality and how to create a budget to suit it and my plans for the future.  I now feel completely confident that my financial present and future are manageable, and know I’ll be prepared for anything unexpected that might pop up.

As a result of our work together, my mindset has shifted from one of worry and lack to one of gratitude and abundance. The extra mental bandwidth and confidence I gained from our work together has also helped me develop my creative business from nearly non-existent to actively thriving. I can now trust my financial intuition, and am able to pick the clients that I know I would love to work with, rather than accepting low rates out of fear.

 Before working with Craig, I had thought I would always be bad with money, and that it would always be a course of distress. Now, dealing with my finances feels like a natural and joyful part of my creative process. “

York Based Client

” Initial Thoughts

When I came across Craig’s flyer, I was at something of a life crossroads and was feeling anxious about the state of my finances and overwhelmed by my work and career choices. I was stuck and needed to find a way forward. I knew I was in a place where I needed to lay down some new beliefs about my relationship to money, in order to get some new outcomes, but didn’t really know where to begin. I got in touch with Craig to ask for his help and advice, with a feeling I had nothing to lose, and this very quickly turned into a feeling of having come to the right place and finding the type of support I needed.

 The Discovery Call

A short 30-minute phone call session with Craig was a helpful starting point. With precise but non-judgemental prompting from him, I was able to verbalise some of the problems I was having. This phone call made me feel that coaching could definitely be something that would be really useful for me and at the end of the session we discussed a way forward together.

 Craig always ensures that his clients are working at their own pace, and this is reassuring when taking tentative steps to address financial patterns and habits that are often based on underlying emotions. This phone call was key for me, in that I realised the types of language and words I was using when discussing my life. Hearing phrases and choices of words coming out of my own mouth, that implied a powerlessness and lack of focus made it clear to me that I needed to take bold positive actions to begin to change my habitual ways of thinking and behaving.

 One to One Coaching Sessions

I went in to the One to One sessions feeling curious about what the process would yield and perhaps still a little anxious. Craig was excellent at creating a relaxed and surprisingly fun environment for me to explore my individual attitudes toward money and my relationship to it, and we outlined what I would like to get out of the sessions together. It reminded me how rarely (if ever) we get a chance to discuss matters around money in a relaxed, safe and non-pressured environment. I enjoyed being given a chance to reflect on my own inherited attitudes.  

Using a fun card came, I came up against some of my more challenging unconscious beliefs around money such as: ‘all people with money are corrupt.’ These moments were surprising and uncomfortable for me, but crucial in that they provided me with an opportunity to begin to shape more conscious thought and patterns, and work towards my goal of setting a financial path that wasn’t based on the two extremes of my childhood, or on the expectations of others.  

 Craig was always helpful in helping me find the route through my thoughts and feelings, feeding back my thoughts and comments, and providing prompts, games and exercises to keep the workshop moving. Craig has a friendly and easy-going manner and his thoughts and anecdotes from his own experience help to illuminate points of discovery, and give a wider context to the work. 

Overall Feelings

I went into this process with a feeling of I had nothing to lose, and have come out of it feeling I have gained so much!  

By the end of the coaching sessions I had some clear and focused action points that had been outlined as a result of balanced emotional and rational thinking. The overwhelmed feeling has been replaced with clarity and focus. I feel less plagued with anxiety about the outcome of my efforts and in a better place to feel easy and light about embracing my own personal and individual circumstances, and take positive steps from the place where I am now.  

With Craig’s help I feel in a more positive place to take bold career steps based on focus and self-worth, and the feedback points we have agreed over the next couple of months help the feeling you have someone on your side. Having someone to support you through transition points in your life is very empowering, and I would encourage anyone to take Craig on as a coach. It has been an incredibly enjoyable, and rewarding experience.  “