About Me
Hello, I'm Sammy.
Thank you for taking the time to visit my website.
I'm a Coach and Hypnotherapist with a particular focus on leadership, resilience and confidence.
But my route into this work hasn't been a straight one.
Before becoming a coach and hypnotherapist, I spent around 15 years working in Human Resources, half of those at a senior level. I worked with people through many of the challenges that working life can bring — difficult conversations, workplace relationships, organisational change, performance, uncertainty and pressure.
For a long time, I was also very good at coping with pressure myself.
Until, eventually, I wasn't.
My own experience of prolonged workplace stress resulted in time away from work and ultimately led me to leave my HR career altogether.
It was an extremely difficult period, but looking back, it became an important turning point in my life.
One of the things that interests me most now isn't simply that I eventually reached the point of burnout.
It's how long I managed to keep going before I did.
That experience has had a significant influence on the work I do today — particularly my work with managers and leaders who are still functioning and getting things done, but are beginning to recognise that the way they're working or coping isn't sustainable.
I want to help people earlier, while they still have greater choice over what happens next.
Finding a different way to help
After leaving HR, I went on to work for Citizens Advice, supporting people who were often facing difficult and complex circumstances.
It was an inspiring organisation, full of compassionate people doing incredibly important work. I valued its approach of helping people understand their options, make informed decisions and find a way forward for themselves.
But I also became increasingly aware of something I found difficult.
Many of the people I met needed more time and support than we were able to give them. Funding and demand inevitably placed limits on how much time we could spend with each person, and I sometimes found it frustrating to reach the end of an appointment knowing there was so much more beneath the immediate problem.
I wanted the opportunity to work with people at greater depth — to give them the time and space to think, understand what was happening, rebuild confidence and explore not only what they could do next, but what might help them move forward more broadly.
I became increasingly drawn to work where I could stay alongside someone for longer, helping them develop their own confidence, understanding and resources rather than having to stop when the immediate issue had been addressed.
That realisation eventually led me to coaching and hypnotherapy.
Why coaching and hypnotherapy?
I deliberately chose to train in both because they give me different ways of helping people create change.
Coaching provides space to step back, think clearly, explore different perspectives, challenge assumptions and decide what you want to do next.
Hypnotherapy gives us another way of working with thoughts, feelings and automatic responses that may not change simply because we consciously understand them.
Sometimes coaching is the right approach. Sometimes hypnotherapy is. And sometimes there can be value in drawing on both.
Today, I work with managers and leaders dealing with sustained pressure, alongside people from all walks of life who want to build confidence, gain greater clarity or make a meaningful change.
Whatever brings somebody to me, my approach is the same: calm, supportive, practical and non-judgemental.
I'm not there to tell you how to live your life.
I'm there to help you understand yourself and your situation more clearly, explore what's possible, and develop ways forward that work for you.
My training
In 2025, I began retraining as both a coach and hypnotherapist.
I completed a Level 3 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring with Inspire Culture, followed by an ICF-accredited Level 2 Coaching Programme in Business and Life Coaching with Barefoot Coaching.
Alongside my coaching training, I completed my Practitioner Diploma in Hypnotherapy with MindWorks Therapy Training.
My work also draws on a range of coaching, psychological and change-based approaches, allowing me to adapt the way we work to the individual rather than expecting every client to follow the same process.
The person behind the work
Away from coaching and hypnotherapy, I'm married and have a daughter who keeps life interesting and reminds me not to take myself too seriously.
I enjoy photography, cooking, travelling and reading. I'm particularly interested in Roman history, and Rome remains my favourite place in the world — a city I always look forward to returning to.
I think those parts of life matter.
One of the lessons I've taken from my own experiences is that life shouldn't simply become something we squeeze into whatever space work leaves behind.
Why I do this work
People come to me at very different points.
Some are under relentless pressure at work but are still managing to keep everything going.
Some have lost confidence in themselves or in a particular area of their life.
Some feel stuck at a crossroads.
Others understand exactly what they want to change but can't seem to change how they feel or respond. My role is to provide the space, support, challenge and tools that can help them understand what's happening, see things differently and make meaningful changes for themselves.
Most importantly, I want the people I work with to leave with insights and practical tools they can continue using long after our sessions have finished.
Because my goal isn't to create a situation where you need my support indefinitely.
It's to help you reach a point where you need it less.
And that's why I do this work.