About
Coaching for women when menopause, perimenopause or life after cancer treatment has raised bigger questions, with the rigour of transformation leadership.
Women at this point are rarely in crisis. They are functioning, and that is exactly why nobody thinks to offer them anything. The way in is usually something physical: menopause, perimenopause, the aftermath of treatment, a health event that made itself impossible to ignore. Underneath it there is almost always a larger question, about identity, energy, direction, and whether the life you built is still the one you want.
When I looked for support through my own change, I found two kinds. People who took my body seriously and had very little to say about the rest, and people who took the question of meaning seriously but offered inspiration rather than a method. Very few did both. That gap is why Pause & Beyond exists.
The name is a small instruction. A pause is something you choose to do, on purpose, so that you can notice what is already shifting. Beyond is where you move once you have. The cherry blossom is there for the same reason: some moments are brief, carry meaning, and ask to be noticed.
I spent 21 years in corporate transformation, working in operations, transformation leadership and behaviour change. Throughout my career I have supported women through moments of change within my roles. I know how change takes hold in a system, and how often it fails because someone designed for the life people wish they had rather than the one they are actually living.
Breast cancer arrived in the middle of a life that looked, from the outside, as though it was working. It did not start the change, but it made it impossible to ignore. Treatment brought perimenopause years earlier than I expected, so the physical change arrived on top of everything else: my energy, my sleep, my concentration, my sense of being recognisably myself. I rebuilt in the middle of a life that carried on around me, using the same discipline I had spent a career applying to organisations. That is the reason it held.
I am an ICF Associate Certified Coach and hold an Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching from the Animas Centre for Coaching, with further training in group coaching, counselling skills, mental health first aid, menopause coaching and health coaching for people with cancer. I am based in Buckinghamshire, working locally and online.
Why the changes hold
Most change fails for a fairly boring reason. It was designed for a life nobody actually has.
Twenty-one years of leading transformation inside organisations is, in large part, the work of noticing that gap. A plan looks sensible in the room. Then it meets a busy Tuesday, and that Tuesday has other ideas.
This work has the same problem. Nobody clears the decks. There is no spare fortnight coming in which to rebuild a life, and any plan that assumes one will not survive.
So the work starts somewhere else, with what you are actually optimising for now, because that has usually changed and almost nobody has said it out loud. From there it is built around the life you have, including the job, the people who depend on you, and the energy you genuinely have rather than the energy you would like to have.
This is less inspiring than a fresh start. It is considerably more likely to still hold true in a years time.
Qualifications & training
ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) August 2026
Health Coaching for People with Cancer, Dr Rosy Daniels, Health Creation (UKIHCA / CPD Certified), July 2026
Menopause Coach Certification, Women of a Certain Stage (CPD Certified), September 2026
Group Coaching Certificate, Animas Centre for Coaching (ICF, AC & EMCC accredited), 2023
Level 2 Counselling Skills, Bridgwater & Taunton College, 2023
Level 2 Mental Health First Aid & Mental Health Advocacy in the Workplace, West Lancashire College, 2022
Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching, Animas Centre for Coaching (ICF, AC & EMCC accredited), 2022
A few practical answers to help you understand how the work works, what to expect, and whether it feels right for you.
Who do you work with?
I work with professional women whose body has raised bigger questions: menopause, perimenopause, or life after cancer treatment. You don’t need to be in crisis, and you don’t need to have it worked out. You only need to be ready for a different kind of conversation.
How is your approach different?
I bring the rigour of transformation leadership to a very human experience. That means a method rather than inspiration. We start with what you are optimising for now, then design changes around your real week, so they survive an ordinary one. My work is grounded and reflective, and the pace is set with you.
Is it therapy?
No. Coaching focuses on who you are now and how you want to move forward. It can sit alongside therapy, and if therapy would be more appropriate, I’ll always signpost you. I’m not a clinician, and coaching is not medical advice. For anything medical, including your symptoms, your GP is the right first call.
What can I expect?
I can’t promise particular results or a timeframe, and I would be wary of anyone who does. What I can describe is the work. In each session we notice what is shifting, understand it, decide what matters now, and shape your weeks around it. You choose something small to try before we next meet, so the changes are tested in your real life rather than only talked about.
How do I know if this is the right time?
You do not need to be in crisis, only ready for a different kind of conversation. It may be the right time if you feel fine but not quite yourself, are moving through a transition and want clarity, are tired of coping alone, sense a shift in who you are but cannot yet name it, or simply want more steadiness, space and support. If you are unsure, a free enquiry call, a calm chat of half an hour or so, can help you decide whether this feels right for you now.
What if I’ve tried coaching before and it didn’t help?
That is useful to know. If it felt too surface level, too fast or too formulaic, this work is different: slower, built around a method rather than encouragement, and centred on identity, energy and direction. You are not expected to perform or be “coachable”. You are simply invited to be yourself.
We begin with a free enquiry call, a calm chat for half an hour or so, no pressure.