I am a social entrepreneur, green career coach, and bestselling author. I have been supporting social and environmental businesses and organisations for over 20 years.
My partner and I live on a houseboat between Bristol and Bath in southwest England. I am often also found on southwest beaches and moors. I love wild swimming, summer festivals, and camping.
My green career
My journey in sustainability started back in 1991 when I went on a 5-year ‘gap year’ adventure, traveling and working in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. It was there I realised just how amazing our beautiful planet is. While also witnessing first-hand the large-scale destruction taking place from deforestation, pollution, and soil acidification from intensive farming.
I was drawn to sustainable food and farming as a solution to help solve some of these seemingly hopeless problems. I got involved in the environmental movement, worked on organic farms, and studied Permaculture Design with founder Bill Mollison.
On my return in 1997, I happily discovered Bristol and asked the Soil Association organic food and farming charity for a job. I worked my way up from administrator to Business Development Manager in their fast-growing organic certification business. I am proud of my role in helping it grow from a small organisation – I was the 5th staff member – to the market-leading social business it is today.
However, when I had my daughter, it felt like a good time to get out of the city, and in 2005, we moved to Cornwall, where I became manager of Organic South West, an EU development programme, working with farmers, businesses, and communities to grow organic food production and markets.
Following this, I helped manage a national Lottery-funded programme supporting over 1,000 new community food enterprises. I also led an innovative food programme in Plymouth, bringing together people from across the city to create a food vision and action plan, helping them become the first UK city to achieve the Sustainable Food Cities bronze award.
Working for myself
I eventually moved back to Bristol in 2014 for Kira to start secondary school. I was made redundant at that time and decided to start my own business Sustain-Live Consulting Ltd, a sustainability change agency, helping purpose-led businesses to thrive.
Through that, I am honoured to have worked with lots of brilliant social and environmental businesses, including; Bristol Green Capital Partnership, Centre for Thriving Places, Quartet Foundation & The School for Social Entrepreneurs. I gained an IML Social Enterprise Consultant certificate with Baker Brown Associates at Triodos Bank.
Empowering women
In 2016, I co-founded the social enterprise Catalyse Change CIC to inspire, empower, and skill girls and young women as sustainability leaders and changemakers. Inspired by a calling to do something about the growing gender inequalities in the UK and globally while also helping provide solutions for the climate emergency.
I am so proud of our sustainability empowerment and green career programmes, which have now supported well over 1,000 young women and non-binary changemakers. We have big ambitions to empower many more. While also helping them to land their dream green careers. Want to join us?
I also coach women and non-binary changemakers to help you nurture and grow your green career or purpose-led business.
Contact me to BOOK your FREE 30-minute ‘Discovery call’ to explore how we could work together. [email protected]
Thank you
I’d like to say thank you to all my amazing family, friends, colleagues, and collaborators for making everything I do possible. With special thanks to all the brilliant women at Catalyse Change CIC.
A huge thank you also to the wonderful team who created this beautiful new brand and website for me; Jess & Dan at Kind Comms, Ibi Feher for the brand photos of me by Bristol harbour & in the Olive Shed, Ruth Wellman of Tin Cat Design, Taryn Everdeen of Taryn Everdeen Photography for the International Women’s Day event images & Bethany Roling for the Catalyse Change images.
You are all fabulous and I am deeply grateful for all your support, patience and brilliance, thank you.