About
A coach who understands the academic world
I've lived the path you're on. My coaching draws on years inside academia and a genuine belief that everyone deserves support in writing their next chapter.
PhD in Drama | 25+ years teaching communication and engineering education
My story
While my background is in drama and theatre, I’ve been a university professor for more than 25 years in a Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. Here, I teach communication and other transdisciplinary competencies like teamwork and lifelong learning, as well as engineering education, to undergraduate and graduate students. A few years ago, as I was thinking about retirement, I decided to try coaching as something to help me figure out where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be. I went through the process, being coached over a series of six sessions. While I didn’t have all the answers by the end of that series, I did have a firm decision that I wanted to retire sooner rather than later, and that I wanted to continue doing meaningful work when I did so. Fast forward a couple of years, and I was thinking about the sorts of things in my life that I enjoyed doing and that I was good at. As a teacher, I’ve always thought of myself as a facilitator of voice—helping others articulate their thinking more clearly in the service of meeting their goals. That mindset has also served me well as a dramaturge, working with playwrights developing new plays. Facilitation of voice is about creating a space where that voice can be heard and honoured. And that facilitation of voice brought me to coaching. I'm excited to hear your voice, and work with you on exploring who you are and where you want to be.
My approach
Coaching with me is thoughtful, practical, and meets you where you are. A few things you can count on:
You'll set your own agenda
Coaching is a series of conversations working toward a goal. Each session will revolve around a topic—and an agenda—that you set, aimed at a specific outcome or set of outcomes that relates to that overarching goal.
You can come as you are
There’s no need to prepare in advance for sessions. The conversations are guided by questions I’ll ask you around the topic you’ve chosen. Through this back-and-forth of questions and answers, you’ll make progress toward your chosen outcome.
This practice is rooted in knowing yourself
The main thing to remember is that I’m here to help facilitate your process. You’re not doing this alone. You are helping to guide the process, because you know you best.
Background & training
PhD in Drama
25+ years teaching communication and engineering education
Formal training in coaching practice
Let's talk
A free 30-minute discovery call is the best way to find out if we're a good fit. No pressure, no obligation — just a conversation.