Born in ’63, I grew up in Salford in the 70’s and now live in Poynton, Cheshire. I am married with a son in 6th form.
I did well at school but was never interested in university, just eager to get out there to work and learn. My dream when I left school was to run someone’s business and after working my way up through an office environment I got an opportunity in my early 20s to ‘sort it’ at a large printers in Stockport. It was quite tough back then, there were no HR departments to approach with personal concerns; it was more a ‘get tough’ or ‘ship out’ approach, rarely time for any discussion or analysis but always time to laugh. I loved every area of the business, from sales and production control to troubleshooting and somewhere along the way become a director and shareholder. That 10 year experience made me very much the resilient person I am today. I remember a reference my wonderful MD wrote some years later ‘Linzi is from the old school of ethics’ and I appreciated that.
It was time now for a new venture, one that would last for 16 years and an experience I will always treasure. Starting up a new business in print, I worked with amazingly dedicated people and had a business partner that I respect to this day. Hard work seemed to bring out the best and worst in us all but we always got there, so passionate for a common cause and cultivating really powerful values along the way. During this time were 5 years of IVF and I was lucky enough to have a little boy which made me massively appreciate time. Eventually, with the onset of digital marketing and despite moving premises in order to diversify our services, it got more difficult so we called it a day, paid all we owed and moved on.
Up to this point life had been very much 24/7 and it was time for a little time for family and after several years of casual work in promotional sales and keeping up my love for accounts it was time to focus again on something I would love to ‘do and be’ that would once again have me jumping out of bed every day. I was insistent, initially, to stay away from the business world and after a lovely conversation with a beautiful friend I followed a career in coaching that changed my life from the off. Just like when I left school and had a clear vision, now was no different. I had the notion but not the specific outcome:
‘To be working with people on the ‘stuff’ that matters’
Life coaching correlates well with my values and when I’m not coaching then I’m passionately learning, growing: to be my best coach. Always moving towards being that person I wish I had had to go to when I was a leader, when I felt the buck stopped with me.
Here I am now with a coaching practice where the only aspiration is to feel fulfilled daily by enabling people to move forward well and with confidence. I use my hard earned, accredited, coaching qualifications and love meeting the most incredible, resourceful people, not always but often business people.
I am so lucky.
