Julia Sinclair-Brown
So research tells us, the secret of happiness is in the satisfaction we get from helping others. I agree.
I have been coaching individuals for over 10 years in the field of careers and performance coaching. After discovering that I was naturally good at supporting others to achieve their goals and working mainly with doctors and other senior healthcare professionals, I decided it was time to get further qualified and gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Coaching.
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This followed an earlier career in the wellbeing/holistic sphere, whereby I trained as a counsellor, aromatherapist and Stress Management practitioner. I even enjoyed a brief stint on a London radio station (News Direct) as an agony aunt! Although I made a decision to move away from a therapeutic role to gain experience in the business world through opportunities in HR, Recruitment & Training, the common theme has always been around supporting others.
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Over the last year, I’ve enjoyed combining many of my interests to deliver Mental Health Training for Managers, supporting the charity, MIND, and have qualified as a Mental Health First Aider. It’s encouraging to see that organisations are starting to recognise the impact of good mental health on their employees. But there’s still more
to do.
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I also have a regular monthly slot discussing wellness topics on Black Cat radio - a local station reaching Cambridgeshire and the surrounds.
The most difficult period of my life has been from a personal context having experienced deeply personal and close family bereavements compounded by mental illness within my family over a short five-year period. I tried to continue as normal following this with the belief that I should keep busy to avoid thinking about the sadness in my life but finally relented and recognised I wasn’t coping. I started counselling, went on yoga retreats, tried alternative treatments, began journaling and generally gave myself space to question the meaning of my life and suffering I had experienced and to contemplate how I should keep going after so much loss and illness.
I came to the conclusion that we all potentially have an amazing instinct to survive, no matter how tough our life may be. And to accept that I would be forever changed from loss but that I could learn to live within it too, and of course, over time, that pain has eased. But I had a strong instinctive feeling that my way of creating meaning out of it all was to use my experience to support others to overcome similar and different challenges in their lives but with the focus being on living with loss, change and transitions.
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I can’t ever fully know someone else’s pain as it is so unique for each of us, but what I do bring to my coaching is understanding, empathy and most importantly compassion. The fundamentals that we all need in life.
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I live my life much more in the moment now, take each day as it comes and try keep it as fulfilled and joyful as I can. When I’m not working, you will find me running, practising yoga, singing with a jazz trio or enjoying a cosy cuddle on the sofa with my family and two fluffy Siberian cats!
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No one promised us that life was meant to be easy. It’s a journey, we make it our own with all the ups and downs that it brings. I’ve learnt that what matters most is how we choose to interpret that.
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What's my story?