Charlotte Monrose

I was born and raised in France, in a mixed-race family, with a Dutch mother, a father from the French Caribbean and three siblings. I moved to the UK almost 20 years ago, and currently live in south-west London with my partner and our two school-aged children.

Over the course of my squiggly career, I have worked as a digital marketing manager, social media trainer and mentor, events producer and project manager. I have an MA in Business & Marketing and I am bilingual English-French.

Learning something new energises me! I love learning through books, podcasts and online courses, be it about psychology, children’s development, wellbeing and nutrition, amongst other things.

I enjoy trying new activities, and over the last few years, I have had a go at indoor climbing, paddleboarding, choir singing, photography, interior design, as well as French pastries and sourdough making classes to name but a few!

I feel most content when I’m in nature, hiking in the mountains or the coast, on holiday with my family or whilst I’m reading a good fiction book.

Like most people, I have faced a number of challenges in my life, which have partly shaped who I am today, including: changing career multiple times; becoming a mother of two and navigating the constant ups and downs of parenthood, including parenting a child with sensory sensitivity; living with a chronic health condition and navigating perimenopause; growing up in a mixed-race single parent family, in a small town where this wasn’t the norm; and moving to a different country in my 20s and creating a new life there.

Over the course of my life, I have spent a lot of time questioning myself and my decisions, having unattainable standards, feeling stuck and overwhelmed, worrying about failing and what other people might think about me. Not the ideal environment for thriving!

But this last decade has been a huge period of self-discovery and growth for me as I summoned the courage to do a lot of inner work, through coaching and therapy, taking ownership of my emotional, mental and physical health.

My work with coaches, both in a one-to-one setting as well as groups, wasn't plain sailing. There were tough times and realisations, but it showed me first hand that, given the right support, people can achieve more than they believe is possible and that each of us have the resources within ourselves to overcome challenges and move forward.

In a nutshell, coaching is an opportunity for you to talk through a topic of your choice, something that is challenging or bothering you at the moment, without being interrupted, judged or being told what to do, all in a safe and confidential space.

During a coaching conversation (or series of conversations), you and the coach will work in partnership to help you unravel any confusion and gain more clarity, so that you can find out what you need, come up with your own solutions, take action, move forward and reach the outcome you want.

In coaching, you are the subject matter expert. You set your objectives, goals or intentions, although a coach can help you ensure they are actionable, and the results are measurable. Then, you tap into yourself and do the work required to create the outcomes you seek.

You might think of coaching like going on a road trip with a supportive passenger riding along with you. When you partner with a coach, you are in the driver’s seat. You are in control of the car and where it’s going – the same way you’re in control of your life, your destiny, your decisions, your future. As you drive, your coach accompanies you, assisting you on your journey to reach your next destination, by providing support for accountability and self-awareness and helping you gain new perspectives.

Each coaching session is unique. However, it is likely to include the following elements

1. You will be invited to share your goal and desired outcome for the session ahead, helping you gain more clarity on the work that you and the coach need to do together.
2. You will then be in charge of where the conversation goes. Your coach will work in partnership with you by listening to you in an open, curious and non-judgmental way, asking you questions to help you gain new perspectives and think in a future-focused way, and by reflecting back and making observations to help you listen to yourself and develop new awareness.
3. You and the coach will then wrap up the session by reflecting on your goal and learnings from the session, identifying any post-session actions, potential barriers, resources required, and ways for you to stay on track.

Coaching is not the same as consulting, mentoring or therapy. In consulting and mentoring, someone else is the expert: a mentor provides their expertise, wisdom and guidance on a particular topic based on their own experiences; a consultant offers advice and possible solutions. Therapy tends to look at the past and deals with healing pain, trauma or conflict of some kind, with the goal of solving difficulties that impact an individual’s current emotional, mental or physical health.

By contrast, coaching focuses on facilitating individuals or groups to draw upon their own experiences and capabilities to set and reach their own objectives. The coach is the expert in the coaching process, but you are the expert in your life journey.

The role of a coach is to facilitate your thinking so you can gain new insights. It is their role to create a safe, non-judgmental space for you to clarify your goals and explore creative solutions. Coaches ask questions not to get an answer they desire, but to encourage you in a meaningful exploration that can help you reach a new level of depth and performance. A coach is also there to encourage you to get a greater sense of responsibility and accountability for actions and commitments, and to motivate you when you need it.

Are you:

• feeling stuck or overwhelmed;
• wanting to feel more confident;
• transitioning into a new stage of life, eg a new job or becoming a parent;
• wanting to pursue a life-long dream;
• wanting to explore a specific goal or project;
• seeking a change in behaviour or feeling;
• looking to grow professionally?

If this is you and you are:

• committed to exploring the future you want, move forward and take action;
• ready to entertain new and fresh ideas;
• willing to be accountable for what you want;

then coaching can most definitely support you to be the best that you can be. Book your free discovery call now.

Typical benefits experienced from coaching include:

• more clarity and focus
• better self-confidence
• improved sense of wellbeing
• more life/job satisfaction
• improved relationships and communication skills
• lower stress levels and increased resiliency
• increased self-awareness
• gaining new perspectives
• increased feeling of empowerment
• greater sense of responsibility and accountability for actions and commitments

Coaching is not just a financial investment, it requires a commitment of your time and energy. The first step in getting the benefits of coaching, is for you to be open to working with a coach and to the potential of coaching. This means contributing to conversations honestly and openly. The strength and power of coaching relates directly to the level of openness and trust in this relationship.

In addition, to make sure that your time is being well spent with your coach, you are encouraged to come to the session fully prepared and with a goal or aspiration in mind that you would like to work towards.

Wherever possible, take a few minutes prior to each session to relax and take yourself to an environment where you will not be disturbed, with a drink. It might be very useful for you to have a pen and paper to hand to make your own notes, and any other items that you think will be useful, such as a diary.

The content and length of each session is dependent on your requirements and preferences; this can be discussed further in a discovery call. The coach will manage the timing of the session and ensure you gain full value from the session.

Coaching is carried out over zoom, so you will need a stable internet connection.

I will send you a questionnaire to fill in prior to the first coaching session. This is to kick-start the coaching process and help you do a deep-dive into where you are right now, where you want to go and reflect on any past experiences.

A coaching session is completely confidential. I agree and comply with the ICF Code of Ethics and only in extreme circumstances will this confidence be breached. This includes the intent to cause harm to yourself or others or criminal acts.

Where a third party has requested the coaching, e.g. as part of an assignment in the workplace, I will agree with you the best way to keep any interested third parties involved or updated.

Coaching is an investment of your time, energy and money. Only you can decide if and when the time is right to invest in yourself and in your future.

Ask yourself honestly if you believe you can make progress alone in the coming months, and consider how much regret you'll feel if you haven’t moved forward during that time.

Before making your decision, it’s important to ensure I am the right coach for you and that we’d be a good fit to work together.

I’d encourage you to book a 30 minute free, no obligation call. This is an opportunity to get to know each other, for you to ask questions and tell me more about your situation and the support you need, assess whether coaching is right for you and discuss if and how I might be able to help.

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is the world’s largest professional coaching association.

It is responsible for:

• the accreditation of coach training providers to ensure consistent and rigorous standards;
• the credentialing of individual coaches to provide identifiable levels of experience, training history and ongoing development;
• formulating and laying out the core practices, competencies and code of conduct for the coaching profession so that coaches, training companies and purchasers of coaching all have a broadly consistent understanding of what coaching is.