Meet Anna
-
Certified ADHD Coach, Consultant, Trainer, Mentor
-
OCN Level 4 Qualified Neurodiversity Workplace Needs Assessor
-
CIPD Level 5 Qualified
-
Travel Industry Professional
-
Member of ILM (Institute of Leadership Management)
-
Insured & DBS checked
%20(1).png)
I was diagnosed with ADHD and autism in my 40s.
To most people looking in, my life looked full and successful. My own home, wonderful friends, a supportive family, a job I loved, and a lot of stamps in my passport. I've lived and worked in India, Nepal, Greece, Spain, Egypt, Australia, Germany and France. I've been a holiday rep, a cabin crew member, a travel agent, a sales trainer, and a Covid travel policy advisor during the pandemic, which I can only describe as the most surreal job title I've ever had.
What people didn't see were the struggles underneath all of it.
The difficulty putting roots down. The exhaustion of staying connected to people when my brain made it feel harder than it should. The elaborate systems I built just to appear organised. The mask I wore for the best part of 16 hours a day, every day, that would eventually lead to periods of burnout so complete I needed to shut myself away entirely to recover.
I didn't know that's what it was. I just thought I wasn't quite good enough at being a person.
The pandemic changed things. Alone at home with the mask off for the first time in years, I had space to sit with my thoughts and actually look at my own patterns. When the world opened up again, my usual coping strategies simply weren't working anymore. So I sought a diagnosis for autism, and came away with two for one: autism and ADHD, plus some perimenopause thrown in for good measure.
What followed was a proper rollercoaster. Grief and relief and elation and sadness, often all in the same afternoon. Questions I hadn't expected, like who was I now? Was my life up to that point a lie? What did I actually want, separate from the version of myself I'd been performing for everyone else?
ADHD coaching helped me answer those questions. Not all at once, and not neatly, but it gave me something I hadn't been able to find in therapy, CBT, or traditional life coaching: a practical understanding of how my brain actually works, and the tools to work with it rather than against it.
The biggest shift wasn't a strategy or a system. It was the compassion I finally felt able to give myself. The realisation that I wasn't stupid because I didn't thrive in formal education. I wasn't lazy because I couldn't face the bathroom. I wasn't broken. My brain was just wired differently, and nobody had ever given me the right map.
That's what I want to give the people I work with.
What I do now
I'm now a certified ADHD coach trained by ADHD Works, a qualified Workplace Needs Assessor, and CIPD Level 5 qualified in HR Management. I work with individuals through one to one coaching and workplace needs assessments, and with organisations through neurodiversity training and consultancy.
I still work part time in the travel industry, because it's been part of my life for over 25 years and I'm not ready to let it go. I've clocked up over 250 coaching hours. I work with adults of all ages, backgrounds and industries, and around 40% of my clients are men, because ADHD doesn't look one way and support shouldn't either.
I'm based in the UK and work with clients UK wide and internationally.
A bit more about me
%20(2).png)
Because coaching is a personal thing and it helps to know who you're talking to.
I live in the West Country with my miniature dachshund Dottie, who doubles as my chief wellbeing officer and walking companion. I love being near the sea, long walks, cold water swimming, and going to the cinema on my own. I believe wholeheartedly in brain holidays, which is what I call the evenings when you need the TV to do all the thinking for you. I have a lot of sparkly tops.
I'm also a qualified Workplace Needs Assessor who takes her work seriously, knows her stuff, and genuinely cares about every single person she works with.
Both of those things are true at the same time.
If any of this resonates, I'd love to have a conversation.
The first step is a free, no obligation 30 minute call. No pressure, no jargon. Just two people having an honest chat about whether I can help.
- Mike, 45, diagnosed & medicated
“I found the sessions to be really useful as I was in a bit of a rut before starting. Anna helped me to work on techniques to improve problem areas. She also gave me confidence by helping to identify where I had been going in the right direction previously. Anna’s friendly manner and examples from her own experience really helped things along.
Thanks again for all your help Anna!"
- Ellie, 19, awaiting diagnosis
"My coaching with Anna has been exceptionally helpful with my day to day duties that used to seem like such a big mountain to climb. With consistent implementation of techniques Anna has taught me and helped me understand; it’s helping me utilise the life skills I was taught years ago but never put to use. She’s made a massive impact on my life so far. She is a joy to work with and I would recommend her to absolutely anybody who asked."
- Kathryn, 50, undiagnosed
"My sessions with Anna have really helped me. All the information she shared is helping me understand that I do have ADHD and it's up to me if I seek a more formal diagnosis. Anna is so warm & friendly that you definitely feel her cheerleading you along. The motivation session in particular helped me totally reframe the way I set out to achieve tasks. I'd recommend coaching with Anna for everyone, even if you're not sure you have ADHD."
"You are not broken. You are not a problem to be fixed. You are a human being with a mind that has learned, often for good reasons, how to survive."
- Ronen Dancziger