Harriet Shopland-Reed

Before I met Michael, I was really unsatisfied with my job; I found it very unchallenging and I didn’t find the work suited me. I just wasn’t interested in finance, it wasn’t a passion of mine but I wasn’t sure how to change it. The dissatisfaction with my job was affecting my social life, it was affecting my family life and my general mindset. I wasn’t living in the moment because I was constantly thinking about how my job was not right and I was getting super impatient about it and needed to get help ASAP, that’s where Michael comes in.

I was searching on Google for career coaches and I remember clicking on his website. It was very different to anyone else’s. It was direct and it was quite easy to get an impression of who he was.

I chose to work with Michael over other coaches, firstly because he offers free face-to-face consultations, which I think is valuable because you really get to know someone when you meet them face-to-face and get to know if you’re suited to each other. I remember reading his website and I liked that there wasn’t a strict structure to the way that he worked. I also liked his bluntness and how honest he was.

The result of working with Michael was that I actually realised that the career I was already in was what I wanted to do for the medium to long term. We spent a lot of time in our sessions, at the early stages, looking at different career options and I really felt that I lived in that career for those couple of hours and then for a couple of weeks after as well whilst I was researching them. We were able to work out that that option wasn’t right and then the next session we’d move onto a different one. It wasn’t until the fourth or fifth session that I actually realised that the job I had was what I wanted to do. Michael helped see it in a very different way and appreciate lots of things I didn’t appreciate before.

In the first session, I definitely noticed a change in my mindset; I was much more focused looking at different careers and I was already happier after the first session. I remember walking out of that meeting and almost skipping down the street because I felt like there was some focus and some structure, I had things to do and to research. Then I noticed the results of coaching starting to creep in around the fourth or fifth session.

One unexpected result was that I actually broke up with my boyfriend during the programme. I was learning a lot about myself and working out what I did and didn’t want out of life, obviously this was specifically around my career but I think because of that, I also started to reflect on other aspects of my life and one of those things was my relationship. I realised that it wasn't quite right and I was able to feel confident about breaking up with him.

I definitely feel like I got a good return on investment with Michael. I think a lot of people might say this but I wish I’d spoken to him and got his help a lot sooner. I spent probably two years thinking about having career coaching and not doing it and worrying that it would be a waste of money but definitely not with Michael, I would have paid more… but don’t tell him that.

As a coach he is very focused, very structured, and has great intuition. In our first session I remember him listening to some of the things I was saying and the way that he was responding made me feel as though he knew me better than some of my friends and some of my family. He’s a great listener and also has a really good sense of humour. He made me feel very comfortable, like I could say anything and be brutally honest all of the time which I think is very important when you’re discussing your career and your future with someone.

If you’re thinking about working with Michael, I would say 100% you have to go for it. I was unhappy about my job, I couldn’t see a future in it, I was unsatisfied and it was really affecting my life. Now that’s all gone and I feel so much happier about everything and much more like myself. If you’re looking for that change, then do it - you won’t regret it.