Hello and thanks for reading! My name is Ruth Lewis and I am a business and life coach, trainer and counselor. I’ve worked closely with educators within early years to university level. My passion is to see others discover more about themselves and what they have the potential to do, and to help them find the best path forward for their lives, whatever their current life stage may be.
Simply listening – that’s what I give my coachees. I listen, and then I ask a question, and another question, and I listen some more … and through that process they work out where they are, where they want to be, and the best way to get themselves from here to there.
During the xxx years since I xxx, I’ve worked with educators in various settings. I was involved in developing a preschool from scratch, and I’ve worked with Arc Pathway, a digital platform designed for parents and teachers of children up to age five. I have also been involved in school governance, serving as both Chair and Vice-Chair of Governors in primary and secondary schools.
Working within educational settings, I’ve met with many dedicated professionals who are frustrated to the point of exhaustion, guilt and desperation by the overwhelming expectations our society places on them. I have seen them break down in tears over their failure to meet the needs of the young people in their care, and leave the profession altogether because they’ve lost hope in the prospect of change for the better.
I encountered coaching for the first time in 2004, when I attended a seminar. I went expecting a fluffy feel-good process of telling people how to fix their lives. The reality blew my expectations out of the water.
I learned that coaching is about partnership. Together, my coach and I explored how I could make positive changes in my life based on my goals. They encouraged me to expand my thinking by asking open questions, giving feedback, and focusing on my priorities.
That practice coaching session gave me an opportunity to discover and explore my options, gain clarity, and begin a process that would transform my life. I was challenged, motivated and inspired, and I felt empowered like never before to take steps towards goals that I’d only dreamed of before. By the end of that seminar, I believed I would continue to celebrate wins and see transformation – and that is indeed what happened. From that point forward, my life course was set. I wanted to be a coach.
In the nearly two decades since I earned my accreditation through CoachNet Global in xxx I have explored coaching from several different angles. What I have learned is that, through coaching, I can help people discover their uniqueness, achieve wellbeing and life balance, and accomplish their personal goals. I am so convinced of the value of what I do that I trained to achieve Coach Mentor status, which qualifies me to train coaches to accreditation in both the UK and the United States. I’m also a member of the International Coaching Federation.
I understand the frustration, exhaustion and despair many educators feel. My own professional life has been far from a smooth road, and during 2010/11 I went through burnout and a breakdown. Now, my ability to relate informs the coaching I offer my clients. When I am with them, I am more interested in their lives than in my own.
My life today is healthy, balanced and satisfying, rich in simple pleasures. I coach others so that they can experience the same happiness. Beyond coaching I am a mum to four children, a Labrador retriever and two cats, and a nana to five grandchildren.
My husband and I spend happy leisure hours exploring historic houses and gardens, looking at art, and listening to classical music. In between feeding our minds, we indulge in cream teas.
I also place a high value on community. I am involved in several local charities, in particular CityCoast Care, and Time to Talk Befriending, and as part of our church my husband and I support many in taking their next steps.
