MY JOURNEY…

My path into coaching has been anything but linear. For many years I lived in the world of corporate creativity—travelling the world, building big projects, working with global names. From the outside it looked exciting, but inside I felt unrooted, disconnected, and far from myself. I was running on empty, dashing from A to B, suffering with anxiety. Deeply aware of the unsustainability of the industry in every sense, I would lie awake shaking, hearing a quiet voice inside..“This isn’t what creativity is all about.”

In my early thirties, just as life was expanding—the purpose led creative studio that I had co-founded PATTERNITY was at its peak and I was in the midst of writing our first book—the sudden death of my Dad forced me to turn inward and focus on what was truly important. It brought me face to face with the ultimate truth of the spiral path: life, death, renewal. It also called me to radically slow down, to design rituals of self-care, to honour my sensitivity and introverted nature, and to recognise that my creativity had to come from a deeper, slower, more authentic place.

In 2020 after a lot of self work and enquiry, I made a (very painful) choice: to wind down the creative studio in London and to divest from brands, projects and processes that no longer felt aligned. Standing on a riverbank in Somerset, I felt an all-body yes to following my creative heart—even though I didn’t know where it would lead.

Moving into nature, and without corporate client projects or a network to rely on, I had to simplify and start again. I slowed down, attuning to a deeper rhythm. It was a creaitvely fallow time—one that asked me to learn to be patient, to hold the tension, to trust in the process, and to allow something new to take root.

Along this winding path my journey has deepened through a connection with my inner cycles thanks to the teachings and mentoring of Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer at the Red School, and through beginning a lifelong practice of decolonising my creativity (with deep gratitude to Dra Rosales Meza, her course ‘Decolonial Shadow Work’ and my creative partner Grace for connecting me with both of these lifechanging practitioners and bodies of work).

I have also been exploring my ancestry, better understanding the impact of ancestral trauma and finding my way with the power of community, creativity, and care in times of great social and planetary change. This has been a time of looking at my patterns—both seen and unseen—developing personal rituals and learning to quieten down and listen more deeply, understanding my place in the wider web of life in an embodied and holistic way.

As an artist, I understand that the path to authentic creativity isn’t simple. It is often confusing and vulnerable. There is no ready-made map. It is a spiral path. ..And I do know that coaching and deep learning have been integral to my own journey. That’s why I feel passionate about sharing these tools and practices with my clients—from how to plan projects and move past perfectionism and procrastination, to prioritising cylical (spirally) wellbeing in a (stripy) culture of hustle and grind, to slowly but surely moving into alignment with your deepest calling. I also hold wider perspectives that remind us we are not “mad,” but navigating a deeply conflicting yet pivotal moment in history—a time when I believe the act and service of true creativity has never been more important for the collective.

I believe we are all on this planet at this time for a reason—and I love gently supporting my clients in discovering and embodying that truth for themselves.

With love – Anna xx