My Official Bio
Claire Mackinnon has spent more than 25 years supporting people and organisations to navigate change – first from inside large institutions, and now as a transformational coach, facilitator and trusted strategic partner.
Before founding her own business in 2015, Claire held senior leadership roles across financial services and the social impact sector. As Head of HR, she led all people-related workstreams for one of the UK's largest social housing mergers, overseeing organisational design and the retention and mobilisation of key talent. Prior to this, she spent 12 years at Barclays, partnering with senior executives and leading customer-facing operations across the Small Business division.
Today, through Claretta Consulting Ltd, Claire partners with organisations, leaders and founders who recognise that the complexity of leadership calls for more than technical expertise alone. Her work helps clients cultivate the courage, creativity, relational intelligence and self-awareness needed to navigate uncertainty, build trust and create meaningful, lasting change.
Alongside her organisational work, Claire is building a body of work exploring Joy-Led® leadership, creativity and business creation. She is the founder of The Joy-Led® Creativity Collective and The Joy-Led® Business Creation Collective, and stewards communities of women reclaiming their voices, creative power and aliveness through writing, visibility and collective transformation.
An ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC CPCC) and certified Leadership Circle® practitioner, Claire has accumulated more than 2,000 hours of coaching and facilitation experience, supporting hundreds of emerging and senior leaders across technology, retail, financial services, professional services and international education in the UK and beyond.
A practising artist, performer and community leader, Claire brings the same curiosity, creativity and humanity to her organisational partnerships as she does to her public writing and creative practice. Her clients frequently describe her work as brave, warm, intuitive and transformational.
Through her coaching and facilitation work she enables leaders to:
Lead with greater authenticity, courage and self-awareness.
Build trust and navigate conflict in ways that deepen relationships and unlock innovation.
Expand their capacity to lead through uncertainty and complexity.
Create healthier, more regenerative ways of working that sustain both people and performance.
Education and Credentials
• Certified practitioner of the Leadership Circle® Profile - 360 Assessment for Leaders, Managers & Teams
• Graduate of CTI’s Co-Active Leadership Programme
• CTI Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC)
• International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC)
• CRRUK Alchemy – The Art & Science of Co-Leading & Experiential Workshop Facilitation
• Member: International Coaching Federation
• BMus in Music (The University of Birmingham, UK)
