Testimonials — CLAIRE MACKINNON

“The Salon experience has been transformative for me and my business.

It’s helped me share my work in ways that feel genuinely enjoyable and service-led, rather than forced or formulaic. Since the Salon completed, I’ve run the workshop I created three times in three months, and it’s already led directly to three new long-term one-to-one clients as well as referrals, recommendations and people signalling they’ll want to work with me when the time is right for them.

My workshop was richer and more impactful than anything I would have created on my own, and I feel genuinely excited about applying the approach I learned to design and lead new workshops and experiences in the years to come! What Claire teaches is both deeply creative and incredibly practical.

If you want a tangible, sustainable way to grow your business without selling your soul, I couldn’t recommend the Salon more highly.”

Elaine Atkinson, Founder, In Wonder Coaching.

You can read a fuller case study of Elaine’s journey in The Joy-Led® Visibility Salon by clicking here.

“Before the Salon I was overwhelmed by all the ‘expert advice’ about how I should grow my business.

The Salon helped me trust myself again – creatively, intuitively and joyfully.

I designed and led a workshop that both me and my participants loved, created new offerings with far more spaciousness, and have already welcomed new one-to-one clients as a result. The structure Claire provides is supportive, never restrictive. The whole experience woke something up in me. If the invitation speaks to you, say yes – you won’t regret it.” Sharon Maddy-Patel, Founder, Wild Ambition

You can read a fuller case study of Sharon’s journey in The Joy-Led® Visibility Salon by clicking here.

“At the risk of sounding like a total fan girl, I will share that I *cannot* say enough good things about the Salon. It was nothing short of transformative.

It led me uncover the deeper body of work I’m actually here to do in this world and that has made a HUGE difference in how I feel, how I carry myself, and what's possible for me from here on out.

This is priceless! And I'm seeing my own business miracles – big and small – crop up now like mushrooms after the rain. So grateful. 🙏

Vanessa Baker-Rodriguez, Coach and Founder, Bravely Aligned

“Since joining the collective, my sense of myself as a creative being has been excavated from the depths.

What often surprises me is what actually lands on the page. It's like a release valve for things I didn't know I needed to express or could not have otherwise found the words.

Afterwards, what remains is a sense that I've been safely held by the broad, strong, and divinely feminine arms of the collective group. I carry that along with me for days. It’s one of the very few places I show up as myself and feel both seen and heard.

I believe this work is here to bring us closer to our real selves, to build our sense of belonging to ourselves and to a bigger community of women. It feels like one of those untold things that pass down through the generations of women that we've just somehow lost connection with.”

- Caroline, member of The Joy-Led® Creativity Collective

“Having Claire as my Executive Coach has made such a difference to me both professionally and personally. She helped me to reduce the noise and hold true to my core values.

Slowing down and giving myself permission to think and breathe has changed my everyday immeasurably.

I was excited and intrigued each session to explore what else might 'come up' and more often than not it was not what I expected. Letting go of expectation of self and others has helped create a lightness that I was always searching for. Claire's tone and care immediately put me at ease and I was able to be honest with her and myself in ways I have not been for years.”

Barbara Bernie, Chief People Officer, ALEX-BEGG Group

“Having in-the-moment coaching support is invaluable as someone with a busy schedule and competing demands, both inside and outside of work.

What Claire covers in her responses are specific to situations I am facing in ‘real-time’ so couldn’t be more bespoke. It prompts powerful insights that have saved me considerable time and head-space and supported my expansion in my current role.

If you are time-strapped, with her by your side you can move towards greater confidence and meaningful work more easily. You are on the journey together!”

Sarah Da Veiga, Senior HR Leader

I was fortunate enough to work one-to-one with Claire as my Executive Coach. The difference it made was significant - not just in career terms but in the way I view every challenging situation. Claire subtly reduced the volume on “my imposter” and, in doing so, gave back the confidence I thought I’d lost when I became a mum some years ago.

It’s been years since Claire and I worked together but it’s testament to her that I still use the tools and techniques we explored.

Rebecca Roberts, VP of Planning and Oversight, United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory

“Before working with Claire I knew I had potential for more but felt stuck. Now I have goals that inspire me and am moving towards them. Claire’s superpower is that she makes you feel at ease, allowing you to authentically discover things about yourself that you don’t even realise you are looking for.

Working with her felt like arriving at the top of a mountain but without the bit at the start where you stand at the bottom and think “that’s impossible.” With Claire by my side, before I knew it, there we were at the top!

My work with Claire has had such an impact on me and I will hold the things I’ve learnt close as I continue through life. I would wholeheartedly recommend working with Claire to any leader who feels stuck in their work or lives and wants to feel excited about the future. Likewise I would urge organisations to get Claire on board to work with their people. I am so glad mine did.”

- Emily Cowell, Senior Change Leader

“Claire is very skilled at helping you challenge your own way of thinking.. Coming to the end of my coaching, I am starting my own business as well as having a 3 and 5 year set of goals and objectives for my personal and professional life. Without coaching from Claire I would not have been able to get to this point.”

- Nick Bibby, Head of Commercial at Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport

“Claire has an innate ability to tease out and create the conditions for objective self-reflection and self-honesty that enabled me to figure out what I really want from my career. Throughout the course of our coaching relationship Claire helped me to notice and overcome my self-sabotaging internal narratives which enabled me to realise the power I have to change and choose.

The experience I have had working with Claire as my coach has been second to none not least because she helped me to discover how I can make various step changes but equally realise the enjoyment that is to be had out of the process.

This is in no small part due to the time, care and effort that Claire puts into the coaching relationship, being genuinely interested in me as a human being as well as authentically curious about my thoughts, feelings, beliefs and values. Her compassionate, challenging and insightful style was just what I needed at this point in my career, and I will always be grateful for the way Claire has supported and guided me.”

- Andy Halpin, Organisational Development Partner

Joy-Led Leadership Group Programme - Case Study: Caroline Macgregor, People and Change Leader

**“I wish I had done this a decade ago”**

“I’ve always known I was in the right profession, but despite the experience I’ve gained over the years and the progression I’ve made, I had a sense of feeling held back and knew I wasn’t fulfilling my full potential. In every role, I have driven myself hard, determined to deliver the best I can, but have also known for a while that how I was approaching my working-life wasn’t sustainable. I had tried ‘quick-fix’ solutions myself, guided by books and Ted Talks, but having the discipline to implement what I was learning, or even know how to, was hard.

When I began Claire’s programme, I was considering what the right next career move was for me, but I also wanted to change my approach to work so that it felt more sustainable, as well as find a leadership role that would stretch and excite me. As a busy working Mum there’s always been so much going on, and I had never managed to step off the treadmill and properly invest time, money and energy in my own growth.

I wished I had done this programme a decade ago. Being part of a group, only enhanced the unique individual learning we were each able to take from the modules. Claire led us to create an environment where we were able to be ourselves, open up and take the most from the coaching, and one another’s experiences, right from the start. Even when a session felt confronting, the highly practical ‘homework’ assignments, and support available outside the sessions, meant that I was always able to keep going and take rich and valuable learning.”

After spending most of my career in HR and Transformation roles in large corporate environments, I’ve recently stepped into a new tech scale-up with ambitious growth plans, as Chief People Officer. If I hadn't participated in The Inside-Out Leader, I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to take the leap, or even seen this role for the exciting opportunity that it is. That is one of many tangible outcomes of doing the programme.

But more than anything I feel a greater sense of ease in my own skin.

I feel calmer and more present as a leader, wife and mother. I have made the shift from being driven by fear of failure and the need to please others, to making day-to-day and bigger decisions based on what is most important to me and the impact I want to have, and it is liberating. I feel inspired about the future and the continuing journey I am on.

Claire’s approach and the programme she has created is refreshingly different. She brings a combination of depth, warmth, fun and compassion to what is without doubt a challenging process. Her way of being, and the elegant structure of the programme, makes it possible (and joyful) to keep going and make the changes within yourself that are very hard to make alone. If you are serious about unlocking what is holding you back and stepping more fully into your potential as a leader, I couldn’t recommend Claire and her work more highly.

- Caroline Macgregor, People and Change Leader

Joy-Led Leadership Group Programme - Case Study: Kerryn Harding-Jones, Leading Business Transformations

**“I feel calmer and more confident”**

“In the past, I felt interested by the content of online courses but that is not the same as really ‘living it.’ It was time to dedicate effort and energy to building a solid foundation for myself. I wanted to feel more confident, and more inspired by my working-life.

Claire invited us to dive deep, and that isn’t always easy. I felt strong resistance at times, but with Claire’s support, both within the group sessions, and one-to-one beyond them, I was able to move through the places where I felt stuck which led to a number of meaningful breakthroughs.

There was a real sense of camaraderie in the group, and an ease and openness as we each navigated the programme in our own unique way. We had lots of fun and I learned so much from listening to others’ experiences. I came away from each session feeling more buoyant. And always with a deeper, more profound sense of belonging.”

I thought I knew what my values were before joining the programme, but I have walked away with a much deeper and clearer understanding of what is truly most important to me. But more significantly, I am now equipped to integrate that awareness in how I approach my work and life beyond it. To actually ‘live it.’

What I have learned is helping me make decisions about my career, how I approach my relationships (inside and outside of work) and day-to-day how I consider my role.

I feel less of a need to please others and more confident. I feel calmer and less inclined to strive to meet unrealistic expectations.

I now have the confidence to say “Let’s pause a second. What’s the right thing to do here, that gets the same, or better results.” As a result, I am creating a better balance across all parts of my life and have more energy to focus on the most important aspects of my work and my personal relationships.

Joining this programme has made a huge difference to how I feel both inside and outside of work. I’m excited about the outcomes I’m already seeing, and everything to come as I continue to put into practice the life-changing revelations I have learned. Thank you, Claire!”

Joy-Led Leadership Group Programme - Case Study: Lisa Jones, Senior HR Leader

**“I have stopped overthinking. I feel calmer and more grounded”**

“I’ve worked closely with Exec-level leaders for years, but at times I’ve found some aspects of navigating hierarchy and politics difficult. In the past I’ve spent time and energy overthinking in the lead up to particular situations, and I wanted to deal with these challenges as I stepped into a new role and organisation in a more authentic way. I started the programme just as I left my previous employer, where I had been for a long time.

There was a safety and openness in the group from the first call. Whilst we were each on our own individual journeys, we were also in the same boat, experiencing similar challenges. That in itself felt empowering and gave me the energy to put into practice what I was learning right from the start. Claire is expert at creating a safe environment where you can truly open up and discover more about yourself. I found the coaching from her and the rest of the group both thought-provoking and highly pragmatic.

Having completed the programme, the discomfort when facing certain challenges hasn’t gone, but rather than avoiding situations, I am being more courageous and speaking up more of the time.

Rather than overthinking upcoming challenges, I am more grounded in the lead up, and feel more confident and resilient. The emotions I was experiencing previously have calmed.

They no longer sap my energy and cause me to overthink. Instead, I see them as a necessary part of leadership, and something that I can navigate and draw on to help me grow.

The programme has supported me to build a foundation for my leadership and career that came at the perfect time for me, and I am excited about building on it as I continue to develop as a leader. I highly recommend this programme to anyone who wants to feel more confident in their leadership and move into their next role in a way that feels authentic and meaningful.”

Joy-Led Leadership Group Programme - Case Study: Abbie, Leader, Partner Programmes

“I have a new level of optimism about my career”

“I’ve worked in big corporates for most of my career in business change and transformation, but more recently moved to a smaller tech start up in a client-facing commercial role. I joined The Inside-Out Leader because I wanted to continue to make progress in my career, but I wanted it to feel different. Claire’s philosophy of the inside-out approach to growing your leadership resonated with me, and I wanted to get under the skin of my own ‘inner dialogue’ and learn how I could evolve that.

As someone who enjoys meeting new people and working in-person, I was a little apprehensive about the level of connectedness we’d be able to achieve as a group over Zoom, but I was amazed at what happened! It was like we had known each other for years. The environment felt safe, and everyone came with the desire to share openly with one another. I was also struck by the ability of others to see qualities in me that I hadn’t quite recognised in myself, and this added to the individual coaching we received from Claire. It was very powerful.

Before the programme, the thought of another twenty years of work ahead of me was exhausting.

Now, I have a new level of optimism about my career. I know there are many opportunities that lie ahead, and that those could take many different forms, and that feels exciting.

As a result of the programme, I am now able to navigate the challenges and decisions I am facing in all parts of my life with greater ease, and less angst.

If you’re drawn to Claire’s work, and recognise yourself in the description she shares, I highly recommend signing up. I followed the pull I felt as I read the page six months ago and I’m so glad I followed my intuition!”

Abbie, Leader, Partner Programmes

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