My WHY:

Because I've struggled and suffered with many of life's misunderstandings, and although change is Always Possible, we can't always do it alone, and neither do we need to.

My name is James

I call myself a Mental Performance Coach for the simple reason being that I believe when we are truly ourselves, we perform so much better in life.  I also believe that we can't always do it by ourselves. 

As we strive for certainty, I've come to the realisation that nothing is certain, it never has been, and never will be, and so, if nothing is certain, anything is possible, including being the best version of ourselves. 

We are often weighed down by life's tasks, procrastinating the things we know could help, we speak to ourselves poorly, we get lost in life's fog and so at times, don't know which direction we're going in. 

I love supporting individuals to strive for their greatness and succeed within their personal and professional lives.  What greatness and success look like to you is not for me or society to define.  It's your life.  It's up to you.

I, like many have been through a great deal in my own personal life, and so, I have made it my mission to uncover my own potential, to work through my own issues and by doing so, I can support others. 

What's my story?
I'm 41 years of age, and so there's a lot to talk about.   

I didn't do particularly well in school even though I was a good kid.  Gaining only three Cs in my GCSEs, the rest being D's and E's. I never thought I was particularly intelligence or academic.  I worked for McDonalds, which, I actually enjoyed, and at the same time, at the age of 16 I decided to start training and apply to become a Royal Marine Commando. I was training with a Royal Marine PT in Portsmouth, passed the initial tests and at aged 17, in February 2002 I headed to Lympstone for the basic weekend course.  I failed.  There were some much bigger lads there than me.  They told me to do some more work and try again in 6 months' time.  

On 23rd April 2002, my brother, Kevin died at the scene of a car accident.  He was older than me by about 13 months.  I received a telephone call from my older brother, which was 21 at the time, and I then broke the news to my mother.  It was heart breaking.  I never re-tried for the Royal Marines again.  Life took a different course, a path of uncertainty, and I became a little lost.  Although I had inner challenges, I maintained a relatively healthy life. I ran the London Marathon in 2004, I was in a stable relationship and I started working with children with Asperges and Autism in a specialist residential school.  Over the years, I worked in Carphone Warehouse, I've been a milkman, I've erected and taken down marquees for outside shows.  I completed a L2 in plumbing and I attempted to start and run my own at the age of 21 (it didn't work out).  

I became a fairly young father myself, with my first daughter born when I was 21, and second at 23.  I had aspirations to be better, and when I business didn't work out, I found purpose when I started working within a rural family centre, supporting parents with young children, before then moving to work as a Social Work assistant within children's services.  From there, I went back to college to complete some further courses enabling me to start my Social Work degree at the age of 25 in 2009.  

I struggled within some work, and was diagnosed with dyslexia during the degree, but I was deeply passionate about the work. With a young family, I attempted to balance the academic work, the placements, working full time in children's residential homes and being a good dad and husband.  I didn't always succeed at the balance. 

Altogether, I have worked within children's social care for over 20 years, over 13 years as a Social Worker all within statutory children's services teams working with adults, children and adolescents.  Working within child protection, exploitation, edge of care, youth homelessness, I've become always been a team manager, but I decided to step away from the normal Social Work training to complete numerous coaching training courses.

I've navigated my fair share of challenges, divorce, bankruptcy but the not so well known talked about challenges, are the feelings of worthlessness, the inability of being myself.   I hadn't realised for 15 years that one of the weights I carried around with me was that I felt responsible for other people's emotions.   Back when I was 17 years old, I devastated my mother's world and broke her heart when I told her that her son, my brother had died.  Of course that wasn't actually true, but it was true for me, and when I realised that, my whole reality shifted.  I have done the work, and continue to do so.  I'm a lifelong learner and will always be a work in progress.

I have worked with 100s of people who have struggled in their lives in some way shape or form.  We may all live different lives, but our insecurities tend to be the same. 

I'm a straight-talking coach, kind and empathetic, I'm friendly, but not here to a friend.  I don't profess to be an expert in anything; I am however knowledgeable and skilful in asking powerful questions and providing my clients with the thinking space they need to think something they have never thought before.

I am deep thinker. I am passionate about making the world a better place to live for my family.  I would say that being a parent of three children, all of which are growing into adulthood very fast, is where my biggest learning comes from.  Each one unique in style and perspective of the world, but also probably my biggest testers at times. 

Training and Accreditations

Training

mBIT

HeartMath

IHEART

Qualifications & Training:

BSc (Hons) Social Work
Advanced Certificate in Executive Coaching
mBIT (multiple Brain Integration Techniques)
Neuroscience and change with Coaching Rising
Trauma-Sensitive HeartMath Certified Practitioner

multiple Brain Integration Techniques (mBIT)

When thinking about change, we often get stuck in our heads. Thinking that we need to think our way out of a problem.  Neuroscience now proves that you have more than one intelligence. There is a "complex adaptive neuro network" in both your heart and gut.

The new field of mBraining and mBIT has developed a modality that enables a new way of thinking and decision making, exploring all your intelligences, allowing you to tap into your innate wisdom and discover emerging solutions. 

HeartMath

Most of us have been taught in school that the heart is constantly responding to "orders" sent by the brain in the form of neural signals.  However, it is not as commonly known that the heart actually sends more signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart.  Moreover, these heart signals have a significant effect on brain function - influencing emotional processing as well as higher cognitive faculties such as attention, perception, memory, and problem solving.  In other words, not only does the heart respond to the brain, but the brain continuously responds to the heart.

James uses the HeartMath science-based techniques, including heart rate variability (HRV) technology to work with clients.  Supporting the body to get into a coherent state, also known as psychophysiological coherence which basically is the state of optimal functioning.  

By doing so, our physiological systems function more efficiently, we experience greater emotional stability, and we also have increased mental clarity and improved cognitive function.

Simply stated, our body and brain work better, we feel better and we perform better.

Innate health education and resilence training

The iheart Resilience framework is an instruction manual that explains how our minds work and where the source of wellbeing lies.

James is able to support children from 10 years to 17 using the iheart framework; instead of giving advice, sessions are used to provide knowledge of how their minds work, enabling them to understand why we think, feel and behave the way they do.  This approach empowers children and young adults to navigate their way back to resilience and wellbeing more and more of the time.

Giving back and supporting the community

Governors

I am proud to be part of a Governing Body of a primary school in the Vale of Glamorgan. 
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Write your awesome label here.

Director of CUBE

CUBE is a unique local not for profit community organisation supporting individuals and families in the Barry Vale of Glamorgan area.  From the outside, the Gallery Coffee House and event space looks like just that, a lovely local cafe and event space.  In fact, all the profit that the Gallery Coffee House goes back into the CUBE to provide support at no cost to the community.  

What people have said  

Amazing Jamie! Thank you so much...I have found this so incredibly insightful.
rachael smith
I liked the sequence of opening a space to hold a conversation, the generous listening, and the summary of what you've heard followed by a thoughtful poignant question.  It was the voice I needed to hear inside my head, not all the worry and scatter and confusion...
Fred (Changing career)
It has been a course that has made me think and look at things in a different way.  Thank you.
I was able to hear you talk yesterday and wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you. I felt the most calm that I have felt in months after hearing you speak - almost like it prompted me to find my clear mind...
michelle perryman,
School nurse
Some other things that (may) make me interesting:
  • I can't handle spicy
  • I sometimes feel insecure
  • I've walked along side Lions
  • I've spent time with mountain Gorillas in the wild
  • You can't beat a proper cooked breakfast...any time of the day
  • I used to be a professional chef (In McDonalds, when I was 16) :-)
  • I've previously felt like a really bad person for the decisions I've made
  • I used to take kung-fu classes; my dream is still to train with Shaolin Monks
  • I've ran the London marathon, but was beaten by a very fast womble :-(
  • I'm a pretty good cook, but am much better with herbs rather than spices
  • I usually eat my Cadbury's cream egg by taking a bite and drinking some hot tea
  • I can laugh at my own jokes before they come out of my mouth...but am getting better
  • My most important character strengths and values are kindness, compassion & Integrity
  • If I didn't have to sleep and had extra time, I would learn to play the guitar and go for more walks
  • My first business, many years ago was called Ballooniful...I sold machines that could put flowers inside balloons.  Obviously, it didn't work out.
  • I've jumped the 3rd highest bungee jump in the world (at the time), my aim is to still jump off the highest.  I've also jumped out of a perfectly good plane at 14,000ft
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