Professional Identity Coaching

For musicians, educators, and creative leaders who want clarity, coherence, and sustainable impact in their work.

Professional identity shapes how you teach, lead, collaborate, and make decisions. When it feels unclear or fragmented, confidence wavers and work becomes heavier. When it is coherent, your influence becomes steadier, more intentional, more sustainable and more ‘you’.

My work is grounded in postgraduate research into professional identity development in the performing arts. I am an EMCC accredited coach, hold an MSc in Education, and am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).

I believe people carry more possibility than they sometimes see in themselves. When environments or experiences create doubt or misalignment, that sense of possibility can narrow. With intentional space and support, it can re-emerge. That is why I do this work.

What can coaching do for you?

• Develop the courage to lead and collaborate in alignment with who you are becoming.
• Strengthen your confidence to act with clarity, integrity, and considered influence.
• Shape a professional life that reflects your values and supports the flourishing of others.
• Cultivate a grounded sense of authority, so you can navigate complexity without losing your centre.

You’re welcome to keep exploring or start shaping what’s next. Book a free discovery call, no pressure, just conversation.

As the meta-skill of the 21st century, the insights you gain through coaching are essential for leaders, educators, and creatives seeking to influence constructively and bring out the best in themselves and others.

In a coaching session with me, you’ll enter a highly confidential, forward-focused space to explore and curate new possibilities in your life and career. You’ll gain transformative insights – supported by my expertise in coaching and extensive experience in the performing arts, professional development, leadership, and identity-driven growth.

My coaching is rooted in:

• Professional identity – who you are in your work, and how it is evolving over time.
• Growth culture – shaping environments where others can flourish alongside you.
• Motivation and meaning – understanding what drives, sustains, and energises your work.
• Values-led reflection – aligning decisions and actions with what matters most.
• Relational and reflective communication – navigating feedback, presence, and complexity with clarity and care.
• Inside-out insight – noticing patterns, clarifying thinking, and generating new perspectives.

“We construct our beliefs, mostly unconsciously, and thereafter they hold us captive. They can help us focus and make us more effective, but sadly, they also can limit us: they blind us to possibility and subject us to fog, fear, and doubt.” Dave Gray

Here is what my clients say:

🌟 Professional identity

Who you are in your work, and how it’s evolving

• “Opened up some insightful areas for me to reflect upon as I go forward in my career.”
• “Rediscovered my motivation… felt more myself in my work.”
• “Gained confidence in who I’m becoming.”
• “Helped me to understand what I was trying to achieve on a meta level.”
• “I don’t see those voices of the past in me anymore.”

🌱 Growth culture

Creating environments where others can flourish

• “Developed my team… improved my communication and group dynamic.”
• “I now have the communication and social skills to face similar types of situations in the future.”
• “Helped me strategise for my business… created a consistent message.”
• “Regular group participation has changed the team dynamic.”
• “Very good co-operation… explored different perspectives.”

🔥 Motivation and meaning

Uncovering what drives and sustains you

• “She knew just what areas needed to be explored to help me discover the core of my motivation.”
• “I felt it was worth delving deeper to my core to fathom out what I want from my life and future.”
• “Every session led to new insights.”
• “It helped me understand what exactly I was trying to achieve on a meta level.”
• “Lightbulb moments.”

💫 Values-led reflection

Aligning action with what truly matters

• “Challenged me with so much love that I felt it was worth delving deeper.”
• “Helped prioritise certain areas of my life and exposed career challenges to dig deeper into.”
• “Tools used with sensitivity.”
• “You helped me realise and highlight things I hadn’t seen or hadn’t connected.”
• “Sessions were structured, but with the ability to improvise.”

🗣️ Relational & reflective communication

Navigating feedback, presence, and complexity

• “Improved my communication skills and management approach.”
• “Helped me adapt my communication and social skills to support a team.”
• “Helped me voice frustrations I hadn’t given myself permission to express.”
• “Asked the tough questions in a non-judgemental and supportive way.”
• “Helped me create a consistent message, both verbally and visually.”

🌀 Inside-out insight

Noticing patterns, clarifying thinking, unlocking new perspectives

• “My thoughts felt really muddled at the beginning, but by the end things became much clearer.”
• “Echoed back my thoughts in a distilled way — this really provided clarity.”
• “Joined threads from different parts of the conversation.”
• “Linked something I said at the start to the end of the session — a lightbulb moment.”
• “Explored different perspectives… helped me realise things I hadn’t seen.”
• “She guides from the margins… ensures it’s my process.”

“Where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows.” Dr. Daniel Siegel

Some discussions come up with such regularity that they deserve normalising, for example: values conflict in the workplace, the challenges of a portfolio career, imposter syndrome, work/life balance, role tension, connecting to your professional identity and unique strengths, performing / working through personal stress, grief or change.

Examples of topics brought by clients:

• I need clarity around an important decision.
• I’m stepping into a new role and want to feel more grounded and resourceful.
• I’m navigating tension or change and want to act with confidence and integrity.
• I want to lead more effectively and develop my team.
• I want to create a stronger growth culture at work.
• I want to refine how I position or communicate my work from website content to mission statements.
• I want to grow my client base in a way that aligns with my values.
• I want to support someone else more skilfully.

It is liberating to address these.

What is a Discovery call?

A discovery call is a 30-minute conversation to explore what you’re navigating, how coaching works, and whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation – simply space to think together.

• I will match the energy and commitment you have to your life and career, and to the people you support, in our sessions.
• I have the experience and knowledge to support your ambitions.
• I work flexibly offering sessions in person (Frimley), via video calls or on a nature walk (voice call or in person)

If you have never experienced coaching – this is your chance! True change starts from within. Professional Identity coaching isn’t just about setting goals – it’s transformative. Coaching supports shifts in how you understand yourself, your work, and your influence. Through structured reflection and dialogue, you begin to see patterns more clearly, make intentional choices, and act with greater alignment.

For me, coaching opens the door to a lighter, more empowered way of being – where who you are and how you work move in harmony.

Bobbie coached me over six sessions on developing a business. Her style was a wonderful combination of allowing me the space to explore ideas while at the same time gently probing those thoughts. The confidential and supportive but challenging environment that Bobbie creates in her coaching sessions really helped me to make progress in my endeavours.

Anonymous

I came to Roberta for business coaching and have now completed two cycles, both of which have been incredibly helpful. 

The scary thing about coaching, for me anyway, is that I have to face up to the immensity of what it is I don’t know. Roberta is amazing at creating a safe space in which this exploration is possible. She’s so insightful and able to guide, almost from the margins, to ensure that it really is my process. She’s very knowledgeable and seems to have a host of tools at her fingertips, but also the sensitivity to know when to use them and when to step back.

In our second cycle of coaching sessions, I had a specific marketing-related goal in mind, and even though this necessitated a rough structure, every session with Roberta felt fresh and led to new insights. She knew just what areas needed to be explored to help me discover the core of my motivation, and then to weave different aspects together to help me create a consistent message, both verbally and visually, that makes me so much more confident about marketing my music school. 

Spoiler alert: I’m already thinking about more sessions, this time on a completely different subject!

Nadja Flowerdew

Vivace Music School

I think Bobbie is awesome. Our relationship was mutually respectful, there was empathy from both sides and although our relationship was professional, we had fun, laughed and joked.

I felt a sense of trust and safety within our sessions, whereby she was able to ask the tough questions and therefore felt I was in a safe place to be able to answer them honestly without judgement. I found our sessions enjoyable, eye-opening, informative, structured, but with the ability to improvise. I looked forward to them and always left wanting more. I always felt I had achieved something, whether it was a strategy, or personal insight, or left with thought provoking ideas. Using Wheels and Questioning Topics was outstanding. It helped prioritize certain areas of my life and moreover exposed career challenges for me to dig deeper into.

Bobbie is always welcoming, intuitive and has a real ability to read sub-conscious thought or feelings. This attribute, I don’t think can be taught. She seems to have an innate ability to read people, which in coaching I’m sure is a huge asset. It certainly was as we worked together. She’s not afraid to ask tough questions, but does so in a non-judgmental and supporting way. Her coaching process is innate and she has the ability to read between the lines. Her observations of people’s tone, physiology and subtext are truly admirable.  One always feels safe with Bobbie. She is a very good listener and also has the ability to appropriately interrupt when required to keep me on track for my goals. 

On an end note, it was an absolutely wonderful experience working with Bobbie. She opened up some insightful areas for me to reflect upon as I go forward in my career. I know Bobbie is going to be a huge success and provide so much goodness and help to her clients as she moves forward with this aspect of her portfolio career. Much thanks and respect ! You are one of my favs, It’s totally acceptable to know your worth. You taught me that, so I touché it right back!

(8 Sessions)

Daniel Fathers

Actor, Executive Producer, Development Mentor and Consultant

Our sessions helped me to re-evaluate my work/life balance with a particular focus on creating boundaries during this period of remote working where anyone can contact me at any time. Most of all, the sessions helped me to voice frustrations that had been lying within but I hadn’t given myself permission to express yet. I loved the life purpose tool SO MUCH. It felt creative, fun, freeing but also, on a serious note, it helped me to understand what exactly I was trying to achieve on a meta level. And the metaphorical creative aspect really opened my mind for a wider exploration of the possibilities. 

I think your warm and friendly manner was essential in terms of helping me to open up and feel safe. You had no issues in establishing a rapport with me and I never felt resistance to any of your questions. Your pacing was always calm and organised. You were also able to hold me to account with kindness. 

I would 100% recommend you to other people looking for coaching. I think from my experience with you, it seems that you would be a particularly good fit with creatives who are able and willing to think outside the box a bit more and open up to meta levels in order to work back down to the nitty-gritty. 

Hannah Dunster

Director of Soundcastle

I have found our sessions really useful, I feel we have a really good flow and rapport when talking, and have really looked forward to them. What has stood out the most is the way in which Bobbie really listens to me and I really feel like she understands me as a person. Often my thoughts feel really muddled at the beginning of the session but by the end, things become much clearer and I have a clear sense of how I can shape my thinking to move forward in a positive way. I really like the way she echos back my thoughts in a distilled way – this really provides clarity.  I particularly value her encouragement but at the same time the way in which she encourages me to challenge myself. As a result of the coaching, I am much more self-aware and find myself coming back to the targets we have set. You leave me feeling empowered and confident.

(4 Sessions)

Anonymous

Educator and Researcher

I wanted to explore work-life balance with a view to manage my stress levels and find a way to enjoy work as a default attitude, rather than experiencing work as an overwhelming assortment of other people’s demands on me. ​This has definitely been addressed, and in really unexpected ways too. ​It was so lovely working with Bobbie. Her warm and calm energy provided the perfect space for me to feel comfortable talking openly about challenges and past experiences. “I highly recommend Bobbie for anyone who is looking for a happier and more fulfilling life!”

LB

Bobbie is such an insightful listener and very clever at joining threads together from different parts of the conversation. There was something I said at the start of our last session which she remembered and linked to something I mentioned at the end which formed a bit of a ‘lightbulb’ moment!  The main thing I have taken away is that decisions don’t have to pose a threat. I have also deepened my understanding of what is within and outside of my control. I felt treated with respect and fully in control of the situation and how the conversations progressed. I absolutely recommend Bobbie as a coach. 

Anonymous

What is hidden inside you that holds you back? You can still achieve a lot and stay positive; however, there are sometimes, areas within you that will always be locked.  Why, and how can you unlock that door?  That was me when I played the piano, both for myself and performing.  Until, that is, I was introduced to Restorative Piano.

With patience, understanding and a piano, Bobbie helped me navigate my way back to where I am now, and that door now is truly unlocked.  She provided that safe place for me to talk, and I know that she was listening in a professional and nonjudgmental manner with warmth and kindness.  I can’t thank her enough for what she has done.

Y. Tozer

I requested coaching to assist me through the challenges that come with a new career move. The challenge was stepping into a new role as a data analyst which required adapting my communication and social skills to support a team of marketing managers (here and abroad) such that we have a productive and amicable working relationship.

I identified the focus of my coaching as how I can improve my communication with colleagues. 

We did this by discussing the difficulties I experienced, identifying opportunities at work to improve these difficulties (action items I can do), attempting the opportunity, reviewing.

As a result of this approach I have improved my communication skills, management approach and group dynamic through making efforts in interpersonal communication and regular group participation. The coaching has given me this insight and through the practical tasks I have carried out I feel I now have the communication and social skills to face similar types of situations in the future.

Anonymous

It has been great working with you. I felt we got on well together; very good co-operation. I found our sessions very interesting and positive. It was good to explore different perspectives and I like the way you asked questions helping me reaslise and highlight things I haven’t seen or I have seen but not connected. You have amazing empathy, and listening and perceiving skills. I don’t see those voices of the past in me anymore!

(12 sessions)

Anonymous

I am loving my work with Bobbie, she is the kindest and most gentle support and confronts me with the issues I need to face with so much love that I feel it’s worth delving deeper to my core to fathom out what I want from my life and future.  Never an easy journey but the mentor is clear, strong and keeps pulling me forward. I don’t see Bobbie letting me off the hook lightly! I highly recommend Bobbie’s coaching.

Anonymous