Professional Coaching

In a professional coaching session with me, you’ll enter a highly confidential, forward-focused space to curate opportunities for your career. You’ll gain transformative insights while benefiting from my expertise and extensive experience across the performing arts.

I work with teachers and performers at all stages of their careers across the arts. These are the types of issues my clients bring:

• I want clarity around a decision
• I want to feel more resourceful in a new role
• I want to increase my client base
• I want to promote myself to grow my work
• I want to create impactful website content
• I want to navigate dilemmas and make confident choices between options
• I want to craft a clear and compelling mission statement
• I want to be able to deal with this situation confidently

Some discussions come up with such regularity that they deserve normalising, for example:

• imposter syndrome
• work/life balance
• values conflict in the workplace
• performer / teacher tension
• connecting to your professional identity and unique strengths
• performing / working through personal stress, grief or change

It is liberating to address these.

What is a Discovery call?

Book a free 30 minute chat with me to find out what coaching is, how it works, if we are a good fit, and most of all how it can serve you. Take the opportunity to invest some of your earnings back into your career and see where it takes you!

• I will match the energy and commitment you have to your career 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)

When working with me you will benefit from my experience as pianist, coach, educator and researcher. I play a key role in shaping professional development for staff and students at Guildhall School of Music & Drama and bring a deep understanding of the performing arts profession.

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