Core, Cheadle Hulme (2026)

28/08/2026

Back to school is nearly here and there can be a lot going on underneath the practical stuff of new shoes, timetables and remembering what time everyone needs to leave the house! 🤪

For some young people it’s exciting. For others there might be nerves about friendships, a new school, where they’ll sit at lunch, increased academic pressure or just getting used to a different routine again. And probably, for plenty of them, it’s a mixture of all of it.

They don’t need to be in crisis for some extra support to be useful. Coaching gives young people their own space to think out loud, understand what they need and build practical tools for navigating the situations that matter to them.

I work 1:1 with young people aged 12–18 around confidence, friendships, boundaries, communication, school pressure and the general business of growing up.

If you’ve got a young person heading back to school and think having someone in their corner could help, drop me a message and we can have a chat about whether coaching might be right for them.

Gemma x

27/08/2026

We’re very good at getting ready by doing more. More lists, more organising, more planning, more “right, let’s get back to it.” 💪

September seems to bring that feeling with it. Summer ends, routines kick back in and there can be a real urge to get ourselves sorted and launch straight into the next thing.

But I’ve been thinking a lot about rest recently (it’s work in progress for me!) and particularly about the fact that we often wait until we really need it before we take it. When we’re frazzled, depleted or already running on fumes.

What if we changed that?

What if rest became part of how we prepare? Something we choose BEFORE we’re exhausted. A chance to stop, notice where we’re at and give our bodies and brains a bit of space before asking them to carry us into whatever comes next.

It’s an idea I really believe in and I’m creating something around it for September. No improving yourself. No big goals. No pressure to come away transformed.

Just a little less doing and a little more being.

REST + READY 🧘
COMING SOON. 👀

26/08/2026

I’m lazy-curious.

Lazy gets a pretty bad rep, doesn’t it? And I’ve realised I use the word about myself quite a lot. God, I’ve been so lazy today. I really need to stop being lazy. I could have got so much more done.

But I’m starting to wonder what I actually mean when I say it.

Was I lazy? Or was I resting? Did I do nothing or did I just not do more? Did I avoid something I genuinely needed to do or am I giving myself a hard time because I didn’t go above and beyond?

Because I think my definition of lazy might be a little… ambitious 😂

So I’m getting lazy-curious. When that word pops into my head, I’m trying to notice what standard I’m measuring myself against and whether I actually agree with it.

Maybe sometimes I am being lazy. And maybe that’s allowed too.

Anyone else lazy-curious? 👀

I’d keep them fairly broad with a few more specific ones mixed in:

25/08/2026

A little thought on arrogance, modesty and confidence today…

Sometimes it’s worth noticing what’s behind the things we say about ourselves. Are we trying to put ourselves above someone else? Playing ourselves down and hoping they’ll give us the boost instead? Or simply acknowledging something we know to be true?

There’s something really freeing about being able to recognise your own strengths without comparison and without needing someone else to confirm them for you.

Have a little notice this week. What happens when you allow yourself to own what you’re good at?

And if that feels harder than it sounds, that’s exactly the kind of thing we can explore through coaching. Drop me a message if you’d like to chat.

For a mix of broader reach + more targeted coaching/confidence terms, I’d go with:

24/08/2026

Back to school is creeping closer… and with it can come a real mix of feelings for young people (and parents!)

New teachers, changing friendship groups, different expectations, more independence, new routines. Even for a young person who is generally looking forward to going back, there can be a lot to navigate.

We don’t have to wait until they’re really struggling before we offer support.

One of the things I love about coaching young people is that it gives them somewhere to work things out for themselves. To understand what knocks their confidence, recognise what they need, practice saying no or asking for help, think through friendship situations, manage pressure and build a bank of tools they know they can reach for when things get tricky.

We can’t prepare them for every difficult day, friendship wobble or unexpected challenge. But we can help them feel better equipped to meet those moments with more awareness, resilience and trust in themselves.

So if you’ve been thinking about coaching for your teen, before the new school year begins is a really useful time to get the conversation started. We can put some support in place now rather than waiting for things to become overwhelming.

I offer 1:1 online coaching for young people aged 12–18, beginning with a free discovery call so you and your young person can meet me, ask questions and decide whether coaching feels right for them.

DM me to have a chat or book a discovery call.

06/08/2026

A coaching conversation this week got me thinking about the phrase “just push through.”

⚠️ Just to be clear, these are my reflections on a phrase rather than a judgement of the conversation itself. It simply sent me off on a bit of a thinking journey afterwards.

“Push through” is one of those phrases we hear all the time and I found myself wondering whether it’s always the best advice.

Sometimes it absolutely is. Sometimes we do need to keep going through the difficult bit and, when we come out the other side, we realise we’re capable of more than we thought. There’s something really valuable about that.

But I also wonder if we’ve become so used to celebrating pushing through that we don’t always stop to ask whether it’s the right thing in that moment. And most importantly whether it’s right for us.

Do I actually have what I need right now? Am I resourced enough? Am I stretching myself in a way that’s helpful or am I ignoring something that needs my attention?

It made me think about the Protected and Projected circles of confidence in my approach. We often celebrate the projected moments because they’re visible. But sometimes protecting your energy, gathering your resources and reconnecting with yourself is the most confident thing you can do before you move forwards.

And then another question pops in… what do we miss when we’re so focused on getting through something?

Is there something to be gained from where we are, even if it’s messy? Is there something this moment is trying to teach us that we’d rush straight past if our only goal was to get to the other side?

I don’t think I’ve landed on an answer. I just think it’s an interesting question.

I’d love to know where you sit on it. Has pushing through been exactly what you needed? Or has there been a time when slowing down taught you something you couldn’t have learnt any other way?

04/08/2026

One of my favourite things to help people with is what I call ‘holding the room’.

It sounds like it’s about public speaking, but actually, it isn’t. Sometimes, yes, it’s a presentation, a pitch or leading a meeting. But sometimes it’s setting a boundary, asking for a pay rise or having a conversation you’ve been putting off.

They are all moments where your voice matters.

Those moments are about confidence and about feeling sufficiently safe, connected and resourced to stay present with yourself while you’re with other people.

The people who hold the room aren’t necessarily the most shiny. More often, they’re the people who know who they are and are able to stay connected to that when it matters.

That’s what I love helping people uncover. 💥

If holding the room feels harder than you’d like, I’d love to help. DM me CONFIDENCE if you’d like to delve deeper.

03/08/2026

I always find it quite strange talking about testimonials because coaching is such a private thing. The conversations stay in the room and that’s exactly how it should be.

But every now and again someone sends me a few words afterwards and says, “You’re welcome to share this.” Those moments mean a lot. 🧡

I’ve just finished a ten-week coaching package with this client and reading these back made me smile.

“One of the best investments I have made.”

“I communicate differently now and spend far less time doubting myself. The self-doubt hasn’t disappeared but I’m definitely feeling much stronger.”

“Gemma has a way of asking questions that really help me think.”

I particularly love that last one ☝️ because, really, that’s my job.

I’m not there to have all the answers. I’m there to ask the questions that perhaps you’ve never had the time, space or confidence to ask yourself.

Ten weeks ago this client arrived with one set of challenges. Ten weeks later they haven’t become a different person. They’ve just got a much stronger relationship with themselves.

🙌 💛

02/08/2026

People are often surprised when I say my years as an actor influence my coaching every single day.

Not because acting made me confident. Far from it at times.

It taught me about nerves, preparation, presence, self-talk, connection and what happens when we spend too much energy worrying about ourselves instead of the people we’re trying to connect with.

Looking back, I can see that I was learning about confidence long before I trained as a coach.

I just didn’t have the language for it yet.

Now I do. 😊

I’m curious… which one resonates most with you?

01/08/2026

One of the most common things people say to me is, “I’ve lost my confidence.”

I understand why it feels that way. There are times in life when we stop recognising ourselves. A difficult relationship, redundancy, burnout, becoming a parent, criticism, grief, illness, a knock to our self-belief… they can all make confidence feel like it’s disappeared.

But I don’t actually think it’s gone but I definitely think it’s covered.

Covered by fear. Covered by old beliefs. Covered by self-doubt. Covered by other people’s opinions. Covered by nervous system responses that are trying to keep us safe. Covered by experiences that have taught us to shrink a little.

That feels different to me because if confidence is lost, the job is to go and find it; the pressure is ON, right?

If it’s covered, the job becomes much gentler. We get curious. We notice what’s sitting on top of it. We slowly begin to brush some of those layers away.

That’s why I don’t spend my coaching sessions trying to make people into someone new. Instead I help them uncover the version of themselves that has always been there.

Confidence isn’t always loud or obvious. Sometimes it looks like saying no. Sometimes it looks like asking for help. Sometimes it looks like walking into a room feeling nervous and choosing to go in anyway.

A little reassurance to those who feel like they’ve lost their confidence. It may feel distant today but I just wonder whether it’s waiting underneath everything that’s been piled on top of it.

On your own this can be hard to shift. Here if you need help to gently uncover.

Visit www.core-you.com or DM me CONFIDENCE to set up a discovery call - free!

Core

28/08/2026

27/08/2026

26/08/2026

25/08/2026

24/08/2026

06/08/2026

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