Hello you!
I'm Sas. I'm delighted you've found your way here.
If self-doubt holds you back personally, relationally, creatively or professionally, you’re in the right place! Welcome, lovely.
I’m a twice-certified coach with a Master’s degree in coaching from Oxford (hello, self-doubt in the form of proving myself).
For more than a decade, I’ve coached with hundreds of beloved clients to help transform self-doubt into genuine self-belief.
I’m pretty obsessed with the process, and it's a total joy to support people to transcend old stories, worries, and fears and bravely try new things with loads more self-compassion.
I’m not the kind of coach who shares inspirational quotes or simple solutions to your complex and nuanced challenges. Instead, we'll explore and heal the root causes of your self-doubt and to help you feel resourced, no matter what happens.
You are worthy of every good thing that brings you meaning, fulfilment and joy.
It’s a total labour of love to be with you.
Arohanui,
Self-doubt is my story too.
As the oldest daughter of working-class immigrants, I’ve been a pleasure to have in class since 1977. In many ways I won the lottery and grew up in a tiny beach town in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
However, my childhood home was also full of unprocessed grief, and the benign neglect that was 1980s parenting. High school bullying left me so traumatised I had to move schools.
I took on the role of 'comical peacemaker' with gusto and excelled at being as low-maintenance as possible while priding myself on being able to anticipate everybody else’s needs. I’d unwittingly been training my whole life to thrive in chaos. No wonder I was continuously rewarded in stressful, often problematic, workplaces. No wonder I drank my feelings.
When my Mum died unexpectedly on a random Tuesday at age 53, I lost my anchor. A year later, my relationship ended just as suddenly. But it wasn’t until my third burnout that my dreams of corporate stardom began to evaporate. I began the long, slow healing path of grieving what I'd lost and figuring out what I truly longed for.
Eventually, in my late thirties, I retrained as a coach and therapist and while I started my practice, I began a Master's degree in coaching at Oxford. When I had to choose a dissertation topic I felt drawn to the phenomenon of self-doubt.
I started to make a tonne of sparky connections between the research, my lived experience, and my work with beloved clients. The time I spent in Oxford libraries were joyous and intellectually exhilarating; like falling in love.
Now, a dozen years later, I spend my days helping thoughtful humans heal the root causes of self-doubt and learn how to cultivate deep and abiding self-belief. It’s work that feels like medicine.
After 25 years of living in the UK (alright me Brizzle luvvers!), I’m back on my homeland of Aotearoa-New Zealand to be with my sweet mother-in-law who is in the last season of her life, and my dear Dad and Bonus Mum who are just a few hours away. I live near the beach with my partner Ash, too many books and not enough dogs.
One of my favourite humans is philosopher Alan Watts, who said 'trying to describe yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth' - I've tried my best below!
I'm so glad you and I are connected. I'm on the Gram most days, please do come and say hello ❤️
Preferentially
Psychometrically
-
Libra Sun,
Cancer Moon, Aries Rising.
-
I'M A GENERATOR
in Human Design.
-
Like you,
I am love, light, life: I am, that I am.
Professionally
- Developmental Coaching - Conversations at the Edge, Cultivating Leadership, 2024
- Diploma in Coaching Supervision, 2023
- Narrative Coaching for Practitioners, Centre for Narrative Coaching, 2016
- Master of Arts, Coaching & Mentoring (Merit), Oxford Brookes University, 2015
- Certified Wayfinder Coach, Dr. Martha Beck, 2013
- Coaches Training Institute, 2012
- Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, Massey University, 2007
- Bachelor of Arts (Educational Psychology + Women's Studies) University of Otago, 1995
Personally
I'm powered by compassion and black coffee.
I love belly laughs, moments of wonder, exploring consciousness, imagining a post-capitalist world, obscure UFO podcasts, nuance and complexity, poetry, wallpaper, memes, pie, and your dog.
I can’t see a great movie too many times. I’ve travelled to almost every country and I still don’t believe in the physics of flight. Home is anywhere Ash, Bohdi and my books are.
To me, being alive is an unending meaning-making process of imagination, experimentation and interpretation. I agree with John Steinbeck: nothing good gets away.
Gen Xer. Sober. Optimist. Believer. Motherless Daughter. Childless Aunty. Emerging Crone. Mostly embodying cheerful despair.
I can already tell you are so easy to love ❤️
Before I worked with Sas, I felt stuck in a rut and going round in circles. I’ve been able to gain clarity about my situation, take steps to make major change and understand myself a lot better. I have become more of a champion for myself. I cannot recommend Sas highly enough.
Sas has a way of getting you to really think about what is behind the issue. Since working with her I have come to terms with things that had been concerning me for years. I have accepted myself for who I am and I feel so much more confident in my own instincts now.
Without any doubt, working with Sas is the best investment I have ever made in myself. Sas is a total master at sensing where the tightest knots really are and then gently but firmly encouraging you to unpick them. It’s been like adding the final pieces to a puzzle that I’ve been grappling with for years.
There is nothing like the freedom to be who I am – even with my family who have known me my whole life. I’ve stopped trying to keep everyone else happy and I feel closer to them than ever. Working with Sas has changed everything.
I couldn’t get past a relationship issue, and Sas was able to offer me practical guidance towards a new way of looking at my particular situation and how I operate in the world. I learnt how to really be in my own business.
