My story

For years, I pretended to be happy to please other people. During my late teens and twenties, I smiled my way through an undiagnosed mental illness, convincing myself that if I hid it well enough, it would all go away. From the outside, everything looked great; I had a loving partner, a busy social life and an interesting and glamorous career as an actress/fashion blogger. I was the life and soul of the party, first to the bar and the last to stagger home. But behind it the façade, I was falling apart. Tormented by bipolar disorder, addictive patterns and more than one eating disorder; my life was a wreck. At the time I didn’t have the language to name any of these things, I just assumed I was broken. The only thing for it was to numb my pain and cover it up as best I could. I was diagnosed with Bipolar type 2 when I was 30. I was so deep in denial that it was was a shock, even though I had known something was wrong for years.

My world completely fell apart when my beloved dad died 6 months later, after a long and brutal illness. He was the actor, Bob Hoskins, so there was considerable public interest in his death. I wrote a blog post called 11 lessons from my dad, which I published the day after he died. I didn’t expect much to come from it, I had written it as a tribute to him and I thought that it might get a few views from close friends and family. The blog went viral and was seen by 100,000 people across the world. The interest in the blog post secured a book deal. It’s all going wonderfully well was published in 2016 and was about dad’s life and career, but also grief, the complexities of our relationship and post traumatic stress. When my readers got in touch with me, I realised that by writing about grief and mental illness, I was able to help other people. If I can make others feel less alone through my writing, then the time I lost to bipolar, eating disorders and heart shattering grief, did not go to waste.

This is what lead me to coaching. I am driven to help people live happier, more fulfilled lives. I wanted to consolidate my experiences into a tangible skill that could be put to meaningful use. I am not a therapist; coaching is practical, positive and based in the present. The various experiences I have had in TV, film, theatre, fashion and publishing mean that I work well with people in the creative industries. It’s a thrill to see my clients realise their dreams, as well as watching them improve their mental and emotional health through complete, unequivocal self-acceptance. My coaching isn’t exclusive to people in the arts; I coach anyone who knows that there is a better way to spend our precious time, here on this earth.