Inspiration Coaching & Support | Steph Scholes

"Coaching works because it’s centred on you. When you clarify your goals and take action, transformation happens."

We sit down with Steph Scholes from Inspiration Coaching & Support, an organisation dedicated to helping individuals unlock their potential and navigate life’s challenges.

Steph shares insights into the power of coaching, the importance of mindset shifts, and how tailored support can make a lasting impact. We discuss the challenges people face when seeking guidance, the moments of transformation she’s witnessed, and the inspiration behind her work.

Whether you’re looking for motivation, a fresh perspective, or support on your own journey, this conversation is filled with wisdom and encouragement. Tune in to discover how coaching can help you move forward with confidence.

https://inspirationcoachingsupport.org

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"This Place, Our Voices" Credits:

Host: Elyssa Germain
Produced By: OneZeroCreative https://www.onezerocreative.co.uk/

Transcript

Today we're joined by Steph from Inspiration Coaching Support, an organisation dedicated to empowering individuals to unlock their potential and navigate life's challenges with confidence and clarity. We'll be diving into the heart of her work and exploring how she provides guidance and support to those who need it most. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you for having me on.

So can you tell me about the mission of Inspiration Coaching Support and the key services that you provide?

Yeah, definitely. so Inspiration Coaching and Support was born in August 2023. My background is nursing so I've been nursing in the NHS for about 15 years and the last two years I did project management for mental health and social prescribing across Cheshire East. I saw as that came to an end that a lot of the time prevention is being cut when budgets are cut and it kind of didn't sit quite right with me because I've always been a very holistic practitioner within my nursing, always supported people who have been in acute situations and can go on to make improvements in their life. So I've coached all the way through my career and so live coaching kind of became a natural fit for that. My mission within Inspiration Coaching is to support people to live the best version of themselves. So, so many of us go through life where we think that we've got to kind of deal with whatever we're handed and that's not true. We can go on to make better decisions, we can go on to make the choices for us that actually resonate with our core values and we can step forward into a better version of ourselves through doing that. So I do that by offering one to one coaching for people where m I do 12 week programmes and then they can continue with me. I've got one client who's been working me since January and is still making massive improvements every single session. And I do workshops for menopause, wellbeing and I've got my wellbeing circles as well. I do retreats either day ret treats or longer And I also have my online coaching programme that is just in the process of launching at the moment.

Great, that's really exciting.

It is, yeah.

So how is s that going to work with it being online?

It's kind of a slightly lower ticket offer so people can access it at a slightly reduced cost than they would for one-to-one coaching. It also means that it's accessible to them as and when they can do it. So it's not a case of it's a structured, kind of. This is your session, you come and you attend it. It's an online Facebook platform where, the individuals in there get a whole heap of valuable content between meditation sessions, mindset sessions. My flagship, which is my Saturday sanctuary. So that's a topical session on a Saturday morning where we talk about things like procrastination, prioritisation guilt your blueprint, so how you might think your life was going to be and how it might be deviating from that as we go along. So, yeah, a whole host of stuff on it and the peer elements to the community side of it, the support from the peers that are within the group and obviously it means that you can have access to somebody 24/7.

What inspired you to start this organisation?

Seeing that prevention kept being cut, It's something that didn't sit well with me because there's too many people out there that are needing support. The work that I did in the project management role was to support the community mental health transformation. So there was a hell of a lot of work going on with the voluntary sector, who are absolute amazing. They're so good at what they do, they're absolutely brilliant. And there was also a lot of different things going on with different roles that were going to come in. But there's so many hoops to jump through still, because the system is so convoluted and so challenging at times. And when somebody is in a position where they're already overwhelmed with life or they re feeling that the mental health is suffering, the last thing they want to be doing is jumping through those hoops. I want to be that port that's accessible so that people can come to me, they can get the support as quick as possible and we can start the journey to making better things for them. And I'm not saying that coaching doesn't go hand in hand with other modalities or other treatments and therapies. It can work and you can stagger that approach. So it all works in conjunction with each other and it just gives you a safe space to be able to invest in yourself and, understand yourself on a better level.

How would you say your approach to coaching and support differs from other organisations?

I think my clinical background offers something very different initially, because obviously I do have the nursing side of it, so that I can understand. A lot of people that do come to me also have chronic health, which links with me because I've got chronic health myself, which is another reason I started the business as well. I suppose that side of it the wealth network I've got around me, I am surrounded by so many other therapists, whether that be EMDR therapists, which is eye movement desensitisation reprocessing, which is a really powerful therapy for trauma and PTSD, or whether that be that I then link in with other agencies, so other voluntary organisations. For instance, I had a lady that came to me yesterday to talk about coaching and I've put her in touch with some other charitable organisations that might be able to help. Because the other thing I will not do is take money off people if not in a position to do so, because it wouldn't be ethical to do that. So I will find them the support that they need. So I won't say to someone, I can't help you and just leave them. I will signpost. The other aspect is that I come at the business from a lived experience point of view, which is hugely powerful too, as I've already alluded to. I've got chronic health, so I have fibromyalgia, which is a chronic pain condition which impacts your mental health and your physical health, which is obviously it all interlinks. And also I've had lots of challenges within my life. I've been in relationships that have not been fulfilling, where they've been quite toxic and difficult at times that I've experienced. One of my children is currently going through the process for assessment for neurodevelopmental conditions. So, yeah, I've got a lot of lived experience to bring to the table. That means that, I come at it from a different point with empathy and compassion and I'm just, yeah, I'm just there to help people.

That's a value that can't be taught.

No, definitely not. I don't come from just the books and the literature.

Do you have any stories or moments that reflects the impact that your work has had on someone's life?

Well, there's plenty of testimonials on my website, especially as I say, the client that I've been working with since January, absolutely amazing client, came to me unsure of who he was and actually said to me that he didn't love himself, had been through a lot of trauma in his life and a lot of challenge. And now he's at a space where even just my last session with him was sat there and went, I'm in control of my life now. Nobody makes decisions for me. I make my own decisions and I love who I am. And that is so powerful to see somebody sitting there, who has those moments we call them pennydrop moments where they just go, oh, yeah, and they just realise something, it resonates. Or the moments where you just see the emotion building because actually they're really proud of where they are. That is just so powerful. It is so absolutely amazing and beautiful.

Especially when you were sat across from that same person, however many months ago, see a completely different person.

Totally, totally. It's just a beautiful thing to watch. It's beautiful to be on that journey with them as well and to experience it with them.

What advice would you give to someone who feels stuck and unsure about seeking support?

Just bloody do it, then. Not everybody is going to, first off, find the right person to support them. Yeah, everybody has someone for them. Just like we go through life trying to find the right partner in life, we also have to find the right therapist in life or the right coach in life or the right modality to suit where we are. And that can change. So if something hasn't worked for you at one point in time doesn't mean it's not going to work now, because you're at a different point in time and the likelihood is you've been through something that has developed you in a different way. So don't be afraid to ask for support. It is not a weakness to say that you are struggling with your mental health or that you need that insight from somebody else. It is actually a superpower to be able to have the insight to know that you need additional support is absolutely amazing. And I compliment anybody that does that and realises that.

What's been the most rewarding part of your journey?

It's all been rewarding. Don't get me wrong, being a business owner is hard work, especially solely on your own, because it can be quite isolating. But that doesn't ever mean that I would not be doing what I'm doing. The support that I have been able to give to other people, the transformations that I have seen people make within their lives have been absolutely amazing. When I did my retreat days in August, I did two separate days, where I had different individuals that came to the retreat days and they were absolutely beautiful days. To see people come in thinking that they've got one topic they wanted to touch on, and then to actually almost change their focus on it, pivot on it and see that actually they had a much deeper thing that was resonating with them, to connect with that and then to actually come away from the session and go, I've made these changes within my life and this is how I'm going to go forwards is really, really, really powerful.

Have there been any significant challenges along the way?

The biggest challenge for people to understand the benefit of coaching, the power of coaching. Otherwise, as I say, it's been a business owner, it's been my own journey with it. So I will hold my hands up and say that I invest in coaching too, because every coach needs a coach as well. And I have those moments where the imposter syndrome kicks in for me and I'll be thinking, why am I doing this? Why don't I just go back to a job? I'll go back to what I knew. It's safe, it's secure, but actually you don't grow unless you step out of your comfort zone. I empower other people to do that, so I make sure that I get that support to continue to empower me to do so as well. Other challenges has obviously been negating the landscape of being a soltrenprenur, with my two young children and then my other house, five children as well. So that's been a challenge as well. Just trying to kind of level it out, find grounding and to put my own boundaries in place and do my own self-care at times and be challenging. But that's another reason that I will lean into the other therapies that I love, and ensure that kind of, that consistency and that support is there for me as well.

You've got to make time for yourself, especially when you're taking on such a big work with other people. Very emotionally stressful.

Yeah. It can be, exhausting sometimes.

Yes.

Yeah.

Well, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Yeah, that's true. That's definitely true.

Do you find that you've got sceptics?

I think you always do. No matter what you do in life, you're going to come across sceptics because not everybody has the same belief systems. I suppose as a clinician and also being engaged to a clinician as well, because I'm other half a psychotherapist. It was that initial thing of is coaching deemed as a real profession sort of thing, which obviously it is massively. I think there is so much emphasis on it in the US that bringing that over to the UK is different. And obviously you get all different coaches as well, because you get business coaches, you get leadership coaches, you get health coaches. So you've got so many different modalities of coaching as well. I think some people are like, well, what do I need a coach for? I'm not on a sports pitch, I don't need it. So there's some scepticism from that. I think there's some scepticism from certain people believing that you're just out to make money and that you're going to pray on vulnerable people, which I hope I demonstrated. That's not the case with me. If somebody comes to me and they're not in a position then I will try and find another way to seek that support for them. So yeah, I mean, I think there’s scepticism in everything we do, isn't there? absolutely. It's just about holding my own and demonstrating to the world that that's not what I'm about. I am authentic and I'm true to what I'm doing and true to the people I support.

I think it's really important to be open minded. Just don't know what you're missing.

The world's pretty closed if you're closed.

Yeah, exactly.

literally had that conversation with the client this morning about whatever your focus is on is what you'll get back. So if you're focusing on a life of crap, let's say, and you're in a position where you think that everything is negative around you all the time, that's all you're going to see because that's what your focus is. If you're looking at life from an abundant mindset where you're seeing that actually there's beautiful green trees outside your door, there's a beautiful woodland behind your house, or you're living in a space where you're surrounded by a love of people that adore you, that's what you're gonna get back in return.

Yeah.

So it is all about that mindset, and shifting that sometimes.

Yeah. Taking the blinkers off.

Yeah.

Where do you see the organisation heading in the next few years? Have you got any plans?

Oh, always got plans. So my dream, because it's something that actually kind of started for me in lockdown, I had a dream that I wanted a community based space so a space where people could come together and they could access whatever they need at that point in time at the level that they could afford to or they felt comfortable with. So this space is going to have a kind of cafe in it so people can come in, just have a coffee, sit around like minded people. There's going to be like self-development material available. So whether that's books, whether that's podcasts, however that is the intention is that there will be separate rooms so that different clinicians can come in different Charities can possibly come in to use the venues and we can do combined workshops. You can have wellbeing circles or you can access one to one therapies. I'd also love it to have an outside space so that people can get back to nature and do the grounding exercises like planting their own and things like that. So a bit of an educational side to it, but also the empowerment side. It was something that I was trying to work on with the project management when I was in the NHS and it didn't come off. So it's been a bit of a trail all the way through, I've noticed and something that I would love inspiration coaching to be doing in the future.

Would you be looking to join forces with other like-minded business owners in that idea?

Totally, totally up for any collaborative working because it's the way to do things.

Absolutely. It's a big support network for you as well.

Totally. And it means that you're also not taking all the risk on yourself and trying to do all the work yourself. Which as holistic practitioners and other business owners we need to be clubbing together to support each other and to make sure that we're driving things forward. Plus you get different perspectives. Yeah, my idea might not be the right way. I'm quite open to that.

How do people who may be thinking I'd really like a chat with Steph, how would they contact you?

So I am literally everywhere on socials, so Facebook, Instagram, I'm there as inspiration coaching support. My website is inspirationcoachingsupport.org. i am on TikTok and I am on YouTube as well. So there's various different platforms where you can access me on my website is up. My events are always on there and updated as well so that if there's anything that anybody does want to come along to the can do. But I always offer a 30 minute free consultation as well for any prospective clients because it's really important that I understand what your needs are and what your goals are and that you understand me as a coach and that you're happy to work with me and vice versa because you're not going to get a good relationship and a good outcome unless we can work together and unless I can actually meet what you need.

So it's not a one size fits all like we've touched on before.

Definitely not. I mean I've got a project going on at the moment. I'm doing some crowdfunding because like the lady that reached out to me yesterday who wasn't in a financial position to pursue coaching of her own accord. The crowdfunding project that I'm doing at the moment is to support people who can't access coaching on a regular basis. So it's called Festive Season support. And if anybody needs to access the support but isn't in a position to support financially themselves, if they meet the criteria, then they can be offered some sessions, which will be supported by the crowdfunding.

Thank you so much for your time today, Steph. As the name of your company suggests, it's been really inspirational and I think there's a lot of things that people can take away from what we've said today, and act upon it in your own time, but take that first step.

Yeah? We've all got to be at the right point in our journey to access what we need.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you. It's been a pleasure.