About Me
Hi, my name is Inge Dowden and it's my mission in life to make sure that everyone has a good time at work, be that as an employee or as the director of your own business.
I'm originally from the Netherlands and I moved to England in 1995. I always wanted to be an export manager, and at the age of 28 I had fulfilled my ambition and had become an export manager in an engineering company. OK, so the engineering bit had not been part of the dream, but I still loved my job. I travelled the world, met people from different cultures and really enjoyed the challenge of helping people become successful at selling our products. I'm also a bit of a language freak (or "Polyglot") so being able to use my language skills was all part of the fun.
I was also happily married and planning on having a family. Life couldn't have been better.
And then, at the beginning of the new millennium, it all changed. The family I had wanted didn't happen, I got made redundant from the job I loved and my marriage ended in divorce. Everything I had always wanted had been taken away from me and I felt I had no control over any of it. I had soon found another job (again as an export manager) but after a while I thought there had to be more to life than selling knobs and handles. And then one day in 2004, on the 23rd of November, I decided to take control of my own life again. I quit my very well paid job and went on a sabbatical to "find myself". That was when things started to turn around for me.
I took two years off and did lots of exciting things: I went to Italy to learn Italian, travelled around Europe, went to Thailand and finally ended up in Mexico, where I stayed for a year, teaching English to the Mayans and generally having a good time. I loved helping people and seeing their confidence grow as their English improved, and I wanted more of that feeling. However, I did miss the world of business, so I needed to do something to combine the two.
When I came across the Coaching Academy I knew that coaching was the right profession for me: one that combines helping people and being in business! It couldn't have been more perfect. I signed up as a protégé student so that I had access to all of their courses. Soon I had done the Personal diploma, Corporate & Executive and Small Business Coaching. In 2009 I qualified as an NLP practitioner and I continue my professional development with various additional courses (financial coaching, personality profiling, power presenting etc).
So now I am a business and career coach. The common theme is wanting to help people to have a great time at work. I love what I do and am happy every day. Wouldn't you want that too?
With career coaching, I typically work with people who are fed up with their job and want to change. Often they don't know what they want and I help them find out what their true passion is. Then we work together to put in place a plan of action to make it all happen. Sometimes that is to set up their own business, and sometimes that is to change their career completely. And very occasionally it is to help someone realise that their current job isn't as bad as they thought. The end result however is always that people feel better than they did before, and that makes me happy again.
I can help with the following:
- change of career
- taking time off (GAP or GUG – grown up gap – year)
- setting up your own business
- work/life balance
- confidence & motivation
- financial coaching
My clients find it very helpful that I have done all of this myself and have come out at the other end smiling and happy (did I mention I got married again too?). Here's what some of them have said:
I would not hesitate to recommend Inge as a coach to others, as I feel she has a relaxed, friendly and professional style and makes you feel comfortable to explore often tricky issues, knowing she is guiding you through the process. (Andrew Clarke, 2008)
I am deeply grateful to have been able to work with Inge. Inge was great in walking me through a period of great confusion in my life. (Saskia Kuehndl, 2009)
I would still be a miserable laywer if it weren't for your help and encouragement. Thank you for helping me find a future I'm actually excited about. (Felicity Carroll, 2010)
If you're fed up with your job and would like to talk through your options, then just get in touch with me, as I'd love to hear from you. Go to the Contact Me page and you'll find all the necessary contact details. I look forward to hearing from you!
Polyglot Coaching | 10 Herald Close | Bristol | BS9 1DF
Tel: 0117-3704204 | Skype: CoachInge
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