27/04/2026
For most of my career, I've worked at the heart of what makes people tick.
As a Personal Brand Strategist and Transformational Coach with international HR experience across industries from sports to FTSE 100, I've sat with hundreds of people at pivotal moments — career crossroads, identity shifts, the quiet realisation that something needs to change. I've worked behind the scenes with professionals in competitive sport through my connections with Rowing New Zealand and Cycling New Zealand, and I've seen first-hand what it looks like when talented, passionate people feel eclipsed — by others, by time, by a system that didn't see them clearly.
That work changed me.
The more I walked alongside people through those transitions, the more I understood that what they needed wasn't just a better CV or a sharper LinkedIn profile. They needed to be truly heard. To make sense of what they were feeling. To reconnect with themselves before they could move forward.
That's what led me to counselling.
I'm currently training as a counsellor, and I'm building this space to be honest about that journey — the learning, the challenges, and the deep conviction that how we feel matters as much as what we achieve.
My background means I bring something perhaps a little unusual to this path: a genuine understanding of workplace pressure, professional identity, burnout, and the courage it takes to reinvent yourself. I've lived and worked in those spaces. I don't just understand them academically.
I'm taking clients as a student — but I'm also here to connect, to learn in public, and to contribute to conversations about mental health, wellbeing, and what it really means to thrive.
If you're a fellow student, a mental health professional, someone curious about therapy, or simply navigating a difficult season — I'd love to connect.
Diane
[email protected]
