Fay Blakey Coaching

23/09/2025

How do you stand out as a coach?

Coaching is a booming industry; the ICF's 2023 survey reported over 100,000 coaches worldwide - and now we must add AI coaches to this mix.

And it seems everyone's offering 'transformational coaching'.

So, how do you help potential clients choose you?

One thing that will give you the edge is coaching supervision.

When you can say "I'm in regular coaching supervision", you're signalling:
🤩 I'm committed to my growth
🤩 I take ethics and quality seriously
🤩 I bring an extra layer of accountability to my practice

That's not just professional development, it's market differentiation.

Have you been asked by potential clients if you're in regular supervision?

I have.

It's expected and will become more of an expectation as the industry continues to boom.

(And now I'm sitting here smiling as I imagine AI in coaching supervision 🤖)

Drop me a message or book a call (link in the comments) to chat about my upcoming small coaching supervision groups, starting in October. Not only will you be adding to your professional development, you'll meet great people too.

28/08/2024

I’m not always great at celebrating my successes, but it has become somewhat of a tradition at Optimus Coach Academy with our graduates to share on our socials, so here I am!

Today I officially qualified as a Coaching Supervisor with the EMCC and AC.
And that’s not all – I've also received 2 EMCC accreditations, Individual Accreditation as Senior Practitioner, and in Supervision.

As you can see, this year I’ve been busy:
❣️ 120 hours of training
❣️ 40 hours of supervision practice in class
❣️ 40+ hours of supervision with clients
❣️ 3,000 word case study following a client over 6 client sessions
❣️ 1,000 words on my coaching supervision approach and reflective practice
❣️ 30 hours of written workbooks with reflective practice
❣️ 7.5 hours of group and individual development sessions
❣️ 6 supervision sessions with a qualified supervisor
❣️ 45 min live observation

Phew!

But what does it all mean?

Supervision focuses on supporting your professional practice, development, and well-being.

It’s a forum where you can:
☆ discuss ethical dilemmas
☆ reflect on strengths and development areas
☆ support your wellbeing and psychological health
☆ address more general themes about your competence, capacity and professional identity
☆ maintain a sense of perspective in your practice
☆ explore your professional and developmental direction
☆ further develop your skills

This could be for you if you’re working as a coach, a mentor, or a consultant in people/organisational development (accredited or non-accredited).
And it’s definitely for you if you care about the quality of your work, your professional development and professional standards.

And the Brucie Bonus - now I’m qualified, any supervision hours you undertake with me can be used toward ICF, EMCC and AC re-accreditation.

I’ve got a few people to thank:
For the support and provision of this training, Ruth Kudzi. For the fabulous training and understanding of what it means to supervise, Julia Rogers. My brilliant supervisor, Dawn Wright. My fellow students for the learning, support and fun, Freeman, Caroline Barber, Sarah Fox and Jacqueline Lawrence.
To my wonderful supervision clients – I’m not naming you because, you know, confidentiality, but you know who you are.
And last but not least, to the wonderful Smurfs and Barry from Accounts (if you know, you know! 🤣)

And yes, clearly it could have been an Oscar speech!!

And… if you’ve got this far (thank you) and you’d like a chat about Supervision, then just send me a DM and we can talk.

02/08/2024

I've just been updating my website with some recent testimonials and thought I'd share here what some of my clients have said about working with me.

"Exceptional and dedicated coaching which has been instrumental in helping me enhance my leadership skills. The coaching has had a profound impact on my personal and professional growth."

"Fay helped me to focus on the essential next step to develop clarity of purpose and realistic positioning in my professional field. As a result, I am more satisfied with the work I am getting and my client interactions."

"Wonderful and thought provoking. Fay makes all inner thoughts organized."​

"We discussed several challenges and with Fay's help, I approached those topics from all angles, being able to take a decision. On top, Fay provided me with some additional reading resources that reinforced the learning and discovering experience even more."​

"I was not only able to progress my career, I also felt that I grew as a person! Could not recommend Fay higher (and I even referred a number of friends!)"​

"Fay has been instrumental in helping me adjust my attitude and approach to work, in only a short amount of time. She is knowledgeable, supportive and encourages me to think internally about various issues I want to work on. I leave every conversation with a positive and energized outlook."​

"There were numerous reoccurring realisations (lightbulb moments) that Fay helped me acknowledge. She has provided me with tools and suggestions that I have put into action since the coaching took place. I found the coaching insightful, useful and eye-opening."

"Fay has really helped me to find out what was blocking me and why. She then gently helped me to find a way through my blocks and has been really supportive in following up to make sure I'm staying on the track that I want to be on."

"I have found the focused time to step away from everyday activities extremely useful. The support has helped me through a difficult time and has enabled me to find my confidence again."

🌞🌞🌞

If you're a leader or business owner ready to embark on coaching to cultivate your effectiveness and performance, then get in touch. I'm taking on new clients in September and we may be a great fit to work together.

You can find out more here: www.fayblakey.com

22/05/2024

📣 Calling all coaches in my network! 📣

🌟 Supervision Offer 🌟 I have diary space for some ad-hoc supervision sessions 🌟

I’m a qualified, accredited and experienced coach (ICF PCC) and I’m currently training for my Diploma in Coaching Supervision.

To support my diploma, I’m required to undertake practice hours, so, if you’re not already engaged in supervision, I’d like to invite you to book a session with me.

Supervision focuses on supporting your professional practice, development, and well-being.

It’s a forum where you can:
☆ discuss ethical dilemmas
☆ reflect on strengths and development areas
☆ support your wellbeing and psychological health
☆ address more general themes about your competence, capacity and professional identity
☆ maintain a sense of perspective in your practice
☆ explore your professional and developmental direction
☆ further develop your skills

This could be for you if you’re working as a coach, a mentor, or a consultant in people/organisational development (accredited or non-accredited).

If you’re interested, either send me a DM to chat or you can directly book your session here https://tidycal.com/fayblakey/1-1-supervision-session-payg-1vkd5ly

Sessions are charged at a discounted rate of £40 per hour (whilst I'm training) and if you book directly via the link, I will email my terms and conditions to you.

03/04/2024

📣 Calling all coaches in my network! 📣

🌟 Supervision Offer 🌟

I’m a qualified, accredited and experienced coach (ICF PCC) and I’m currently training for my Diploma in Coaching Supervision.

To support my diploma, I’m required to undertake some practice hours - and so, if you’re not already engaged in supervision, I’d like to invite you to book some time with me.

Supervision focuses on supporting your professional practice, development, and well-being.

It’s a forum where you can:
☆ discuss ethical dilemmas
☆ reflect on strengths and development areas
☆ support your wellbeing and psychological health
☆ address more general themes about your competence, capacity and professional identity
☆ maintain a sense of perspective in your practice
☆ explore your professional and developmental direction
☆ further develop your skills

This could be for you if you’re working as a coach, a mentor, or a consultant in people/organisational development (accredited or non-accredited).

If you’re interested, please either send me a DM or book a free call to find out more: https://tidycal.com/fayblakey/free-call-supervision

22/09/2023

Have I told you about the time I cooked a chicken for tea?

Yummm - I love roast chicken 🍗

As it was cooking, I returned to my office to carry on working - finishing off the day's tasks - and I could smell the chicken cooking. I was looking forward to my tea.

Then, I heard my husband shout from the kitchen "should this chicken be in the oven?"

What!!!!!

What was he talking about? The chicken was in the oven and there wouldn't be much cooking time left by now.

But as I entered the kitchen and looked - there was the chicken, sitting in the roasting tin, still on the worktop. The timer had 9 minutes of cooking time left - but the chicken wasn't in the oven.

But I'd smelt the chicken cooking!

And here's the science bit...

Our brains believe the stories we tell them.

I truly thought I'd put the chicken in the oven, I was thinking about my tea, and I honestly smelt the chicken cooking.

For all the thoughts we think, our brains will give us the evidence we're looking for to reinforce those thoughts.

I often share the quote by Henry Ford "if you think you can or you think you can't, you're right". And this is why ⬆️

We have thousands of thoughts passing through our brains daily. Much of today's thoughts are the same as yesterday's - every single day.

Which thoughts do you need to change to enable you to achieve what you want in your life, your business, your work?

The chicken did eventually get cooked that night. It smelt great whilst cooking and tasted even better!

06/09/2023

It's always interesting to understand ourselves - why we do certain things the way we do - and why it can seem so tough to do things that other people seem to do so easily. Why our relationships with some people just flow - and with others, it feels tricky or hard work.

It comes down to the way we're wired and our personal preferences.

Each and every one of us is different, and when we take the time to really understand ourselves - what makes us tick; what triggers us - we can put measures in place to help ourselves in our lives, daily.

There are tools that can help you to understand yourself more thoroughly.

With my clients, I use DISC - a behavioural profiling tool that can help you to:

🤔 understand yourself in a profound way;
👍 increase your self-awareness of how you lead and work within your team;
🗣️ have better communication with your team, clients, friends, family;
😊 influence others positively;
❣️ minimise or prevent conflict within your professional and personal life;
✅ and so much more.

If this interests you - send me a message to chat.

14/07/2023

It's lonely at the top!

So, if you’re there at the top - what are you doing about it?

Maybe you have colleagues and friends who support you - but what "it's lonely at the top" means, is that the buck stops with you - you're the one making the decision.

And your colleagues and friends might not truly care about that, because that's your job, right?

And that can make you feel ALL the feels!

Maybe it stops you in your tracks 🤔

I've worked with leaders throughout my career - and if I had a £ for every time I heard "spending the time exploring that with you today, Fay, has been so useful..." I'd have a nice pot of 💰

Sometimes I’ve heard "I was going to cancel you today, Fay - I didn't think I had the time, but I'm so glad I didn't".

For those who did cancel - they were busy cracking on with all they needed to do - great.

But when we're busy like this, we don't make the time to think through or verbalise our thoughts and feelings. And so, molehills become mountains, issues become problems, work weighs us down.

And this results in
🤯 procrastination
🤯 overwhelm
🤯 lack of self esteem
🤯 anxiety
🤯 and not feeling particularly great... the list goes on

Importantly, this doesn't just impact you - this impacts your team, your family, your whole life!

If you're reading this thinking 'yes, that's me!' or 'yes, I can see that with my team', then send me a message here on LinkedIn and we can talk about how working with me as your coach might help you.

13/07/2023

Does your head sometimes feel like jumbled spaghetti and you can't make sense of what to do to untangle it all to make it nice and orderly?

Lucy had so much going on in her life - and so many ideas and things that she wanted to do in addition to everything else.

Getting everything out of Lucy's head was critical - only then could she see the wood for the trees and make meaning of all her thoughts - and then she could start to prioritise and take action.

Since writing this testimonial, I know that Lucy has taken massive action, landed her dream job and is creating the life she wants to lead.

If you need some help with your thoughts and direction, please do send me a message.

12/07/2023

I see two types of coaching clients in my coaching room.

The first being those who come for coaching around an issue, but spend time answering my challenging questions trying to convince themselves that a certain answer, or a certain way is the best way for them. They’ve come with pre-conceived ideas.

The second are willing to open up, be vulnerable, doubt themselves, doubt their ideas and be willing to explore new ways.

Often, the first type of client will morph into the second given time and when they see results from becoming slightly vulnerable.

In honesty, in coaching, I’ve been both of those clients becuase lets face it, opening up and being truly vulnerable to our thoughts and beliefs - ways we’ve always done things can be scary - we’re out of our comfort zone.

But in order to change and do new things and create new results and opportunities, it’s where we need to be.

Put beautifully in this TED talk from Alan Iny - coaching is really a perfect intervention for enabling creative thinking.

If this is something you need, please do get in touch.

Creativity has never been more essential to competitiveness in the business world, but the critical approach to practical originality in organizations is often lacking. Alan Iny offers a key to think outside the box: apply doubt to the very models and philosophies that make up the box itself.

16/06/2023

I always love this image from

We've seen it before, but it's such a great visual reminder of all that goes into creating success.

Wherever you are on the iceberg, enjoy and celebrate your journey along the way. Take feedback from the things that don't go according to plan and make the changes that need to be made.

Remember that your success might be different from someone else's success - and that's ok!