Meet our coaches
Roxanne Hobbs
CPCC PCC DWF CDTLF
Specialism: Inclusive leadership
"I founded The Hobbs Consultancy because of a deep-seated belief that the advertising industry had to, and could, do better to support women. Whilst this journey began with supporting women, and gender diversity, it has become clear to me that diversity is about so much more than gender.
I believe that creating more diversity in the workplace is going to lead to greater creativity, innovation and problem solving. Put simply, we reduce the risk of group think. It also enhances efficiency - operating from a place of bias is simply inefficient. More and more, clients are asking their suppliers what they are doing to support diversity and inclusivity in their organisations. This makes business sense”
Lisa Westbury
CPCC PCC ORSCC
Specialism: Systems & organisational change
"I worked in Government Communications in the noughties when they spearheaded diversity and unconscious bias training - it caused quite a few shock waves with colleagues and I wasn't sure then how it would reach across the different business sectors. In recent years I've seen I've seen how fundamental this work can be to shifting culture, opening up creativity and making a real difference."
Adé Adéniji
ICF, MCIPD, CDTLF, CDWF
Specialism: Inclusion and belonging
"In most environments I work in, I tend to be ‘the only one’ or ‘in the minority’. This has ended up driving my passion for working on themes that include issues like harnessing trust and creating psychological safety within teams, exploring intention and impact and helping create cultures where people feel they can have conscious courageous conversations. I’m passionate doing this exploration with groups or in 1-1 coaching sessions.”
Derval Chambers-Petit
ASC IAPC&M
Specialism: Emotional intelligence
"Having lived abroad for many years and now raising my children bilingual and bicultural with my French husband I have been faced with unconscious bias and it has highlighted to me the importance and impact of it for me and my family and for the future generations. It is with this sentiment that I am so motivated and interested to be working in this field every day and being part of this transformational journey.”
Sonia Calvo
CPCC PCC ORSCC
Specialism: Corporate coaching
“Having witnessed the impact of coaching and the benefits it can give us, I was curious to learn more which lead me on the path to becoming a co-active coach. I got to experience coaching and it opened my awareness to who I really was and what I really wanted from life and having the tools to work through any barriers. This is what gets me up in the morning in supporting others become alive by understanding themselves better and having a deep awareness of what they want from life and supporting these people with their journey.”
Iain Christie
CDWF CDTLF
Specialism: Transformative conflict resolution
“Having transitioned from the conventional and establishment worlds of government and law, to the more creative and expressive worlds of facilitation and performance, I strongly believe in our power to transform who we are in our unending pursuit to fulfil our potential. I know only too well the resistances and obstacles to change and believe that any real growth starts from within. This applies to our attitudes to diversity and inclusivity as in any other area."
Harriet Minter
CPCC
Specialism: Female leadership
"I absolutely believe that if you have a diversity problem then you have a business problem. As our world becomes more global it becomes more important than ever to open our eyes to people who differ from us and find ways to harness all the talent out there. I started my career in diversity as a journalist for the Guardian, focusing on women and work, but as I learned more I realised that it's an issue that affects all of us regardless of gender. Unless we can create truly diverse workplaces we stop everyone from bringing their whole selves to work and limit their potential brilliance.”
Hilary Lees
CPCC PCC
Specialism: Emotional wellbeing and resilience
“Throughout my career, both as a coach and a former mental health clinician, I have championed diversity and inclusion - I can’t bear to see people being limited by the roles, ‘labels’ or circumstances they find themselves in and their talents go to waste. I believe everyone has a unique contribution to bring to the world and as a Coach I am passionate about enabling people to overcome any limiting stories or situations that get in their way so they can take control, embrace their uniqueness, stand in their power, and confidently step up with their authentic gifts and talents to make a difference in the work that they do.”
Corrina Gordon-Barnes
CPCC ACC
Specialism: Effective relationships & Parental transition
“Trying (and failing) to find a Valentine's Day card to give my first girlfriend was my introduction to being excluded. Even the cards with animals were gendered.
That was 18 years ago. I married that girlfriend (twice – first civil partnership, then equal marriage). Then our first son died, and as I navigated a different version of motherhood than expected, I became even more passionate about diversity and inclusion.
Alongside any dominant, mainstream experience, there is a multitude of experiences that are 'other'. Such value can be found in hearing, including and embracing these, and I use my 16 years of coaching and training expertise to support that.”
Rozana Al-Banawi
CDTLF, PCC, ICF, CDWF, CPCC, CTI
Specialism: Human Relations & Leadership Development
“My family is multi-cultural, we span from different continents, and it has reflected on my work’s choices. In different times of my career, I have focused on topics that have had diversity & inclusion at its core, for example sustainable employment for Saudi women in 2011, I was among the first batch of employment advisors to lead the pilot cohort. Bringing CreativeMornings to Saudi and connecting with 200+ cities worldwide. Lastly, in 2021, I am co-leading The Daring Way Regional Group of Europe, Middle East and Africa collaborating and working with facilitators from different backgrounds, cultures and religions.”
Steve Hobbs
Association for Coaching - Professional Coaches Recognition Programme
Specialism: Inclusivity, teams, why, action
"I've worked at Managing Director level in media agencies, and I am an active coach in elite level endurance sport. The combination of those experiences has driven me to apply the lessons of coaching in sport in a business context for individuals, teams and organisations. In my mind, there is no one better than an elite athlete at setting ambitious long-term goals AND constructing a day-by-day plan to deliver them and this thought sits at the centre of my approach. A key component of this is an in-depth understanding into WHY your goal is so important to you, and how each decision you make adds up to the delivery of that longer term goal. In a session with me, you can expect to go deep into your motivations AND come away with some clear actions."
Christi Byerly
ICF MCC, Master NLP
Specialism: Self Study & Courage Building
“Married to Ben, a mom of three teenagers living in Alsace on the French, Swiss, German borders.
I have lived in the United States, Belgium, France, Kenya, Liberia, and the Ivory Coast. Being a coach since 2010, my clients come from every continent on the globe. I've often been the only woman in the room, with leadership roles in the nuclear energy industry. I'm a mom of a gender-neutral child on the autism spectrum. I've been the only American or the only white person in the room more often than not over the past two decades.
My coaching process motivates you to build a community of empathy and grace around you — and to live your mission as part of something bigger than you are. My strengths include, rising strong after a setback, building communities in new places, forgiveness work, and spiritual/practical alignment.”
Kevin Mascarenhas
Diploma in Transformational Coaching
Specialism: Systemic Leadership & Team Dynamics
“I've spent long periods of time in nature which has led me to the realisation of how interconnected all of life is. My professional career has crossed from engineering to consulting to investment banking and ecological design and looking back I can plot a narrative of 'thinking in systems'. I've mapped this systemic perspective into the coaching work I do with organisations, teams and leaders. I'm passionate about hosting spaces for the underrepresented and I enjoy creating an enabling environment for all voices in the room to be heard. Much of this has been fuelled by my struggles in childhood and fatherhood, in exquisitely difficult family dynamics.”
Baldip Dhariwal
ACC, CPCC, CPQC Certified Positive Intelligence Coach, Wellbeing Coach
Baldip is a Certified Co-Active Coach, Certified Mental Fitness Coach and Wellbeing Coach. She became a coach as she wanted to really listen, guide and make a difference to people so they could develop their vision and purpose and live their “best” life. Baldip was born and raised in Kenya and moved to London as a teenager. She is a mum to two teenagers. She has experience of transitioning to a new culture/country and the challenges that come with it such as coping with change as well as unconscious bias and inclusion. She has worked with a diverse range of people from different cultures and backgrounds.
Jen Saw
MB BCh, BAO, LRCP&SI, DSFRH, PGCE, MRCGP
Jen has coached and been mentor for many Doctors over the years on a 1:1 and Group work basis. With a PGCE background in teaching, she has also been able to adapt and support others in their Appraisals to gain the most out of the process and be able to move forward to reach meaningful goals. She sees this as being a good launch pad to moving towards coaching senior executives and other professionals in non-medical fields.
Work with addictions and neurodiversity is her passion and she is keen to support those who are living the experience but also their work and educational environments for adapting to bring out the best potential. As a parent of a neurodiverse child, she will never lose her focus in this area.
Sharon Porter
Sharon is a Consultant, Leadership Coach & Social Researcher. Having worked with school leaders over the years, she now works to develop leaders and future leaders, outside of the education sector.
Sharon provides workshops, seminars, research and coaching for organisations (individuals &/or groups) looking to develop an inclusive working environment and sense of belonging. Using research as the basis for development, she provides support that enables individuals to better understand and manage challenges in education and in the working environment.
In her spare time Sharon continues her work with leaders in her voluntary role as Vice-Chair of BAMEed Bristol & Southwest. Her focus is on developing policies and practices that support the recruitment and retention of educators from ethnic minority backgrounds
Uzma Mohamedali
CPCC, ACC, MCIM
Uzma has 20 years experience in change and communications across several industries including banking, professional services and pharma. She is fascinated with the process of change, especially behaviour change within leadership and management.
Uzma works with leaders to help them discover their authentic selves. Using this journey to accept themselves, shape their purpose and inspire others. Uzma is unafraid to ‘ask the difficult’ questions and take leaders out of their comfort zones.
Uzma draws on her in-depth knowledge and understanding of corporate organisations to really connect with her executive clients. Allowing her to both relate to them and the challenges they face.
Uzma is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach and an Associate Certified Coach with ICF.
Valérie Van den Bossche
Valérie is passionate about the potential of human diversity and its role in the success of businesses. That is what drives her work with organizational culture and with the human dimension of change across multiple cultures. Her career spans over 25+ years experience in change management, marketing & advertising, and coaching across EMEA and South America mainly.Valérie is driven by the values of humanism, together with curiosity, inclusiveness, self- development, inter-connectedness and the love for nature. Her purpose is to enable her clients to transform into more inclusive, sustainable and thriving organisations and teams
Rachel Rowland
CPCC, PCC, ORSC, Co-Active Leadership
Rachel is a professionally certified Co-Active coach, with extensive experience developing emotionally aware, authentically inspired leaders. She specialises in supporting women and parents to become leaders with inner confidence and outer impact. By aligning your choices to your whole identity, exploring the relationships which support you and the values which create your culture, she helps you to expand your self-expression through your life and livelihood.
Meet our consultants
Will Pike
Specialism: Disability
“I lived the first 28 years of my life as an able-bodied man, with no notion of what it was like to experience adversity or prejudice. Then…BOOM: Suddenly I’m a terror attack survivor and I’ve got a spinal injury.
My world was turned upside down and I was forced to confront a harsh truth about our society: it does not value disabled people. That needs to change.”
Sophie Cook
Specialism: LGBT issues, gender identity and mental health
"I spent the majority of my life struggling with my mental health, self-harm, suicidal ideation and addiction, because I was unable to live a life that was truly authentic. It was only through embracing the real me and learning to love myself, with all of my flaws, that I was able to find peace and happiness. My passion is to ensure that others do not need to suffer due to an inability to understand their authentic self."
Meet the team
Clare
Operations Director
Clare is our Operations Director. With a background in Big4 Finance she is responsible for the people, processes, and profitability of the Hobbs Consultancy. Clare believes passionately that there is an important role for women in the workplace and that motherhood should not be a barrier to growth and opportunity.
Liz
Account Director and Business Director
Liz is our Account and Business Director. She oversees client development strategies and is responsible for our marketing and pitching. As a single mum of 2, Liz is passionate about creating a more inclusive world for her children to grow up in. She is due to complete her coaching qualification in the Autumn as well as continue to study for a psychology and philosophy degree.
Holly
Account Manager
Holly is our Account Manager and oversees DEI programme delivery and relationship management, helping support clients to fulfil the DEI objectives. Holly has had a varied career history which has afforded her the experience of working within a variety of sectors but focussing on the successful delivery of projects and fostering collaborative partnerships. Holly is passionate about equity, challenging bias and promoting safe environments for self-reflection and positive growth.
Ghadeer
Account Manager
With project/account management experience in a variety of sectors including administrative, marketing, educational and training, Ghadeer is skilled in building sustainable relationships with clients and successfully supporting their training journeys. Being considered as part of the BAME community herself, she is passionate about supporting organisations in creating work environments where all individuals feel comfortable, safe, and have equal opportunities to grow both personally and professionally within their companies.
Tanya
Coaching Coordinator
Tanya manages our coaching programmes and originally started working at The Hobbs Consultancy as the team assistant after having children. She has worked in a variety of roles and now oversees both our parental and executive coaching programmes, coordinating with clients and the coaching team. Whilst working for The Hobbs Consultancy Tanya has found a great balance between work and family life and feels that everyone should have this opportunity available to them.
Emma
Celia
Junior Account Manager
Celia is our Junior Account Manager. She originally started working at The Hobbs Consultancy as the team admin assistant after having her children. She is responsible for communication with the coaching team, supporting her clients, and helping the account managers with their delivery. She previously worked as a Creative Planning Manager in the media industry and has recently also been working in the mental health field. She's passionate about the mental wellbeing of young people and, having seen clear links between children feeling like they don't 'fit in' and their wellbeing, is passionate about working in the field of diversity and inclusivity.