https://vermillioncoaching.com/

Vermillion Coaching, 21 Raveley Street, London (2026)

26/05/2026

Last week I was coaching the CEO of a haulier company. He said he felt stuck. There was a lot on his mind and he was feeling a sense of overwhelm.

He talked at me for a full 10 minutes, unloading, and then I pointed something out:

His shoulders were rounded
His eyes were fixed on the table
His whole body was folded in on itself

So I asked him to stand up, walk to the window and look up.

I told him not to talk. Not to analyse. Just to look up. To feel the sun on his face.

Within two minutes, I could see a change in him. His breathing slowed. His shoulders dropped.

Changing his body language shifted his mindset. He left that session more relaxed and with clarity he hadn't had in weeks.

Here's what my years of coaching has taught me:

Our body language shapes our state of mind more than we realise.
You don't think your way out of overwhelm. You move your way out.

Notice how often you look down today. At your phone, your screen, the pavement.
Then choose one moment to look up instead.

Find five things that surprise you.
Notice what changes.

That's it. That's the reset.
You don't need more thinking. Sometimes you just need to lift your gaze.

What do you do to reset when everything feels like too much?

21/05/2026

Yesterday I coached a solopreneur in AI to prepare for a panel discussion.

What he told me was scary:

40% of entry-level white-collar jobs could be replaced by AI.

That's not a distant sci-fi scary.
That's real, happening-now scary.

So what is the differentiator; what makes someone irreplaceable?

Soft skills.

The ability to read a room.

To build trust.

To communicate with presence and conviction.

AI is great at doing the mundane. But there are things it finds incredibly difficult to replicate.

It cannot:

Command attention when the stakes are high
Hold space in a difficult conversation
Inspire a team through uncertainty

Most importantly, it has no sense of humour!

Here's what struck me most in our session:

My client builds AI tools for a living.
And he came to me to work on his communication skills.

Because he knows that the technology is only a part of his business.
He may have the best product in the world.
But if he doesn’t have the ability to communicate, he will never move people to action.

So if you're wondering where to invest your development time right now.

Invest in the skills no machine can touch.

It's not a nice-to-have or an add-on.

Even those building AI know it.

19/05/2026

Working with a COO last week, she mentioned a difficult conversation she’d had. But she added, “That’s nothing compared to Keir Starmer’s week!”

When pressure mounts, your body tightens, your voice thins out, or in Starmer’s case, goes automation. Your presence shrinks.

Actors call this losing your centre.

And no matter...

How prepared your message is
How right you know you are
How strong your position is
..if you're not grounded in who you are, people won't trust what you're saying.

So here are 5 ways to stay centred under pressure:

1. Breathing: 5 slow, deep belly breaths before you speak. This calms your nervous system instantly.

2. Awareness and relaxation: notice where you’re holding tension in your body. For me it’s jaw, neck, hands, achilles. Consciously release.

3. Posture: feet planted, spine straight, chest open. Your body sends signals to your brain to say, you're safe or under threat.

4. Vocal tone: speak from your chest, not your throat. A grounded voice signals authority and calm.

5. Declarations or affirmations: short, clear truths you can repeat about who you are and what you stand for. Repeat these silently before high-stakes moments.

These are not soft skills.

They are performance tools used by actors, athletes, and the most compelling leaders I've coached.

So the next time pressure hits, will you shrink?

Or will you stay grounded and lead?

12/05/2026

Last weekend, we took part in a marathon in Chianti. Not that we walked 42k.

We completed a 10k quick walk - quite long enough in the rain.

The runners of the marathon received medals at the end, we a plate of pasta.

It got me thinking about legacy and what motivates us.

Early in my coaching career, I worked with the CEO of a hedge fund who’d just bought her second luxury car. But she said that inside she felt empty.

She had got all the trappings of success:

The corner office,
The designer wardrobe,
The holiday home in Chianti (it was being there that reminded me of her!)

And yet something was missing.

Over the six months we worked together, I watched her shift her focus entirely. She stopped chasing ‘stuff’ and started building something that would outlast her.

The problem is we humans quickly tire of the bright, shiny things.
It’s called hedonic adaptation and means we get used to anything:
The good and the bad.

What did my client do?
She set up a mentorship programme for young women in her male-dominated industry. She worked at creating a leadership culture that women wanted to be part of.

The change in her was remarkable. Not because she gave up nice things, but because she stopped expecting them to fill a gap they were never designed to fill.

I've coached women who thought the next promotion would bring peace.
That another £100,000 would solve their problems.
I’ve also coached women who found deep satisfaction in the work itself, in what they were creating for others.

I've seen clients accumulate everything society tells us to want.
I've also seen clients with far less who radiate a sense of purpose that fills the room.

The shiny stuff fades. Legacy stays.

What ‘medals’ are you gunning for?
And what are you building that will still matter in 5 year’s time?

05/05/2026

Last year, coaching a group of senior executives, I experienced a moment of acute discomfort.. But then I remembered my coaching.

The morning had gone extremely well, everyone was engaged, a lot of the participants experiencing breakthrough moments.

Then just before lunch I set them a final exercise.

One participant got very worked up. He’d obviously been triggered by the exercise and became quite aggressive in his manner.

I could feel myself getting defensive. The rest of the group was waiting for my reaction.

I wanted to justify myself to him.

But then I did what I coach clients to do: I paused.

My ego wanted to respond instantly. Part of me wanted to fire back at him. My mind raced with all the clever things I could say.

But I didn't say any of them.

Silence.

Then I saw how saying nothing can change the room.

The room went still. People leaned in. That silence gave me something I didn't expect:

Clarity.

When I finally spoke, I responded with humility, not ego.

I acknowledged the feedback, apologised, and asked him a question about how he felt.

Afterwards, a number of participants told me that single moment taught them more than the entire session.

Silence is not weakness. It's the most underrated skill in leadership.

And it costs you nothing.

In a world that rewards fast talkers and instant reactions, this feels more important than ever. Pausing isn't hesitation. It’s the most powerful decision available to you.

Currently, we don't need more noise. We need more people brave enough to pause.

What do you do when someone criticises you publicly? I’ve love to hear.

04/05/2026

Last Friday I rounded up my coaching with a client in a most unusual way.
We’ve been working together off and on for nearly 5 years. I’ve seen her through promotions, career pivots, relationship changes, and now freezing waters.

Well, not strictly freezing: 11.5 degrees, to be exact. But it felt pretty fresh.

She’d told me her ambition was to swim in the Ladies Pond on Hampstead Heath,
would I do it with her?

Now I’m great at extolling the benefits of cold water to my clients. But my version is a cold shower in the morning, not jumping into a pond.

I had to coach myself on the day as I could feel dread rising.

As I went in I kept telling myself: it’s warm, oh, it’s so warm.
In fact I said it out loud and she believed me! Until she put her foot in.

But a minute later and we were swimming around, our bodies numb to it.
We actually stayed in for 10 minutes.

And when we got out, we were ecstatic. Endorphins flooding our bodies, we felt amazing.

So a great way to end our coaching relationship, with learning for us both:

Sometimes you have to face down your dread. Tell yourself it’s warm until it is.
And I love the fact that we were wearing matching cozzies!

28/04/2026

In our podcast, Shake Your Boudica, I discuss with coaches Clare Kissane and Annie Farr how to overcome anxiety and channel your inner warrior queen.

A conversation on confidence, resilience, and showing up with presence — even when it feels uncomfortable.

Join our youtube channel for the full series.

24/04/2026

I love our voice sessions.

Yes, there's techniques and exercises, but something always stands out with every client especially with Dr Sonya Bennett

When people discover vocal strength they didn't know they had, public speaking starts to feel natural instead of terrifying.

And the great news is they have fun in the process. They find they move from fear to a feeling of power.

This is exactly what we want the coaching to give our clients:

An unstoppable belief that they CAN do it!

21/04/2026

This weekend I was at a party and someone asked me what I did. When I said I was a confidence and communication skills coach he said: “Ah, soft skills”.

Now I know that’s a term. But there’s nothing that gets on my nerves more than what I coach being called “soft skills”.

Do you see them as unimportant? Not the real work? If so, you may be undermining your leadership.

After reading this, you may need to DM me and we can organise a discovery call (book a call through the link in my bio).

Vermillion Coaching

26/05/2026

21/05/2026

19/05/2026

12/05/2026

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