Career Coaching
Here’s the truth: careers are messy. While we’d like to believe they’re straightforward and linear, tracking a direct path through clear promotions that lead to more and more prestigious roles—in reality, that’s not usually how it works.
Trying to navigate through the wilderness of your own career can be incredibly challenging, especially from the inside. Seeing a way out is always easier with a bit of perspective.
And that’s where I can help. With over 25 years experience working in the digital world, I’ve charted my way through most of the common challenges and have developed a proven framework to help others do the same.
I offer two types of individual coaching for digital professionals:
Career Architecture for those unsure about their next career move
Leadership Coaching for those in a new role or organisation who want to hit the ground running and make an impact from day one
“Mags is an exceptionally experienced coach brimming with expertise. Her caring approach ensures that whether you engage in one-on-one or group coaching sessions with her, you’ll find the experience immensely beneficial!”
Career Architecture
Careers are messy.
And you know why? Because your career is part of your life—and life is inherently messy and nonlinear.
As your experiences, life circumstances and the world around you inevitably change, what you want out of a job is going to evolve. And that’s not a bad thing. Unless you ignore the changes and stay stuck somewhere that’s no longer right for you—or plough blindly ahead with a plan that you’ve outgrown.
But here’s the tricky bit: how do you know which direction to go in? What should your next step be? Whether you’re at a crossroads and unsure which direction to go in, or feeling unfulfilled in your current job and at a loss of what to do next, that next right move isn’t always clear.
I’ve helped people through all of these challenges using a proven framework that I’ve developed over the past 25 years working in digital. And I’d love to help you craft the perfect career path for you.
How it works
Meeting weekly or fortnightly, we’ll work together to analyse where you are
currently, where you want to get to and how to get there.
Every person is unique and career paths are no different. But I’ve found the
the following framework works well for most people looking for clarity in their careers:
Current state analysis: strengths, weaknesses, never done, skills audit
Current state analysis: Life circumstances and current positioning
Development of Vision
Development of Directions
New positioning and network
Portfolio and plan of attack
If this sounds like something that might benefit you, get in touch.
Ready to learn more? Book in a 30 minute call here.
“Mags is a practical, insightful and experienced coach who gently guides you towards the things you need to crystallise so you can have a fulfilling career or, at the very least, figure out your next move.”
Leadership Coaching
Even for leaders with experience, learning to navigate in a new team or organisation is hard. You’re building relationships with your new team and stakeholders, learning how the design function fits into the business as a whole and trying to effectively lead all at the same time.
But what if you could have someone to help guide you through those first few months? Someone to help you map out those relationships and prioritise the work that needs to happen? What if you could hit the ground running and make real, lasting change in your first 100 days on the job?
You don’t have to go it alone. I’ve coached numerous people in exactly your situation—and been there myself more than once—and can help you find your feet and start making a genuine impact on your new organisation quickly.
We’ll cover everything you need to succeed in your new role, including:
Team development
Hiring and recruiting
All things projects: leading, escalation and shaping
Practice operations, tools and processes
Stakeholder management
And we’ll also take a close look at how you can be more influential at your company, amongst your peers and with leaders. We’ll work through how you can develop the maturity of your design team and ensure that you have a seat at the table.
Ready to learn more? Book in a 30 minute call here.
Hello, I’m Mags.
And I’ve been doing UX since before UX was a thing. One thing my career has not been is linear. You see, I was supposed to be a librarian. But when I graduated into the depths of a recession, entry-level roles weren’t easy to find. So I had to get creative and find something different that would still utilise the skills that I’d spent years developing. I found it as a research assistant in the new field of ‘interactive media,’ where I became fascinated with the search engine. This led me into IA and UX and through jobs across the world.
But I couldn’t have foreseen where I am now back then. There have been a number of inflection points throughout my career, where I’ve had to make tough choices. Some driven by interest, some by health, others for family and some, like that first one, because of a global recession.
And I’m not unique. We all face these cross-road moments in our career. What I do have is 25+ years experience working in the digital world and a framework I’ve developed to help make the best possible decisions at each of those points. Because life never stops changing.
Because while a linear career may be a near impossibility, having a career plan and moving in the right direction is absolutely doable. You just have to ask the right questions.
And I’d love to help you do it.
Ready to learn more? Book in a 30 minute call here.
What former clients say
“Without Mags’ coaching I don’t believe I would have had the confidence to take on many of the consulting and management roles that I’ve held since that time. I certainly would have struggled with self doubt and questioned my right to be in those roles. Mags helped me identify my strengths, while also studying the weaknesses with empathy. Mags guided me with empathy to take steps to accept and address my weaknesses as needed. Now when I face challenges I see them differently, they feel less personal, and I can view them for what they are rather than think I personally have failed.”
“I knew from the first chat we had that I’d walk away with a different mindset and clarity on my next steps and I haven’t been disappointed!
Without Mags, I’d be like a hamster on a hamster wheel, applying for jobs that aren’t right and wondering why I’m unmotivated and uninspired.”
“I’ve had a lot of ‘aha’ moments working with Mags and I probably won’t be able to name them all. There are three that come to mind:
1. The realisation that I’m a ‘drifter’ (based on Mags’s book) hurt a little, but it was the kick in the butt I needed to take my career seriously and have a plan in place. I’m walking around less aimlessly now.
2. Figuring out my values has brought me a sense of peace and I’m using them as a North Star to find my next job.
3. Knowing there are other women around the world who have gone through what I’ve gone through and been in thankless jobs makes me feel less alone and that’s brought me a great deal of comfort.”
“The sessions were a valued support during a period of uncertainty/lack of direction in my career. I’d just changed jobs and was losing passion for design work since the start of the pandemic. I needed a mentor and other peers that weren’t current colleagues that I could discuss these challenges with.
In my current role, what I learned from the sessions has changed the way I work with my manager. It’s also improved my confidence in more strategic discussions, which has been handy given I’m working for an early phase start-up”
FAQs
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Yes, monthly payment plans are available on request.
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Like most things in life, it depends. I recommend starting with 6 sessions over 3 months and reviewing from there.
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That depends on where you are in your leadership journey. 1:1 Leadership coaching supports leaders who are new to a role and/or company—but not necessarily leadership. If you’re completely new to leadership and looking to develop the skills you’ll need to flourish, Senior-to-Leader might be what you’re looking for.
Ready to learn more? Book in a 30 minute call here.