Ermine Benjamin
About Ermine
Ermine is also a teacher and she has been teaching dyslexic children for many years. When she is working with them, she uses her active listening skills to really hear what they are saying and adjust her teaching style according to their learning styles. Ermine also worked with individuals from the health and finance sector as well as education.
What Ermine likes about coaching is supporting people to move towards their goals, seeing those special moments when people get an insight that helps them to move forward in their journey and giving people the opportunity to set their own agendas. But most importantly, it’s the forward focus where clients are not dwelling on the past where things have gone wrong, they focus on their strengths to move forward.
When Ermine is coaching at her best she gives her clients her undivided attention, she is an active listener, asks questions that will encourage them to look more deeply at the issues they are discussing, feedbacks on what she has heard so she is sure of her understanding and they are reassured that they are being heard.
Gemma North
PhD in Social Work, MA in Social Work, and MSc in Social Research Methods
About Gemma
Gemma takes a strength based and person-centred approach to coaching. With expertise in neurodiversity and emotional wellbeing Gemma draws upon evidence-informed approaches including trauma informed practice and theories of change.
With a sensitive and creative style, Gemma also bringing humour and lightness to coaching sessions. Clients may leave feeling calmer and more clear thinking about how to progress with their goals.
Gemma has a background in social work and academia. Previous roles include lecturer, researcher, social worker, and substance misuse practitioner.
Gizem Gokcimen
BSc, MSc, MBPsS
About Gizem
Gizem holds a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Clinical Psychology, where she developed a deep, evidence-based understanding of neurodivergence.
Building on this foundation, she completed an ILM Level 7 qualification in Senior and Executive Coaching and Mentoring. Her professional portfolio is currently under assessment toward achieving Chartered Coaching Psychologist status through the British Psychological Society.
With over 12 years of full-time experience, she has dedicated her career to coaching neurodivergent individuals across all stages of life and career. She has worked with more than 600 clients and completed over 2,000 hours of coaching, supporting everyone from neurodivergent young adults navigating their first steps into employment to senior leaders and executives within large organisations. Her experience spans a wide range of sectors, including education, technology, financial and health.
As well as delivering 1-2-1 coaching she also has a great understanding of reasonable adjustments in the workplace and delivering co coaching sessions to include managers in the process.
As an ADHDer herself, she brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work. She is deeply passionate about unlocking her clients’ potential and creating spaces where they can perform at their best without the pressure to mask.
With first-hand experience of working across different cultural contexts, she is skilled in adapting her coaching approach to honour individual backgrounds, identities, and strengths.
Helen Barnes
About Helen
Helen is a skilled and compassionate coach, coach supervisor and occupational therapist whose work is grounded in academic rigour and experience from working with a diverse range of clients. She has a deep curiosity and intuition about people and believes that a client’s narrative is the best way of getting to know them; where they are in the context of their lives and where they might be thinking about going.
Helen’s experience has been rich and varied working with all grades of staff across the European Commission in Brussels as part of their internal coaching programme, and more recently with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust on a project supporting adults with mental health conditions back into work. She continues to work with the NHS Leadership Academy as well as running her own coaching and therapy company.
Helen Jebb
Professional Certified Coach (PCC) ICF, ILM Level 7 Executive Coaching and ILM Level 5 Coaching and Mentoring
About Helen
Helen is an experienced executive coach supporting clients to see their potential and reach it. She has been enthusiastically working with neurodivergent clients in a wide range of employment settings with Genius Within since 2016.
Helen Johnson
PhD in the Social Psychological Process of Role Transition (Making Change) and Emotionally Intelligent Support and MSc in Public Policy
About Helen
Helen is an ICF credentialised coach to PCC level with 10 years coaching experience and an extensive background in coaching neurodiversity. She also has a Diploma in Integrated Energy Techniques (tapping and NLP) and offers ICF coach training for coaches, leaders, and change-makers.
Helen coaches by finding the hidden blocks to getting exactly where you want to be. She goes deep, but also focuses on making things lighter for you, creating more ease and enjoyment in what you are doing.
Helen has a wide range of knowledge and skills to bring to the table. Helen’s experience includes coaching and training executives, as well as working extensively with neurodivergent individuals to help them leverage their strengths while addressing their challenges.
Hirra Khan
About Hirra
Hirra is a neurodiversity coach who supports individuals to better understand how they work, build confidence, and develop practical strategies that help them thrive both at work and in everyday life. Her coaching approach is warm, collaborative, and strengths-based, creating a safe space for clients to explore challenges, identify solutions, and achieve meaningful goals.
She works with a wide range of neurodivergent individuals, including those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and anxiety-related challenges. Through coaching, Hirra helps clients develop self-awareness, improve organisation and time management, manage overwhelm, build confidence, and advocate for their needs in the workplace.
Jason Colyer
Diploma Cognitive Coaching and Mentoring (SCQF Level 8)
About Jason
Jason has worked in the areas of personal development, mental health and coaching for the last 14 years where he has developed extensive experience of working with anxiety, stress, conflict, career transition and workplace performance. His versatility and open approach have enabled him to work with a broad spectrum of clients including senior level executives, mid-level management and individuals.
Jason is a highly experienced personal development, workplace strategy and career transition coach with a proven ability to facilitate effective change and develop personal resilience for clients from all levels and market sectors, including Banking, Civil Service, NHS, Education and IT. His person centered, empathic and practical approach, combined with his approachable manner creates trust and develops strong working relationships with his clients.
Joe Ruddock
Diploma in Effective Coaching and Mentoring
About Joe
What could change if you stopped trying to work around your neurodivergence and started working with it?
Joe works particularly well with thoughtful, ambitious people who sense they are capable of more, but haven’t yet found the way of working that allows them to consistently show it. He helps neurodivergent professionals understand themselves better, find strategies that genuinely work for them, and make meaningful changes in how they think, work and perform.
His coaching combines deep empathy with energy, challenge and a strong belief in what is possible – creating a space that is supportive, but never passive. Joe brings curiosity, creativity and a performance mindset to his work, helping clients think differently, experiment with new possibilities and turn insight into action.
Melissa Chester
About Melissa
Melissa Chester is a business psychologist and a fellow of the CIPD, with 20 years’ experience working at a multi-national level and in the financial services industry focusing on people consulting, talent and leadership development. She has coached a wide variety of individuals within organisations at all stages in their career to support their personal development. She is also a qualified career coach.
Melissa favours a strengths based approach to coaching, working with her clients, to unlock their potential in a sustainable and structured fashion. Melissa is passionate about supporting neurodiversity in the workplace and removing barriers to employment and development opportunities for individuals.
Melissa has over 8 years career coaching experience, as well as working within Leadership Development Coaching and Workplace coaching. Her lived experience comes from Autism within her family.
Miranda Pretorius
M.A. in Clinical Psychology
About Miranda
Miranda is a seasoned clinical psychologist with more than 33 years of experience, dedicated to supporting individuals across a wide spectrum of psychological needs. Since the end of 2022, she has been part of Genius Within, working as an Executive Coach with a particular focus on professionals navigating neurodiverse challenges.
In her private practice, she provides therapeutic support for clients with Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, and those with neurodivergent profiles. Her coaching and clinical work are deeply informed by her keen interest in Pharmacology and Neurology, ensuring that her strategies are both evidence-based and attuned to the latest developments in brain science. She stays abreast if research.
Morwenna Stewart
About Morwenna
Whether you’re self-diagnosed or formally diagnosed neurodivergent, you can feel intense emotions or burnout. You might not know your strengths or how to manage your energy. Or you might be proud of your neurodivergence and ready for the next career step. Morwenna’s with you all the way – as an AuDHDer herself, parent to an ND adult, and her experience with hundreds of clients.
Morwenna loves to help you explore identity, strengths, struggles and even any painful bits. Tears and laughter are normal in coaching, but Morwenna prevents sessions from becoming counselling or unfocused chat, and instead keeps you moving towards your goals. Morwenna maintains ethics, boundaries and concrete outcomes, while allowing real emotions and even fun!
Narinder Sheena
EMCC Practitioner
About Narinder
Narinder is an experienced coach who supports people navigating chronic health challenges, neurodiversity, workplace pressures and periods of change. Her approach is person-centred, compassionate and practical, helping individuals better understand themselves, recognise their strengths and identify realistic steps towards meaningful change.
With over 10 years’ coaching experience, Narinder has trained in a range of coaching frameworks, which are ICF accredited, PCI accredited in Health Coaching, NLP and SIRPA. Incorporating neuroscience, nervous system regulation, and somatic awareness. Before moving into coaching, she spent approximately 15 years working as a Personal Injury lawyer, and legal coach/mentor, giving her valuable insight into professional environments and workplace challenges.
Nina Strauss
About Nina
Nina is a transformative and neurodiversity-informed coach specialising in supporting neurodivergent professionals, particularly those with ADHD, working in the tech industry across sales, marketing and customer success. She creates a safe, supportive space where clients feel seen, understood and empowered to explore what matters most. Her approach combines curiosity, intuition and flexibility, using metaphors to unlock new perspectives and help clients gain clarity, recognise their strengths and move forward with confidence, authenticity and purpose.
She holds an Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching from the Animas Centre for Coaching, as well as specialist training in Neurodiversity in Coaching. She has three years’ coaching experience and is the founder of Journey to Change, alongside her role as an Associate Coach at Genius Within.
Peter Urey
About Peter
Peter has an impressive 30 years of extensive experience in IT Sales, Marketing, and Management, which has allowed him to cultivate a robust skill set in the technology industry. His expertise extends to leadership and development, as he underwent training under the prestigious Hewlett Packard LEAD program, achieving UK Director level proficiency. Additionally, Peter holds a degree in Law from Christ Church, Oxford University, further augmenting his versatile background.
Since 2006, he has found great success as an independent business coach, catering to esteemed clients at the Board level, including prominent companies like Symantec, Epson, and Canon. Peter’s coaching approach is refined, as he received training from Marian Way, the author of Clean Approaches for Coaches, in Clean Language, Symbolic Modelling, and Clean Space techniques.
Polly Howard-De La Mare
C.Psychol. and ACC accredited coach
About Polly
Polly is a Chartered and Business Psychologist with 18 years’ experience in leadership development and executive coaching. Polly supports senior leaders to strengthen their leadership capability, enhance strategic thinking, and build the confidence and resilience required to progress in their careers.
Polly supports organisations to develop inclusive environments. Her coaching practice spans a wide range of industries, including legal services, financial services, the Civil Service, engineering, retail, charities and the energy sector.
Rachael Wallace-Lane
About Rachel
Rachael is passionate about helping others create the life they want.
Coming from a neurodivergent family, Rachael has personal experience and understanding of navigating society and the workplace.
Partnering with individuals, teams and businesses to maximise their personal and professional potential for over 20 years Rachael is an Accredited Coach Rachael using a strengths based, coach approach to uncover what’s most important to her clients, exploring the significance of their values and discovering how these can help support and drive ambition.
Rachael Ward
ILM Level 5 in Coaching and Mentoring
About Rachael
Rachael is an experienced Executive Coach who has been a Genius Within associate since 2016. Rachael’s coaching practise focuses on effective communication, well -being and personal effectiveness. There is often crossover in these areas when clients are feeling overwhelmed and are seeking a way of improving focus and productivity and rediscovering what they enjoy about their working life.
With a background in senior leadership in the voluntary sector and lived experience of neuro diversity, Rachael is passionate about supporting Genius Within clients to identify and use their strengths and develop a range of strategies and tools to take them forward in their future careers.
Rachel Birchmore
MBA
About Rachel
Rachel works with leaders, managers and their teams to become confident leaders, competent managers and be more effective communicators. She has a calm, friendly style and helps her clients to identify and build on their unique strengths and so thrive in the workplace.
She works extensively with architects, engineers and others in the property, design and construction sectors which is where she has spent her 30-year career leading teams prior to training as a coach in 2016.
She is a qualified business and workplace coach and PCC accredited with the International Coaching Federation.
Robin Macdonald
B.Sc. (Hons) in Science and Management
About Robin
With a background in management in fast paced international businesses, Robin is a Performance and Leadership Coach with global accreditation from the European Mentoring and Coaching Council.
He has a warm, versatile, yet focussed coaching style, where he adapts his approach to suit you and your circumstances.
Robin has a passion for getting the best out of people, helping them succeed and will naturally facilitate your thoughts.
No matter your situation, job or career, you will feel appreciated and supported as you create an environment to move forward, achieve your goals and embrace your future.