Now that this blog is up and running I think it’s about time I tell you a little bit about myself and what you can expect to find here…
You can find my official bio here, or a summary of my professional experience here. So what else is there to know...
Well, I’ve recently set up my own business while on maternity leave with baba #2 – the catalyst of which was my journey into motherhood in 2014. Before that I spent the previous decade on a HR career rollercoaster of growth, recession, start-up expansion, downturn, restructure, restructure, restructure and business closures. I thoroughly enjoyed the pace and challenge of constant change, and gained some quite unique, fantastic skills and experiences in the areas of Change Management, People Leadership, HR, Coaching and more. As the pace of my learning started to level off, it was time for me to look to my next move.
Cue the birth of my first little baba, and a whole new world of learning for me! The journey of growing this little boy sparked a passion for all things related to pregnancy, birth, early parenting, maternity leave, and the career impact of taking time out of your career - the psychological aspects in particular. Learning the art of keeping my sh*t together in the early days of parenting brought me to mindfulness, meditation and the practice of self-compassion.
I returned to work in the Summer of 2015 as my company was winding down, and I was yearning to move towards something that felt authentic for me at this stage of my life and professional career – one that would enable me to bring my whole self to work. The natural next step was to further explore my new and existing interests and formalise my professional coaching experience via a Diploma in Executive, Business and Personal Coaching; and onto deciding to set-up my own Coaching and Consulting business.
Fast forward to the Summer of 2016 and following the birth of my second little boy, I decided to nurture this passion for pregnancy, birth and early parenting by studying to be a GentleBirth Instructor. This was great for bringing lots of my interests together as it combines sports psychology, cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness, hypnosis; along with the physiological aspects of birth and successfully navigating the Irish maternity system – all with the aim of equipping parents-to-be with the knowledge and skills for a positive birth and beyond.
And now here we are, on the cusp of the Summer of 2017; baba#2 is about to turn 1, and my business is fully up and running!
WHAT I DO:
As it resonates so much with my current life-stage, the vast majority of my work at present is in the space of helping Women (and Men) to prepare to take a step away from their careers to become parents; plan for birth and early parenting; and successfully transition back into their careers.
I work with Corporate clients to help attract, retain and engage new parents, to help maximise gender and generational diversity up to and into Board level positions. I work with Personal clients on preparing for and successfully navigating changes relating to pregnancy, birth, early parenting and managing their careers. I have also found myself working with many clients on career changes and starting their own business. In essence, I am focused on helping people to positively experience these significant life transitions, and leave them with the knowledge and skills to improve their confidence, focus, strength and resilience.
SO, WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT HERE:
Well, I guess that’s a very long way of telling you that I have diverse interests and experiences and you can expect to see that reflected in the blog here.
I will be blogging about Coaching, Change Management, Pregnancy, Maternity, Returning to Work, Career, Leadership…among other topics. The theme that brings this all together for me is about focusing on things that help people to discover, cultivate and maximise their Strength Within – whether that is within you, your team, your growing family, your business or your organisation.
The blog is inspired by what is most relevant to my clients and readers, and will naturally reflect some of the work I do in real life along with what’s going on in my life. Additionally, in time I hope to get an interview series up and running, talking to parents about their pregnancy, birth and career-related experiences.
I am aiming for 1-2 posts a fortnight at the minute so will hopefully be able to stick to that! Please subscribe below or follow on facebook or twitter if you want to follow along or find out more…
Claire Flannery is the Founder and Owner of Strength Within coaching and consultancy, where she focuses on helping people create the headspace and mental clarity to discover, cultivate and maximise their strength within. She is a qualified Business Psychologist, Executive, Business & Personal Coach and Gentlebirth Instructor with over a decade of experience working in HR leadership in Financial Services. She is also a Mum to two small boys and has personal experience of successfully managing her career while preparing to transition out of, and back into, the workforce; and is passionate about helping people to successfully navigate the huge identity and life transition involved in starting and growing a family. As a large part of her work, she is privileged to work with women and their partners as they make their journey through pregnancy, birth and early parenting. Along with Coaching services, she runs Gentlebirth and Return-to-Work workshops in Dublin, Ireland.
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Tags: back to work after babycareergentlebirthmaternitymeditationmental well-beingmindfulnesspositive birthpregnancyreturn to workwomen in businessworking parent