HI, I'M HANNAH RAY, life coach, Business + career COACH IN AMSTERDAM

HOW I GOT to coaching​

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I've always felt in my element listening to people and making them feel open and at ease - giving them space to think, to explore themselves, get confident with their own opinion, and encouraging them to express it. 

 

For example, as a child, I had a friend who found talking about feelings tricky, so instead, we'd sit together and write to each other about what was going on.

It's always felt natural to me to listen, to experiment with different ways of thinking about things, to reflect back to people in a gentle yet firm manner, but I had never considered that it could be a career path for me. 

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I moved to Amsterdam in 2018 after deciding that calm canals and cycling everywhere outweighed the always-on, do-it-all stimulation of London. I moved for a dream job at a dream advertising agency on a dream client that I'd been working really determinedly to get for 6 months.

 

Despite achieving this dream, the reality was that something was missing and I felt like I was performing a version of myself that didn't quite fit. I enjoyed the community, strategic nature and creativity of the work, but the misaligned feeling was a consistent niggle, and even painful at times; like I was constantly on the edge of burnout. I looked around one day and thought: What am I doing? I can't keep doing this. I need to make a change. Admitting this to myself was the first step, and involved a lot of acceptance, self-inquiry and reflection to sift through first.

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I went on a journey for a few years - being made redundant from that job, being unemployed, freelancing, working in a cheese shop (one of my favourite jobs I've ever had!), doing an advanced therapeutic yoga teacher training, teaching a full yoga schedule, qualifying as an ICF Life + Business Coach, considering creating a wellbeing space (but then covid hit!), consulting as a brand strategist and coach for small businesses (AND many moments rollercoaster-ing between despair, feeling very lost, very excited, frustrated, not good enough, motivated, optimistic, determined etc).

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Eventually, after a lot of searching and retraining, firmly embracing and taking ownership of my own unique strengths, energy, values, wants, needs, I founded TAKE Coaching in 2021. It was all worth it; I feel so aligned with and deeply love this work.

 

Creating and holding space that feels safe enough for a person to start speaking from the heart, being honest about what they really want, think, feel and who they are is, really, a very special thing to get to do for a living.​ I find it an honour to work with everyone I work with, and hope that, perhaps, I will have the honour of working with you too.

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WHY I chose the name 'TAKE'

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TAKE was born from a realisation that the best person to explore + create a life that fulfils, excites & serves you, is yourself. And the best way to do it is to be yourself, to honour yourself, and to ALLOW yourself permission to TAKE what is there, and has always been there, for you.

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Many of us deny ourselves what is natural to us or we really want, or force ourselves to perform or mould to the norm we think is expected of us, because... guilt, shame, not feeling deserving, worrying what people will think, worrying we're not good enough or credible enough, thinking we'll inevitably let people or ourselves down, culture telling us it's wrong... the list goes on. This can lead to us losing sight of who we are, what matters to us, and what we're doing with our special lives.

 

I wanted to redefine what it means to take. Many of us can be scared of coming across pushy or inconsiderate. But knowing who you are, knowing what you want, and going out and taking it is a special thing to do for yourself, and a motivating thing to see other people do. You don't need to force fit yourself in to performing or behaving a particular or 'expected' way to do this; you can connect with your own resources, personality + style, and experiment so that you can do it in a way that feels YOU.

Having learnt how to do this myself (and ever-continuing to do so as me and my life evolves!), is why it is also the thing I am very confident and effective in at supporting others in doing for themselves too.
 

Change is not about getting a quick or final fix. Our relationship with ourselves and our relationship with our work will change and develop over time, chapters and contexts. Coaching is a way to help you keep exploring, playing, adapting, growing and directing it; taking ownership of how we and life develops.​

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