About

I spent 20+ years working in the advertising and communications industry sitting at board level in both commercial and people roles. In my client service days I was responsible for multi-million pound budgets and ran account teams across 16 European markets but I felt like I only got to do the things I truly loved after eight o’clock at night once all the client business was out of the way… and that was the people side of the role.

My love of developing teams and getting the best out of people prompted me to move into the world of Talent, HR and coaching where I became a specialist in creating high performance cultures so individuals can thrive and businesses can perform at their best.

I’m a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) which is recognised as the most rigorous and respected coach training and certification in the industry. I am also an active member of the International Coach Federation.

In my spare time I can be found running outdoors, swimming in a pond, reading about espionage, hanging out with my family and attempting to train my wayward border collie.

LEADERSHIP COACHING ACROSS THE COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY

WHO:  Executive Creative Director who joined his business at the start of the pandemic. 

GOAL:  Having inherited a disjointed team and working remotely, this individual was faced with poor levels of trust and low productivity. He needed to get out of the weeds, bring the team together, make some difficult decisions on the structure of the department and all the while, build rapport, grow trust and drive engagement.   

IMPACT:  Eight months later and they’re flying! This self-confessed introvert has uncovered his own authentic style of leadership and empowered his team to take more ownership of their projects to 'fall in love with the work again'. He now delegates more effectively which has given him time to set the vision of the department and actively take the business to the next level.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

WHO:  The full leadership team at an AIG Insurance business.

GOAL:  To gather meaningful insights on leadership capability amongst this long-standing and close-knit team in order to develop specific, actionable  goals to support individuals to thrive and steer the business through the next stage of growth.

IMPACT:  We created and rolled out a bespoke 360 degree feedback survey for this team, followed by individual coaching sessions to explore the themes raised in the feedback, shape measurable goals and tackle current challenges head on. This needed to be handled in a positive and motivating forum and the success of this project is measured through each individuals' openness to receiving the feedback gathered and  unfailing commitment to being held accountable to the performance goals they set.

  • Jo is a kind, gentle yet firm coach – she’s encouraging, empowering and perceptive. And most important, she’s non-judgmental and disarming. She has a sneaky way of helping you see things in a new way. She’s helped me better understand my myself – as well as find new confidence and belief in myself. She truly becomes your champion. I’m feeling inspired and motivated to set clear intentions for 2024 and tackle everything that comes! Coaching with Jo is like a series of mini self-discoveries. You feel safe and supported, but equally pushed outside your comfort zone and held to account.

    Liz Thompson, Head of North America, Brand Genetics

  • Jo is brilliant. Jo understands the challenges described to her and comes up with great techniques to navigate through them. I can say that a lot of the solutions Jo and I have talked about have had almost immediate success. Not only have I seen professional developments, I now better understand my own motivations, and therefore frustrations, which I believe make me a better manager to others.

    Salesperson in leading ad tech company

  • Jo is so open, listens with aplomb and creates an environment where you can truly explore all depths of yourself. Her ability to give me the space to come to conclusions myself, feel supported and never fear judgement was very impressive. Jo is a very special coach and I feel so lucky that she got to be the one to take me on my coaching journey. Some of the tools she has given me and the realisations she has helped me reach will be life changing. I don't think I would be on the amazing path I feel I am now on without her. So much so that I want to continue our work on a longer-term basis because I see her ability to guide me into the most successful future possible by asking the right questions, sharing observations and giving me techniques to tackle anything that is holding me back.

    Holly Harrison, Fashion, Retail & Luxury Brand Partnerships Manager

  • Through coaching with Jo, I have achieved a sense of direction and confidence to believe in myself. I have greater awareness of my values, what matters most to me and understanding how to make decisions based on them. I’ve learnt how to address challenges constructively and with confidence. I now approach goal-setting in a way that feels exciting but not overwhelming and I’ve built up my resilience and now feel full of energy and optimism. I’ve found my voice – making impactful contributions as much as I can.

    Andrea Sinclair, HR & Wellbeing Lead, Brand Genetics

  • Jo is a people reader with high ability to read the room and keep candidates on track. Broad understanding of the corporate world with all its upsides/potential pitfalls. High acumen in applying existing best practices/methodologies situationally, in line with the conversational flow and energy in the room. Operationally well set up to provide support to candidates and their busy worlds.

    J. Bischoff, ByteDance

  • Joining forces with Jo was like discovering a hidden path in a familiar landscape, unveiling perspectives I never knew existed. Our collaboration marked a profound shift, not just professionally, but in the way I approach challenges. Not quite knowing what to expect, I found her method - not some sort of appliqué but - tailored, often in-the-moment and packed full of insights. Conversations with Jo are more than mere exchanges; they are crossings of discovery, energising and rich in clarity. Her authenticity and wisdom powered every session, as she calmly guided me towards a new me.

    Ross Garden, Founder & Creative Director, The Smugglers

  • Coaching with Jo is like uncovering years of learnings condensed into one hour. Jo is creative, empathetic and adjustable. The programme helped me immensely. It opened my eyes to things I wasn’t able to see before and enabled me to find my own ways to cope with difficult situations. This has allowed me to be more effective with my time spent at work, be more intentional about what I do and what I don’t, hence achieving faster results. I have a better work life balance and my happiness at work has increased.

    Vesselina Markova - Brand Partnership Lead E-Commerce DACH&NL, TikTok

  • Jo is patient, empathic and incredibly well versed as a coach to senior leaders. Her ability to listen and help unlock untapped areas of growth and potential has been seismic and has helped me in what has been quite a turbulent year! Her insight and intelligence in helping leaders grow should not be underestimated. Coaching with Jo is like walking through a house; each session you walk into a new room (corner of your mind/aspect of you) and a light goes on. Jo has an incredible ability to guide you to the light switch and for you to switch it on.

    Cliff Fawcett, Head of Projects, Brand Genetics

  • Jo is effective at leading questions, showing curiosity, is a good listener and engages on points to develop further. Jo has shown me I am sitting on many of the answers and direction I needed within myself. She leads without leading. I’ve felt a good step change in my POV and confidence to work through each of my goals and unpack the key areas I hadn’t even considered to enable these to happen on a timeline I am comfortable with. Jo was an attentive coach and very engaged, I really enjoyed how sessions were structured.

    Neil Holmes, VP, LoopMe

  • Jo is amazing – she is equally supportive and challenging as a coach and it feels like from the first session she really understands you. I feel like she is on my team and really pushing me to develop which is very motivating.

    Mia Christophers, Director, Brand Genetics

  • Jo is very empathetic and easy to talk to, I’ve really enjoyed these sessions and I’ve liked how Jo has worked with my situations using different approaches. Jo cares and understands the workload and hours of being in the digital media industry so also was able to help me think long term about what I want to do and where I want to go. Jo has really helped me with difficult discussions at work and the importance of work life balance. I have learnt a lot.

    Natasha Alarakhia, AVP, LoopMe

  • Jo is an incredibly astute, insightful and pragmatic coach. In our coaching she really got the core of the challenges I was facing. In the space of only a handful of sessions I had several big realisations that have helped me enormously over the past few months navigating some big changes in my life. Jo is a brilliant communicator and in our coaching she managed to be very warm and approachable but also challenging - which is just what I needed.

    Madeleine Geach, Hospitality Leadership Coach

  • Jo is a kind, empathetic and stoic coach that pushes gently but firmly toward those necessary areas you’re avoiding. She has helped me to take concrete steps in developing under-appreciated strengths and in using those strengths to solidify gaps in my own leadership practice. The coaching programme helped me articulate and strengthen my vision for future direction of work, and attitude towards what work is or could be. Overall, I’ve noticed a subtle shift toward a calmer, more coaching approach to my own relationship with my own team at TikTok.

    Simon O’Regan, Global Head of Monetisation Integrity Services, Tik Tok.

  • Jo is the most supportive and inspiring coach I could wish for. So incredibly patient, calm and knowledgeable. She does everything possible to allow you to feel comfortable to be yourself and talk openly. Our work together has genuinely changed everything for me, both in my work and in my home life. This is the best I have ever felt with control over the areas in my life.

    Andrea Sinclair, HR & Wellbeing Lead, Brand Genetics

  • Working with Jo has as enabled me to better cope with what life outside of work has thrown me and I’ve increased my productivity and confidence in meetings. I’m better able to see the big picture and I have a sense of assuredness – a belief that I know what I’m doing and that I’m valued. I understand myself better as well – what values matter to me, and that understanding has helped me to better negotiate recent challenges. I’m having more direct and transparent conversations with my team and have already seen some team members start to grow and develop at a faster rate themselves. I also think I have a toolkit to deal with future challenges and continuously aid my development.

    Salesperson in leading ad tech company.

  • I’ve recently finished my 12 week course with my incredible coach Jo Olsen. Jo’s programme has been enormously rewarding in supporting me to deliver to my potential during the challenging times we have all experienced. Challenging my natural instincts and thought processes has encouraged me to become more adaptable and resilient. I couldn’t recommend Jo enough.

    Alex Clark, Sales Director, The Office Group

  • Jo has been an incredible coach. Extremely patient, supportive, calming and expanding. Jo has been able to calm me down in moments of panic, and help me to focus on the hour we have together and make the most of the time for me and my own development. Coaching with Jo is like going for a walk with a wise mentor. Supportive, valuable and calming.

    Rob Ryan, B2B Marketing Lead, UKI and Nordics, TikTok

  • ​​Jo has an incredible ability to connect to the soul. She is conscious of and delightfully skilled in understanding how to hold her clients so that they can achieve anything. With a sharp intuition and a kind heart as her guide, Jo is an amazing coach. Highly recommend!

    Conner Williams, ACC, CPCC, Professional and Life Coach and DEI Facilitator

  • Working with Jo helped me reach my goals and know myself better and more deeply. I gained a lot of confidence, self awareness and great techniques to deal with any hard situation within my personal life or professional life. I learned all the answers I’m looking for are inside me - I just need to find it and clarify it. My leadership style changed and improved. I learned how to speak up and give critical feedback and deal with different situations. Now I’m more clearly able to show my confidence and skills and being able to create the trust among my team and win the trust of the organisation leadership.

    Nour Alkhodary, Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Gaza Sky Geeks

  • Jo is an extremely focussed, kind, well-prepared and empathetic coach. The sessions with her gave me so much calmness, it made me forget about my day-to-day stress and focus only on myself and my development. It helped me gain trust and confidence in my skills, focus on what I want and how to get there and she held me accountable for the promises I made to myself.

    Vesselina Markova-Kauffmann, Brand Partnerships Lead Retail, TikTok

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Coaching

I partner with high-achieving leaders from the world’s best brands to deliver transformative results.

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Talent Consultancy

I specialise in helping creative businesses develop their people strategy and optimise employee engagement.

Training

For cohorts of eight to thirty participants, these programmes are like rocket fuel for your leaders.