A north-east woman who set up her own development coaching business to help those struggling in the region and further afield is using her own struggles to support others.
Gillian Buckley, of Inverurie, launched Direction Coaching earlier this year and has already helped numerous people focus on their personal development.
She is backing the North-East Now initiative, which also aims to support and promote people and businesses in the local area.
Driven by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, the initiative is also supported by creative agency Hampton, Aberdeen Journals, Original 106 and VisitAberdeenshire.
It aims to allow people to find out more about local firms operating throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, pulling together a range of information, directories and blogs to create a one-stop online resource.
Gillian’s business came about as a response to her own experiences, which included losing her mother to ovarian cancer in 2012 and the struggle she and husband Barry went though as they tried to have a baby.
“My husband and I tried for 10 years for a child and even did five rounds of IVF, all resulting in miscarriages,” she said.
“One of these was an ectopic pregnancy and could have been life threatening if I hadn’t reached the hospital so quickly.
“I also lost my mum to ovarian cancer in 2012, which had a massive impact on me.
“Barry and I then decided it was both physically and mentally too challenging to carry on with fertility treatment, so we didn’t.
“I met so many woman on this part of my journey who felt they were worthless and failures for not being able to conceive, which was incredibly heartbreaking to see.”
The couple finally decided adoption was the right journey for them and they are now parents to a baby boy, who gives them more joy than they “ever thought possible”.
She said: “I had such a magical maternal bond with my own mum, it made me determined to be a mother myself.
“The adoption process took exactly 18 months and on March 1 2019 we brought home our child. We couldn’t have been matched better and the bond is amazing; it feels like he came from us naturally.
“Throughout my journey I’d met so many people who couldn’t cope or needed more support but didn’t know where to turn to, and that is why I decided to take matters into my own hands.
“In my previous role I was a successful sales manager for over 17 years. My key responsibilities were to lead, motivate and inspire my team to achieve demanding targets and I was trained extensively on performance coaching.
“I just loved it and found it so motivating when I was able to help build on people’s strengths.”
With this experience under her belt, Gillian launched Direction Coaching in February.
Gillian said: “After going through my journey, I felt there wasn’t enough support for people who have fertility issues or were considering adoption. And the same goes for anyone dealing with general life issues like career changes or progressions, relationship problems, grief or loss.
“I found that with my experience, I was able to cope and deal with my past and forward plan my next stage in life. But not everyone is capable of doing this when facing challenging times, so it then just felt like a natural progression to build a career as a development coach.
“I offer one-to-one sessions either virtually, over the phone or face to face. In my sessions, we explore what’s been holding someone back and look at ways that they can accept what’s happened.
“To move forward, we set realistic goals together and I give them structure, guidance and encouragement to achieve them.”
On the North-East Now campaign, Gillian said: “We have all been waiting a long time for something like this to start up in the north-east.
“I absolutely love the new site.”
To view the Direction Coaching website, go to directioncoaching.net
For more information on North-East Now, visit northeastnow.scot