People often ask me, “What does it take to succeed?” They want to know how I cope with stress and anxiety, and how they can build their own self-confidence and self-esteem. When I think of my own life, both within and outside of business, I believe the most significant factor in shaping me has been the way I have learned to cope with the challenges and hardships – especially those things that come up unexpectedly. I would like to be able to tell you I handled all of them perfectly. I did not of course – but dealing with all those things developed my character much more than staying within my comfort zone ever would have done. You probably want to know a bit more about me, so I thought I would give you a quick overview of my life and career, to give you an insight into how I am qualified to help you. My first coaching role was actually in tennis. In my younger days I played it to a high level. After qualifying as a professional tennis coach we lived in South Africa for three years, and then my husband’s work took us to Nigeria for a further three years. Living in Africa at that time was very character-building – and by this time we had two very young children. (The name GOLD stemmed from my own initial plus those of my three children, Oliver, Louise and Dominic.)