A former C-suite leader turned business voice coach, I coach confidence, executive presence and communication skills to help professionals succeed in the new world of work.
My mission is to help individuals and organisations worldwide speak openly, authentically and inclusively, improving personal happiness and well-being and organisational culture and performance.
Underpinning my practice is a forty-year, far-from-linear career and first-hand experience of the challenges of speaking up as a woman in male-dominated workplaces.
Years of boardroom experience taught me that, no matter how smart you are, success depends on being a confident, influential, authentic communicator.
That’s why, in 2014, I retrained as a business voice coach to help people, especially women and other underrepresented groups, reach and remain in senior leadership roles.
My Make Your Mark with Susan Room® coaching model develops mindset, body language, speech, and voice to help global leaders tackle current business challenges and are at the heart of leadership development for category-defining businesses including the Financial Times and Baillie Gifford.
Eager to pay it forward, in recent years I have gifted time to young people, the 30% Club, Future Asset, Women in Sanctions, the National Association of Women in Construction, Bromley-by-Bow Centre and others.
Credentials
-
Master of Fine Arts in Voice (MFA) with distinction from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
-
Member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA)
-
International Coaching Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC)
-
ICF-accredited Diploma in Coaching
-
Certificate in Transactional Analysis (TA 101)
-
Past Mentor Coach at Coaching Development Ltd
-
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
-
Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in European Studies from the University of Bath
-
Former Executive Committee Member, Group Commercial & Marketing Director, Lafarge Tarmac (now Tarmac)
-
Former Executive Committee Member and International Marketing Director, Jones Lang Wootton (now JLL)
-
Former Executive Committee Member and Vice President Corporate Marketing and Planning, ISS A/S
Why work with me?
My C-suite experience: I understand the politics, pressures, challenges, and opportunities professionals face and what it takes to influence and build trust at all levels, not least in the boardroom.
My blend of voice and executive coaching: I coach mindset, body language, speech, and voice, a holistic model that leaves clients thinking, acting, feeling, and sounding more confident, influential and authentic, long after they have finished working with me.
The way I mix theory, practice, and interaction: my highly interactive sessions offer practical tools, techniques and resources to implement straightaway as well as insights and research drawn from the fields of anatomy, phonetics, social psychology, evolutionary biology and learning theory.
My executive coaching credentials: I hold the ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential, meaning I have met stringent education and experience requirements and have demonstrated a thorough understanding of the coaching competencies that set the standard in the profession.
My voice coaching qualifications and experience: my master’s degree in voice studies with distinction from the world-renowned Royal Central School of Speech and Drama taught me how the spoken voice works, and the skills needed to coach others to understand and leverage its power.
My life experience: I'm a mum who has had a fulfilling, non-linear career, reinventing myself four times whilst managing the ‘struggle to juggle’.
Giving back
Passionate about coaching tomorrow’s leaders today, in 2022 I co-founded, with Master Certified Coach and Marshall Goldsmith 50Thinkers Finalist Tracy Sinclair, Coachsters a joint venture that offers coaching and ICF-accredited coach-training to 18-25-year-olds. This initiative is a continuation of the Make Your Mark for Students workshops I ran, free of charge, during the pandemic.
I have also gifted time to deliver workshops and 1-2-1 coaching for 30% Club, the National Association of Women in Construction, Women in Banking and Finance, Future Asset, Women in Sanctions and the Bromley-by-Bow Centre.