Personal Transformation – From Decorating Homes to Healing Hearts

From the age of sixteen, I’ve been transforming people’s homes.
My main trade has always been as a decorator. Working in the Cotswolds, it’s been a colourful experience. Posh paints and beautiful surroundings. Houses that cost millions and houses that don’t but could qualify for that price tag because of the contents and beautiful people that live in them.

I’ve met clients who welcomed my colleagues and me, like family and others who looked down on me but that’s life, isn’t it? No matter what, I always gave each project the transformation it deserved. Seeing the look on someone’s face when their space feels renewed – that moment of pride and peace is priceless.

Of course, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Every decorator knows the “nightmare” moments when something goes wrong or the client hates the colour!  You just need to reset before diving back in. That’s transformation too: patience, persistence and learning to breathe through frustration.

From Painting Walls to Rebuilding Lives

In 2012, after completing a 28‑day rehab programme, my own transformation began. I realised it wasn’t enough to pause.  I needed to change things up big style. I stepped away from the construction industry and spent two years studying counselling, laying the foundation for a new chapter in life coaching, hypnotherapy and eye movement therapy.

Along the way, I supported homeless individuals through night shelter shifts and supported accommodation work. I helped build community assets, ran an eBay shop and even revitalised an allotment with my clients, planting hope where weeds once grew.

It completely changed my outlook on life. I learned new skills, became less self-centred and passed my knowledge on to my clients, enabling them to also transform their lives, working on their own personal transformation.

Transformation Isn’t Just About Achievement

While I haven’t ticked every box society tells us we should -the career ladder, the mortgage, the marriage certificate, etc. I’ve learned that transformation isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about becoming more human, more grounded, more real.

Who decides what “normal” success looks like anyway?

The future for me holds a little more personal transformation. Why dump a habit that’s been around for the last 39 years?
BUT! It’s a big ‘BUT’… I intend to relax a little more. Work on my quality of life and spend more time with family and in nature.

Life is way too short to always be trying to achieve and work on personal transformation 24/7.