I found out about my husband’s affair on millennium’s eve, 31st December 1999. Fireworks were going off but my husband was nowhere to be found. We were at a party with 5 other couples. At 11pm my husband said his pager had gone off. He was ‘on call’. He disappeared and didn’t return until 2 am, by which time I’d had far too much to drink. I found out much later on he’d been at his girlfriend’s house, celebrating the turn of the millennium with her. At first, I’d made all sorts of excuses but, bit by bit, my confidence was growing and I realised that I did not want to face being humiliated any longer. By Christmas the following year I asked him to leave and filed for divorce in January 2001.

Seeing fireworks now gives me mixed emotions. Sadness for the fact that he didn’t have the belief in me that I had in myself, and pride that I have achieved so much. If I can find the strength to make changes in my life the way I did then anyone can. I made lots of mistakes along the way but I learned from them. I have no regrets. I feel great gratitude that I was set free to find the strong woman that always lay underneath the façade of being a wife to a man whose ego was too fragile to celebrate the successes of his wife. I am now re-married to a man who actively encourages me to ‘go for it’. I’m happier than I’ve been in years, and will never walk in anyone’s shadow again.

My destiny now is to empower other women to find their true self. To take control. To find their self-belief and self-confidence to achieve their dreams and be who they want to be.

This, for me, is the main role of a coach. To help empower, build confidence and self-belief in the clients so that they can set off fireworks to celebrate their success.