The Story Behind Making It Happen

The story behind Making It Happen is one of passion, purpose, resilience and hope.

I’m sharing my story to show that I’ve not only founded Making It Happen but I’ve literally lived the journey too. 

Following sixteen wonderful years leading schools in Qatar and Oman, I was faced with the dilemma many expats are faced with at one stage or another: the choice between career and family.

My father had been diagnosed with dementia several years before and on a trip home in the summer of 2015 it became clear that the illness was progressing.

Ultimately, for me it was family first, so in March 2016 I left the school, the job and the life I loved and returned to the UK to become a full-time carer.

I feel privileged to have spent, what turned out to be, the last year of my father’s life, by his side. Anyone who has ever been touched by dementia knows that times can be challenging but the brief moments of connection and even humour are precious. 

After my father passed away, I realised that I needed to remain in the UK to support my mother whilst she adjusted to life without my father. This opened up the opportunity to pursue my interest in coaching, so over the next eighteen months I embarked on professional study, in the form of the International Leadership and Management (ILM) Level 7 Diploma. For six months I coached a number of headteachers in Oxfordshire and loved the dynamic, which was full of creativity and insight.

Momentum for establishing my own coaching business was building. I purchased the domain name, Making It Happen, and started to dream about pursing a life supporting education leaders through bespoke 1:1 coaching.

But life threw another curve ball.

In 2018, my husband became seriously ill, returning to the UK for major surgery and required a long period of recovery.* Faced with a mortgage to pay, the dream was put on hold and I sought a new senior leadership position, this time in the UAE, hoping that I could, in the future, finish my studies and return to coaching as a full time passion. 

But again, life threw a second ball.

In 2020, COVID put a stop on to my plans! Anyone who was leading a school during that period knows, the priorities were ensuring continuity of education for our students, safeguarding the welfare of students and staff, implementing the ever-changing rules and regulations and also navigating the financial implications of falling roles. It was no surprise that my studies lapsed during this time, and my dream of Making It Happen faded into the distance.

The years passed.

Fast forward to 2024, once again the pull of family brought us back to the UK, and with it, Making it Happen, came back into focus. As I write this, I’m proud to say that I’ve stuck with my dream. Now a certified coach, I’m once again studying for the ILM Diploma, and am excited to be partnering with clients.

I’ve founded Making It Happen to provide bespoke coaching for education leaders in international schools. It allows me to follow my passion for coaching, fulfils my sense of purpose to support leaders, navigating rewarding and challenging roles and is helping me create a work life balance that allows me to spend more time with my mother, who will turn eighty in September. (She wouldn’t thank me for sharing that fact!) 

Making It Happen isn’t simply the name of my company. It’s a reflection of the journey I’ve been on to follow my dream.

Wherever you are on your leadership journey, wherever you are in the world, whatever you want to achieve, Making It Happen is here for you. 

*Oh, and for those of you wondering what happened to my husband, he ended up getting stuck in the UK due to COVID border restrictions and returned to work in Saudi in August 2020.