let me introduce myself...
And this sparkling corner of the internet you’ve just stepped into.
My name is Tanya Sturges. I’m an accredited transformational coach, mentor, trainer, and strategic thinking partner.
But ultimately, I’m just a super sensitive human who is passionate about supporting deep-feeling humans to feel better about themselves and stop holding themselves back in their life, career, and business.
here's why
my story
I lost my job on February 8th 2017. I know the exact date because my brain wouldn't let me forget it.
I'd spent thirteen years in the same company. HR. Leadership. Recruitment. I was the dependable one. The one who stayed. Until one day, without warning, I wasn't.
And the thing that broke me wasn't the redundancy. It was realising I'd tied every single piece of my self worth to a role that could be taken away in an afternoon.
I did what overthinkers do. I replayed it endlessly. I blamed myself. I lay awake analysing every conversation for signs I should have seen coming. I smiled through every "things could be worse" and "you didn't even like it there" while falling apart.
On the train home that day, somewhere between humiliation and heartbreak, I made myself a promise. Never again would someone else have that much control over how I felt about myself.
So I did something that made no logical sense. I sat in the middle of a breakdown and started building a coaching business. It didn't feel brave. It felt like the only option that was mine.
That was nine years ago. Since then I've rebuilt myself from the inside out. I'm far from polished and nowhere near perfect (who is?) but I'm someone who finally understands her own mind instead of being at war with it.
I came into this with a psychology degree and 15 years in HR and leadership behind me. I've since added an accreditation in transformational life coaching. But the thing that makes me good at what I do isn't on any certificate. It's that I've lived inside an overactive brain - and found the way out.
I'm Tanya, by the way. 40-something Scottish introvert, empath, HSP, chronic pain warrior, cat mum, and someone who will absolutely Google the ending of a film twenty minutes in.
I don't just coach from theory. I coach from the wreckage, the rebuild, and everything I learned on the way back up.
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Here’s what you need to know.
I obtained a BSc degree in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Stirling back in the 90s/early 00s, when the dance rave culture felt like the only cure you needed for anything.
I spent a bit too much time dancing and not quite enough time studying, so I went back to university later in life to complete an MA in Human Resource Management at Manchester Metropolitan University. I graduated with a merit… just missed a distinction. My dissertation focused on leadership and development, specifically succession planning in the property industry.
Fast forward a few too many years working in the corporate world, and I decided to return to my psychology roots and train as a coach. I completed the internationally recognised Diploma in Transformational Coaching with the Animas Centre for Coaching, one of the world’s leading schools of transformative coaching. The programme is accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF Level 2), the Association for Coaching (AC), and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), so you can be confident I’ve been through a robust period of training, assessment, and supervision. This is what makes me a certified and accredited coach.
My training with the Animas Centre for Coaching focused on coaching at a psychological and humanistic level to facilitate deep, identity-level change, rather than just surface-level performance goals. It took an integrative approach, meaning it didn’t just stick to one school of thought but drew upon several psychological frameworks, including cognitive behavioural coaching, transactional analysis, narrative coaching, person-centred therapy, rational emotive behaviour therapy, humanistic psychology and positive psychology. This has given me a broad, flexible toolkit to support different client needs.
What this means in real terms is simple: I know my stuff, and I have the knowledge, qualifications, and experience to support you.
Because you want to know I'm legit...
The Qualifications Bit...
You’re in the right place if you’d like to work with a coach who is fun, down-to-earth, and refreshingly human. Because meaningful coaching doesn’t have to be boring or painfully serious to be powerful.
lets have a virtual coffee & chat
Want to know more? Book a call with me.
I was born and raised in Scotland. I’ve lived all over the UK, including Leeds and London, but now call Manchester home.
I’m an unapologetic lover of pink, glitter, tulle skirts, cake, and sparkly tiaras (more on that below). I’m a Netflix addict, with a very bad habit of Googling spoilers. I’m also a proud cat mum to the very fluffy and naughty Gizmo.
I’m single (by choice) and I don’t have any biological children (not by choice). I used to be a foster carer, and looked after a beautiful boy and girl. It’s an experience I’ll always be incredibly grateful for.
I’m an introvert, which surprises a lot of people. But I genuinely love my own company, especially when it comes to solo holidays. I’m also an empath, a highly sensitive person (HSP), and I’ve recently discovered I have Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD), all part of what makes me me.
I’m also a disabled person. I haven’t always been. After developing early menopause in my 30s, I went on to develop osteoarthritis of the spine, spondylitis, and various other health conditions, which means I live with chronic pain and fatigue.
So yes, sadly my raving days are behind me. These days, I’m much happier reading a book in the sun (preferably on a beach), or curled up on the sofa with a coffee, a good box set, and Gizmo beside me for cuddles.
Be as nosey as you like, I won't hold it against you...
This is The Personal Bit...
“Tanya's coaching has been beyond my expectations... She is just amazing and I cannot thank her or recommend her enough!!!”
- hayley zaire, recruitment manager
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To find out more, book a call.
After a spell in retail management, I started my career as a recruitment consultant. This was back in the days when recruitment meant endless cold calling from the Yellow Pages… I hated it.
One day, a client called asking for help finding an HR & Training Administrator. To their surprise, I put myself forward… and the rest, as they say, is history.
I went on to spend 15 years in HR, working my way up to Director level while leading teams. My experience spans generalist HR and business partnering, before finishing my corporate career specialising in in-house recruitment and talent acquisition. I worked across commercial property and legal firms… until life handed me a plot twist that changed everything.
More recently, alongside my coaching work, I’ve been working in patient support roles within healthcare in the public sector, and in mental health, supporting neurodivergent individuals.
Now, I specialise in coaching overthinkers, HSPs, and those navigating chronic illness and/or RSD.
My broad range of knowledge, skills, and experience enables me to coach individuals from entry-level through to executive level, across a wide range of areas including life, career, leadership and executive development, business, wellbeing, mindset, overthinking, redundancy and outplacement, performance management, and neurodiversity coaching.
The Professional Bit...
What's with all the crowns and tiara's, Tanya?
I love history. Especially the stories of powerful royal women. Women like Elizabeth I of England, Mary, Queen of Scots, Catherine of Aragon, Margaret Tudor, and many others.
These queens lived through political chaos, public scrutiny, personal loss, and relentless expectations. Yet they still ruled, defiantly. They navigated power, loyalty, motherhood, diplomacy, and survival in a world that rarely made space for women to do so safely.
History has a lot to teach us. Especially about what quiet confidence really looks like.
These women were not resilient because they were unbreakable. They were resilient because their strength, courage, determination, and loyalty carried them forward, even when the cost was high.
They remind us that grief and strength can coexist. And that vulnerability does not cancel capability or disqualify you from leadership.
This is why crowns are the mascot of my business. It’s why I collect tiaras to remind myself of my own quiet confidence (they are also very pretty). And it’s why my signature coaching programme is called Reign of Confidence™.
All women deserve a crown. Are you ready to wear yours?
What I stand for...
Everyone is welcome in my world, this is a safe and confidential place.
I advocate for people who have faced unfairness, workplace trauma, or discrimination at work.
I’m passionate about supporting those who have been victims of bullying.
I support those who live with chronic pain, illness, and/or disability.
I stand with survivors of harassment, sexual violence, and assault.
ready to work with me?
Book a Q&A Call
30 minutes, just the two of us.
Ask me anything.
Find out more about me and how I work.
No expectations, no obligations, and absolutely zero pressure to decide anything.
Can't find a time that works for you? Email me.
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