What our clients say
"My work with Kate has
brought home the importance of knowing what I value in life, and of
working out how I can live accordingly, at work and at home. Kate's
keen perception meant that I felt understood. And her experience
with many clients helped me to realised that many people feel like
me, and that I am part of a valuable sector of society. This
realisation has given me more confidence in myself, and a sense of
optimism about the future which I was lacking before. Thanks for
your professionalism and humanity, Kate."
Nicole, Melbourne.
"I was at a point in my
life where I was confused as to where I was going. I had separated
from my husband a year before and devastated by the news that I had
Kidney disease. I was worried about providing a future for my young
son but so overcome with grief and trying to keep going to earn a
living I lost sight of achieving anything beyond just getting
through the day.
I had tried counselling but it was
not any use as counsellors just wanted to go over how isolated I
felt which did nothing to help get me out of the cycle that I was
in.I decided to give coaching a go as I had heard a bit about it and
thought that it had to be better than having someone just say back
to me how I felt. I didn’t want to have another person say to me
‘you poor thing’ or ‘oh but you’re doing a great job’. Kate looked
beyond the awfulness of the situation to help me see ways to improve
my situation without sacrificing my values.
The sessions are practical and
tailored to what you would like to achieve. They focus on positively
moving forward and breaking the cycle that may be creating the
situation that you are trying to change.
Not many people knew that I was seeing a coach and most people are
commenting on my new found ‘happiness’ which is exactly the way I
was before my life turned upside down. I feel more in control in my
situation and I am applying the principles worked on in the sessions
into all parts of my life. Thank you so much." Annette,
Melbourne.
"Coaching can be funny, you start off in one direction and with
guidance and time, sometimes end up in a totally unexpected place.
Kate has assisted me in finding out what really is important to me,
my priorities/goals list was turned on its head...and I feel more
balanced and happy than I have for many years. The time invested was
invaluable and at 43 I'm feeling very happy with my life and my
future... thanks Kate." Jonathon Roberts, Managing Director,
DDG
"When I began coaching sessions with Kate, I was at a very low
point in both my personal and professional life. Kate’s thoughtful
guidance has proved to be a turning point. She creates an
environment of complete trust that allowed me to provide the
information that was at the heart of the matter. In response, Kate
was both kind and firm, as required. Her personal follow ups created
a clear set of practical action items, without losing sight of
longer term life goals. I have now emerged from my darkness, and
Kate’s advice continues to guide me towards a more positive future.
I strongly recommend Kate James to join your own personal team."
Business Professional, Melbourne
"Kate has helped me a lot to firstly see my goals more clearly
and secondly achieve them by breaking them down into manageable
chunks. She is very talented at 'listening' between the lines and
gives easy to follow advice on how to move forward in life. Her
positive feedback and constructive criticism have helped me stay on
track when I was lacking motivation. Thank you, Kate, for helping me
to see areas of my life in a different perspective and showing me
how to work on my goals in order to feel more in control of my
life." WK, Melbourne
"The greatest benefit a coach can have is to build self
confidence and assurance, these are important because to achieve our
life objectives we frequently need to take personal risks. Working
with Kate this starts from the first minute, you then work together
to devise a plan to achieve the desired objective. Kate brings a
unique confidence, calmness and clarity to the situation, plan and
solution." PR, Manager, Melbourne
“I have been working with Kate for approximately six months and I
cannot put into words what an inspiration and impact Kate has had on
my life, decisions and outlook in general. I have been going through
some very major changes in my life including personal and career
paths and the guidance I have received from Kate has given me the
courage and insight to make the best decisions I could make. Whilst
Kate is very encouraging and advising, the other positive aspect is
that the decisions and overall direction I have taken have been my
own but the guidance and information I have received from Kate has
reinforced my confidence in the choices I have made and enabled me
to trust my intuition. Kate has a very positive, unique and gentle
approach and her outlook is very refreshing whilst motivating,
enabling me to focus on my future goals and put in place actions to
achieve these goals and continually monitor my progress. I recommend
Kate to anyone who is ready to take the challenge, follow their
heart, live their dream and succeed." RF, Melbourne
"I had decided to see Kate for coaching during a stage when I was
unhappy with the way my life was progressing. I was stuck in a job I
no longer cared for and had lost direction with what I wanted and in
fact liked about myself and my career. I had become anxious and full
of self doubt. By slowly breaking down what I wanted to achieve in
long and short term goals I was able to tackle ( and continue to)
each point. After two months of coaching I have found a job in an
area that has more career prospects and I am now tackling larger
issues of friendships and relationships. My anxiety dissipated and
my self esteem improved. Kate doesn't provide the answers for you,
just the skills to help you build the blocks to taking control of
your life."
KM, Melbourne
"Working with Kate was an absolute pleasure. She helped me to
focus on where I want to go with my career. Kate also worked with me
on balancing all the other areas of my life. She taught me tools of
how to take small steps to achieve my goals so that I wouldn't feel
so overwhelmed. Working with Kate is liking having a best friend who
actually does have the right answers. I look forward to the
newsletter every month and I feel so inspired by the "Revive"
quotations each week. Thanks Kate!" Kel-Anne Brandt, Singer
"Coaching with Kate has really changed my life. I know many
people say it and you wonder whether its true but nine months down
the line from first contacting Kate I do feel so much more happy
with all aspects of my life. There's some hard work involved and you
have to be willing to push yourself and feel the fear, but Kate
provides the all focus, support, enthusiasm and encouragement you
need.'' CD, Melbourne
"Like many small businesses, our growth was rapid and exciting.
Working with Kate enabled us to put much needed systems and
processes in place to effectively streamline and manage our
business. Kate was also instrumental in helping us deal with
competitive threats, not only on a strategic level, but also in
dealing with the feelings of frustration and of being overwhelmed by
the perceived competitors. She worked with us to clarify our
business focus and the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead.
Sometimes I couldn't see the forest for the trees, but Kate had a
knack for giving things clarity and putting things into perspective
in a succinct and professional way. Meeting with Kate was always an
enjoyable experience and we hope to continue our relationship with
her as we take the business to another level." Kirsten
MacKelden, Editorial Director and Publisher, Indigo Media Group
"Kate James is an inspiration! She has the natural talent of
being able to read a person like a book. During my time as a client
of Kate's I found myself in a situation of blaming someone else for
my problems and Kate was able to read both the situation and myself
perfectly by gently prodding me to address the situation in a way
that achieved the desired result for both parties. I want to thank
her for her compassionate nature and her gift of understanding what
was required by backing her intuition and her judgement. Kate truly
knows people." Mark Durkin, National Account Manager, Bolle
Australia
“Coaching has helped me to identify what I really want out of
life and to concentrate on my strengths rather than my weaknesses.
Every human being suffers from self-doubt at some point - coaching
is the quickest way for me to discard such thoughts and simply just
get on with it. Having regular coaching sessions makes me
accountable to someone on a regular basis. Together we create a "To
Do" list and assign realistic deadlines. Before coaching these
deadlines were rarely met."
Lindy O'Halloran, SAP Regenerative Skin Care
"Whilst I originally thought that coaching was a bit of a
desperate solution for people who have no friends to talk to, it has
proven to be 100% more valuable to talking to my best friends, who
cannot be objective and are also not equipped with the frameworks,
insight and experience, that I needed to make some very positive
changes and decisions.
I firmly believe that the decision of attending a few coaching
sessions has not only eased me through the difficult period after my
divorce, it has saved a fledgling new relationship that I approached
with insecurity and that I would have allowed to be damaged by my
bitter experiences and resulting insecurities, had it not been for
the very positive outlook and confidence that coaching helped me
gain.
The preparations for the sessions, which consisted of analysing your
own goals, and your own perceptions of problems and opportunities in
your life, were the key to the success of coaching for me. I have
previously been to a lot of relationship counselling, but that never
used the same level of self-analysis. It allowed me to understand
and implement the necessary changes much more than if they had been
recommended by a therapist without me first having become aware of
it myself.
I never felt that I had to “work” on any changes I made. Once I had
insight in my current attitude, beliefs or behaviour, it came
naturally to adjust the way I looked at the life decisions that I
was facing.
The sessions with Kate have had an incredible impact, with little
actual advice from Kate, but a lot of guiding and frameworks to help
me think through things. By asking all the right questions, she
helped me find all the answers myself, which were therefore
immediately internalised.
I believe that as a result of life coaching, I’ve made the best
decisions ever, however bold they may appear to the outside world,
I’m happier than I’ve ever been, I feel more loved than I ever have,
and I am more capable to truly love my partner because of a stronger
confidence, trust and joy of life. I have spent over $2500 on
relationship counselling with people who claimed to be therapists,
that led to my divorce and most depressed period in my life, whilst
I spent around $400 on coaching, which has allowed me to take the
opportunities to become happier than I’ve ever been in my life.
As a bonus, I believe my partner also benefits a lot from the fact
that I went to life coaching, as I’m more loving, more happy, more
aware of his emotions and desires, and more relaxed about anything
that crosses our path, which in return makes him also more loving,
more happy etc etc. All this has had a huge impact on our time
together, our sex life, and our shared vision of the future."
RR, Melbourne
“The main benefit of the coaching sessions for me has been: Being
able to set goals, and to do that with someone that does not have a
hidden agenda and is objective to those goals. After setting the
goals, the next benefit is being accountable for your actions.
I started coaching four months ago because I was a bit lost and
unfocused. Coaching has taught me lots of skills to apply to my
everyday life such as: improving my personal relationships, breaking
down my big goal into a series of smaller ones to be completed a
little at a time a...Now, four months on, I feel so much more in
control of my life, and my confidence is gaining daily!”
Renée Austin, Renée Austin The Wedding Planner, Melbourne
'What do you do if you are a forty-something professional male
and suddenly the loss of a job threatens your place in the world? At
the very time when you need to be most determined and focused, you
are feeling vulnerable and anxious.
It was more out of idle interest than anything else that I ran a
‘coach’ search on the internet. Up popped lots of websites, and as I
scrolled through I noticed a professional looking site called ‘Total
Balance’. I read a bit about what service could be offered, and was
interested in reading about the background of the business owner,
Kate James.
To cut a long story short I tentatively rang Kate. From that first
phone call I felt I was dealing with not only someone skilled in
helping me shape and clarify my thoughts, but also someone who had a
genuine and passionate interest in the work she did. In other words,
Kate was really interested in helping people, and had the skill to
do so. It was the support I needed.
Over the last five weeks or so I have had weekly phone calls with
Kate, and completed agreed tasks in the days in between. Having a
coach in my corner has given me the structure to identify what I
want in my life and take small, consistent steps towards my desires,
both in the short term and the long term. I’ve been actively seeking
work, and I’m clearer about my long-term direction and what I am
prepared to do to get there. In support of my goals I’ve changed
other aspects of my life like diet, and worked hard on not beating
myself up if I stumble along the way…which I often do.
Coaching costs money. Trust me, it’s a sound investment in your
future, and Kate James is a skilled practitioner. I take the trouble
to write this as I reckon I’m not the first bloke to experience
these issues, and I wanted to alert others to a service that can
help." SR - Hobart, Tasmania
