Karen Hayns

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Business, Lifestyle & Health Coach | Eating Disorders Coach
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP10
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

Hello and welcome.  I'm Karen, a business, lifestyle and health coach who specialises in leadership development, career change, weight management and eating disorder recovery.  

Prior to coaching I spent 25 years in corporate as a leader and member of many teams and did this whilst raising a young family so I understand first hand the pressures of modern life and the demands of large organisations. 

On the business side, much of my work comes from Henley Business School where I re-trained in 2012 working online and in person.  Clients can be on the doorstep or anywhere in the world working in different disciplines and from the public or private sectors.   

My private work is mainly focussed around career change.  This includes folk moving from corporates, start-ups and owner run businesses, as well as leaders in new roles where the scale and complexity of their remit has changed up to and including board level. 

Team coaching is focussed on improving overall effectiveness because teams (a bit like families) can get sidetracked by politics and other unhelpful distractions. I use an approach which helps teams to resolve workplace challenges through collective enquiry. It feels respectful, builds listening skills and deepens relationships helping to raise issues that would otherwise remain off limits.  The process is a great leveller where no single voice is more important than any other. It also also removes the need for a leader to have all the answers and/or do all the work!  You will also learn some useful facilitation skills which helps with clarity and buy-in about the business issues that matter most.   

My health practice reflects my own journey with eating and body image issues, coaching men, women and young adults (over 16s) to overcome theirs; many of whom have suffered in silence for many years.  I work with distressed and disordered eating, binge eating, bulimia, orthorexia (clean eating) and obesity helping people from all walks of life to restore a healthy relationship with food, body image and self-esteem.

For more details please visit: 

https://www.fpc.company

Training, qualifications & experience

Business experience

Before I retrained as a coach, I spent several years in retail in a variety of leadership roles across the UK&I with Marks & Spencer, and then worked for a global outsourcing and offshoring company as Client Services Director managing business change projects.

Coaching experience

My work is a mix of one-to-one and team coaching. I typically work with groups of up to 8 although I have worked with groups of up to 25.  My preference, however, is the intimacy of smaller groups and with teams at all stages of development, from formation to adjournment (endings).

Qualifications, training & memberships

  • Practitioner Diploma in Eating Disorders and Obesity with NCFED (National Centre for Eating Disorders) (2022)
  • MSc in Coaching & Behavioural Change with Henley Business School, with distinction (2015)
  • Executive Coach on the school’s Executive MBA programme (since 2013) and the Henley Leadership Programme (since 2018)
  • Practicing Executive Coach with APECS
  • Mental Health First Aid trained for Adolescents
  • Enterprise Adviser with the Bucks Skills Hub
  • Ambassador Chair, Bourne End E-ACT Academy

I keep my practice relevant and ethical through regular professional coaching supervision and CPD 

Psychometric tools in use:
NEO Personality Inventory  MBTI and FIRO-B
My360plus (developed by Henley Business School)
Capp - Strengths Profiling
Positive Intelligence – Understanding defensive/survival behaviours and routines)



Other areas of coaching I deal with

TTM (Trichotillomania – a compulsive hair-pulling disorder)

Trichotillomania (TTM) is a relatively little-known compulsive hair pulling disorder affecting around 1% of the population.  Also known as a BFRB (body focussed repetitive behaviour) the onset of the condition can be a single event – sometimes a trauma – or not.  I have TTM but have been pull-free for several years and offer coaching to those with the condition who have themselves become pull-free and manage their condition effectively. Programmes are designed on a client by client basis.

Hoarding disorder

Hoarding disorder is a complex issue and typically builds up over many years, resulting in isolation and loneliness.  Working with clients at home can achieve life changing results accompanied by a real sense of accomplishment and a feeling of getting your life back on track.  The very idea of being able to welcome family and friends back into your home cannot be under estimated, and for many, something they dared not believe could happen.

Adoption

As an adoptee (and a very happy one) I have spent a lifetime understanding the importance of building and maintaining healthy relationships.  I truly believe that a coaching approach to adoption, whether you're an adoptee or an adoptive parent, can positively impact your own adoption story

Fees

Free initial in-person, telephone or online session

Additional information

Initial consultations are offered free of charge. 

Rates are set according to business size. Charity, not for profit and self-funded clients pay less. 

Sessions may be booked on a session by session basis, or on a draw down basis where a bank of hours are agreed in advance. This works particularly well if you are working on longer term personal/professional change projects because we can tailor the intervals between each session to suit your goals and budget.  

I offer a concession rate of £75 to eating disorder clients aged 16-18.

Fees are not subject to VAT. 

Payment plans available for privately funded clients wishing to book a number of sessions at no additional cost.

















When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

I am available Monday to Friday from 8am - 6pm. Evenings and Saturday mornings by arrangement. 

Further information

Client testimonials

"I am a big advocate in coaching, and I have an excellent high performing team. This has been achieved through the team wanting to be winners and being open to new experiences. Karen has coached various members of my team, and I strongly believe this has helped create the type of environment that a lot of people dream of and strive for. Karen is ‘pragmatic’ and ‘real’ in terms of understanding the world in which we live and work. I would highly recommend her."

Donna Johnston, Global Advisory Learning Leader, Ernst & Young

"I had the good fortune of having Karen as a coach during my Exec MBA at Henley Business School. She is objective, balanced, trustworthy and knowledgeable to name but a few of her attributes. She has helped me find clarity in some of life's obscurities. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her."

Tom Goddard, Fin Tech, Trade & Working Capital Specialist,  American Express

"Karen was my coach throughout my MBA at Henley. She was a fantastic coach and helped me deal with issues from setting my personal vision, dealing with personal change and tackling challenging conversations/issues. Her approach is relaxed which helps build rapport quickly. The other strength Karen has is recognising when you need direction. She made some sensible recommendations for me."

Karen Power, Head of Finance Change, Specsavers

Having been unsuccessful, many times,  "going it alone" on my weight management journey I was fortunate enough to meet Karen Hayns at a local Slimming World Group. Karen has made an immediate and lasting difference to my mindset due to her support and self empowering sessions during the weekly meetings. She has helped me to understand how my emotions and history were getting in the way of my long term goals and has totally changed my mindset through her non judgemental and supportive coaching style. Her ability to support the individual whilst also inspiring the rest of the audience is awesome and I find myself eagerly anticipating the next weeks session  to learn not only about my own journey but to reinforce the whole groups outcomes. Karen shows empathy, kindness and real and sensible advice along with positive reinforcement. I would highly recommend Karen."

Kate D - Beaconsfield

"I was a bit sceptical about coaching as I think it's so hard to empathise with the issues facing a particular workplace or industry unless you've worked in them but Karen didn't take long to get the thread of things and understand the key drivers and problems. She is an excellent listener and able to draw on details of your background and sessions in which you have discussed things effortlessly. As ever, it's about getting you to sort out your own way forward rather than giving you a magic ticket and Karen does this very well."

Peter - Headteacher

"I have been dealing with trich (Trichotillomania or TTM)since I was 10 years old and only my close family knew about it.  When I met Karen for the first time I was a bit reserved and I didn't feel comfortable talking about the condition. However, her positive energy and relaxed approach helped me to open up during our conversations. She was genuinely interested in helping me cope with stress and trich. By sharing her own struggle with the condition she gave me courage throughout the change process. I consider Karen a friend and I feel lucky that I had her as a coach!

Olivia, London

Published articles

Wooburn Green, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP10

Type of session

In person
Online
Phone
Home visits

Types of client

Young people
Adults
Older adults
Groups
Organisations

Key details

DBS check

In England and Wales, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, formerly known as CRB) carry out criminal records checks for individuals working with vulnerable groups, such as children. To find out more, visit gov.uk , or contact this professional directly

Online platforms

Google Meet
Whatsapp
Zoom

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