Mo Ford

Is the way you’ve been working costing you more than it should? Maybe you've been called capable and resilient often enough that asking for help feels like a contradiction. You can tell something needs to change, and it doesn’t seem fair that it’s you.

You don’t need fixing. You might just need:

• proven tools to ground yourself and calm your nervous system,
• a focused but low-pressure space to find what works for you, step by step
• and someone who’s been through it to help you navigate.

“I carry Mo’s calm with me in moments that would have completely overwhelmed me before. That inner core of capability — Mo helped me find it and solidify it, and reminded me I could do it. They gave that back to me.” – Corinne, 45

What it’s like working with me

In each session, we’ll start by checking in and grounding ourselves. We work from where you actually are that week, whether or not that’s where you'd planned to be three weeks ago. We’ll usually finish with something small and specific to try before next time. It's one manageable step at a time, not a high-pressure promise of transformation.

“The camera turns on, Mo sees you, and starts working out what you actually need from that session. Mo was so patient, so kind, genuinely interested, and could adapt in a heartbeat.”

Get to know your nervous system – and stay in the driver’s seat

Burnout isn't something you can just think your way out of. And it isn't just about motivation – it can hit the hardest in people who care deeply about their work.

It happens across your whole body – when your jaw won’t unclench, your heart races when there’s no immediate threat, and you feel tired even after you sleep. It's an argument with your nervous system, and most of us were never taught the language.

I combine coaching practice with somatic (body-oriented) tools, including breathwork, to help you feel safe and grounded. That’s sometimes called nervous system regulation. I prefer to think of it as nervous system fluency – hearing what your body's saying and being able to answer – so you’re always the one in the driver’s seat, whatever feelings are riding along with you.

When your head, heart, and body are aligned, you can have more courageous conversations with others, set and maintain better boundaries, and go deeper in conversation with yourself about what you want and what’s holding you back.

“I used to measure myself against everyone else doing what I do, and feel like I came up short. Six sessions with Mo and I realised what I brought to my work that no one else could. I stopped wondering ‘where do I stand’ once I knew what I stood for.” – Katy, 46

Why I do this work

I spent years running on quick thinking and quick talking, always moving, right up to the point I burned out – more than once. I didn't learn to listen to what my body was telling me until I'd damaged my own voice by not knowing when to stop, and it took a long time to heal.

I was later diagnosed with ADHD, which explained a great deal – including how much energy I'd been spending masking to be taken seriously at work, and how little of that effort had anything to do with doing the work well. As a neurodivergent coach, I have lived experience of navigating spaces that weren't built with us in mind.

My training

I hold a Diploma in Coaching and I'm a member of the Association for Coaching. I trained for seven years in Performance Psychology, and I've since trained specifically in neurodiversity coaching. I’ve also spent over twenty years in frontline and leadership roles across the not-for-profit and public sectors – youth work, care-leaver support, wellbeing services – and I still work as an associate with Oasis Human Relations delivering executive coaching and leadership development.

What I won't do

I won't promise you a fixed outcome. Coaching works by helping you find what works for you, and nobody can guarantee that in advance. What I will promise is that the work will be practical, the pace will be yours, and none of it asks you to believe in anything outside of yourself. If something doesn't land, you can say so, and we'll take a different approach.

How I can help you

• Burnout recovery and prevention
• ADHD burnout, masking and late diagnosis
• Courageous communication and difficult conversations
• Boundaries, workload and whole-person leadership
• Somatic coaching: working with the body, not just your thoughts
• Nervous system fluency: understanding what your body does under stress, so you can stay grounded in the moment.

Getting started

Just get in touch, let me know what you’re dealing with and let’s talk about how we could approach it. You can book a free introductory call, send an email, or voicenote me on WhatsApp – whatever’s easiest for you. We can work online or in person in North London.

• Somatic Coaching
• Trauma

1 hour: £85 / 90 minutes: £120

Discounted rates available for block bookings (8+). Limited spaces at a concession rate - please contact me for details. 

Testimonials: Corinne (45)

"I run a small theatre company I built up over twelve years – with no business training, no formal support, and nobody around me doing the same thing to talk to about it. I’m a self-confessed control freak who carries the weight of everybody she employs on her shoulders (and with it the responsibility for feeding their kids and their dogs!) I genuinely believed that to make it all work, I had to know the ins and outs of every situation. The weight of that was massive overwhelm and burnout, and with everything else I had going on, I didn’t stand a chance.

"From that first session with Mo, it was easy to dive in and start talking — you just know you can trust them. It never mattered what state I arrived in, Mo was always calm. We would ground ourselves together, then have a really honest conversation. We always had a structure and a plan, but it was never so rigid that when life threw me a curveball the whole thing fell apart.

"It was never aimed at a big firework moment. It was one small step at a time, one small realisation, one course correction at a time – never about building some perfect finished version of me, always about supporting the work in progress. And honestly, I think we got further precisely because the expectation of a finish line wasn’t there.

"By the end of my sessions I had found a place where that level of control wasn’t necessary any more. Mo helped me put in place real systems for how to run staff reviews, how to handle difficult conversations, how to manage the fact that in a company this small I am working with my friends as well as being their boss. My team changed what we communicate and how, and it has tangibly changed our team dynamic.

"I feel really proud of the work I have done… work Mo supported me to do. And working with Mo isn’t like a tablet that wears off when you stop taking it – Mo stays in your system! I carry Mo’s calm with me in moments that would have completely overwhelmed me before. That inner core of capability — Mo helped me find it and solidify it, and reminded me I could do it. They gave that back to me. And that is what stays."

Testimonials: Katy (46)

"I came to Mo during a big transition. I had trained as a yoga teacher after years working in costume design for theatre, and I was dealing with a lot of imposter syndrome about the switch. I had already done therapy, but this felt different – I didn’t need more general support, I needed something that helped me connect who I am to the work I was actually doing.

"It wasn’t instant. Over six sessions, I slowly worked out what my values actually were – something I had never really pinned down before. For me, it turned out to be about connection: to nature, and to community. Once I saw that clearly, it changed how I saw my whole career. Teaching yoga was not just about proving I was good enough compared to everyone else doing the same thing — it was about being a kind of conduit, helping connect people to nature and to each other, playing a small part in a bigger shift toward a healthier way of living, for us and for the planet.

"That is when the comparing and the competing just fell away. I stopped asking whether I was good enough and started seeing the work as a service — something I am connected to, not something I have to win at. My self-limiting beliefs melted away, because once you actually know who you are, there is no one else to compare yourself to. Working with Mo helped me find myself, properly."

Testimonials: Claire

Claire is a senior leader in the public sector, who was looking for help with career decisions and speaking up for her needs. We explored assertive communication, self-worth and what might be behind her responses when she sidelines her own needs or over-commits at work. By taking space to consider her options, and working with me as a thinking partner, Claire developed new insights about herself. She was able to confidently make decisions about what she wanted from her job, find better work-life balance and practice speaking up for her own needs. She said:

“I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this went way beyond what I thought it would be. My life looks so different now to when we started – some of that might have happened anyway but I’ve responded to changes and decisions with more clarity and confidence.”