Tessa Armstrong

About me

“The big news is that as of yesterday I have formally accepted a job offer! I am so delighted and wanted to thank you again for your guidance and support throughout my career change. It has been invaluable and it’s all coming together. I felt really confident going into the interview knowing what I wanted and what I was good at. I regularly think back to our sessions and look at the materials we collated together.” Heather, 10.05.21

***Tessa was awarded ‘Best Career Coaching Services' UK in 2023, 2022, 2021 by Corporate Vision.***

Tessa is an award-winning career and confidence coach, author, and public speaker renowned for empowering individuals to fulfil their potential. With over 20 years of experience across various sectors, she implements the ‘how’ to inspire and enable individuals to make the impossible possible.

Initially studying music at degree level, Tessa’s curiosity and determination led her to build a career that combined her passions and skills, creating a path that stood out from the norm. In 2010, she founded her own career coaching business after beginning her professional journey as a solicitor at a leading international law firm before moving to a major gift fundraiser for a top national charity. She developed the highly successful Career Advancement Coaching ‘Tea Model’ Programme, which has helped hundreds of adults and young people nationwide boost their self-esteem and confidence. Tessa is known for her structured, pragmatic approach to career and strategic development, guiding clients toward fulfilling careers and successful businesses.

With a wealth of experience working with individuals across the private, public, education, and charity sectors,her comprehensive career coaching covers all aspects, including self-awareness, career change, job search, returning to work, career breaks, performance, and career path progression.

Tessa believes passion, authenticity and equality are key to happiness.

Other awards:

• The High Sheriff of Somerset award in 2023 in recognition of great and valuable services to the community.
• Finalist in the Founder/Entrepreneur category of the Creative Bath Awards 2024.

Free Consultation:
Tessa offers a free consultation to enable you to understand how coaching can help you. There is no obligation following the call so you can make the best decision for you. 

Coaching Programmes:
Tessa's most popular coaching programme is her 'Career Advancement Programme' which enables you to identify and advance the best career for you and includes intensive assessment of sellable skills, interests and values, generation of career aspirations and ideas and job hunting strategies.

Author

Tessa is the author of "The Tea Model: Slowing Down in a Fast-Paced World to Find the Career You Love," a book based on her long-running, award-winning Career Advancement Coaching Programme.

Charity Expertise, Founders and Entrepreneurs

With her extensive expertise in coaching, charity development, and strategic growth, Tessa Armstrong offers invaluable strategic coaching to individuals and organisations looking to enhance their impact and sustainability. As the founder of Voices for Life, Tessa has a proven track record in charity setup, scaling, and management, with a deep understanding of the complex challenges and opportunities within the sector.

Setting up and running a charity requires a diverse skill set. Tessa’s experience covers every aspect of this process, from sustainability and outreach to impact assessment and fundraising. She provides strategic advice, coaching, mentoring, and training to help charities, founders and entrepreneurs navigate these challenges and achieve their goals. Her approach combines strategic insight with practical experience, ensuring that organisations can thrive and make a meaningful difference.

Voices for Life Awards: 

·       2023 Bath Life Award, Education Category. 

·       2024 Highly commended, Creativity for Good, Creative Bath Awards 2024. 

Public Speaking 

Empowering others to create opportunities and make the impossible possible is at the heart of Tessa’s approach to public speaking. Drawing from her own experiences—navigating the challenges of a career change, launching a business, and founding in lockdown and scaling up a charity—Tessa delivers insightful and inspiring content that resonates with audiences of all sizes.

Whether you’re looking for an engaging workshop, an impactful presentation, or a motivational speaker for your event, Tessa brings a wealth of knowledge in personal development and career growth. She delves into the ‘how’ of turning the impossible into reality, offering practical strategies and empowering insights.

Tessa’s presentations are highly adaptable, tailored to meet the specific needs and goals of your organisation. From intimate workshops to events with up to 500 attendees, Tessa ensures that every participant leaves with the tools and inspiration they need to create their own opportunities, making the impossible possible.

Book Tessa for your next event: coaching@tessaarmstrong.co.uk

“I am so pleased I signed up to Tessa’s career coaching programme. She has provided me with much-needed direction, support and guidance at a time when I was feeling deflated with my career and lacking in motivation which was impacting my well-being and family life. She quickly identified that we needed to focus on strategies to overcome moments of self-doubt and to improve and maintain my well-being in order to help achieve my goal of changing career direction. I cannot thank Tessa enough and I would recommend her whole-heartedly.” Victoria 27.05.21

Her positive focus, dedication and passion ensure that her clients get the maximum benefit from career coaching straightaway.

• Career change coaching
• Performance coaching (including stress and anxiety)
• Career development coaching
• Self-Awareness, self-esteem, and confidence
• Self-Presentation
• Creative, Arts and Education
• Corporate coaching
• Legal sector coaching
• Returning to work (including career breakers, Mums returning to work, redundancy, sickness).
• Charity set up and scaling, sustainability, outreach, impact assessment, fundraising and partnerships.
• Redundancy Coaching
• Job search coaching (including CV preparation and job applications, interview technique)
• Self-employment.
• Youth coaching/school career coaching
• Young adults career coaching and job search
  
  

Free Consultation

I offer a free consultation to enable you to understand how coaching can help you. During the consultation, we can have a chat about your individual needs and coaching programmes that would best suit you. There is no obligation following the call as we understand that you would like to make the best decision for you.

Coaching Programmes

I offer a variety of coaching programmes that can be individually tailored to meet your needs. One of my most popular programmes is my 'Career Advancement Programme' which enables you to identify and advance the best career for you and includes intensive assessment of sellable skills, interests and values, generation of career aspirations and ideas and job hunting strategies.  I also offer performance coaching programmes and job search/career review programmes.

Fees

My fees for individual coaching start at £60 per hour.

Coaching takes place during regular sessions in person, by telephone or online.

How will I know career coaching will suit me and which programme is best for me?

Contact Tessa now on 07989 343195 or email coaching@tessaarmstrong.co.uk and she would be happy to discuss your needs in a free career coaching consultation and provide more detail about how her career coaching programmes can help you. There is no obligation following the call as she understands that you need to make the best career-related decision for you.

Weekdays from 9am

Testimonials

CAREER CHANGE JOB SUCCESS

“It was great working with you and the conversations really did help. In terms of an update, I’ve been offered that role we were talking about so that’s pretty exciting!”  Stuart, 1.7.22

“Thank you for your advice and guidance and for helping me to focus on my strengths, and on what I can do rather than what I can’t. It definitely helped me to present myself better when applying for my new role and clearly it worked!”  Sarah, 24.1.22

CAREER COACHING WITH TESSA

“I am so pleased that I signed up to Tessa’s career coaching programme. She has provided me with much-needed direction, support and guidance at a time when I was feeling deflated with where I was in my career and lacking in motivation which was impacting on my well-being and family life. She quickly identified that we needed to focus on strategies to overcome moments of self-doubt and to improve and maintain my well-being in order to help achieve my goal of changing career direction. I found the programme hugely rewarding and beneficial and also challenging at times, particularly in the middle of the programme. However, Tessa kept me focussed on short-term steps as well as my long-term goal and I have recently ended the course with a clear strategy and direction. I cannot thank Tessa enough and I would recommend her whole-heartedly, even if you’re just assessing your career options and next stage in your career.” Victoria 27.05.21

NEW JOB FOLLOWING FURLOUGH AND REDUNDANCY

“I committed to a series of sessions with Tessa after being made redundant. At the time I was feeling very anxious, and Tessa helped me recognise how the resulting panic was hindering my attempts to look in a positive way for a new position. Using a combination of reflective and probing questions, and practical suggestions on how to structure my week, we worked together to build my confidence, address the anxieties and think about myself in a more positive way. This really worked, and I became much more effective in my job searches, applications and interviews. I have just been offered a new position, just two days after my last session with Tessa, and had the confidence to negotiate a higher salary and a four-day week. The best thing about Tessa’s programme is that I can see how it would work for just about any career-based situation, it’s focused on the individual and how to reset aims, examine objectives, question assumptions and find solutions – whatever the problem.” (Joanne, 13.02.21)

NEW JOBS IN LOCKDOWN

“Tessa has offered me a very worthwhile coaching experience. After changing my employment due to having children and now with the prospect of them both attending school. I felt motivated to go out to work but I wanted to clarify my career path. I also had long term indecision about a future dream job as an alternative therapy practitioner.

Tessa’s strategy enabled me to keep focused and get clear about my interests, work experience and potential employment. She has coached me to uncover unhelpful long held beliefs/ thought patterns holding me back and given me solutions to work with. From a number of interests we have identified a subject I am passionate about and is a viable, exciting career option.

I have now secured casual employment with a wildlife organisation and booked my place on a naturopathic course. I feel confident in the direction that my career path is unfolding. I highly recommend Tessa’s coaching package’. (Anonymous 18.12.2020)

OTHERS

‘For two years (if not more) I have dithered between getting a full time job or setting up my own business and what that might be. Tessa has helped me identify what will make me happy and what is important to me. We have also done a lot of work on identifying my skills and improving my mind set. I have been afraid of committing to any one thing and Tessa has given me the tools to think more clearly and objectively so that I have felt able to make a decision and so that I can be confident in my choice.

She is very supportive, patient and non-judgemental. I would have no hesitation in recommending her to anyone interested in career coaching.’ (EL, Wiltshire, April 2020)

‘The issue that brought me to coaching was a feeling of not knowing which way to take my job search and a desire to try and get some clarity having read so many different self-help books and information on the internet. I didn’t know where to start and or what to do next so wanted some direction.

Coaching broke down my skills and helped me identify what I was good at and that I needed to concentrate on the positives. My biggest failing is worrying about ‘what if’ and having an (unconscious) negativity to my approach. The coaching helped me to identify it. The next step is to try to overcome it and I can now identify when I am being negative and have the tools to be able to overcome some of those traits. I have also learned more about myself and my skills which I can use to look for new career opportunities.’ (RC, March 2020)

‘My career was not moving in a positive direction, and I had been feeling unhappy after two redundancies I experienced in less than one year. And whilst the redundancies were out of my control, they were a further negative impact on advancing my career, so thought that career coaching would help me see things more clearly.

Working with Tessa was far more than I thought it would be. I am still a work in progress, but she helped me see some underlying patterns of thinking that were having a negative impact on my moving forward. She also provided me with a systematic process of looking at career options and how to move forward to achieve them. I have found a new role with a great company and I am studying in order to bring about the change I want to see in my career. I also feel more confident that I can better handle any bumps in the road…and there are always bumps in the road!‘ (Kate G, April 2019)

"Thanks again for all your help! I really appreciate the work you have done with me." (Hannah Wilkinson, February 2019)

"I just wanted to drop you a line with an update ... I got the job!  'Over the moon' doesn't really feel quite strong enough but suffice to say I am very delighted and excited at this opportunity - it just feels the right thing for me - and my family - on every level!  Above all THANK YOU for the huge part you have played in getting me to where I am." (FO, May 2018)

"I was in a rut with a job hunt that was going nowhere and I signed up for a six session coaching package with Tessa.  It was a quite transformative experience.  My objective was to find a role for the next 10-20 years.  I haven't found that but what I have gained is much better; the coaching vastly improved my confidence and the way that I approach many different aspects of life, not just my career, and it's Tessa's style of coaching that is to thank.  She is friendly but firm, focused on the task and - importantly - she doesn't give many short cuts.  She'll guide you while you do the work yourself.  I had gone into it wanting answers, but being guided, by an objective and impartial observer, through the process of finding those answers myself made the experience much more valuable.  I highly recommend her (and have recommended her to various friends)." (S.K., London, April 2018)

“Just wanted to let you know I’ve accepted a job as Project Coordinator for International Compliance with an eco-company, managing recycling obligations for large companies. Something completely different and I’m really looking forward to it!  Thanks again for your help and encouragement. There is life after law.” Anonymous, (December 2017)

"Thank you so much Tessa. I really feel that I have benefitted from having coaching with you. It has been my light at the end of the tunnel during this time and in that way came at the perfect time." (FM July 2016)

"Tessa coached me through a difficult crossroads in my legal career. I thoroughly recommend her as a coach. Her approach to coaching is sympathetic and supportive but at the same time realistic and commercial. There are times when it is extremely helpful to have somebody objective to support you and at times like that Tessa has the skills needed to help.” (Anonymous, January 2016)

"I just wanted to say thank you for your time and all the guidance you have given me. Your templates are practical and help me to focus and explore. In speaking with you, it's been helpful for me to normalise the things I have been/am dealing with.  I can then face them and take steps to move on. Thank you for your friendly, encouraging, practical and professional approach. It has been challenging at times but I am glad that I committed to and undertook the coaching programme. I have definitely benefitted from it and I would recommend you to others". (Anonymous, December 2013)