Client Stories

Client stories

What changes when a responsibility comes off your list, or when there’s finally room in the diary to think? Here, clients describe working with Penny Cook in their own words.

Making room for thinking time

Very many thanks for this Penny, the Review document is extremely helpful.Read the full story

Very many thanks for this Penny, the Review document is extremely helpful. I have come a long way since I first reached out to you, I was long-term stressed, out of balance and I had lost my perspective on the joys of life. You have taught me to understand my values, what a monumental first step! Understanding that so much stress comes from conflict between core values was a revelation for me and is an incredibly useful perspective for understanding stress, when it comes. The next biggest thing for me was the rigorous planning of my week in blocks, so I can take better control of my week, plan in 'thinking time' and better stay on top of events. This is a super-helpful lesson. Finally getting rid of responsibilities that don't serve me or I just don't have time for. This is harder because it challenges my integrity values, I am not doing them as fast as you recommended but the momentum is there. Thank you Penny, you have given me what I needed, put me back on track, I've refound the joy of life, you've made me more resilient and I will be forever grateful for that.

— John Corse, Managing Director

In clients’ own words

A calendar I can finally live with

I just wanted to tell you that I'm loving your system since I don't think I even went through the whole PDF document when I made the blocks or the different subjects and then…Read the full story

I just wanted to tell you that I'm loving your system since I don't think I even went through the whole PDF document when I made the blocks or the different subjects and then thought about which time I should spend or I want to spend on things. Things got so clear and then I had to cross a lot of time away because it didn't add up. And now after that I filled my whole agenda with these blocks I want to do, I want to live in my life. And now every day I think for the last three weeks, you know, I look at my calendar, I know what I'm going to do. I have in my notion, I have all the just the to-do list which belongs to the box. So I just open the box and I see what I have to do. And then when I wake up and I don't like the box which is on my calendar, I just move it. And this system made it so easy and it works so well. You really have to sell it to people because I think that is the biggest problem when you're a mom. You have already so much on your mind and if you have to, well, maybe not for every mom, but definitely for someone who's an entrepreneur, but if you also have to wake up in the morning and have to think about what you're going to do that day or what you feel like doing because you have to work with your energy if you're working for yourself. And now you just look at the blocks and like, I don't like this, but then you just pick another block and put it there. Yeah, I really love it. I feel so calm and I just needed to tell you that I'm really really happy. Yeah, you made me really happy.

— Anonymous client

Planning a week that can change

Thanks to Penny, I really have so much clarity on my mind.Read the full story

Thanks to Penny, I really have so much clarity on my mind. I'm a mom and I'm also an entrepreneur and sometimes I feel overwhelmed with all the different tasks and I don't know what to do. I wake up in the morning and I feel like what should I do? And Penny's system really helped me with that. Now I have everything in blocks. I know what to do and which sometimes when it doesn't fit, I just move a block and work on a different subject or a different part of my life. And I really love it because it's not only work you're tackling, it's everything. It's your life, it's how you want to spend time, how you want to spend time with your family, with your friends, with your child. And it's a really easy system to get adapted to it. It fits for your own schedule. I've been using it now for six weeks and I really like it because I was so overwhelmed with all of the different subjects and now I finally know what to do. I wake up in the morning and I see, oh yeah, this is on my schedule. And now I'm able to work on so many different projects together which I like to do and it fits my schedule as well. So I thank a lot Penny for doing this to me.

— Anonymous client

Choosing which board roles to keep

So what has this training given me the headspace to be able to do?Read the full story

So what has this training given me the headspace to be able to do? Well, one of my issues that I was facing that brought me into this coaching was that I had multiple different positions, boards, etc., and was struggling to find time for them all. And one of the things that Penny encouraged me to do was to shed some of them, particularly those that perhaps weren't giving me as much satisfaction. And I did, but at the same time I took on more roles and some more senior roles, but I now had the space in which to do that. And they do give me satisfaction and I'm very glad that I have them. So giving me the space to acquire more responsibilities was one, but also I'm now contemplating a serious acquisition that I wouldn't have been able to do before. And I've also understood that it might be time for me to let go of some of my operational responsibilities and employ a senior Chief Operations Officer to do that. And that allows me to step back into the space that gives me more joy at this time and to give me the space for other opportunities too.

— Anonymous client

I learnt more in the first four weeks with Penny than I did in 4 years with a psychological therapist

— Lise Marie, Norway

I don't know how she did it, but Penny changed my entire mindset around my thoughts. I learnt so much so quickly working with her

— Amanda Saunders, UK

She asks the right questions and comes up with a strategy you can actually work with.

— Anna Lund, USA

Whatever happens, you will finish your conversation feeling empowered to make a change, and ready to finally achieve your goals.

— Marie, CEO & Entrepreneur

You made me more resillient and I will forever be grateful for that

— John Corse, Managing Director

Overall I am feeling more alive, calmer, more present, less frazzled, most definitely less tired come evenings, less of that 'pressure cooker'/ head about to explode feeling.

— Anonymous client

From Penny’s coaching practice

These 2 accounts are Penny’s recollections of individual coaching engagements.

Making room on Fridays

One client came to me feeling constantly stressed. She was doing well in her work, but struggling with motivation and finding little time for anything else. She was having difficulty enjoying what she had built. By the end of our three-month engagement, she had Fridays free in her weekly diary while continuing the same amount of work. She was also exercising more consistently and making room for personal priorities that had felt difficult to act on.

— Penny Cook

Taking a sabbatical

Another client was taking a sabbatical from work she had not previously thought possible.

— Penny Cook

What would you like to change in your own week?

If one of these experiences sounds familiar, you can read how private coaching works or tell me what you’d like to explore in a conversation.

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