Testimonials

The CIISA set up team took part in a mapping day session with Carrie Birmingham. It was a unique experience that enabled us to think differently about our professional challenges in a safe and structured environment. As a network of associates working together in a relatively new way, this was a bonding experience as well as unlocking alternative ways of approaching problem solving. Only one of the team had taken part in an experience like this before, so we arrived without a shared expectation of how the mapping day would work.

We came away with fresh insights and it led us on to making some key decisions later that week, flushing out and prioritising some things that we may not have come to without Carrie’s expert intervention.

We really appreciated Carrie’s expertise and care to help us develop a programme which was bespoke to The Place and felt strongly embedded in our vision and values.  Carrie is able to flex her approach to suit different participants and support them in their learning journey.  

Coaching with Carrie helped me feel more certain about what I wanted and to make an active choice about promotion.  She helped me to make micro changes to how I work and also helping me settle my nerves before big pitches and new projects.  Some of her methods were a bit strange, using my body but they really helped.

My coaching relationship with Carrie was incredibly beneficial, and I have carried our lessons with me since. She is honest, knowledgable, helpful and very insightful. Will push you outside of your comfort zone. Will keep you accountable. Will expect commitment. And will call out BS. Excellent coach, experienced professional and an expert in her field

Carrie has a knack of putting you at ease and really listens from the onset. Her ability to do this, whilst remaining professional and neutral in her approach, was crucial in enabling me to lean into her process in such an honest and considered way. Throughout, Carrie was available to guide, reassure, and offer great advice. Her communication is clear and direct, but empathetic. I am pleased to say that the outcome of our work together is and remains to be very positive. I feel a lot of gratitude for her support and wholeheartedly recommend Carrie for any people problems in the workplace.

I’ve known Carrie professionally for just over a decade now, both in a corporate and SME environment. This is important, as she brings a wide and diverse skill set to multiple people problems that arise through most business channels. Be it acquisition all the way through to transformational consulting. I’d urge anyone who has projects or problems that relate to solving people issues to let her be involved.

Your expertise, experience and guidance around this sensitive area has been invaluable – I for one am very appreciative. I’ve valued your approach and how you have challenged me to think quite differently (you may not have known you were doing this)‎ about how we move some of the organisational culture work forward.

Carrie helped myself and my fellow founders to develop a new way of working after previous methods were no longer delivering.  Carrie helped my team to give themselves permission to talk about what they hoped to get from the business personally as well as what they could contribute, and to encourage us all to slow down and listen rather than be in constant ‘doing’ mode which had eroded our ability to communicate as people rather than ‘founders’. Carrie doesn’t shirk the tough stuff while still managing to keep a positive focus during her sessions. She is also practically minded for when actual tactics are required not just strategies. 

Carries workshop was very helpful for our whole management team to better understand how feedback can be given in such a way that it strengthens relationships and motivates people. I am delighted to have worked with Carrie and would highly recommend her coaching

Over the last 12 months I have worked with Carrie in both Group workshops as well as one to one coaching. The sessions that Carrie has facilitated for us have been fantastic and we achieved so much more than we initially set out to. Although there is always a clear agenda and set goal, rather than being regimented sessions where we have focused on theories and how to apply them, Carrie adapts to the flow of the discussions which has always enabled us to get to the heart of the challenges we are facing. This has been the same with my one to one coaching, where we have tackled significant personal choices that I have had to make and I am sure my career will be much stronger as a result of the discussions that we have had.

Carrie and I have worked together on a number of really tricky projects.  Even in extremely stressful scenarios, she is able to balance professionalism and extensive subject matter expertise with a calm manner and good humour.  Her counsel is always on point, and I’ve recommended her for a number of coaching appointments , I won’t hesitate to do the same again soon.

Carrie created a Leadership programme that felt well crafted and focused exactly on what we needed at Paragon.  She combined theory with super practical exercises so that we always left the programme with something new to try or do.  Carrie is hands down the best facilitator I have ever worked with, each time she adapted how she worked with us to help us improve our leadership.  In particular she helped us build trust in our cross business group that helps us work more efficiently every day.

The nice thing about coaching is that it’s a safe space to test ideas and thought processes. That’s because my coach has no pre-set opinion of anyone I work with. Carrie places no judgement on why I’m in a particular headspace (or not) and, as a result, I can have really honest conversations with myself.  Coaching isn’t about opinions – it’s about testing thought processes.  It has enabled me to thrive, find my voice and work more strategically

Carrie is a thought-provoking, fantastic mirror to hold up in front of yourself to see more clearly the reality of how you operate as a leader.  She went above and beyond during her time working with my colleagues and I, getting to know us as individuals and as the collective and quickly grasping the challenges and opportunities amongst us.  I will always value the time I have spent working with her and sincerely hope to get the chance to do it again in the future.

Coaching with Carrie has been a key part of me achieving the promotion I wanted.  She has helped me to navigate tricky situations, broaden my horizons and take on wider responsibilities.  As a result I was able to avoid getting bogged down, wasting time on less important things and have shifted from being a manager to a leader.

Carrie has provided us with highly professional, cost effective and proficient HR advice on a number of recent issues. Her personal approach is reassuring and supportive, and she is always available to discuss the matters at hand. Carrie is super-efficient, providing us with transparent action plans, which are regularly reviewed, supplying multiple options for how to proceed. She’s happy to let us know when issues fall outside her skillset, but follows up with recommendations for relevant/alternative expert suppliers. I have nothing but praise for the services Carrie offers and we will continue to work with her in the future.

Carrie was able to get a grasp of our situation, and partnered with us to enable our HR community to think and act differently

As a mentor and coach Carrie’s expertise was invaluable in supporting me through a career transition. My first time working at board / Senior leadership level in a rapidly growing and changing business. Carrie provided advice and guidance which I could relate back to the workplace and practical tools which I now use every day. I now feel more confident as a leader, and would highly recommend Carrie to anyone looking for coaching at all levels.

We achieved more with Carrie in half a day, than we had done with multiple other off site meetings over the last couple of years.  She gets a handle on what you need, and can move quickly.

Carrie is utterly excellent in every way, from the design of a workshop, to the pacing through a day, to navigating tricky points and pushing back challenges when you need it.  I would recommend Carrie highly.  

Carrie is an engaging coach with a positive approach, her support had be invaluable.  She has expanded my frame of reference and contextualised my issues.  she helped me to reduce the enormity of my challenges and add another dimension to situations I was facing  

Carrie is a professional in every way. Her preparation for her talk for the This Can Happen workplace mental health conference was thorough and her delivery was superb. The audience were hanging on her every word. It was a pleasure to work with her!

Carrie’s support has been priceless at a time where we’ve required a new direction. With a kind ear and a straight forward approach she brought knowledge and guidance that benefited a great change for us. Even though she still uses post-its, her approach is future proof.

I have worked with Carrie all the way through my time at NI. I have found her to be a consumate HR professional equally at ease with championing organisational change and development programs as well as effectively managing the more transcational aspects of HR such as restructuring. Carrie is a no none sense HR leader whose councel I often relied on to tackle the organisational challenges specific to NI. Carrie is effective, knowledgeable and was a key member of our leadership team.

I have worked with Carrie for several months and found her a great partner for our business, providing valuable insight and advice on a range of subjects relating to people and organisations. Carrie excels in getting to the nub of any issue and providing level-headed, unambiguous and actionable advice.

Carrie delivered an excellent training session for my team. She worked closely with me to ensure the session was tailored to our current and future needs to support our work and my vision for the team. Her delivery style is extremely engaging and she is able to share valuable knowledge and experience to add value to the content. I had great feedback from everyone who took part.

I recently introduced Carrie to one of my contacts as ‘Not your usual HR Person’. His response after engaging with her? “You were not wrong!”

And that sort of sums Carrie up. She is incredibly knowledgeable, credible and give really good advice – sometimes the best advice in it is what you probably don’t really want to hear…

So, if you are a start up, a VC with a new investment , CEO with an interesting challenge or just want somebody to tell you how it is and then help you work out how you get yourself out of a particular ‘challenge’ then Carrie is the person you call.

I was blown away by Carrie’s ability to help us develop awareness, truly absorb it, and then work to find a way forward.   Her presence was sensitive and challenging when it needed to be. She held the frame in a way that won everyone’s trust and you handled difficult topics with respectful lightness, bringing humour and calming energy. Truly amazing things were achieved and so I am extremely likely to recommend her to others.

Carrie delivered an insightful workshop for our team which made us all stop and think. Her ability to respond to our brief and deliver something so tailored to our business was second to none. Just days after the session we were incorporating her thinking into new business proposals and are already seeing the benefits commercially

Carrie’s unique experience and skills set made her the perfect choice to collaborate with Sheridans on a recent sensitive client matter requiring urgent specialist HR support. Carrie was hugely responsive and gained the client’s trust very quickly – she demonstrated an innate ability to build trust and confidence in a particularly challenging environment, and the client was put quickly at ease by her calm guidance and pragmatic, but tenacious advice.We wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Carrie for other client situations where incisive, strategic expertise is not only desirable but essential

Carrie is a rare beast: someone who has a natural strength and fluency in working with both a high degree of challenge and a high level of support.  Many can do one or the other; some fewer can switch between the two.  Very few consultants and facilitators have a natural style that is both, simultaneously.  She has the ability to stretch people around her to achieve their best; and she does this with humour and positivity.  Carrie brings the best out of people

From the driver to the most senior director, Carrie brings calm, clarity and convincing proposals for improving a situation, no matter how bad.  She combines a natural sympathy with a shrewd and strategic focus on solutions, and I know from experience that she really is one of the best people to have by your side in a crisis and its aftermath.

If you’re looking for someone to listen to you but also to challenge you, Carrie fits the bill admirably. Sympathetic, but also firm in debate, she has been an enormously valuable HR executive at News UK. Anyone who can thrive and achieve amid working for a fast-paced media group like ours, where is HR is rarely linear and so often unpredictable, is to be cherished and respected

Carrie is an empathetic, hard working and passionate manager of change in tough organisations and environments. We worked together for three years on the digitisation of News Uk’s Commercial team. It wouldn’t have been delivered on time and under budget without her

At a time of ongoing challenge and pressure, Carrie was a constant source of strength and guidance, neither flinching from difficult decisions nor failing to remember that looking after people was always the number one priority. She handled the difficulties and stresses with great spirit and skill.