More client perspectives
“From the outside, leadership can look confident and composed. What most people don’t see is the life experience sitting just beneath the surface.
When I started working with Mari, I was in one of the hardest seasons of my life. Our leadership team was going through significant conflict, and at the same time I was navigating a divorce. People I had trusted and supported for years suddenly felt like they had turned on me. I felt attacked, betrayed, and incredibly alone.
I had helped many of the people in that room grow into the seats they held at the leadership table, so when tensions surfaced it cut deeply. I was reacting emotionally. At times I lost my temper. At other times I broke down in tears. Looking back, I realize how much of that reaction came from the fact that my identity had become closely tied to my work and to the approval of the people around me.
Mari helped me begin to untangle that.
Through our work together, I started to recognize how much our life experiences and childhood wounds shape the way we show up as leaders. Success does not erase those things. They often sit quietly underneath the surface until conflict brings them forward. Mari helped me see how easily feedback felt like a personal attack and how much I had been seeking approval without even realizing it.
One of the biggest shifts for me was learning to see the people around the table differently. Instead of only seeing titles and roles, I began to look for the person behind them. Each of us is shaped by our own experiences, pain, and desire to be valued. In moments of leadership conflict, we are often reacting from deeper places than the conversation in front of us.
I am still doing the work, but I lead differently now. I pause instead of reacting and listen to feedback without attaching it to my worth. I am less controlled by the emotions in the room and more grounded in who I am.
Mari did not just help our leadership team communicate better. She helped me understand myself and the people around me in a much deeper way. That insight has made me a stronger leader and a healthier person.
Kelly Bozeman
Chief Strategy Officer | Aulsbrook Law Firm | Texas
“I have been working with Mari on Leadership and Mindset for 6 months and it has been transformative.
Her ability to analyse a problem, and then work through exercises that literally re-shape your mindset, is incredible.
Highly recommended!”
Oliver Lowrie
Director | Ackroyd Lowrie | Architects | London
“I wish that I’d met Mari 10 years ago. Long-standing issues had become a serious roadblock to my future success. Trying to resolve them with coaches and consultants who turned out to be little more than charlatans and an extensive library of “shelf-help” left me increasingly frustrated fighting a losing battle. Mari has a rare combination: an ability to get to the root causes of your problems and techniques for resolving them that work. Rapidly and permanently.”
“I began working with Mari after witnessing the transformative impact she had on my wife and business partner. This journey has been both deeply rewarding and challenging.
In the world of business, our weaknesses and personal issues often come to the surface, leaving us to question their origins. Mari has an exceptional ability to guide you through understanding these issues, offering insights and a clear path to resolution. Though the work is not easy, it is immensely worthwhile.
If you seek to grow both personally and professionally, clearing out your emotional baggage is essential. Mari provides the support and expertise needed to make that possible.”
Duane Burkholder
CEO | Burkholder Management | Carolina | USA
“Working with Mari has been truly transformational for me. When I first came to Mari, I was in one of the darkest periods of my life. PMDD had taken so much from me, my clarity, my confidence, my joy. I was trying to hold myself together while also trying to find my footing as a co‑founder, a Mam and a partner. The pressure, the expectations, and the weight of old trauma all collided at once, and I was drowning in self doubt. I didn’t recognise myself anymore. I felt overwhelmed, disconnected from myself, and my life. I didn’t know where to turn, only that I couldn’t continue as I was.
Mari met me exactly where I was, stepping into the darkness with me. From the very beginning, she offered much more than therapy; she gave me steady guidance, practical solutions, and a sense of emotional safety I hadn’t felt in a very long time. During those early weeks, when I was truly unwell, she was consistently there, supportive, calm, and unwavering. Her presence made it possible to keep going.
Slowly, piece by piece, she helped me rebuild. She held space for my pain but also for my potential. Mari helped me rebuild my sense of self worth, piece by piece. She guided me through past trauma with compassion, helping me understand that I wasn’t broken I was someone who had endured and deserved to rise. At the same time, she helped me strengthen my identity as a leader and co‑founder, showing me that I had every right to take up space, make decisions, and trust my own voice. Mari didn’t “fix” me; she guided me back to myself. She showed me how to step into leadership with clarity and conviction.
Mari didn’t just help me survive those moments when I was drowning in self‑doubt she helped me see who I could become. With her support both my personal and professional life began to transform. I began to recognise myself again: as a valuable leader, a partner, a Mam, and a person who is enough.
Today, I’m in an amazing place: grounded, confident, and truly proud of how far I’ve come. Although I no longer feel lost, Mari and I continue to work together because I’m committed to honing my leadership skills and bringing more clarity and structure into my work life. Now it’s no longer about survival; it’s about growth.
Mari hasn’t just changed my life she has helped me reclaim it. I will forever be grateful. I could not recommend her more highly.”
Faye Fox
Director & Co-founder | Transform your training | UK
“I started my journey by reading Mari's book - It Begins With You - and so much resonated for me that the next natural step was to work directly with Mari.
The journey has cleared a lot of negativity so that I now feel my self worth, am at ease public speaking and am in control of home, work and my relationships. It is an investment in yourself that repays you in many joyful and unexpected ways.”
Lucy Kane
Owner and co-founder | Time & Leisure Magazine | London
“I worked with Mari to help me get clarity on where I wanted to take my business but I ended up going way deeper than that! She helped me uncover ways that I was blocking myself in my business and also in my personal life.
It’s not one size fits all with Mari. She works with you as an individual. I would highly recommend her to anyone wanting to make progress in any area of their life.”
Matthew Conway
Director | Dipple Conway | Norwich
“I began working with Mari about a year ago at the suggestion of my employer. Being completely honest I was rather sceptical at the outset having completed a number of leadership coaching courses where much of the benefit of them wore off quickly as the busyness of life swamped the effort it took to adopt the learnings. However, having read Mari's amazing book It Begins With You and had an initial call with her I liked the sound of her different approach to developing leaders and thought it worth giving it a go.
Nearly a year on I am so pleased I took the opportunity to work with Mari. It has been an amazing and empowering experience. With what feels like little effort and only a few tweaks here and there in my thinking and approach I feel more confident, able and happier in my role. Situations I used to dread I now take in my stride and even almost enjoy! I don't feel like I have had to make major changes to the way I act or think but on reflection my mindset has significantly changed for the better with little conscious effort.
Mari has been amazing at understanding the issues, listening and talking them through and offering long-term, life changing empowering solutions. without me feeling like I have had to do any heavy lifting. I highly recommend working with her.”
Ralph Peters
Head of rural | Property and estate management | Scotland
A private conversation
If you're navigating complex decisions, pressure or challenges across leadership, teams, boards or life, a private conversation can help clarify what comes next.
