Set out below are the terms and conditions for working with Sherry Bevan Consulting Limited, trading as “The Confident Mother” or with Sherry Bevan for coaching services and workshops. I’ve done my best to keep the language as straightforward as possible.
What is coaching?
Coaching is a one-to-one relationship. It is a way of supporting the individual in a non-directive way. Coaching supports you to identify your goals, explore the options and the actions to take to reach those goals. Coaching will:
- help you to clarify exactly what it is that you want to achieve
- evaluate how possible it is to achieve it
- help you identify any obstacles you may have to overcome along the way
- look at all your options
- support you to take action to achieve those important goals
How does coaching work?
Through the use of powerful and effective questioning along with coaching ‘tools’, you will be able to identify what is currently working well in your life or career, what is not working so well, what you want in your life and how to go about getting those things. In a typical coaching session, I will lead you through the GROW model.
G – Decide explore the goal or topic for the session
R – Explore the reality of your current situation (similar experiences, skills, resources available)
O – Brainstorm the options to take you closer to your goal
W – Agree the way forward.
Sometimes I might suggest activities to do outside the sessions or use the session in a different way.
What is a goal?
A goal is something that you want to have or want to be in the future. Effective goals are:
- future focused
- measurable
- within your control
- written down
- positively stated
- personal
- written in the present tense
- possible and achievable
What happens during a coaching session?
- You decide the topic or goal to be explored.
- You decide the specific actions that you will commit to.
- You will be listened to carefully and respectfully.
- You will be supported during all the sessions.
- You will not be judged nor criticised.
- You will not be told what to do.
- Together we explore any negative or limiting beliefs or language that we become aware of.
What happens during a Quick Fix call
When you book a one-off ‘Quick Fix’ call e.g. to fix your CV or review your Linked, you are paying for career consultancy and advice, rather than coaching, although I will use coaching tools to elicit the information needed to provide the service.
What is the role of the coach?
As your coach, I will be there to encourage, motivate and support you. You will be listened to and respected but I won’t tell you what you should do or give you advice.
Coaching is NOT counselling, psychotherapy, mentoring or teaching. As a coach, I have absolute faith that you do have all the answers within, and that you are the expert in your own life. A coach can help you unlock doors in your mind that maybe you didn’t know were closed. I truly believe you can do ANYTHING you believe you can do. You unearth that belief when you trust in the process.
What’s the format for individual coaching sessions?
Please see your agreement for specific details of your package. The first session will include time to explore your goal and vision in depth. This gives you clarity and focus so that you make the most of future sessions. It is also an opportunity to answer any questions you may have before starting.
You get the most out of your coaching when you prepare in advance. At the beginning of each session you will be asked to review the actions from the previous session. Then set a goal or focus for the current session. I will invite you take notes. At the end of the session, I will ask you to review your goal and summarise the actions you have decided to take.
The Confident Mother uses Zoom to run the coaching sessions. This gives the ability to record the sessions if you would like to listen back to a recording. All recordings are deleted after two weeks. If you want to keep for longer, you have the ability to download as an MP3 file.
Zoom is a bit like Skype. It takes a couple of minutes to set itself up on your PC the first time that you use it.
If you have included a VIP Day in your package, the coach and the client will agree the venue in advance.
If you are booking a one day workshop, you will be informed of the timings and location in advance.
How frequent are the coaching sessions?
To keep the momentum, coaching programme sessions are typically every two weeks to give you enough time to take the actions you decide on in the session. Of course, sometimes it might be necessary to have a longer gap between sessions, otherwise, we’ll aim to have a session every two weeks.
How do I book a session?
At the end of every session, we’ll agree the date and time of the next session. Of course if you prefer, we can book all the dates/times in advance.
Fees
The client agrees to pay all fees in advance, unless where explicitly agreed in writing in advance.
You are responsible for all travel, accommodation and other subsistence costs and all other expenses incurred by you in connection with your participation in the Services.
Timekeeping
It is the client’s responsibility to be punctual and to keep to the pre-booked time for each coaching appointment.
If you are late for an appointment, the session will start when you arrive and finish at the scheduled time regardless of when it started. If, however this is recurring, the agreement may be terminated.
If you are late for a workshop, the workshop will start and finish at the advertised times. You will not be entitled to a refund. The coach may at her discretion offer you the opportunity to catch up on any activities or exercises you may have missed.
Cancellations
Regular coaching sessions may be cancelled or rescheduled up to 7 days before the scheduled date. Sessions cancelled within 7 days may still be charged and payable by the client.
A VIP Day may be cancelled or rescheduled up to 4 weeks before the booked date. If you cancel a VIP Day on or within 4 weeks, the coach will pass on any venue cancellation fees.
A workshop may be cancelled or rescheduled up to 4 weeks before the booked date. If you cancel your place on a workshop within two weeks, you are entitled to a 50% refund.
If you cancel with less than two weeks notice, there are no refunds however you are welcome to send somebody in your place as long as you inform me in writing in advance.
If you do not attend a coaching appointment without notice, the coach has discretion to reschedule without penalty and free of charge. However if you miss one or more appointments without notice, you will be charged the full rate for each session booked and not attended.
If you consistently cancel or rearrange pre-booked sessions, the coach has discretion to terminate the agreement.
My duties as a coach
I shall provide the Services with due care, skill and ability.
Otherwise than as set out in above, all warranties and representations are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. Be aware that due to the nature of coaching, I do not guarantee any particular results.
If for any reason I am unable to provide the Services at the agreed time (due to illness, traffic problems or any other reasons), I will provide you with as much notice as possible and we shall reschedule the Session for a time mutually agreed.
Termination of agreement
Abusive and /or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated and may lead to the termination of the agreement with immediate effect.
As part of the ethical code of practice, the coach has the right to suspend the coaching agreement and may refer you the client to another professional, should the coach feel that coaching is not suitable for you.
If the client wishes to terminate the agreement, you may do so in writing after the initial term of three months. If the client’s payments are in arrears at the time of cancellation, you are required to pay these with immediate effect.
The coaching relationship
The role of the coach is to support the client and to facilitate acceleration in achieving their goals with the knowledge that the client is ultimately responsible for their own successes. As the relationship between coach and client is built on honesty, trust and transparency, the client will receive feedback on their progress and should inform the coach if they are not satisfied with the level of coaching received.
Confidentiality
The information shared between the coach and the client will remain confidential and the coach undertakes not to share this information with anyone at any time, unless specifically authorised by the client.
Though of course, this restriction does not apply to:
- any use or disclosure authorised by you or required by law;
- or any use or disclosure which I in my absolute discretion consider necessary or advisable in order to prevent illegal acts or harm to you or to others;
- or any information which is already in, or comes into, the public domain otherwise than through my unauthorised disclosure.
Privacy
I am committed to protecting your privacy. I’ll only use the information you provide to process and fulfil your coaching. See the privacy statement for more information.
Data protection and intellectual property
(This is the boring legal bit but necessary to protect both of us)
- You acknowledge and agree that your personal data will be processed by and on behalf of me as part of me providing you with the Services.
- I am the owner or the licensee of all Intellectual Property Rights and all other rights in the materials and content that I use in relation to the Services and nothing in this agreement or otherwise shall operate to transfer the ownership of the Intellectual Property Rights in such material or content to you or to any other person.
- You may not at any time copy, reproduce, publish in any form, share, sell, dispose of or otherwise make available to a third party in any way any of the content or materials that I use in the Sessions.
- I grant to you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sub licensable revocable licence to use all or any of the content or material used for the purposes for which the Services were provided only.
- You may not without my prior written consent make any audio or visual recordings of all or any part of the individual coaching sessions or VIP Day.
About Sherry Bevan
I have been running my own independent coaching & consultancy practice since April 2012. Previously I worked in professional services for more than 25 years. I am the founder of The Confident Mother which is all about celebrating and loving life as a woman and as a mother. I help ambitious women get clear on what they really want, then find the confidence to do it.
For me, your confidence circle has 5 elements: contribution, wellness, work, family and the feminine. Most women come to me because they want help with work (whether that’s career or business). However, during the coaching sessions, we will inevitably touch on the other elements, in particular contribution and wellness, which I see as the foundations of your confidence.
My own journey has had its ups and downs including a successful career in technology, burnout in my early 30s, promotion while on maternity leave, near fatal head injury, severe postnatal depression, redundancy, launching my own business in 2012, publication of my first book in 2015 and breast cancer diagnosis in 2018.
This has given me an inner strength and confidence which allows me to nurture and inspire women like you so that you get the clarity you need to make life-changing decisions with confidence and ease. I am an action-taker and I know exactly how to help you overcome the confidence blocks and inertia that are keeping you stuck.
If you have other questions, please ask. Otherwise I really look forward to working with you.