
Get to know me.
I'm Vanessa May - Master Certified Coach (MCC), founder of Vanessa May Ltd., and someone who’s walked the path from high-functioning pressure to grounded, courageous presence.
With over 20 years of experience, I’ve coached executives, leaders, and teams to move beyond people-pleasing, avoidance, frustration, perfectionism, and burnout, and into leadership that’s rooted in truth, clarity, and self-trust.
My training includes certifications from The Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring, the Co-Active Training Institute, ORSC, HeartMath, The Leadership Circle, and Highly Sensitive Persons. I bring a trauma-informed lens, deep nervous system awareness, and a lot of lived experience to this work.
Why I do this work.
For a long time, I thought the answer was to be better.
Better trained. Better prepared. Better at managing everyone else’s needs.
I had the qualifications, the structure, the systems — and still, something felt off.
I was succeeding by most standards, but inside I felt like I was coping, not living.
Like I was performing my life instead of being in it.
I kept thinking the next course, the next habit, the next bit of self-discipline would finally make it all click. But the more I tried to perfect myself, the more disconnected I became.
The shift happened when I stopped trying to prove I was “enough” and started accepting myself. When I began leading from who I am, the quirky free range bird.
That’s why I do this work.
Because I know how exhausting it is to work against your true nature, and how powerful it is to finally stop.
What I believe.
I believe success should include you.
I believe clarity and calm are just as valuable as strategy and drive.
I believe you don’t need to prove your worth, you need space to remember it.
I believe you can lead powerfully without losing yourself.
And I believe the most meaningful changes happen when we stop performing and start telling the truth.
Education
2024
Master Certified Coach
2023
Leadership Circle Profile 360 Certification
2020
The Power of Embodied Transformation
2019
Human Synergistics Certification of Accreditation
2019
Organisational Relationship Systems Certified Coach (ORSC)
2019
Emotional Freedom Technique and Matrix Reimprinting Practitioner (EFTMRA)
2018
Organisational Relationship Systems Coaching (ORSC) Training Series
2018
Mental Health First Aider Training, MHFA
2018
Kilmann Diagnostic Training in Conflict
2017
Vinyasa Flow Yoga RYT 200 Hours
2017
Breathwork Practitioner
2016
Licensed Heartmath Coach
2015
Shamanic Practitioner
2013
Professional Certified Coach
2012
Realise 2 Accreditation Practitioner Programme
2012
Associate Certified Coach ICF
2011
Co-active Leadership Programme
2009
Certified Professional Co-active Coach
2007
Advanced Coaching Supervision
2007
EQi Accreditation Programme
2007
NLP Business Practitioner Programme
2004
Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring OSCM Oxford Brookes University
1999
MSc Organisational Behaviour Birkbeck University
1994
Managing Human Resources Kingston University