I am not a teacher: only a fellow traveller of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead – ahead of myself as well as you.

George Bernard Shaw

So why creatives?

My background was copywriting – both inhouse, agency and freelance, so I have an understanding of how the industry works.  I’m very used to helping businesses become interesting and memorable on the page and it’s not so different when you’re out and about getting your message across…

Providing, of course, that you’ve clearly defined your target audience, their problem, your offer and have some good credibility-boosting stories.  And being a writer, crafting a good story is one of my favourite activities.

Why work with me?

Well if you’ll forgive a bit of horn-tooting…

• I’ve got a proven track record – in terms of the results generated through workshops and individual sessions
  
• I’ve got tried and tested formulas that work
• And I’ve learnt the hard way so you don’t have to.

Years ago I used to struggle with developing new business.   Networking in particular.  Not knowing where to go, who to talk to or what to say. Frustrated with my distinct lack of progress and wasted efforts, I knew that I was going to have to do something different if I was going to make a success of my business.

So I studied with some experts, attended many training sessions and read a lot. One day with my nose in a book, a quote leapt out at me, “Great networkers don’t need to do much selling, because many people come to them, ready to buy.” So said Dr Ivan Misner (Godfather of Networking)

Ready to buy?

Very soon I was networking morning noon and night and over time bringing in a reasonable amount of business. I’d got over my fear of walking into a room full of strangers and was able to easily answer the what-do-you-do question.

I was also a caffeine addict.

One day after I’d been buzzing about, I realised that I had no actual plan for all this activity.  Yes I was meeting lots of nice people but wanted to make sure that at some point these  people were going to be able to help me as I intended to help them.

And let’s face it you can’t help everyone all the time.  So I decided to form deeper relationships with a select few.  That way I could really understand who they were looking for, what I could listen out for and how I could create opportunities for them.

I began to learn the ways of referral marketing.  And herbal tea drinking.

This became a much more cost and time effective way to find new business. Ivan was right.  My ideal types of people were coming to me ready to buy.  And just in case you’re wondering who my ideal types of clients are…

My badges

• I am an Associate member of the Association for Coaching. This means I’ve been vetted by experts and have clocked up many hours of coaching. It’s the largest and most recognised coaching body in the UK.

• I completed my International Coaching Federation accredited coaching programme in July 2008 – with Coaching Development in London.

• I completed my master NLP practitioner course in May 2009 and practitioner June 2007 – with the communication skills experts - John Seymour and Associates in Bristol as well as NLP Masterclass in October 2008.

• I am an active member of the University of Bristol’s Critical Coaching group. This is a highly respected group of very experienced coaches. We ask, answer, discuss and research hot coaching topics. It is run by Dr Daniel Doherty and Professor David Megginson

• I have regular coaching supervision from Gary Haslam. His invaluable support has meant that I have grown into a much more effective, rigorous and intuitive coach. He is one of the country’s top coaches – working at board level both nationally and internationally.

• My name is Melissa Kidd.

This year also sees an exciting development….

Introducing Emily Stokes Hotchkiss as a new associate.

Emily’s own career has been entirely about communication and creativity. Graduating from Oxford University with a degree in German and Russian, she went on to spend a decade in account management and strategic brand planning at large and small London advertising agencies including St Luke’s, RKCR Young & Rubicam, Wunderman, Rapier, McCann Erickson and Publicis.

Her time in advertising saw her developing creative communication strategies and running creative workshops for companies such as Renault, PepsiCo, HSBC, The Automobile Association, British Airways, American Express and the Royal National Institute for the Blind. As a co-owner of St Luke’s, she also helped the Electoral Commission to tap into the psychology of political participation and to increase voter turnout in the 2005 General Election.

Emily then went on to complete postgraduate training in creative facilitation methods at the Institute for Arts and in client-centred psychology at The Metanoia Institute. A qualified coach and associate member of the Association for Coaching, Emily has been employed to coach such diverse groups as excluded teens at South Camden Community School and advertising executives at McCann Erickson.

She runs the Creativity Coach Ltd