What the Papers Say...

Telegraph and Argus
3rd January 2007

'Helping You Reach Your Goal'

Heather Church always wanted to work with people and make a difference.

Heather spent 20 years in sales but the ability to spot a person's potential led her to set up a business to help others and, ultimately, change their lives.

At a time when many are considering New Year's resolutions, changing careers and making other potentially life-changing decisions, Heather is looking forward to another year helping people achieve their potential.

"I always believed in the potential of people, even when I was in sales. I used to train people up and see their potential and that was one of the reasons why I went into training. It developed into coaching and executive coaching," she says.

Overcoming personal difficulties gave her a greater insight into the possibilities that tapping into your potential can bring.

She was living in South Africa when she launched her business in 1998. Born there to British parents, she remained in her home country when her parents returned to Britain a decade ago. However, ill health forced her to follow them back to Britain.

"I couldn't work for a year. I needed to be looked after and my family were here," says Heather.

She was determined to get her life back on track and within four years of arriving in Skipton with only a suitcase, she launched her own enterprise.

Now she's busy tapping into the potential of staff in the leading West Yorkshire companies she works with. Skipton Building Society and Yorkshire Forward are among the clients of The Potential Portfolio Ltd, the business she has developed and which recently saw her reach the finals of the Craven Business Achievement Awards run by the Craven Herald newspaper, sister paper of the Telegraph & Argus.

Creating Powerful Change Through Choice', the company catchline, is something Heather is achieving through her corporate clientelle. She coaches managers and raises their profile to climb the company ladder using NLP - neuro-linguistic programming - a system she describes as an art and science of communication excellence.

"I read about NLP a few years ago and went on a taster day. It teaches you to always look for the positive, always look on the bright side of life," says Heather. "It's made a big difference to me because we all have difficulties in our lives and one of the things I have done is try to maintain a positive attitude all the time. It's been inspirational for me."

Now she's passing on the benefits to others. "I mostly teach people about motivation and influence to enhance performance."
Courses tend to last 12 weeks, depending on the client's requirements. Some can carry on for between six months and a year.

"It depends how long the person wants to be coached," says Heather.
She is about to host Influencing with Purpose - the Art of Persuasion', a series of workshops for middle management in Leeds, Harrogate and Skipton.

"I think with stress levels in the workplace rising they need to have people who can address what is causing them to be stressed," says Heather, who aims to solve it before it becomes a problem.
Her advice to others is to keep their eye on the goals they want to achieve and to keep moving forward.