SUSY RUDKIN COACHING
Mindset, Confidence & Self-Leadership Coach
About Susy
Many capable professionals appear confident on the outside but privately wrestle with overthinking, self-doubt and the pressure to always get things right.
I’m Susy, a mindset and self-leadership coach working with thoughtful, capable professionals who want to quiet the mental noise and lead themselves with greater clarity, confidence and internal authority.
Many of the people I work with are intelligent, conscientious and deeply reflective. They care about doing meaningful work and making good decisions. But that same conscientiousness can easily tip into mental spiralling, second-guessing and a persistent sense that they should somehow be doing better.
My role is to help them step out of those patterns and rebuild a steadier relationship with themselves — one rooted in clarity, self-trust and calm decision-making.
My Story
Before training as a counsellor and coach, I spent over two decades working as a freelance television camera operator filming live sport.
My job was simple in principle but demanding in practice: stay focused, track what matters, and capture the moment clearly while everything else moves around you.
Looking back, I realise that work taught me something that now sits at the heart of my coaching.
Where we place our focus shapes what we see.
When our attention is constantly pulled toward fear, doubt or imagined worst-case scenarios, the mind creates a distorted picture of reality. But when we learn how to shift our internal focus, the entire frame changes.
In many ways, the work I do now is about helping people adjust the lens through which they view themselves and their lives.
Early work supporting others
After qualifying, I spent several years working in a range of supportive roles in both the UK and Canada.
While living in Victoria, British Columbia, I worked with Cool Aid supporting people experiencing homelessness, and as a residential house parent supporting international students aged 11–19 who were living far from home for the first time.
Alongside these roles I ran a small private counselling practice and created a low-cost mobile counselling service that operated from a converted campervan, which I renovated myself. The idea was simple: counselling in beautiful outdoor locations that felt safe, private and accessible.
Despite initial scepticism from others, the service quickly became fully booked through word-of-mouth referrals and it remains one of the projects I’m most proud of.
Returning to UK
In 2014 I returned to Bristol and established a face-to-face private counselling practice, while also providing telephone counselling through an Employee Assistance Programme supporting clients across the UK.
During this time I also worked as a support worker in homelessness hostels and continued my professional development through further training in NLP and counselling for children and young people. I later worked with students at Hanham Woods Academy, supporting young people through a range of emotional and personal challenges.
Together, these experiences gave me a broad and practical understanding of the complexities people face in their lives, and how different environments — work, home, education and social circumstances — can shape the pressures individuals carry.
Why I became a coach
Over time I noticed something important.
While counselling can be incredibly valuable, many of my clients made their most meaningful progress when our focus moved toward the present — understanding the patterns shaping their current experience and learning practical ways to change them.
That realisation led me to retrain as a professional coach through iPEC’s Energy Leadership™ programme.
Today my work combines the depth of psychological understanding with the forward-focused structure of coaching, helping people move beyond cycles of overthinking and develop a steadier way of leading themselves.
Watching people rediscover their clarity, confidence and sense of inner authority is the most rewarding part of my work.
Because when someone learns to lead themselves differently, the way they approach decisions, challenges and opportunities begins to change as well.
Experience & Training
• 25+ years professional experience across media, counselling and coaching
• Certified Professional Coach – iPEC (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching) (2016)
• Energy Leadership Index (ELI) Master Practitioner (2016)
• NLP Practitioner (2015) and Timeline Therapy Practitioner (2015)
• Post graduate Qualification in counselling Children and Young People (2014)
• Integrative Counsellor – University of the West of England (UWE) (2011)
• BA (Hons) 2:1 Radio, Film and Television / Art, University of Kent
• Professional counselling experience with adults, young people and international students
• Professional experience supporting individuals in homelessness services and education settings
Outside my work
Outside my coaching work, I enjoy activities that keep me grounded and present.
I play social and competitive golf — something I originally took up as a way of observing my own mind. The game has a way of revealing how quickly the mind can become distracted or self-critical, and how powerful it is to return attention to the present moment.
I also enjoy gardening and growing my own vegetables, and occasionally perform local gigs with a small ukulele band — which is always great fun.
These quieter parts of life help me practise the same principles I share with clients: focus, patience and learning not to take the mind too seriously.
How This Work Helps
The people who find their way to my work are often thoughtful, capable individuals who have spent years relying on their intelligence and determination to navigate life.
But when overthinking and self-doubt take hold, those same strengths can turn inward and create mental noise, hesitation and a persistent sense of pressure to get everything right.
The work we do together is about changing that relationship with the mind.
Not by eliminating uncertainty, but by developing the steadiness and self-leadership needed to move forward with clarity, confidence and trust in your own judgement.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.
+44 7341 160208