How I came to believe that teaching careers don’t have to be all or nothing
Meet Louise
Hi, I’m Louise Valsinger. I’m a wife, mum to two brilliant children (and two very enthusiastic dogs), and I’ve spent most of my professional life working as a teacher. Alongside that, I now support women who are navigating significant shifts in their lives and careers.
For many years I worked full time in education. I cared deeply about what I did. I was committed, responsible and all in. My career mattered to me and it still does.
Life, however, had other plans.
In 2014 my husband and I experienced the stillbirth of our first son, Louis. Nothing prepares you for that kind of loss. It changes how you see your future and who you are within it.
When our daughter Mariella arrived the following year she brought light back into our lives. Then in 2016 our son Albie was born prematurely and later diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. Once again life became uncertain and demanding in ways I couldn’t control.
Through all of this I continued working full time. I showed up. I functioned. I coped. But something in me had shifted quietly. I had become the strong one. The capable one. The one who keeps everything moving. Somewhere along the way I stopped asking what felt sustainable for me.
Over time I began to make thoughtful changes. I reduced my teaching hours. I built a styling business. Later, I trained as a coach. Not because I was walking away from my career, but because I needed my working life to reflect the stage of life I was in.
I still teach. I still care deeply about the profession. But I no longer believe the only option is to carry on in exactly the same way when something no longer fits.
Many of the women I work with today are experienced teachers who find themselves at a similar stage in their career. They still care about the profession, but they’ve started to question whether the way they’re holding their work still fits the life they’re living now.
Sometimes the answer lies in small adjustments within the role they already have. Sometimes it means reducing hours or creating something alongside teaching that brings a different kind of interest or balance to their working life.
Either way, the aim is the same. A working life that feels steady, sustainable and better suited to the stage of life they’re in. That lived experience is why I do this work.
Not because I have all the answers, but because I understand the terrain.
“The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.” Fabienne Fredrickson
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“The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.” Fabienne Fredrickson —
How Coaching with me works
Working with me isn’t about quick fixes or dramatic life overhauls. It’s about thoughtful, steady change that reflects the stage of life you’re in.
We start by creating space to think properly. Many of the women I work with haven’t had uninterrupted time to reflect in years. Our sessions slow things down enough for you to hear your own thinking again.
We look at the full picture. Your work, responsibilities, expectations and the roles you’ve stepped into over time. Together we untangle what still fits from what no longer does.
I’ll ask direct but considered questions. Not to push you towards a particular outcome, but to help you look at your situation from a different angle.
Often the shift begins not with action, but with understanding. This work isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about making decisions from a place of steadiness rather than pressure.
Sometimes that means adjusting how you approach your current role.
Sometimes it means redefining what success looks like.
Sometimes it means giving yourself permission to want something slightly different.
You set the pace. I hold the space. The aim isn’t to blow up your life. It’s to help you make decisions that allow your working life to feel sustainable, considered and more like yours again.
We get what we focus on!
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We get what we focus on! -
My Story – How I Got Into Coaching
A few years after Albie was born, while I was still working full time and juggling family life, I went for a walk with a friend. During that walk she gently suggested I do something just for me and book a colour analysis session.
At the time it sounded small. Almost trivial. It wasn’t.
Sitting in that session and seeing myself reflected back in colours that worked with me rather than against me, I realised how long it had been since I had chosen anything based on what suited me. It wasn’t really about clothes. It was about identity.
That experience reminded me that small adjustments can have a powerful effect. You don’t always need to overhaul your life. Sometimes you need to recalibrate it.
I trained with House of Colour and began working as a stylist alongside my teaching career. By 2022 I had reduced my teaching hours and was balancing both roles. I loved seeing women reconnect with parts of themselves that had been pushed aside for years. But something else kept emerging in those conversations. The discussions that stayed with me weren’t really about wardrobes. They were about work. Routine. The slow shift from feeling engaged to simply going through the motions.
Women would describe their lives as fine. Stable. Predictable. And yet quietly flat. That’s when I realised I wanted to go deeper.
Teaching had already given me years of experience listening, guiding and supporting growth. My background in psychology helped me understand behaviour and change. Coaching felt like the natural next step.
Not a departure from my career, but an evolution of it.
What’s important to me…
It’s all about helping you reconnect with what truly matters to you. And that all comes back to the values we live by, so here are mine.
Empathy
For me, it's all about truly getting people. I've been through enough in life to know that sometimes you just need someone to really listen, without trying to fix you or rush you. I don’t come with all the answers, but I do show up with an open heart and zero judgement. That matters.
Empowerment
Nothing lights me up more than seeing someone realise they’ve got this. I’m not here to tell you what to do, I’m here to help you see your own strength and take the steps you want to take. You’re in charge. I’m just walking beside you, cheering you on.
Resilience
Life’s thrown a few massive curveballs my way. Losing our first born, Louis, then navigating Albie’s diagnosis… it floored me. But somehow, bit by bit, I got back up. That strength didn’t come overnight, and I’m still working on it, but it’s shaped who I am and how I coach. I know what it’s like to feel lost, and I know what it takes to rebuild.
Authenticity
I’m not polished, I’m not perfect and I don’t expect you to be either. I show up as me, and I encourage my clients to do the same. No masks, no pretending. Just real conversations, with real people.
Growth & Self-Discovery
I’ve always believed that we’ve got the answers inside us, it’s just about getting quiet enough to hear them. Coaching for me is about creating space to figure things out, without pressure. I’m a big believer in learning as you go, getting curious, and being okay with not having it all sorted.
Connection
Relationships are everything to me. Whether it’s in coaching, teaching, or day to day life, I care deeply about building proper, honest connections. Feeling seen, heard and understood is powerful and I want everyone I work with to feel that.