Coffee with Design Your Life coach Fiona Reith
Fiona Reith
Age: 50
Zoom Coffee
I reached out to Fiona after reading (and loving) Design Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Co-Directors of Stanford University’s Life Design Lab. Fiona is one of the few UK coaches with a Designing Your Life certification.
Several things stayed with me from our conversations. Things that I thought, I really must adopt. Like learning to be more reflective and to ask myself the questions that Fiona regularly asks herself like ‘Why did I start this?’, ‘Do I want to re-enlist or is it time to move on?’ And finally, ‘What do I need to make space for?’
But of course, it is not enough to just ask yourself these questions - it's also about listening to the answers and making micro changes every day to embed better habits. I’ve still got some work to do. In the meantime, I’m inspired to see how people like Fiona have used the Life Design Assessment to create a life that works for her. I hope you will be inspired as well. Now the interview.
Describe your career path in two or three sentences including any twist or turns ending with where you are now.
I started off very traditionally, going to university with the hopes of getting a graduate job after. I went to Edinburgh University and studied French and business. To this day I am a complete Francophile.
After uni, I joined a graduate programme at a big corporate and was very quickly put into client-facing roles. And for the next 16 or 17 of my career, that’s what I did - I worked in big corporates like L’Oreal in London, in client-facing roles using my languages and my relationship skills. I loved it.
My husband was in Scotland and we decided that I would move to Scotland. I stayed with L’Oreal originally and then I moved to another corporate job.
I was happy but felt something was missing. It was only after I had my two kids that I took this feeling seriously and thought I needed to make a change. I had two babies and a sales career that had me travelling all over Europe. I realised I need to pivot and prioritise my family.
This led to a job in a university using my project management and stakeholder relationship skills. I then moved into local government running programmes to prepare young people for education and work. I was also involved in mentoring.
I then decided to seek out some coaching and mentoring qualifications for myself. My emphasis changed from being a programme manager of a massive programme to working one to one work with individuals.
The ‘Designing Your Life’ book pointed me in the direction of really honing what it was I wanted to do. And that's how I got to where I am now, with my coaching practice and a portfolio career that allows me to do other things as well.
What decision / experience proved to be the most helpful to your career? This could include a failure that set you up for later success.
It was gaining work experience through interning or volunteering. You just can't know unless you've tried things.
The other thing was taking the plunge and put myself through coaching training. Without really knowing why or where I was going. But trusting my instinct.
What advice would you give your 20-year-old self knowing what you do now? And what advice would you tell her/him to ignore?
I’d tell myself to take a bit more time to understand what I want to do because nobody else knows the answer to that.
And to really know my strengths. The Marcus Buckingham StandOut strengths assessment or the Clifton Strengths Assessment are helpful in identifying your strengths.
People I work with often ignore their top strengths because they're so used to having them. But if you know your top strengths and use them at work, you'll be ridiculously more engaged and work will feel more effortless. It'll feel less like work.
Where or to whom do you look for inspiration?
Everywhere! I'm one of those people who have to have regular input from outside and that is one thing that makes lockdown difficult for people like me.
Books, I’m completely addicted to books. I'm reading Herminia Ibarra Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader right now. Her book Working Identity is a core book for me.
And podcasts I love Bruce Daisley’s, Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat. He interviews psychologists, neuroscientists and workplace experts to understand how we can improve our jobs and the modern workplace.
I constantly have to fight myself to not be too distracted by the inputs. But then again, I'm a real connector of ideas.
When you are feeling stuck or uninspired, what actions do you take or what questions do you ask yourself?
I'm a very reflective person. I journal daily, but it's fairly short. That's just to check in with myself. And certain times of the year, usually quarterly, I'll sit down and journal in longer form.
I ask myself What am I discovering? And also Why did I start this? Because then you can decide if you want to re-enlist or whether it's time to move on from something else. Another question is What do I need to make space for?
In the last 5 years what new belief, behaviour or habit has most improved your working life (or your approach to creating your post 50 work life)?
The answer is really easy. It's looking after my health.
At the beginning of ‘Designing your Life’, they ask you, what do you want to improve? Is it health, love, play or work? And whilst most of us think the problems are work-related, often the underpinning thing is health. It could be mental health or physical health.
I've always struggled with my energy. And as I approached my late 40s, it became a wall that I couldn't get past. So, I sat down and reflected the hell out of where I was and what I needed to do… I decided to approach another coach and also a nutritionist and together we got me past the wall. I continue to work with a nutritionist.
In terms of embedding habits, I am really interested in the work of Dr. Rangan Chatterjee and James Clear. It's all about how you build small healthy habits by doing things every day that make you healthier.
If you could put one quote or piece of advice on a big billboard for everyone over 50 to see what would it be?
Keep curious.
Yeah, I think it really is as simple as that. There's so much going on around you that you could participate in, learn from and find inspiration in. You just have to be open and make a bit of space for it.
What is the book or podcast you most recommend for someone thinking about designing their post-50 work life?
Well, I think I have to say ‘Designing your Life’ by Bill Burnett, and Dave Evans as it was a life-changing book for me and I am one of their accredited coaches.
Whilst you might think of it as a business book, for me, it made me realise that I needed to sort out my health if I wanted the next phase of my career to be as meaningful and productive as it could be.
There's also a whole chapter on personal practice, which goes back to the point about habits and things like that. Small changes really can add up to a big difference.
