Annie McKinnon is a life coach, living out her passion and what she believes is her purpose, working with people so that they too can live their very best life. Annie's journey to coaching was as a result of the many challenges she faced growing up in Scotland, belonging to the LGBTQ+ community. Life for Annie was restrictive and oppressive. Annie understands the additional challenges the LGBTQ+ community face today and continually uses her voice to drive forward important discussions in areas such as equality, inclusion, belonging, progression, and education across society. Coaching, for Annie, is about that moment, where her clients have, what some call, “the lightbulb moment”. In Annie’s experience, it can be far more subtle and come across in a clients smile, tone of voice or even a movement. The moment her clients recognise their own power, strength and energy that confidently says “I’ve got this, and I know what I need to do to take me where I want to be”
Annie McKinnon, Life Coach
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
I grew up near Glasgow in Scotland making the move to Hastings in the Southeast of England a few years ago.
Belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, it felt really natural to me to help people from my community. Everyone has challenges in life but LGBTQ+ people face additional challenges, so I work in a collaborative way with my clients, helping them to let go of feelings like guilt, shame, anxiety, and fear moving forward in a way that they no longer fear coming out, compromise their identity, need to hide who they are as well as no longer engaging in relationships they know are not real just so they fit in.
Since starting my career in the late 70s, I found myself being attracted to roles that focussed on supporting and developing people. I have worked in the mental health, addiction and training fields as well as working with individuals and couples in a therapeutic setting. There is no doubt that this calling came from my own experience of being embroiled in a culture that openly ostracised anyone who was different to societal norms.
I was really drawn to coaching because unlike counselling that focusses on the past to where you are in the present, coaching focusses on where someone is in the present, helping them to make a real difference to their future.
I am the founder of the Coaching Cart living out my life that feels so natural and gives me a real sense of fulfilment, so much so that the first time I coached someone, I knew I had found my purpose in life.
My clients tell me that they are astonished at the progress they make even after just one session. There is nothing I love more than helping people become the best they can be in all areas of their life. Being there, witnessing people make the transition from who they are in that moment to reaching their full potential, living the life they sometimes only dreamed of is really what gets me up out of bed in the morning.
To relax and unwind, I walk my partner in crime, Bertie who is a 3-year-old Border Terrier on the beach especially at low tide or we climb the 100 or so steps that takes me to another world I can’t believe exists on my doorstep, the local country park that sits high above the town with Europe’s largest fishing fleet spread along the beach at the bottom. The space is full of greenery, forest and farm animals that stretches for miles. A world of peace and calmness with the most stunning views. Bertie goes off lead and being a border terrier, seeks out rabbits that thankfully, he never catches. I get my daily dose of clean, fresh air and exercise.
What is your business name and how do you help your clients?
Here at the Coaching Cart, I offer 1:1 life coaching, working collaboratively with my clients helping them to recognise exactly what they want, what holds them back and what they need to do to move forward, living their lives being authentic, happy, content and fulfilled. My clients bring different areas of their life to a session they want to improve such as career development/change, maintaining healthy relationships, improving finances as well as maintaining good mental and physical health. I find that once people understand who they truly are at their core, unlearn past beliefs and work out what their own values and beliefs are, confidence naturally follows enabling them to make changes in their life they never thought possible.
Coaching, for me, is about that moment, in a session, where my clients have; what some call, “the lightbulb moment”. For me, it can be far more subtle and come across in a client smile, tone of voice or even a movement. The moment they recognise their own power, strength and energy that says “I’ve got this, and I know exactly what I need to do to take me where I want to be”
I also love to write and do so, covering a wide range of topics, with every spare opportunity I have. In addition, I offer a wide range of training packages to businesses and educators that includes LGBTQ+ and Mental Health/Illness training.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
As I mentioned earlier, I belong to the LGBTQ+ community and as such work with many people from my community in exploring topics such as gender identity, finding authentic self, unhelpful mindsets, increasing confidence and self-esteem without feeling guilt, shame, anxiety, isolation, or fear.
What are your current goals for your business?
My goal is for the Coaching Cart is to be the go-to coaching service for people in my community where they can find a safe space to talk through what is really going on for them. I grew up in Scotland in a culture that felt oppressive, especially for anyone who presented as different. Back then, I felt my life was already decided and that I had no choice but to follow traditions that had been set out by generations before me. That was, until I found who I really was at my core, my own values and what I truly believed. As a result of that, my aim is to help as many LGBTQ+ people achieve being simply who they are, being able to live their life feeling happy, content and fulfilled, achieving exactly what they want.
I guest on podcasts and that allows me to continue being a voice in the LGBTQ+ community, driving my values forward in important discussions in areas such as equality, inclusion, belonging, progression, and education across society.
What would you like to achieve for yourself and your business in the future?
My ultimate achievement would be for all LGBTQ+ people to live their lives authentically, without having to try and “fit in” as well as being able to build authentic, healthy relationships.
I also plan to launch my own podcast where LGBTQ+ people can come and chat to me about various topics.
Who inspires you to be the best that you can be?
Without a doubt, my clients because they continually take themselves out of their comfort zones and commit to making a real difference to their lives. There is nothing that gives me more satisfaction watching a client journey from sometimes, having no confidence or self-belief to finding their purpose, living out their life feeling passionate about who they are knowing exactly what they can achieve.
What is your work inspired by?
My work is inspired by working with a diverse group of people from all over the world. As a coach, working with my clients, I learn so much not only about my clients but also about myself. This helps me develop and grow both personally and in my role as a coach.
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.
Finding my love of writing. You may have heard the saying “everyone has at least one book in them” I am loving writing a wide range of topics in my articles and I am currently writing the book “I have in me”. Unlike me, who “came out” later in life, young people will read it and have the opportunity in understanding who they really are which will enable them to live their life feeling free and confident about who they are and what they represent.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
Experiencing coaching changed my life in a way I thought it never could. We all have our “baggage” but having someone who truly listened and held me accountable for what I said I would do was transforming. I have done things I thought I would never accomplish. I am in a place where I am able to be myself and achieve anything I set my mind to. I would not be able to work with my clients not knowing what the coaching process entails.
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