Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview
Corinne Guion is an experienced manager, coach, and mentor with a career spanning over 25 years, Corinne now works as a Wellbeing and Resilience Coach. She offers a range of practical training courses and workshops aimed at improving employees’ well-being at work. The focus is on empowering employees to become more resilient and improve their physical and mental well-being, adopting a proactive approach. In her private practice, she works with individuals across all age groups including adolescents and adults, facing challenges in their professional, personal, or school life. Together they explore simple physical and mental techniques that can help them manage and improve their well-being, such as breathing, gentle movements, guided meditation, and visualizations. She is a member of the College of Medicine, The Complementary Medical Association and a Certified Member and Director of the International Sophrology Federation.
Can you start by telling us about your business and how it makes a difference for your clients?
I am a Wellbeing & Resilience coach. I work with individuals (one-to-one or in groups) to explore simple techniques, to help them to build resilience and to deal optimally with whatever challenge they are facing. I work across all age groups, including adolescents (advanced DBS checked). I also champion Wellbeing in the Workplace and run training and workshops on wellbeing & resilience.
Organisational training - wellbeing at work and improving resilience
I offer a selection of training courses and workshops aimed at improving employees’ wellbeing at work. The focus is on empowering employees to become more resilient and improve their physical, emotional, and mental health. The type of courses varies according to the needs of each organization, its size, budget and timeline. For example:
Short online training (1 to 2 hours)
Short practical workshop (1/2 day or 1 day)
Wellbeing course with practice, over 6 to 8 weeks, one hour per week
All courses are a mix of theory and practice. Employees are shown simple and practical techniques, accessible to everyone to help them deal with work challenges. The courses are run face-to-face for optimal team building or online.
Wellbeing for individuals - private practice
I have a private practice in London (SW7) and East Sussex, where I work with individuals to help them build resilience, empowering them to deal optimally with whatever challenge they are facing. Together, we explore simple physical and mental techniques such as breathing, gentle movements, guided meditation, and visualizations. The techniques are easy to learn and once the client has practiced them with me, they can use them in their own time, in any setting. Clients find that these techniques can help with stress management, work pressure, school exams, cognitive capacities such as concentration and memory, and management of emotions among other things. I also work with adolescents and young adults facing challenges in their personal, or school life (Advanced DBS). I work on a one-to-one basis as well as in groups. Face-to-face or online, depending on the needs and location of the client.
Share a bit about your journey so far. How did you end up where you are today in your career?
This is my ‘third’ career. I trained as a translator, and after completing a post-graduate in marketing and management, I enjoyed a 25-year career in senior commercial roles in the fast-paced world of IT and Consumer Electronics. Originally from France, I settled in London back in 1992.
Becoming a Wellbeing & Resilience Coach
I think it was always there in the background, yet my yearning for travelling and living abroad took me in a different direction initially. My journey of self-development started at A-levels (I studied a French Baccalaureate) where I opted for French Literature and philosophy. Philosophy was a revelation for me, and I embarked on a quest to better understand myself and the world I live in. This journey took me to Buddhism, life coaching, Mindfulness, Autogenics, NLP and Sophrology. I decided to re-train in 2017. I graduated as a Sophrology Practitioner in 2019 and at the end of 2022, I completed The Sophrology Advanced Levels. I qualified as a Mindfulness Teacher in 2018. I am a Certified Member and Director of the International Sophrology Federation. I am also a Member of the Complementary Medical Association and the College of Medicine.
A career in the private sector
In my 'previous life', I worked in the fast-moving and demanding world of IT and Consumers Electronics and held senior commercial and managerial roles. I learned business coaching techniques to better support my teams and today, I draw from this experience to help both my private and business clients.
Everyone has something that keeps them going. What motivates you in your work?
Contribution, giving back, learning, collaboration and positive impact. Those are the words that came to my mind as soon as I read the question. They are also my values, what is important to me and underpins my decisions and how I live my life in authenticity. Contributing to society is important to me; whether it is through volunteering (I have been a Career Mentor for the University of Southampton for the last 8 years), supporting charities, supporting my private clients or championing wellbeing in the workplace. I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to acquire skills that can be helpful to others.
What I do today, whether in my private practice or in the workplace is my way to have a positive impact on society (in a very small way) and to give back for all that I have received.
Can you tell us about a moment in your life that affected how you see things at work?
On a personal level: becoming a mother and getting older. Suddenly, I realized that I wanted more. I wanted to live my life with authenticity, being true to myself and my fundamental needs. Although the realization was unexpected, it had been a long time coming. Gradually, and without being conscious of it, I started to become disconnected from my job. I had loved the industry I worked in and my various roles so much, I had loved the pace and the relentless pressure for so long that I did not realize that I was changing. My job was not feeding me anymore, it was not giving me the sense of purpose and meaning that I was looking for. I was slowly entering a new phase of my life. A phase where I wanted to make a difference and give something back. Hence my current career…
Business wise: COVID was also a pivotal moment. The narrative was changing; from only hearing about the points that differentiate us, suddenly we were all human and impacted by what was happening. It fuelled my passion for championing wellbeing. It is evident that we are all the same after all and stress affects the physical, emotional and mental health of everyone, including at work. It validated my belief that every employee, regardless of their position can benefit from learning about the mechanism of stress and how they can take an active role in managing it. Covid raised our awareness of the need to look after ourselves, the need to be proactive, and take responsibility for our own health and wellbeing.
Why in your opinion, is wellbeing training important in the workplace?
The workplace by nature, is an environment where employees are put ‘under stress.’ By that, I mean that they are hired to fulfill a role and have expectations put upon them. The element of pressure is everywhere, from the physical environment (lighting, open space, noise levels, etc...) to relationships (not all colleagues are going to be helpful and friendly), the culture of the company, the tasks that are to be performed, etc...
By definition, employees are in an environment that their senses can assess as stressful, and their bodies will then react accordingly. How an individual reacts to this environment can have a direct impact on their health, physical, mental and emotional. In turn, it can interfere with their ability to conduct their job in a safe and efficient manner. To give you some examples, stress can impact our sleep, and our cognitive capacities (concentration, focus, memory) or create an unexpected emotional reaction (anger, aggression, tears). In certain environments, this can compromise the safety of the individual, their team and even the public. It is also likely to impact their ability to perform at their best.
The key here is to accept, instead of denying. Accept that we all experience stress and that how we react to it can have an impact on safety as well as the quality of the tasks carried out.
This is why wellbeing training is important, even essential. It informs employees about the mechanisms of stress, encourages them to acknowledge where they are in relation to stress and understands how stress impacts them. Then, they are shown practical techniques that are known to help manage stress and its impact. Employees are encouraged to be proactive and take responsibility for their own well-being by incorporating some of those techniques into their daily routines.
Employees being involved in managing their own stress levels has a direct positive impact on the organization and its staff; ranging from better performance and better engagement to enhanced cognitive capacities, increased motivation, improved morale, or team cohesion amongst others. And not forgetting the vital safety element.
What are the current goals you have for your business?
Championing wellbeing in the workplace, working towards making wellbeing training accessible to all employees
Promoting a proactive approach to wellbeing in individuals
Championing the need to look after senior managers, directors and board directors
Championing wellbeing in the workplace, working towards making wellbeing training accessible to all employees:
I feel strongly about spreading the message about stress and how it impacts our bodies. Too often, in the workplace, stress is a word that no one dares pronounce, for fear of being labeled as ‘not coping’ or even incompetent. Things are changing of course; only we need to go faster and actively nurture a culture where we all accept that stress is part of life. We are all under stress from our environment and including work. Accepting this is the starting point. What is important here, is to help employees understand the mechanisms of stress, how they react to it and what can be done to mitigate its impact. This covers physical, emotional and mental health. It is all about education and training.
By providing well-being training in the workplace, companies give their employees the opportunity to take responsibility for their own well-being and health. Adopting a proactive approach to the well-being of employees helps to mitigate the potential impact of stress such as increased sickness leaves and absenteeism, increased incidents and accidents, and lack of performance and engagement. Wellbeing training in the workplace benefits in equal measures, the employees and the employers.
I will also be championing the need to look after senior managers, directors and board directors:
They can be forgotten in the wellbeing initiatives. They make the decisions to run these programs for their employees, but more often than not, they are not included in the training. Whilst it is best that managers join a different group to their staff, the crux of the matter may well lie elsewhere.
It is lonely at the top and extremely competitive. They can ill afford to mention the word stress, let alone take part in a training course to learn how to manage it. A culture change where well-being training becomes standard, from induction to CPD and covers all employees would rectify the situation. We need to support and encourage leaders to take part in wellbeing initiatives, designed for them and with their specific needs in mind.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
I read; I mean I read a lot! I have always been an avid reader. It probably comes from growing up in a small place with little to do and my parents were (definitely) not going to taxi me around. I am grateful for that as books are my best friends. Through them, I have traveled the world, discovered places I would never have been to and probably will never have the time to visit; I have traveled in time and explored fascinating periods of history and I have learned about human nature, about our strengths and our flaws and about what it is to be human. Through books, I have learned, and I am still learning about people, how they live, what they think, and what they feel, I have seen how other families work, what couples look like, and what it feels like to go to work every day. And I have discovered that I am not alone, that somehow despite all our differences, we are all the same. I guess it started me on a journey that led to where I am today and what I do…
To wrap things up, could you share a proud moment from your career?
In my private practice: I also work with adolescents and young people; I feel strongly about supporting them. The thought of being able to get them unstuck at a tricky moment of their life journey fills me with joy and gratitude. I can sleep at night if I know that I have helped one person and made a difference (in a very small way). Perhaps I said the right thing, or I explored the right technique to help them on their way. My contribution is tiny (they are the ones doing the work) but I feel very privileged to be part of their journey.
In terms of championing well-being in the workplace: the part that I find the most rewarding, is when, after attending a workshop, one participant realizes that stress is affecting them more than they thought, and they decide to take the necessary steps to get the support that they need. Knowing that the message is getting through is very gratifying and it fuels me with determination to spread it even further. I feel strongly about promoting a proactive approach to wellbeing and everyone of us taking responsibility for our own health and wellbeing.
My final message is that companies have an essential role to play in this process by making wellbeing training accessible to all their employees and I will continue to champion the cause.
Thank you so much, Corinne!
For more info, visit Corinne on her Website, Proactive Wellbeing, or contact her Here.
