Hi, I’m Paula Smith — a transformational coach who helps women break free from self-doubt, procrastination, and overwhelm so they can finally step into a life that feels confident, purposeful, energised, and unapologetically their own.

I’m here for the women who have spent years holding everything together… and now can’t shake the feeling that there has to be more than this.
Together, we uncover what’s been keeping them stuck, build the clarity and courage to design the future they actually want — not the one they've inherited, tolerated, or settled for, and finally become the woman they were born to be.

My Journey

 

After 35 years leading in education as a headteacher and executive head, I took a leap most only dream of—I chose me. I left behind the familiar structure of school leadership to follow a calling that had whispered to me for years: to help others reclaim their power, rewrite their story, and live a life by design, not default.

I thrived in a demanding career as a school leader, balancing immense professional responsibility while raising two daughters as a single mother. It was fair to say I was a real 'achiever'. But as so often the case for so many high achieving women, I forgot to look after myself. I experienced burnout and it wasn't much fun! My health, my relationships and my self-esteem paid a huge price for my superwoman persona and I just kept pushing throught until I hit rock bottom and I was forced to press the reset button.

I learned the hard way the importance of fixing your own oxygen mask first and slowly returned to myself. But I wasn't quite the same person I'd been before. As time went by and life moved on, I found myself thinking, "who am I beyond the roles I have played, and where do I go from here?'

My Mission

Now, as a transformational coach, mentor, and founder of the breakthrough experience Life By Design™, I support the growth and development of successful midlife women who’ve spent years striving, achieving, and pouring their energy into everyone else — and who are now ready to be the leading lady of their own life, not the supporting cast in everyone else’s.

My mission is to stop women reaching the end of their life wondering where they were in their own story — and to stop them wasting years waiting for the “perfect time” to finally choose themselves. I help them ditch burnout, fear and compromise, and step boldly into the extraordinary life they were born to live.

My Promise

This isn’t about starting over. It’s about becoming the woman you’ve always known you could be.

If you’re ready to stop doubting yourself, stop delaying your own life, and stop living on everyone else’s terms, I’ll help you get clear, confident, and back in the driver’s seat.

I’ll challenge you, support you, and give you the tools to replace burnout with balance, confusion with direction, and hesitation with decisive action.

Because your best years aren’t behind you — they’re the ones you’re about to create.