Contact Information

  Your Coach: Tracy Dempsey

Me

I'm a coach, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tracydempseymusic">musician</a>, people person, ENFP, traveller, avid reader, dancer, linguist, foodie, lover of fine wines, eternal student and general bonne vivante! That's why I love my work so much - I love hearing what makes people tick, and doing what makes me tick. I started studying life coaching back in '04, when I decided I could no longer try and make an IT career fit. I'd only fallen into IT anyway - my degree was a BSc in Industrial Management - an experimental course that was wound down after our intake; and we were only the 2nd! Life coaching wasn't really known about whilst I was at school, so for years I didn't know what I wanted to do, until I stumbled across an article about it and had my 'eureka' moment. Music is my other big passion though, and I'm working on engineering a split (with some overlap) between the two careers.

In '07, I decided to move myself and soulambition to the Cote d'Azur - and even appeared on a property programme, being shown lovely apartments in Nice! It felt like synchronicity at the time, but life and the property crash had other ideas. When it became clear that wasn't going to happen any time soon (it took over a year to sell my house), I transferred all the goals for that move to my musical career - which WAS happily timed with a great surge of artistic energy and collaboration in Belfast. (If you haven't yet visited, you should! Just bring an umbrella.) I've since been back to Nice (to hang out with an excellent band, Mueros) and am now sure it's not the city for me anyway. So perhaps a recce of Barcelona next... but in the meantime, I'm staying put in Belfast, and revelling in the mobility of soulambition thanks to Skype and other tools for technical wizardry.

 

My professional background

From '04 to '07 I coached pro bono whilst studying with the British Institute of Life Coaching. After completing the Women in Enterprise Programme, I launched Soul Ambition in Jan '07. In '08 I returned as a trainer/"dragon" on the WEP course, presenting on attitudinal skills and strategies needed to succeed in self-employment.

I've delivered 1-to-1 coaching to key personnel, motivational talks and workshops/programmes on emotional intelligence, personal development, networking (real-life and online) and entrepreneurship. Past clients include:

Eisenhower Fellowship, Ireland
Queen's University Belfast
University of Ulster
Belfast Met
Belfast City Council
Belfast Entrepreneurs Network
RNIB
Women in Local Councils
Springboard Training
NI Community of Asylum Seekers & Refugees
Also: enterprise agencies, community groups and youth groups.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP/BUSINESS COACHING

Social networking for success (Eisenhower Fellowship, Ireland; Women In Business conference)
Entrepreneurship, positivity/resilience, motivation, networking, confidence (WISE/PROGRESS programmes at Belfast Met)

ARTS COACHING

I'm also a musician and have partnered with Beyond Skin, a charity which uses the arts to promote multiculturalism and mutual respect. I drum with BEAT Carnival's samba band, Beat'n Drum; we play at many civic events in Northern Ireland (and further afield) and take part in various community/international projects.

In autumn '07 I piloted a 'music clinic' for musicians/other music industry entrepreneurs; then in Feb '08, was one of the organisers of UnConvention Belfast. I am currently working on a programme of entrepreneurial coaching for musicians and an international showcase event in NYC for NI creative industry talent.

I've been a guest on various radio and television shows on personal development/life skills/the music industry - always happy to talk about those! I'm also a co-host on The Vinny Hurrell Show on Belfast/online radio station, Feile FM. More details on our Facebook page.

I've also chaired discussions for the Ulster Hall on local arts and culture, given talks at BarCamp, BizCamp and CreativeCamp, and compèred the Northern Ireland showcase at MIDEM in Cannes, 09. In English and rusty French. That was fun...