It's A Duck

What a morning with Timely Careers

I joined the lovely Colette Leeson Interview and Career Coach to talk about career confidence, identity and the paths our lives can take. I shared some of my own journey too, because I know what it feels like to look in the mirror and wonder, “Where did I go?”

We talked about hormones and how they can affect our confidence, our work and the way we see ourselves. And we talked about all those different paths we’ve taken in life. None of them are something to be ashamed of. They’re part of us, and they’ve given us skills we may not even realise we have.

We are never too old to be ambitious, to follow a dream, or even to start discovering what that dream might be. 🦆

One woman wrote afterwards that she left feeling “motivated and hopeful.” Reading that meant the world to me.

Thank you to Colette, Careers and Deloitte for bringing us together, and to every gorgeous woman who spent the morning with us.

I only managed to get this one photo with Colette and a fellow Westy 😉 If you’re reading this, please comment below so we can connect! I’m woeful with names, and today I’m blaming the hormones 😂❤️

Love B 🦆

I’m looking forward to joining Colette Leeson Interview and Career Coaching and the Centre of Learning in Belfast on 6 October for Career Confidence & Identity Shifts

I’ll be exploring how changes in our lifes can affect our confidence, our sense of identity and the choices we make about work.

If you’ve ever felt a little unsure of who you are or where you’re going next, this could be a lovely space to pause and reconnect with yourself.

The booking details are in the post below 👇🦆

Hope to see you there🦆

Have you ever stopped to think about how many identities you've held throughout your life?

Employee. Manager. Mother. Carer. Partner. Leader. Job seeker. Returner.

For many women, career confidence isn't lost overnight. It can be shaped by the many transitions and identity shifts we experience throughout our lives.

When life changes, our confidence, priorities and sense of identity can shift too.

Timely Careers is creating a space to help you pause, reflect and reconnect with your strengths. Join Careers Coach Colette Leeson and Mental Health & Wellbeing Coach Brenda McCaskie for a practical workshop designed to build confidence, recognise your value and gain clarity on your next career step.

Together, you'll:

✔ Identify your skills, strengths and transferable experience
✔ Build confidence and challenge limiting beliefs
✔ Communicate your value more effectively
✔ Gain clarity on your career goals
✔ Define realistic next steps for your future

This isn't about becoming someone new. It's about recognising the value that's already there.

📅 Tuesday 6th October 📍 Deloitte, The Ewart, 3 Bedford Square, Belfast ⏰ 10:00am - 12:00pm

Email [email protected] to secure your free place today.

“I’m only 38… surely I’m too young for perimenopause? And isn’t it mainly hot flushes anyway?”

Thirty-eight is certainly not too young to have symptoms that deserve to be taken seriously.

Every woman is different, and that is why it is so important that a GP or healthcare professional looks at the individual woman sitting in front of them not simply her age.

Hot flushes are only one possible symptom.

Women may also notice changes in their periods, sleep, mood, anxiety, concentration, energy, confidence, libido or even how they feel within themselves. Sometimes we don’t immediately connect all those little changes.

One practical step that may help is tracking what you are experiencing. Writing down any changes over a few months can give you useful information to take with you when speaking to your GP or healthcare professional.

If you are under 40 and concerned about changes you are experiencing, it is particularly important to seek a proper medical assessment rather than simply assuming it is or isn’t hormonal.

Equally, we shouldn’t put every change down to hormones, as other health conditions can cause similar symptoms and may need to be investigated.

Lifestyle factors can support our overall wellbeing and may help us manage some symptoms but they are only one part of the picture.

Have you ever dismissed something because you thought you were “too young”?

P.S I wish I was 38. Lol. I am the grand age of 47 and loving it. (This was just a question a beautiful 38 yr old asked me and thought I would share ❤️)

Please note: I am a Menopause and Mental Wellbeing Coach, not a medical professional. This post is for awareness and education only and is not intended to diagnose any condition or replace individual medical advice. If you are concerned about symptoms or changes in your health, please speak to your GP or another suitably qualified healthcare professional.

I am so excited to finally be able to share this one 💗

When Caroline and I first sat down for a chat about the women's wellbeing programme at Kildress, the plan was that I would come along and deliver one session.

Then we got talking and anyone who knows me knows what happens when you get me started on women's wellbeing, hormones, confidence and women actually making some space for themselves! 😂

Somewhere during that conversation, one session became the full programme and I couldn't be happier to be part of it.

Over the coming months I'll be working alongside pharmacist Damian Gormley, bringing together conversations around women's health and hormones with the coaching, reflection and practical tools that are at the heart of It's A Duck! 🦆

I genuinely love what Caroline and Kildress Wolfe Tones GAA are creating here. This isn't about telling women they need fixed. It's about giving them the time and space to stop, have conversations we don't always make time for, learn a little more about ourselves and hopefully have plenty of laughs along the way
Six evenings. A group of local women.
And proper time for YOU.

I can't wait to get started on 22nd September.

Love B 🦆

Ladies, this one is for YOU!

Kildress Wolfe Tones GAA and the Building a Community Pharmacy Programme presents Time For You – A Women’s Wellbeing Programme, created especially for the women of Kildress.

If you’ve been so busy looking after everyone and everything else that you’ve lost a little bit of you along the way, this programme is for you.

Beginning this September, the programme will be facilitated by Brenda McCaskie, Owner of It’s A Duck! Creative Coaching, alongside Damian Gormley, Pharmacist.

Across the programme, we’ll make space for the conversations women don’t always get time to have — wellbeing, confidence, changing bodies, hormones, the pressures of everyday life and, importantly, what we need too.

Alongside plenty of conversation, practical tools, reflection and laughter, the programme will also incorporate meditation and recovery activities, giving you the opportunity to properly switch off, recharge and take some much-needed time for yourself.

You don’t need to arrive with a problem to fix or a goal already figured out. Just come as you are.

📅 Starting 22nd September, with sessions throughout the autumn and a celebration evening on 1st December.

✨ This is a fully funded programme and is completely FREE of charge.
✨ Places are limited.

For more information or to book your place, contact Caroline on 07789 440000.

Sometimes we all need a little reminder that it’s okay to make Time For You.