The conversation that grew a community

Two coaches. A chance conversation. A seed of an idea that’s grown into a thriving community of mentors, coaches and consultants, supporting one another and making a difference to businesses in Derbyshire and beyond. As The Midlands Coaching Club celebrates its first birthday, founders Liz Horsey, of Your Vision Coaching, and Jonathan Leach, of Indigo Drum Communications, reflect on the impact of what they created.

Jonathan Leach and Liz Horsey had known each other since the pandemic, mainly through business networking.

A year ago, they sat down for a coffee and realised they shared the same passion: helping people and businesses to grow, connect and thrive.

They recognised that the challenges many business owners face also applied to their world.

So many mentors, coaches and consultants work as solopreneurs. They pour everything into supporting others yet often have no-one in their own corner.

There were few places locally to share ideas and best practice, collaborate on new opportunities, or simply talk to someone who understands the job.

Ongoing professional development can be expensive, and peer support hard to find.

Jonathan and Liz wanted to change that. What was originally planned as a one-off event soon became something bigger, as they saw the potential for something different: a place to connect, learn from one another and grow together.

That coffee conversation then became The Midlands Coaching Club.

According to Jonathan and Liz, there’s a bigger reason why supporting those who support others matters.

Ask anyone who has worked with a good mentor, coach or consultant what changed, and the answer is rarely a single tool or technique they learned.

It is greater confidence, clearer thinking, or the ability to see possibilities they hadn’t previously considered.

For a business owner it might mean finally having the difficult conversation they have been putting off.

For a new manager, it might mean leading with authority rather than anxiety.

For someone at a crossroads it might mean clearly seeing which road to take next.

A more confident leader builds a more confident team. A clearer vision at the top leads to better decisions throughout a business.

Jonathan said: “Coaching isn’t about handing people the answers. It’s about helping them realise they have far more to offer than they ever thought.”

“This is about helping people to explore what’s happening,” Liz adds. “And how they’re reacting to it.

“Supporting them to see alternative perspectives, choices, and what might be getting in the way. Then deciding on a way forward, committing to it, and importantly, acting on it.”

Jonathan’s route into coaching began in some of the most pressured communications roles there are.

As head of communications for Derbyshire Police, he handled major incidents, terrorism and politically sensitive issues, and was the national lead for warning and informing the public during major incidents.

Before that, he led communications at Royal Mail through a transformation that reduced 76 support function operations to 14 and created what was then Europe’s largest shared service centre.

Eight years ago, he set up Indigo Drum, his Derby-based PR, communications and coaching consultancy.

He also founded and runs Derbyshire Business Networking, bringing local businesses together every month.

Today, much of his work is as a communication coach. He has prepared senior police officers to face high profile media conferences, where every word is scrutinised and there is no second take.

He has helped chief executives develop a speaking style that is authentically their own, so they can lead a room rather than simply read to it.

He also looks at how a person’s voice comes across in everything else: their website, their LinkedIn, their marketing and the way they tell their story.

He believes if someone sounds one way on stage and another on the page, people notice.

He said: “I get such a buzz from helping people find their voice. Seeing someone walk into a room believing in what they have to say is the best part of my job.”

He is currently working with a trainer, an Olympic coach and a Derby businesswoman who leads a multimillion-pound company.

Different worlds, he says, but the same challenge: knowing what you want to say and saying it with conviction.

He also works with whole teams, helping them communicate with one clear and consistent voice.

Liz Horsey founded Your Vision Coaching in 2021 after a career in senior marketing and leadership roles within companies such as Bass, Thorntons and Westfield.

She went on to run her own retail outlet offering chocolate making experiences.

Despite high demand, profitability was a challenge, and after three years, Liz made the heart-breaking decision to sell the business she loved.

The experience taught her valuable lessons about the highs and lows of running a small business.

It also prompted Liz to train as a business coach, recognising that things might have been different with a clearer vision aligned with her business partner, combined with greater guidance, challenge and accountability.

Her work now centres on supporting other SME business owners and leaders, mainly in the service and retail sectors – particularly those who are juggling a lot and struggling to find the thinking space or capacity to focus on what matters most.  

Her work focuses primarily on purpose-led business coaching, personal clarity and self-leadership.

Alongside this she runs practical strategic workshops for individuals, partners and teams, supporting their leadership and shared vision development.

This includes her Sustainable Success framework, which brings together the foundational 3P’s of Person, Purpose, and Performance, to build greater alignment, impact and momentum.

She said: “I absolutely love seeing someone move from indecision and overwhelm, to clarity and confidence in their next steps.

“Seeing the shift in how they think, feel and act is incredibly rewarding, particularly when the benefits extend into their lives beyond work too.”

An example of this is a client who had some big decisions to make about their company’s location, team structure and strategic focus.

They were struggling with the weight of responsibility and feeling like they were carrying it alone.

By exploring different approaches, creating a clear quarterly roadmap and revising senior leadership responsibilities, they set the business up with a far stronger platform to build from.

Importantly, the business owner shifted their own perspective too. They adopted new ways of working, moving away from being ‘The Fixer’, and creating more capacity to think clearly and focus on higher-value business development opportunities. The path forward became far clearer.

Since that early conversation between Jonathan and Liz, the role and scope of The Midlands Coaching Club has evolved to involve not just coaches, but mentors, consultants and similar professionals too.

Part of what makes the club work is that its founders have aligned personal values yet bring very different strengths.

Jonathan brings three decades of communications, media and storytelling experience, along with many connections built through Derbyshire Business Networking.

Liz adds her experience from 25-plus years in corporate leadership roles and SMEs, together with business coaching skills, tools and approaches – and a deep love of books.

Jonathan said: “It’s brilliant working with Liz. We complement each other really well, and I couldn’t ask for a better partner to build this with.”

That same principle runs through the whole club. Professionals in the club include executive coaches, business mentors, NLP practitioners, trainers and consultants.

Each sees a problem from a different angle, and the real value often lies where those angles meet.

Liz said: “We regularly get feedback that people feel like they are in the right room, among peers who generously share experiences and insights with each other.”

This autumn The Midlands Coaching Club celebrates its first birthday.

In that time the club has welcomed a growing number of local professionals to its events, many returning regularly as their “highlight of the month”.

These have included 10 in person events and five online, opening the door to those who can’t make it face-to-face.

Each has been designed with three simple words in mind: Connect. Inspire. Grow.

Monthly meetups give professionals a regular space to share the realities of running a business, celebrate wins, and learn together.

Free online masterclasses dig deeper, with topics ranging from a marketing masterclass on the power of storytelling and how coaches can communicate their value, to how to build and run a thriving practice, to the many hats and where to prioritise your time.

The full day Coaching Connect event, plus the new MCC book club, bring professionals together around key topics and ideas worth discussing further.

Guest speakers have included international coach and inspirational keynote speaker Jonathan Peach as well as many professionals from the community.

Liz said: “One particularly memorable moment was when Aman Lidder shared how she lost her sense of identity and confidence through motherhood, and rediscovered both through personal challenges and finding new purpose as a coach and speaker. The impact across the room was palpable”

What ties it all together is a mix of learning, challenge, practical ideas and plenty of fun. Nobody is there to sell. Everybody is there to grow.

For Jonathan and Liz, the real measure of The Midlands Coaching Club is what happens outside the room.

When professionals feel supported, sharper and more confident, they are better placed to then make a difference to the people and businesses they work with.

An idea picked up at a meetup becomes a new approach with a client. A connection made over coffee becomes a joint workshop for a local employer.

As The Midlands Coaching Club enters its second year, the next chapter is already unfolding.

The club is aiming to become a Community Interest Company, which will allow it to access funding to widen its reach, support more people-focused professionals at every stage of their career, and help bring the benefits of powerful conversations to people and organisations who might not otherwise experience them.

A website is on the way, along with new business development groups, including one on how to Fill Your Pipeline, and another full day event is planned for March 2027.

Liz said: “Every great change starts with someone saying something out loud.

“That’s what coaching does, and that’s what The Midlands Coaching Club does for coaches.”

To find out more about The Midlands Coaching Club e-mail hello@midlandscoachingclub.com or click here.