Testimonials.

Jo Wilks, Head of Retail and Admissions, Imperial War Museum.

Jo was working at Heals store, Tottenham Court Road at the time of her coaching programme.

"I first met Judith in 2006 when I was managing a large flagship store in London. I had been promoted into the role internally and the branch was underperforming at the time. For a number of reasons the role felt very pressured and an enormous challenge and it's fair to say the job was my life!

I had never worked with a coach before, I didn't really know what it was all about and I was very sceptical and nervous about the whole thing. The CEO told me that she wanted me to work with a coach for support and my own development; she believed I had a future with the company and was worth investing in. Despite all this, before meeting Judith, I thought it was a process to find out what I was doing wrong. No surprise, my management style lacked confidence and I was known for giving myself a tougher time than anyone else - exactly why I needed Judith! After my third session with Judith I found myself looking forward to my next session - an unbelievable difference from how I felt at the outset.

"Working with Judith was one of the best experiences of my career to date. Within a few sessions I found myself feeling totally different! I gained confidence, I believed I was a capable manager and actually doing a good job, trusted others more and stopped feeling guilty (Judith gave me some great reading material all around guilt which I still read today). I found myself becoming much more disciplined with my time and planning in 'Jo time' - I realised that I gave a lot of time to others but never to myself. I began making demands on my line manager (reasonable ones!) which was unheard of.

"I learnt so much working with Judith. Short term I learnt to manage people and tasks differently & better, and in ways I had never considered. Communication with my team (12 managers & 100 staff) became more streamlined but far more effective. For the first time I learnt to manage my line manager and after 5-6 sessions with Judith my self confidence was the highest it had ever been. Long term I am still benefiting today from my time with Judith - I am a more confident manager and I have learnt to be better at networking (previously something I was quite apprehensive about). I have always been a highly organised manager but I have learnt to plan, really plan, and my current diary even has 'admin time' and 'Jo forward planning time' planned in and I now have more quality time at work than ever before. I have also finally achieved a work life balance that is right for me. Train journeys to and from work used to be a head buried in the laptop and a rather stressful start or end to the day - now they are quality reading time.

"Working with Judith has benefited my personal life as much as my professional one. I have only one regret from meeting Judith and that is that I wish it had happened a lot earlier. "

Morten Nyholm, Store Manager of 2 branches of Magasin department stores, Denmark.

English is Mortens second language and his testimonial is included here verbatim, as is the previous text.

"Judith has been my coach through 3 years (2006-2009). Through several one-on-one meetings she has helped me develop my skills and as a store manager, and helped me grow my business.

"Judith is a fantastic consultant who has a very unique way of working. She listens closely and helps her "students" to come up with answers themselves. Judith has great communication skills and knows how to reach her student in a very individual level.

"Judith has a huge retail experience which has been an advantage for her in the coach role. She knows what is possible and achievable, and does not start processes that lead to dead ends. She puts pressure on her student, but has understanding and knowledge of the business, and knows when to hold back on projects and suggestions.

"I am truly grateful for the sessions and the follow up phone calls I have had with Judith over the 3 year span. No doubt that she has had a significant impact on my development including the promotion I achieved midway through our work together. She has taught me how to be a true professional in my own way, and I am sure we will stay in touch the next many years despite our official work together has come to an end.

"I will Judith to anyone who is open to learn, listen and develop."

Colin Porter, Commercial Director House of Fraser.

My project work for Colin started in December 2007 through to October 2008.

"Judith brought her technical knowledge of Wedding Lists to help us shape our multi channel gift business. She worked intelligently to meet House of Fraser's style of working, while keeping us focused on deliverables, time scales and possibilities.

"Judith got the best out of our people by knowing instinctively when to pull and when to push, when to listen and support and when to challenge the individuals to go for accelerated results. As a result, we ended up with a great commercial product and a confident in house team.

"I would recommend Judith and her work for her results orientated approach and hands on involvement when needed, she will develop individuals and teams while never losing sight of the business objective."

Jon Björnsson, CEO of Magasin du Nord, Denmark.

March 2009

"Judith Gentry has worked on a consultancy basis for department store chain Magasin du Nord over the last 3 years. Judith has helped Magasin in getting the proper structure into the operation retail team and helping our store management team developing their personal business and leadership skills. Judith's hands on approach has worked well in our environment and her experience from working within a large operation has given her the insight into where the problems and opportunities sit and how we can easily solve things in a pragmatic way. With Judith, the focus is on executing what we know is good for the company."