Client testimonials

I contacted Mark when I had an idea what I wanted to do – but the job didn’t actually exist and the logical voice inside me would very loudly shout: ‘You can’t have a job that doesn’t exist!’

I had a disparate set of skills and had enjoyed successful careers as a graphic designer and motivational speaker – and wanted to combine the bits I loved of both careers. Designing a logo was fun, but not challenging enough. Advising businesses was well paid, but not involved enough.

Mark helped me examine my motivations – especially my need for freedom, fun and purpose. He helped me clarify what I do for clients, what makes it different and special, and how to communicate this to them and get them on board for amazing (and profitable) adventures.

I discovered that looking at how a company works – their processes, the people, and their product – and improving their brand through design, creative thinking and training is exciting enough to keep me awake at night.

Mark also helped me turn down the volume on that very loud whisper: ‘Who are you to think you can do that?’

Results – my income has more than quadrupled, my creativity has soared, and I get to use my quirky little clever ideas for achieving my purpose.

Aileen Bennett, Roaming Creative Director / Idea thinker upper, CreatingClever.com

Mark helped me understand where I need to focus my time in order to become more successful as a creative. He challenged me on some of my assumptions, as well as the language I have been using. He helped me to acknowledge what my true aim as a dark fiction author is, and where I was falling too far into the Shadow Career.

Mark’s unique skill is being able to empathize as a creative professional, but also challenge as an ambitious entrepreneur.

J.F.Penn, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author, JFPenn.com

I can’t quite remember how I first discovered Mark, but I do remember that it was while I was doing his free, 26-part creative course that I decided that I really wanted some coaching from him.

I didn’t really know what coaching was, but from his course, I could tell that here was someone who knew what it was like to work in the creative and cultural industries.

For years I had worked on a huge number of creative projects, usually one at a time, and because they were usually my babies, usually I worked from start to finish on each one. But it meant that I never seemed to move forward. Each thing was fun and exhausting. But each time I had to start from scratch, often broke (because I’d poured everything into getting the previous thing done), and having to do most of the heavy lifting on my own.

Mark clearly ‘got it’, and from day one, he has helped me to build a portfolio of creative assets, and reorganise my way of working so that a number of teams effectively (as Mark puts it) “work for me while I sleep”. I have more time for the kind of creativity I enjoy, and my career has taken flight.

When friends and colleagues ask, “How do you do it all?” I refer them to Mark. And they’ve benefitted as well.

But that’s just the stuff on the tin.

Mark has been my support through the best and worst of times.

Both in my business life as a creative professional, and in my personal life, Mark has variously been my mentor, guide, cheerleader, sounding-board, counsellor, brainstorm partner, editor, financial planner, meeting strategist, ‘the adult in the conversation’ (although I’m not sure he particularly welcomes that role!), and friend.

Mark has helped me change my life. As my Mom once said, “Thank God for Mark!”

Ian Poitier, Writer, Director, Producer & Consultant

Mark McGuinness’s role in helping to clear the noise is critical, whether the world is in a crisis of scarcity, a shock of pandemic, or even when it is a time filled with plenty. He is a treasure of a man who helps me keep my eyes on what is essential.

I have a lot of irons in the fire every day. I am an industrial farmer, I am a serial entrepreneur, and I own a high-end luxury company. I work in many fields with all ranks of people — some teach at famous universities and others can’t read at all.

A person like me needs a space to agglomerate his experiences and take a look at them with someone who offers a fresh perspective. It would be tough to overestimate the value Mark brings to our meetings.

Daniel Boettcher, Founder and CEO, The Intrepid Wendell

I first sought Mark’s help when my editor – brilliantly but not subtly – suggested that I write an article about learning to overcome procrastination.

Despite having to meet multiple deadlines every month, I was a mess: putting everything off till the last minute, putting myself through the stress and self-hatred wringer, and putting my editors into the unenviable position of having to harass me to turn in my writing.

Enter Mark, calm, cool, unflappable – and yet both sympathetic and, as a poet and writer himself, empathetic.

I had misgivings about coaching – I feared that it would be ‘corporate’ and not geared toward someone who made a living in a creative profession. And then again, I worried that, since Mark was a poet, maybe he wouldn’t be ‘corporate’ enough

My fears were unfounded. Mark was everything I could have asked for. He understood where I was coming from, never judged me, and got me to understand that having systems in place to keep me on track wouldn’t dim my creative spark but would, in fact, allow it to grow into a steady flame.

Inspirational and practical, a cheerleader and a taskmaster – not to mention a genuine person who is completely present and engaged in every session – Mark helped me to create a sane (ish) and steady (ish) writing practice and oversaw my turning in a piece not just on but ahead of my deadline for the first time in my life.

The fact that I am returning to coaching with Mark as I look to broaden the scope of my writing career and navigate a changing professional landscape speaks to how much I believe in his ability to push me to do my best without judging myself and trust him with two of the things that are most important to me: my creative output and my livelihood.

Adam Green, Vogue’s theater critic and a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. Currently writing a memoir for Farrar, Straus and Giroux and co-creating a series for Amazon Studios Authory.com/AdamGreen

Meeting and working with Mark was one of the most significant pivotal moments in my career. He helped me not only bringing my business to the next level but also to balance success and well being at the same time.

But the biggest thing Mark did for me during the last 1.5 years was just to be there. He is hyper-responsive, super aware, and you better prepare to be challenged by his questions all the time. Mark does this with a positive, uplifting, and sincere attitude I never experienced in a human being before.

And on the side, he made me achieve goals and create an insane amount of assets I never believed I could do before.

Mark is a rare soul, and I’m feeling grateful that he coached me.

Holger Nils Pohl, Visual Strategist, HolgerNilsPohl.com

I heard about Mark from a poet friend and thought he sounded like exactly what I needed. I had had coaching before, but was struggling with the balance of my ‘portfolio life’ and wanted support from someone who was an expert in this area.

Mark has been superb. He has been sensitive, thoughtful, wise and asked the right questions at the right time. I now feel much more confident about where to focus my energies in the next few years, and what to cut out. I can’t recommend him highly enough.

Christina Patterson, Writer and Broadcaster, Author of The Art of Not Falling Apart

I looked into coaching at a point in my life when I was seeking clarity in the next step of my unconventional career. I wanted to reconnect with aspects of my creativity that I felt I was neglecting, and find a way to bring my whole self into my work.

I had been listening to the 21st Century Creative podcast for a while, and I also read some of Mark’s ebooks, so I had a sense that he would understand where I was coming from. However, I had never worked with a coach before and wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. After Mark’s thoughtful and generous intake process, I decided to move forward with a six month coaching program.

I quickly realized the value of a creative coach as someone who both cheers you on, yet also maintains a kind of objectivity that one cannot get from family and friends (due to the inevitable shared histories, obligations, and expectations).

Mark helped me work through questions and challenges in a more expeditious way than doing so alone. He introduced me to habits and productivity tips that continue to be of benefit. I found a creative path that, while still somewhat nascent, allows me to integrate my various creative skills and interests.

Mark encouraged me to foster and share my unique brand of multifaceted creative weirdness rather than cater to the (often imaginary) desires and expectations of others.

Mark is a poet, and his artist’s spirit resonated with my own. He is a deep listener, and leaves space in his conversations for fruitful rumination. Mark was willing to go most anywhere I took the conversation, but was always able to steer it back to what would best benefit me and my work. Our sessions were just as likely to include poetry readings, discussions of David Bowie, self-compassion, and magic as they were to dig into business strategies and productivity advice.

I really looked forward to each of our meetings, and gained inspiration and new insights from each one.

Shawn Feeney, Motion Designer, Musician and Visual Artist, ShawnFeeney.com

I’m Tom Bairstow, Creative Director and Founder of NorthHouse Creative. We’re a video design studio working with music, brands and live shows.

I founded the company 10 years ago very much as a freelancer wanting to appear and become more established. 9 years on and my established company with several employees, a fantastic reputation and a great client list was hit by the pandemic pretty hard. It was a really tough time and I lost a sense of direction for the company.

At that point I knew I needed to seek out professional advice in order to help me navigate the murky waters in the short-term but to also find some creative, logistical and practical paths to sustain and organically grow the company on a longer-term.

I found Mark through a Google search and after reading many reviews decided to book in an initial consultation with him.

The initial call was great and jumped much deeper than I expected into my own personal ambitions and inspirations and how those could be used to fuel the direction of the company – and over the course of 3 or 4 months Mark really helped me to discover exactly where I wanted to be as a creative and where I wanted and needed the business to be from a creative and practical viewpoint.

Tom Bairstow, Creative Director and Founder, NorthHouse Creative

Before starting work with Mark, I felt stuck in my head a lot, struggling to really know how I fit in as a creative and whether I was doing the right thing or not. As a result, I had a lack of confidence in putting myself out there and being an ambassador for my own art. I had had some success and traction in my field but was struggling to move forward.

I knew that with Mark, I was going to have someone by my side who has worked through many of the different issues that creatives can face – someone that can help me make sense of my place in the creative world and help guide me forward.

One of the first game-changers was thinking about my personality style using the Enneagram – this gave so much context around how I had been living my life and provided insight on how I can move forward in the world. We really dug deep on the reasons why my art is important and having that ‘Why’ in place is still a compass for me.

I came away from our work with a lot of great things – more confidence in my ability to dance with the fear that comes with expressing myself in front of other people, a system of asset creation that fits in with my life and produces great work. I even now have a whole new group of friends around my art that has opened a whole new world for me, all because I was more comfortable and confident in putting myself out there.

Sciama, Electronic Music DJ/Producer, Sciama Bandcamp

The two main challenges I faced when starting coaching were to put a price tag to the value I bring to clients, and to prepare myself to come back home after 2 years traveling across the world.

I had very few doubts about coaching, I knew that with hard work and commitment I was bound to benefit from it. I had worked with a life coach a couple of years prior to that and it gave me a good idea of the process. I am also fully aware that top performing people (athletes, singers, CEOs and so much more) all have coaches to help them get where they are and to keep pushing forward. It simply makes sense!

My results after working with Mark a little bit over 3 months were tremendous! I now understand and appreciate how coming back home is in no way the end of the adventure, but if anything a new exciting opportunity! I can now negotiate contracts with new clients that I would have not dared ask for. And I am now also at the helm of a new entrepreneurial venture – Outshinery – that came to fruition in record time with Mark’s encouragement and guidance.

What I like the most about Mark’s coaching style, on top of the British accent (!), is how he is a creative himself. While I’m in visual design and not petty, it felts we really had a common ground, an understanding of the not so black and white world of creativity. We were speaking the same language. I also enjoy the longer sessions (2 hours) than usual coaching, and appreciated how we would usually split it even between my two main projects.

Overall, on top of all the momentum I generated in the short amount of time we work together, I still to this day revisit and use the gold nuggets I have written down during our sessions. I truly highly recommend working with Mark to bring your A-game!”

Laurie Millotte, Designer and Founder, Outshinery

I’d been unhappy for years… decades even. I was successful in all the wrong ways and worn down, beat down, tired. My life seemed to be getting away from me.

I was interested in coaching, but skeptical that it would help me through the profound changes I knew that I needed to make, but I’d reached the bottom, so I was willing to try anything. My doubts were in the cost vs reward category. How much is happiness worth? Everything, of course, but that outcome can’t be guaranteed.

I decided to reach out to several coaches and found Mark to suit me best. As a creative, I hoped he’d understand me better than the others. He did.

After a few weeks, I found myself randomly smiling – enjoying life again. After a couple months, I knew I was on the right track. By the end of our time together, I was happy, at peace, more creative than I’d been in longer than I could remember, and strong.

Mark is patient, kind, professional, helpful and inspired. He has a keen insight into how we work as creatives. He knows why we do what we do. I don’t know how he does it, but I’m forever grateful.

Josh Casaubon, Artist (Musician, Idea Man and Actor)

When I first considered coaching, I was in the midst of a major struggle with my first novel. Every time I sat down to write, I was paralyzed with feelings of perfectionism and self-doubt. I wanted my writing to be a refuge, a source of joy, and I knew it could be, but I didn’t know how to shift my approach to it. I needed support. I needed perspective. I needed a mentor who could help me zoom out, get to the roots of my Resistance, and help me find ways to move through it. In Mark, I found these things—and much more.

Mark helped me reconnect with my passion for writing and transform (and I don’t use this word lightly) my relationship with my writing practice. He taught me how important it is to prepare for the process of creation, psychologically, emotionally, even physically. He helped me parse my motivation and taught me how crucial it is to separate intrinsic from extrinsic motivation. He guided me toward finding a way, my way, to complete my first draft.

I made more progress on my novel during the 6 months we worked together than I had in the three years before working with him. And now, thanks to our work together, I know I’m going to finish this book.

The fact that Mark is a poet himself adds honesty and power to his coaching. The sources of his wisdom are deep and varied, and in every session he zeroed in on concepts and sources of inspiration that helped me break through. Like the best teachers, he understands how to reconnect you with knowledge you already have. He doesn’t prescribe, he doesn’t advise. He guides, gently. He encourages, deliberately. He’s open. He’s intuitive. He’s occasionally hilarious. He’s an enabler of extraordinary acts of creativity.

Layne Mosler, Author and Writing Coach, LayneMosler.com

Before working with Mark my goals didn’t feel aligned with where I really wanted to be in my freelance career. They were often influenced by what other people suggested. Whether that be friends, family or so-called ‘freelance business gurus’. So a big challenge for me was understanding how to set the right goals for me and make actionable steps to achieving them.

My freelance business was chaotic, my pricing was all over the place, I had no control over the projects or the clients I worked with and I lacked enthusiasm. This all seemed like so much to deal with on my own so was just going through the motions and it didn’t feel nice at all.

I told Mark I wanted to unlock my creative potential, improve my ideas, and start seeing more of myself in my work.

I was ready for coaching but had no idea what to expect from the experience. The decision to search for a business coach felt like a last resort because I had run out of ideas and motivation. So desperation outweighed the doubt.

I knew what I wanted from coaching but I was pleasantly surprised at Mark’s approach to coaching and I can honestly say it was exactly what I needed.

Over the three months of working with Mark, I learned a lot about myself.

Having a better understanding of myself allowed me to figure out the kind of work I wanted to be doing and the clients I wanted to do it for. So my values – creatively, professionally and personally – were now aligned.

I gained a better understanding of the value of my work which allowed me to improve my pricing structure.

I’ve been filled with enthusiasm for my craft and feel excited about creating for myself again.

Mark also helped me find a passion for writing. This has helped me find my voice when talking about myself, my work and my process which is all so valuable when running a creative business.

One of the most life-changing results I’ve seen during this process is how I handle the turbulent tides of freelance, the ups and downs, the dry spells and floods. It’s so easy to react and let fear take over whereas now, I trust in myself and what I am working towards so I am better equipped a handling difficult times in my business.

Mark’s taught me to not be so hard on myself and to really enjoy the wins, even the little ones!

Mark’s coaching style is great. The most surprising part of the process was how he encouraged me to look inward and truly understand what I wanted from life. Then he helped me lay the foundation and clear the way for me to develop personally, professionally and creatively.

He tells stories, quotes poets and makes jokes. All this breaks down walls, lightens the air and helps you learn.

It’s clear throughout the whole process he is invested in your success as he acts as a guide during the journey, while making it clear you are the one putting in the work. He knows the answer but he teaches you how to find it for yourself and supports you whilst making decisions to best suit your business.

That approach really encouraged me to show up every time, put in the work and hold myself accountable.

Mark is also a very kind and generous person, he was very supportive and helped me navigate some difficult times as I transitioned through the process.

I’m going to keep working with Mark because there is no quick fix with business, no shortcuts and it can be really hard. Having Mark’s support whilst I continue to learn and develop is going to have a huge impact on my life and business. I’m really excited to see how that unfolds.

Aron Leah, Illustrator and Designer, Owner, Fried Cactus Studio

I approached Mark to help me through a transition into a new phase of my career, where I was looking to develop my coaching practice and launch a new venture, Campfire. Having run Fantasy League for decades, I was leaving my comfort zone and finding it hard to land properly, struggling to see and believe in a new version of myself.

I have a habit of getting stuck in my head without action, so needed break this cycle to move forwards. Given where I’d been for some time, it was a tall order and meant I approached coaching unsure whether it could really be effective.

From the outset, working with Mark was a joy, and super-effective. He got where I was and just as importantly got me, allowing me to recognise the value in my work. This provided the impetus to take things forward and launch Campfire and to believe in myself as a coach.

Mark balances strong intuition with grounded, practical and smart guidance; sessions floating seamlessly between these qualities so that over time I gained a deeper and deeper conviction in the purpose and quality of my work.

Having worked with Mark for over a year, I’ve consistently found him to be generous, sincere, steady and positive. A rare individual – I feel very fortunate to have worked with him.

Andrew Wainstein, Founder and Coach, Campfire.cc

My main goal for starting a coaching trajectory was to prioritise my writing: to make
more time for ‘Canan the Writer’, as Mark said.

I am and always have been very good at getting organised for projects, for my clients, always delivering. For some reason, my own work – especially my writing – never got the same treatment as my client work.

The fact that I had one concrete outcome when starting the coaching really helped. I have been working on my first novel throughout the coaching. In the six months working together with Mark, I have been able to dive deep into reflecting about my work, why it mattered and why it is important to give enough space to ‘Canan the Writer’.

I learned to treat my writing like any other project, in a professional and passionate way, showing real commitment and delivering what I set myself to do, regardless of the financial income.

The journey is still long but the methods I have learned with Mark, from identifying my personalities on the Enneagram and learning that these can be fluid too, to the books he recommended and sent to me, including practical books such as The SHED Method, to take truly care of myself, to poetry and literature which created another layer of inspiration and true connection with the work.

I had no doubts about coaching as I did a lot of research before starting. Also, the process of having to send in a detailed application made me trust that Mark only took on people he could see he would be able to support. It turned out to be the case!

I got rid of the shame and guilt related to putting my writing and creative practice first, especially when it came to projects that don’t immediately generate an income (such as the novel I am working on). Concretely I have written half of the novel thanks to the process started with the coaching, and most of the writing happened during a residency I have self-organised and allowed myself to commit to financially and timewise. I could do so with the support of a grant I applied for (it was the first time I have ever applied for any funding for my own work as a writer, and again, the courage to do so happened thanks to the work we did with Mark).

There are ups and downs, and now that my coaching has ended, I sometimes do miss having Mark around to share the process and have him support me in getting back on track. But the truth is, all the tools he gave me during the coaching are still with me and they will stay forever with me. So, when I do have moments of doubt or get lost, I get back to our conversations, to these tools, and it helps me tremendously in jumping back into my journey.

Mark is calm, ispiring trust, confident yet humble, very sensitive and with a true understanding of what it means to be a creative person in today’s world.

Mark understands all the challenges of our world (economic, sociological, political) and he also has enough humility to always acknowledge his own privilege (as a white man for example, to generalise). It was important for me, as a multilingual woman with Turkish and Muslim heritage, identifying as queer, living and working in Western Europe, which is not always kind to people like me, to work with someone who could hold space for difficult conversations around identities and what it means to try to exist in this world with words and art that maybe no one is waiting for. At no point was there any misunderstanding or conflict in the way we looked at major challenges people outside certain bubbles could face.

To me, it was also a very positive aspect that Mark is a poet – and I believe a lot of his understanding and sensitivity about the world, about language, and creativity were so strong because he is a poet.

Canan Marasligil, Writer, Literary Translator and Artist, CananMarasligil.net

I was at a point where I wanted to aim higher and think bigger and because the options and possible routes of going about it were too many, I wanted to find a coach who would help me sort it out and make the best possible choices in the least amount of time.

I had zero ideas about coaching because I didn’t know what it was, I could only imagine what it would be indirectly, by deduction from things I’d read. I realised that all high achievers were ‘drinking water’ as we say in Greece, in the name of their coach, so I figured it must be something important and useful if people of such high calibre were doing it and were considering it important if not indispensable.

Now having had the experience I can definitely see the importance of coaching if one wants to tackle something of very high stakes or wants to jump into unknown territory. I guess everyone can benefit from coaching, but it is in these edge cases were I think it is of most benefit.

I have a much clearer picture of where I am, where I am aiming to go and I am actually on my way there with both feet firmly on the ground.

I would describe Mark as a calm Socratic listener. He listens with attention and creates such an environment where most of the time I would know the answer by the end of my question.

He also gave me very good practical advice with regards to my-day-to day meetings and contacts, helping me frame the situation in advance and be better prepared both practically but also psychologically.

Stathis Athanasiou, Film Director and Visual Artist StathisAthanasiou.com

When I first contacted Mark I was facing overwhelm and uncertainty regarding my creative and professional direction. I remember feeling rather manic during our first call together. I desperately wanted to find some clarity and a greater sense of inner peace.

I’ve always been open to the idea of coaching but reluctant to invest financially due to the intangible nature of the service and potential results. Would it yield a return? Would it be worth it? How would I know?

Looking back it was absolutely worth it. To the point where I’m considering whether I should permanently have a coach.

As a result of working with Mark I have a much greater sense of inner peace. I’m no longer in a permanent state of performance stress. I have clarity as to what brings me joy and therefore where and how I want to focus my energy. I feel like I have a better understanding of myself, my goals and how to achieve them.

Mark is very calm and down to earth. Just being on zoom with him helped me feel more relaxed. He held space for my, at times, manic ramblings and asked the right questions in order to help me gain perspective on issues with which I was struggling. He also generously shared his own personal experiences which helped me gain a better understanding of my own.

Jim Hustwit, Music Producer and Composer LarpMusic.com

I wanted to evolve my practice towards making artistically un-compromised projects in a financially sustainably way. My practice had recently developed to include writing and I wanted a coach with literary credentials to help me through this transitionary period.

I didn’t have doubts about coaching but I had doubts about finding a coach who understand both the artistic process and the commercial world we have to operate in.

Working with Mark over the period of a year, I achieved almost all of the things I set out to do. Specifically: a clear offer regarding what I do; collateral to support the offer; opportunity for sharing/giving back what I have learnt; systems for managing my business and producing the work; a plan for digital distribution of my work

I found Mark’s coaching style calmly intense. Like a teacher you actually want to do your homework for. I always looked forward to our sessions and miss them now. A bit.

James Hudson, Visual Artist, JamesHudson.xyz

I approached Mark because he was doing what I wanted to do. He maintained a strong creative practice and he was coaching creative people at a high level. I had trained as a coach and therapist. I had good results with clients. But I was struggling to see how to create a living doing what I was good at.

I was facing a lack of belief. Not so much in my capacity to coach, but in my capacity to create clients. Was it possible for me to make a business as a coach?

I’d seen the results of coaching in my clients, so I knew the work had power to make changes. My question, really, was about how I’d be able to make changes in myself and my work.

The reality was very different. The work we did encouraged small but definitive changes that combined vision and the practical steps I needed to make the next step a reality. It was also about developing a certain amount of trust that I could connect and make valuable, deep connections with people who would be ideal clients – and making this work a part of my process as a coach.

The biggest achievement for me has been to own my identity as a coach.

By the time we were concluding our sessions, I was able to write an email that created two clients within an hour. A third client replied two weeks later. A few months earlier, I wasn’t sure that kind of result would even be possible.

It wasn’t just that my coaching had improved, although it had. But I was able to approach people I wanted to work with and say simply and clearly what I was doing and engage their curiosity.

I’m at the point where the question is not, ‘Can I be a coach?’, but more, ‘How can I grow this?’.

Mark brings the quiet authority of someone who’s got serious chops. He’s doing the work as a business and also as a vocation. He’s very invested in discovering and bringing into being the things that are important for you in your creativity and your life. He wants you to create. And he wants to create the capacity within you to make the work your own. He’s invested in his own coaching and that lineage is very present in the work.

I think the biggest benefit of working with Mark came from having someone in my corner who unequivocally had my back and believed in me.

I think that’s one of the biggest benefits of Mark’s approach: I knew I was working with a coach with a lot of experience and who chooses clients he wants to work with. When Mark said he was in, I knew at a deep level he was all the way in. Having someone in my corner with that level of conviction rubbed off on me.

Craig Behenna, Filmmaker and Coach, CraigBehenna.com

I’d built a successful copywriting business with flexibility, travel, and smart clients who valued my work, but there was a large creative ‘howl’ inside of me going unanswered. I really wanted to move into comedy. I’d used comic sketch videos to market my copywriting which worked well, but they weren’t exactly the kind of comedy I wanted to produce. It felt frivolous and unrealistic to say I wanted to pursue a comedy career, but keeping it entwined with my copywriting felt frustrating and limiting.

I was nervous about the idea of coaching. I was worried about being honest about what I wanted, and honest about the work I wanted to make. I also wasn’t sure I’d find someone who would genuinely help me carve out a way forward that was best for me.

Then I remembered Mark, who I’d known for a long time via his online presence. I liked his calm and considerate style and felt it would work well for me, and within the first session I knew I’d made the right choice. I turned up thinking I just needed a better plan to combine my current business with comedy, but Mark helped me step back and unpick what I really wanted. He helped me surface what could make me feel joy and excitement as well as creative satisfaction. And he guided me in a way that was specifically right for me and my values.

Mark helped me find the confidence to pursue comedy as something completely separate to copywriting. That took a lot of effort to unpick! I started to see comedy as possible, and he helped me make space for creating the work I really wanted to make. As a result I have a brand new website just devoted to sketches, I have completed sketches that I love and that are getting a great response when shared. I feel excited about building on this, and I no longer feel anxious about being creatively unfulfilled.

Mark is thoughtful and engaged, with a good sense of humour. I felt that he genuinely wanted me to succeed in a way that would make me happy, and he was able to highlight when my thoughts or actions were getting in the way of that. He held me accountable, but for the purpose of getting me the best results for me. I truly felt he was on my side.

Amy Harrison, Copywriter, Comedy Writer and Filmmaker AmyHarrison.co.uk

One of the biggest challenges I was facing when I first considered coaching was getting a sense of direction with my work. Over the years I had created this mental divide between the creative work I loved to do, and the work I do for clients. I struggled to see how they might work together. In my mind, there just seemed to be no common ground between them.

I had been in therapy before and I always felt a little bit like I wasn’t quite getting what I wanted to out of it, and so I wasn’t sure if I would feel the same about coaching. I had followed Mark’s work for a number of years though, and for a long time I had thought that when the time was right, I would love to work with him. I thought that a more targeted approach, i.e. focusing on my creative career, might be what I needed. I went into it with a kind of pragmatic and goal-oriented mindset. The reality though was that by really going into the specifics of my creative work, I ended up working on myself more than anything.

In the beginning I thought I had these really specific, pragmatic goals. Things like “Paint X number of paintings”, and “Reach out to X number of companies with my work”. But what I realized was that there was something deeper I needed to build upon. I needed to find my way to resolving this conflict in my mind, to see how my work for others and my creative work weren’t really opposing forces, but that they could, with a shift in mindset, work together toward a common purpose. Working with Mark, he really encouraged me to pursue my own personal projects, and challenged me to see how my client work could be a way of supporting those projects.

One of the things that we talked about again and again was this idea of really going all out in being yourself. I would say that what I most got out of my work with Mark is the realization that my conflicted sense of self was coming from a tendency to hold myself back, to disengage, and thereby not put myself wholly into my work. I started to see that the unifying factor isn’t some external thing, but me and my unique perspective on the world. This led me to a greater sense of direction and clarity and a solid framework to build upon.

I can’t recommend working with Mark enough. He is incredibly generous as a coach. Even before we officially started, when we were talking about whether or not we should work together, I could feel that he was really present with me. Paying his full attention and really giving of himself in the time we had together. He was great at challenging me, fully expecting me to show up, but not in any kind of pushy or aggressive way.

I always felt as if Mark was inviting me in to a space where I could be a bigger version of myself. He’s very encouraging and he is a great witness to the creative process. Being a creative himself, he really understands that.

Rob Gale, Art Director and Illustrator

I was hired as a Sr. Creative Manager in a fast growing cyber security company. At the time I reached out to Mark, the company had doubled from 80 to 160 people in 18 months. In all of this the challenge was…

Constantly reinventing systems and processes to support company and team growth

Learning to balance being a doer and a manager

Managing fears and doubts – am I qualified/good enough for this role?

Maintaining composure and be proactive vs reactive amidst white water moments

Learning how to build an efficient, collaborative environment among people who a fairly new to the company and to each other

It was my first time working with a coach so I didn’t know what to expect. Any doubts were more internal based — do I have what it takes to work with such a great coach? Do I possess the courage to change and walk out what I am learning?

The whole time I felt like Mark was in my corner. I felt completely supported but also personally challenged, a combination that I needed and appreciated.

Here are some of the things I got out of our work together:

Figured out my personality type (I’m #9, peacemaker)

I was able to answer the question: Who do you want to be? (creative leader and mentor)

Put that answer into a story and built my personal website that reflected that message

Found several amazing role models in the creative field

Developed my coaching skills in the areas of questioning, listening and giving feedback

Learned how to do an effective coaching session with creatives on my team

Learned to manage my insecurity as a creative leader, speak up in meetings, share my design perspective

Did my first ever design session at the Denver Startup Week

Grew in the area of networking with other creatives and creative leaders

Designed and published a book with my wife

Learned to navigate several challenging situations in leading a creative team, as well as leading up

Endless amount of encouragement, these coaching sessions were like water for my soul — truly life-giving

Mark has a gift of asking the right questions and the patience and grace to wait as I would process my answers out loud. Many times it is in these moments when the light bulb would come on for me, my mind was expanded, and the seeds of change were planted. Even though Mark has so much wisdom to just tell me what to do, his approach of guiding me through questions until I saw it for myself was so effective.

Mark knows when to support and when to challenge. I always felt like I could be completely transparent, having nothing to hide. On occassions I felt embarrassed to share something, but Mark would never make me feel dumb or inferior. He listened, supported, encouraged. On the other hand he offers accountability and there is a full expectation of putting in work and effort from my side — rooted in the heart of making the most of our time together. This required courage and sacrifice, but looking back, it was so incredibly worth it.

I couldn’t recommend Mark more.

Milan Klusacek, Strategic Creative Leader and Mentor, MilanKlusacek.com

I had rather accidentally founded a creative content studio and wanted to establish some methods and approaches to finding clients and pitching for new business.

As a committed world-weary cynic I had reservations about a certain type of coaching – probably from previous unproductive experiences with jargon-heavy ‘thought leaders’ who often just confused me and who I struggled to take seriously.

What drew me to Mark was that first of all he had an excellent and well-constructed website and that he was selective about his clients and strict about how many he took on at a time. Most importantly he is actually an established creative person himself – but one with a broad skillset ie psychotherapy and business leadership alongside his life as a poet. I was also impressed with his SEO skills as he was very high up in my Google search!

During my time with Mark, I procured precisely 0 new clients: which turned out to be the best result I could have hoped for.

Somewhere around session four I had what I would happily call a Damascene moment. Firstly, Mark enabled the realisation that I had no real interest in what I was about to do. And therefore couldn’t care less about the needs of any potential clients in fact, didn’t want to find any. Instead, I just wanted to pursue my own creative passions and projects. And I’ve not worked for anyone else since.

Mark’s approach is zero bullshit, generous, discourse-led, and very systematic. I particularly appreciated the wealth of resources he provided both from his own writing and the materials of other thinkers on the creative life and the philosophy of ‘work’. The ONLY 10s mindset is one that I will pursue for the rest of my career.

Alex Nagshineh, terminally distracted award-winning creative director and visual artist. AlexNagshineh.com

Before I started coaching, I was completely overwhelmed by all the things I thought I should do with my time and my career. I had recently made a big jump into full time entrepreneurship and I couldn’t see a way forward that was truly mine. I felt like I was only performing at 50% and was being held back by limiting beliefs and behaviours.

While I wasn’t doubtful about coaching, I was worried that a coach might approach my situation as formulaic and just try to get me to tick the boxes and move through a stock standard approach. What I really wanted wasn’t someone to tell me what to do, but rather someone who could push me to allow myself to think bigger, but take smaller steps. And that’s exactly what Mark did.

In our time coaching. I tackled my limiting beliefs and behaviours straight on, barrelling through them. I set bigger goals than ever before, and started working towards them. As an ambitious person by nature, I didn’t need much help in dreaming big, but Mark helped me remove the ‘flotsam & jetsam’ that was in my way of achieving those goals.

Mark’s coaching style is gently all-knowing, patient and surprisingly comforting. He managed to both allow me to receive the type of coaching I wanted & needed, but also provided the coaching and guidance I didn’t know I wanted or needed. Having this coaching so early in my career has undoubtably transformed the way I tackle my work, my life and my goals, and I imagine it will continue to pay dividends for years to come.

Micaela Lindsay, Creative Entrepreneur, building a tiny empire of kind, enriching businesses. One by one. MicaelaKarina.com

I was in a rut when I first met Mark, struggling to make a career change away from journalism, and wasting a lot of energy chasing around in circles.

Our sessions helped me focus on what was important, then get it done. Gently and with humour, Mark helped me see that I didn’t have to rebuild completely. I just had to tap into my existing network and skills.

In our time together, I more than doubled my income, established my business as a coach working with creatives of all kinds, and published two books (one of them, my UK club history Adventures In Wonderland, has been nominated for the 2021 Penderyn Prize for music books).

I now feel I have a clear direction, and understand how I can be a writer and a coach – without compromising either.

Sheryl Garratt, Writer and Coach for Creatives, TheCreativeLife.net

I contacted Mark when I was at a crossroads in my professional life. It wasn’t clear where my creative path should lead next and I felt worried and anxious about the future. I didn’t have a personal story I believed in and I often fumbled when explaining my job and passion to others. It felt like I needed a breakthrough and I couldn’t do it on my own.

I didn’t mind the idea of talking to someone, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to fundamentally change anything for me and I was worried that I didn’t have much to say about myself. That of course turned out to be entirely untrue! The sessions were a safe place to explore my motivations, fears, ambitions and dreams and where I talked freely and openly at length. Coaching helped me make sense of my dynamic and gave me a clearer understanding of the type of creative person I am.

I articulated a creative vision that revealed the type of work that drives the most value for me and how to incorporate it into my future. I got better at knowing my story and having perspective on the successes and failures of the past. I came out the other end a better, more secure person than when I entered.

Mark is a grounding and inviting person who creates a sense of calm and reassurance in you. I instantly felt comfortable in his presence and found him to be sincere and genuinely engaged during our sessions. He listens carefully and compassionately. Mark’s background in psychotherapy enabled him to comfortably pivot between the professional and the personal and made me feel like I was in very safe hands.

Amir Sheikh, Designer and Artist, SeriouslyGoodCreative.com

I was facing a perfect storm of challenges in my science career: I had to fight for a promotion at work, to apply for a very competitive fellowship, to apply for a very competitive grant (on a different topic!) and while doing this, and the reason I came to Mark initially, was that I was miserable because I had let all my creative writing projects lapse, so I also wanted to start writing plays again.

I had already been reading Mark’s blog posts and all his books for several years so that I knew that he was special, if he’d accept me as a client. So when he did, I knew I was very lucky – but I had no idea how lucky! He was both a guardian angel and an incredibly astute advisor and career counselor and led me to more insights and breakthroughs than I could count – every session was mind-blowing.

This sounds as if I’m making it up but it turned into a miracle year, all during Mark’s tutelage: I got the promotion, the grant, the fellowship and, because of Mark, began my most challenging work as a playwright, a play that truly terrifies me and that I could have only begun with Mark’s support and encouragement.

I would describe Mark’s coaching as Goldilocks – just right, not too much, not too little. Seriously, it is as if you have one person in the world who first will hear anything you have to say and then sees the light at the end of the tunnel and can point you towards it – and then you’re back on your feet and moving again! Just because Mark has applied a few well-timed, gentle, wry, wise comments and nudges… he’s a miracle worker.

Lucia Jacobs, Professor at Berkeley in Psychology and Neuroscience, and Playwright (for Very Small Actors)

I worked with Mark during a particularly difficult year. My project, an ambitious nonfiction undertaking, was unbelievably hard to gain perspective upon. Any memoir writing invites myopia and solipsism, and Mark’s wise, kind, and poetic understanding was immensely helpful against my fears of falling into those sloughs.   

My initial concerns about working with a coach had to do with a cookie cutter approach to creativity and work, a just-follow-these-five-steps method, which would have engendered resistance from me. I’m pretty far along in my working life, and I found Mark’s work to be both replete with pragmatic help, and extremely nuanced and resourceful in the less tangible hows of creativity. My experience was of a wise and wide-thinking companion in some of the loneliest places of my work.

Mark read multiple versions of my work, some in early drafts. We discussed the scope of the work, the overall shape, and how things fit both with each other and into the wider world of writing. His feedback was generous and invariably useful. He’d often cite another writer’s work, usually a poet, in a way that enlarged and enriched my view of my own task.

During our time working together, I pulled together most of the pieces of this extremely challenging book. I also made progress in my teaching and editing life, embracing new challenges there as well.   

I would hesitate to describe Mark’s style of coaching, because my sense is that he is able to meet people where they are, in a fine balance of Zen, poet, reader, psychologically and artistically wise, mensch-y human being. His own work as a poet and his generous membership in the world of creative workers are a tremendous offering.

Leslie Daniels, author of the novel Cleaning Nabokov’s House, published in five languages and under option for film, LeslieDaniels.com

When I contacted Mark, I was facing a huge amount of resistance towards setting up a workable funnel system for my online courses. I just wouldn’t budge. I didn’t know why I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I just couldn’t. It felt like a huge weight on me because I knew it would help my business so much, and everyone else was doing it, etc. I had done a lot of the work already, yet I had been paralyzed with completing it for more than, gasp, a decade. I had a bigger vision for myself as an artist and healer, yet I needed some serious hand holding to take the next little step.

I understand that coaching has as much to do with my participation as the coach, but it was extremely important to me that I not feel pushed or pressured, or be led from delusions of grandeur. I chose Mark because he had a low pressure and real way about him, and in fact, I was right about that. His approach gave me a lot of space to find my way across this seemingly treacherous bridge, but I always felt he trusted I could do it. He really got what I needed on very nuanced levels and met me there. Through working with him some key wounds and roadblocks were discovered and healed, that, rather quickly, got me walking across that bridge. The resistance softened, and I was able to drop into the deep devotion I had for my work and my students, and that led the way.

About half way through the coaching process, I completed the content for my funnel system! I was then able to bring it into the online software and implement it into my online school, which I also created during our coaching time. All of this took a lot of work, but now this system is in place and working very well! It’s not only my onboarding system, but the fundamental courses for my little creative healing school, so I don’t have to teach them anymore. This has given me way more space to grow financially and creatively. With the basics of my system in place, I was able to hire a team to take what I created and make it grow. Now my list is expanding and I am starting to generate passive income; a 10 year dream realized. I only have to work half the week, and spend the rest of the time making music and art, performing and enjoying life like a European.:)

Mark really takes the time to get to know who you are and what makes you tick. His years as a psychotherapist give him wisdom, understanding and a neutrality that few coaches possess. I felt I could bring anything into the sessions and, with his guidance, trust they were leading me to the larger goal. Because he is an accomplished poet, he knows and understands the creative process well. I also needed a really kind human, and he is definitely one of those. Mark was an essential part of overcoming my biggest hurdle that undoubtedly led to my current success. I am so grateful for our work together.

CC Treadway, Healer, Multidisciplinary Artist, Creative Coach cctreadway.com

When I approached Mark for coaching I was in a place of emotional turmoil, stuck in my career, and needed help to find a way to create a life that would give me joy. I thought I had the plan and simply needed support in the execution of my goals as an artist. In fact what happened in my year’s work with Mark is that he supported me to look deeper at who I am and what I truly need and want. The result has been a transformative shift.

The coaching gave me confidence and self-awareness and enabled me to find and commit to a true life purpose. Buried talents in writing and coaching were unearthed and enlivened and I found an arena where my passion for service could flourish. Already within the year with Mark I exceeded my own expectations of myself by setting up a company, writing six e-books to be self published, embarked on new qualifications, trialed my dream of living and working abroad as a writer and coach and found a way to find new passion within my legal career.

The vision I am currently working on for the future is so much more impactful and audacious than I would have anticipated. The coaching has supported me to raise myself up from a mire of anxiety, depression and perceived uselessness to a perception of myself as an able ‘agent for change’ and to take actions in line with that.

Mark has been a quiet, gentle, steady and reliable provider of evidence based feed back and challenge. He is a master in the use of silence to prompt internal reflection! I have appreciated his style of combining coaching with mentorship. His availability between calls and his willingness to go way above and beyond the coaching calls by reviewing my writing manuscripts and providing books meant that I felt supported throughout.

Importantly, while I would not hesitate to engage him as a coach again, I have left this year’s work feeling empowered to make my idea future an reality and not dependant on him.”

Helen Conway, Senior Lawyer, Artist and Coach, StudioConway.com

When I first contacted Mark I was feeling lost, confused and extremely frustrated. I wanted to ‘put myself out there’ but I wasn’t even aware of the reasons why I struggled.

I didn’t really know that coaching ‘for normal people’ existed. I thought it was just for olympic athletes and top CEOs. The reality is that everyone can gain from coaching. It is having someone who is there for you, 100% concerned about your own interests and success.

As a result of working with Mark, I’ve embarked on a completely new adventure! In 3 months, my email list has grown from 0 to over 800 and counting… My YouTube channel has 1,600 subscribers and 50,000+ views and is growing every day.

I’m creating new relationships around a totally new paradigm, based on openness to others, and I’m opening new channels of income. I never dreamt this could have been possible before!

Mark is non-intrusive, stimulating and inspiring. He gently guides you towards your purpose whilst keeping you accountable to guarantee progress and eventually success.

Fabrice Bourrelly, Artist, Architect and Virtual Reality (VR) Designer, FabriceBourrelly.com

One question I ask people I work with when they want to develop a new skill is ‘Who is already great at the skill you want to be better at and could help you?’ So, when a publisher commissioned me to write my first book about the work I did, I had to ask myself the very same question.

I wanted to work with a coach who was a writer, someone who had already been on the journey and could share their learning, their experience and could help me discover, learn and adopt the most useful ways to get better at writing. I wanted to work with a coach who had a focus on results and action.

I found Mark.

I had a book to write to a deadline. Working with Mark gave me a dedicated space to share my frustrations, my mini celebrations, my ‘stuck’ moments, my ‘overwhelmed with ideas’ moments and turn them into action. Learning what I needed to do to be the writer I wanted to be was all part of the journey.

Mark helped me become clearer and more confident as a writer. As well as sharing his own experience, lessons and insights, he guided me to look at other writers’ work too. I became much more aware of the discipline I needed for my creativity to thrive.

Experimenting with and developing the most useful way for me to manage the tension of generating versus structuring ideas was a simple and exceptionally powerful part of working with Mark.

The result was achieved. I completed my first book: The SHED Method: How to Make Better Choices When It Matters.

Sara Milne Rowe, Performance Coach, Founder of Coaching Impact and Author of The SHED Method

I wanted to move my business in a digital direction and I had started something but couldn’t find the focus to take that idea a few steps further.

I had no doubts about coaching because I’ve been following Mark for years and his books and podcast already helped me make a massive transition in my working life even before we met.

The reality has been that talking to Mark helped me tremendously to get clarity on what I needed to do to achieve my goals, focus on putting dates in the diary to make those plans happen, and finding a balance and ways to move forward in dealing with the extraordinary challenges of 2020.

I achieved 90% of the goals I set out at the beginning of our coaching sessions: created digital products, an online course, a YouTube channel, and also started teaching abroad, all of which were just ideas in my mind hen we first spoke.

Talking to Mark feels like meeting a friend who has walked a similar path to yours, encountered most of the same struggles and is there for you with advice and insights on how to move on if you feel stuck, or make you aware of the way forward you’re probably already seeing in your mind as a fuzzy idea.

Anna Maria, Costume Maker for Film and Theatre, a.k.a. ‘The Tutu Fairy Godmother’, TutuMakerStudio.com

Mark is fearless. He will never shy away from saying the difficult things that he knows and you know to be the truth, and he does this in a noncritical or judgemental way.

His background as a therapist, his passion for poetry, music art, his humor, and his savvy business knowledge makes him unique.

You know you are in trouble when he gives you that frown and then a smile to say, ‘REALLY, REALLY… come on Thomas you know that is bulls**t’.

He always has this relaxed but very focussed and determined mindset – you just feel like he knows exactly what he is doing and that if you just take his coaching the results will follow. So if you want to achieve your goals and you are lucky enough to get to work with him it will be one of the best investments you can ever make.

Thomas De Brun, Corporate Solutions Trainer at Dale Carnegie, and High Performance Coach, LinkedIn

I reached out to Mark for help with (re-)establishing and maintaining my creative practice, while balancing the demands of clients and the general day-to-day tasks of running a small business.

I knew a standard business coach wouldn’t give me the guidance I needed, so I spent some time researching the right coach for me. I found Mark after reading some of his work in the 99U books; after our initial consultation prior to beginning the coaching, I had little doubt by the time we actually started work together.

One thing the coaching has brought me is a little more sanity! I am now much calmer and more focused about my own needs and how the business needs to work for me.

Setting aside time for my own creative projects, and valuing these in equal measure to client work, has re-invigorated my practice – which is now shaping up to be the kind of studio I set out to create in the first place.

Mark’s varied knowledge and skills mean this is a relaxed but focused experience that is tailored to your needs. Mark understands the importance of creative time over the ‘pounds and pence’ approach of a standard business coach – perfect for any budding creative entrepreneur who doesn’t want to loose themselves to the bottom line.

Helen Hughes, Owner, Helen Hughes Design Studio

When I first thought about getting a coach I was in a lot of despair. I am a somatic psychotherapist, hospice worker and teacher. I had immensely beautiful teachings I was trying to bring into the world, but they were so different that no one seemed to be able to understand what to do with them.

There was no neat category that these teachings fell into because they transcended categories. The outlets that I had for them were somehow not right for the teachings themselves. Not only that, they involved looking a death, which no one really wants to do. I felt I was bursting from the pressure of carrying these fairly radical teachings alone, and feeling as if they would kill me if I carried them much longer.

One day I suddenly realized that I had a creative person’s problem, and that I needed straightforward mirroring and strategy and guidance in all kinds of areas where I felt weak and vulnerable. On a strange whim I googled ‘coaches for creativity’ and found Mark.

Up until the moment I realized that coaching was exactly what I needed, I thought of coaches as kind of lightweights. Coaches were people who helped you set personal goals and nagged at you until you did them. I didn’t need that. I had a therapists’ arrogance. Maybe I thought that they didn’t have much training. But I was stuck. Really stuck. I needed to be supported with more of an active guide than a receptive one.

In reality I found a coach who really listened to my quandary, spent a lot of time understanding what I was holding and trying to do, enthusiastically mirrored over and over the importance of the work and my ability to do it.

Mark helped me get out of all of the little nagging sinkholes I used to just get stuck in: marketing strategy, program development, enlisting students… you name it. He was there helping me bring it into existence instead of dying in oblivion. That support was utterly invaluable.

In two years I was able to run a pilot program, then develop and run a first year training program in the material that I teach with the second one about to begin. I have traveled all over presenting in small venues and have grown in notoriety for these ideas. People are getting it and it is changing lives.

Further, I was able to write a student manual, restructure my professional practice, articulate my ideas so that they are understandable to the audience that I want to draw, and redo my website (coming soon!) in a way that reflects my new posture in the world.

One of the best things Mark did was insist (kindly and persistently) that I not leave my poetry or myself out of the picture of this new life.

I have a long way to go, but I am not suffering from the experience of “This is going to die with me.” It isn’t.

As a coach, Mark is extremely kind while being direct. Really wise while being modest. Incredibly smart, sensitive, intuitive and clear in his thinking. I sometimes felt like a seven year old kid learning to play a sport with a really kind Dad showing me the moves with love and compassion. Because I had never gotten this kind of fathering it was really transformative for me. I really felt he had my back.

Something that was really important to me personally is that Mark is a serious, practicing poet. That meant that he was not coaching from an abstract perspective. What’s more he had a poet’s fine sensibility. He recognized and encouraged mine. This turned out to be a profound comfort. He took care of my inner artist. And I felt very safe under his guidance.

Jeanne Denney, Somatic Psychotherapist, Teacher and Founder of The School of Unusual Life Learning (SoULL), JeanneDenney.com

Coaching with Mark was one of the best investments I gave myself at the early stage of my career as an artist.

If you want a gentle voice that can give you encouragement when you need hand-holding, as well as practical business advice, Mark is the coach for you. He is a lovely combination of creativity and business strategy.

He helped me with my productivity when I thought my problem was that I didn’t know what to do. I did know, I was just too overwhelmed to see past my fears. He helped me structure my ideas into an actionable plan while sharing techniques to work with my natural creativity + productivity rhythms.

Instead of fighting my creative + contradictory personalities, I learnt to work in partnership with the moodiness of my muse that also suited the practical left-brain context my business needed.

(The investment in a coach also helped my mindset that this being-a-professional-fine-artist-life I wanted IS a business and businesses invest in themselves.)

If you’re like me, you need a coach to hold your hand through your fears while still helping you with the big picture strategies. I highly recommend a series of sessions so you will get the best of Mark. He seems to genuinely be invested in his clients, always ensuring you have an action plan that suits your goals + abilities while holding you accountable to those actions. Us creatives need both the gentle nudge in confidence + a firm kick into action sometimes!

Together we put a myriad of plans into a structure that suited my goals & stretched my perspective of what I thought was possible to achieve. I was able to develop a marketing strategy that made sense to me. I wasn’t left hanging with ideas & suggestions from Mark, we always outlined a plan to make them happen. This means I feel confident in what I’m doing, I’m less distracted by shiny new ideas & know which to focus on that suits my goals. Even if something doesn’t quite work out I have techniques and ideas on how to deal with that also.

The structure of my action plan + confidence I gained from Mark’s coaching gave me the courage to pursue my creative (some may say ‘crazy’) idea to develop my own kickstarter program over winter 2011 (June-August).

This resulted in raising over $3,000 and I’m having my first solo exhibition next month. I have my first body of work, a group of collectors and the encouragement to keep going in my new career as a fine artist — despite the scary and lack of security.

Brenda Mangalore, Artist, Sashé Studio

Through our coaching sessions Mark taught me a broad range of personalized skills applicable to the day to day business of my art practice and how to build a strong presence online.

He provided me with tailored solutions for time management, how not to freak out about things, how to routinize my work so that I am creating new artwork consistently while also taking care of the business side. Two sessions were focused on branding and identity helping me to better speak about my art and present it.

Rachel Marsden, Contemporary Photography, Rachel-Marsden.com

I was growing as a creative professional. I was taking on more responsibility at work, earning that proverbial seat at the big table and it was happening fast. Although that’s great, I needed to know if I was really spending my energy on tasks that mattered to me. I needed to know if what I was doing was actually helping my career goals or if I had ventured off track. I needed to better understand how to get to my next career level.

I was in dire need of some good advice and not the kind recruiters, friends, or co-workers can give you. Nobody tells you what your next steps should be in life. I mean, who isn’t slightly confused? Since I found Mark’s Creative Pathfinder course enlightening I decided to reach out to Mark for some personal one-on-one coaching.

We connected on Skype over four sessions. During that time Mark honestly listened to my situation and helped me see past the clutter in my head. Together we made a plan to attack and re-focus my energy on steps that could really make a difference in my life. His inspiration has been truly valuable to me and the further I travel down the path we established the more valuable it seems.

Our sessions have long been over, but I feel like I could always contact Mark at any point. I feel like I got more than just four sessions… I feel like we’re friends.

Would I do it again? Yes.

Bradley Derry, Industrial Designer and Creative Team Leader, BradleyDerry.com

I had been working as an independent consultant for about half a year when I saw the announcement about Mark’s New Year’s Resolutionizer program. I was immediately intrigued by the title, as I had never really been able to keep any New Year’s Resolutions before.

I knew I needed to do something to fix my working life: No matter what changes I tried to make, I was not getting enough sleep, client projects always seemed to be due at the same time, and I never knew whether I was making the right decision when I spent an hour networking instead of working on a client project. I was always tired and had more mental angst than I wanted.

Most of my friends and former colleagues, who had ‘normal’ jobs, didn’t really seem to understand my decision to strike out on my own, and the traditional kinds of advice didn’t seem to apply to my situation.

I had the sneaking suspicion that Mark could help me, yet I couldn’t help thinking that the Resolutionizer cost a bit more than I wanted to pay. I had never tried coaching before – and certainly had never considered working with a coach entirely online – and wondered if I might be spending my money foolishly.

Somewhere in my head there was a voice that said, “You can save your money and solve your problems yourself if you just make a plan and stick with it for another six months.” However, there was a part of me that was tired of going through all of the trial and error on my own.

I am so glad to report that I ignored that voice in my head, as the Resolutionizer was worth every penny, and more.

Mark’s expertise was apparent from the very first call. He very quickly helped me to identify my most productive working patterns and to design not just a working life, but an entire lifestyle, that is based on working independently and works with my natural strengths.

I have developed a more positive and relaxed outlook on life and am impressed that the program worked so quickly. I clearly got more than I expected: I initially signed up just to get some help with my New Year’s Resolution to get more sleep, but found myself addressing productivity and motivation and client management issues all at the same time!

As someone who has always strayed a bit off the beaten path, I appreciated Mark’s ability to bring out my best qualities and help me capitalize on what makes me unique instead of suggesting that I try to fit into a box somewhere. Perhaps most importantly, I understood why I was never able to make that 6-month plan in the first place, let alone stick to it!

The peace of mind I have gained through Mark’s coaching is invaluable. He is insightful, truly committed to providing outstanding service, and excels at making his clients feel comfortable. In fact, my experience was so good that I have signed on for the Money for Creative People program.

Mark understands creatives and entrepreneurs in a way that most people don’t, and I highly recommend his services for anyone who feels that they don’t fit into the traditional mold. The world would be a better place if everyone had Mark’s gift for relating to people and helping them to create the lives they want to lead.

E.W., Boston

I have been a freelance writer and arts project manager for over four years. I decided to work with Mark over six sessions at a point when I was really struggling to balance the different aspects of my professional and creative life.

I approached Mark because I had been to a seminar he gave on Time Management for Creative People and was impressed by his honesty and passion, and his mix of creativity and, for want of a better word, business.

I was a little resistant to the very idea of coaching (taking, perhaps, that very English, ‘it’s a bit American/self indulgent/I should just stop whinging and get on with it’ attitude…) but I found working with Mark extraordinarily helpful. Because he took my work and the problems I was facing seriously, so did I.

Carving time out of my week to really examine what I was doing, and how, and why, helped me to step back and take a more objective view of things, which in turn helped me to think about what I wanted to change.

I found Mark professional, interested, and prepared to challenge my thinking and my habits.

I wouldn’t say my life is perfect as a result (!) but I have managed to put strategies in place to defend my own creative time, and have developed more of an ability to take a step back when things are getting hectic, and check I am going in the right direction.

Sarah Butler, Writer and Creative Project Manager, Urban Words

I was having trouble deciding what to do for a job. It’s not like I was stuck for options, I actually had too many. I was at a social networking group and was explaining my dilemma to some of my friends who suggested I needed to see Mark.

I had heard of business (and life) coaches before and had met a few, who in my mind I wouldn’t have consulted over what filling of sandwich I should have, let alone ask them for advice with problems I was having around making decisions about my business or career. Many people who pass themselves off as coaches are quite flaky.

What Mark had going in his favour was I had great respect for the people who recommended him. He came with an ‘non-flaky’ reputation immediately. For some reason I got the feeling that he had made an effort to put himself out there and become known to people in a real way, rather than set up a website advertising his services.

I got more clarity about who it is I am, and that who I am is OK. Instead of chastising myself for being ‘all over the place’ I began to realize that actually I was just very talented in lots of areas and sometimes that can be a little overwhelming for me to cope with.

Instead of thinking I had to do it all, I was able to see what it was I liked doing the most. I realized that if I were to be successful at any one of them I would have to sacrifice some of the others and attached to that loss would be some pain. I got to see more clearly what the choices were.

I came away more informed as to my processes, what it was I really really liked, as opposed to what I thought I should like. I left feeling like I wasn’t such a bad person after all for not having my whole life planned down the last minute.

I also think that just having someone listen is powerful. Of course I have friends I can talk to but in those interactions I am mindful of my role in the relationship of having to offer up something to them. When I saw Mark I owed him nothing apart from paying his bill, the dynamics are different if you are being heard by someone who role is it to listen and guide and then charge you for that service. You don’t leave thinking “Was I being a selfish, self-centered person for talking only about me for the last hour?”.

The fact that Mark was qualified in some psychotherapeutic discipline made me personally feel better. I understand that we are driven by a lot of unconscious material and that if I were to engage with Mark he would reveal those processes to me, and quite frankly I would have resented someone had read a few books on NLP pointing them out to me.

He observed the usual boundaries – he was on time, he apologized if he got things wrong, he was smartly dressed but not intimidating in his style. My general sense was that he was very kind and that he actually cared. He had a good understanding of how tricky it can be to promote yourself in a world that doesn’t always accommodate or understand people who cover such a broad spectrum, as I do.

I loved the fact he recommended books and websites for me to look at. I think with most things you face in life, its the feeling of isolation that makes it all the worse. By pointing me in the direction of others who shared the same experience as me and had faced the same ‘problems’ I was facing, not only was the isolation broken but the shame attached to being the ‘only one’ left me too.

I felt like I had gone to see Mark with a tangled ball of wool (that was my working life and/or attitude towards it), over the sessions we untangled the wool.

Debbie Davies, Creative Entrepreneur

In my experience, the great challenge for the wild & creative is to interface with the ordinary & practical. Ideas need to meet action. The spirit needs grounding in the material. Mark McGuiness’s practice offers a seasoned, empathic and clear-headed approach to the marriage of these disparate realms — and it’s an essential service.

Joshua Wolf Shenk, Writer, Shenk.net

A number of years ago, I was frustrated with my job, career and boss. My osteopath recommended that I see Mark who was a coach. A coach at the time was new, at least to me, so I was a little concerned about what I might get out of it. After some contemplation, I thought a visit wouldn’t hurt.

I can’t tell you how glad I am that I took that initial step. I went in for help with my work but when all was said and done, I got a new direction and insight to my life.

Looking back, my job was driving everything. Mark quickly got to the root of the troubles and challenges that I faced. Mark was outstanding at guiding me to look at all the facets of the issues. He helped me bring out all the questions and then helped me down the path to discovering the answers.

Mark has an approach that gives you a comfort zone to work through the process. The bottom line effect was a whole new way of facing difficult situations whether it was with my job or something else.

It’s been 10 years since I first saw Mark and I have returned for coaching from time to time. Looking back, I would sum up the experience as going from feeling confined in a straitjacket (my old job) to freedom (my new business).

If you’re looking for assistance, I can’t recommend Mark enough.

Rosanne Bachman, Managing Director, Pinwheel Consulting