REAL BUSINESS EXPERIENCE MEETS COACHING EXPERTISE
All our team have strong commercial track records, extensive coaching skills and the energy and drive to help people get commercially fit so they can perform at the highest level. As qualified coaches and EQ practitioners, we share a passion to help people achieve their personal best.
With a wealth of experience in a wide range of Blue Chip and FMCG industries, together with the breadth of expertise across different commercial functions, we always partner our clients with trainers who understand their particular business and team needs.
meet the team
CEO
Nicole founded Diadem in 2009 to provide tailored training and coaching programmes based on EQ principles. With extensive commercial experience gained from 12 years managing large sales teams for Unilever and United Biscuits, followed by 15 years designing and delivering training programmes internationally, she has successfully coached many hundreds of individuals from sales execs to CEOs. She is also the best-selling author of ‘The Negotiation Book’, ‘The Influence Book’, ‘The Coaching Book’ and ‘The Presenting Book.’ Find out more here Away from work, Nicole loves to travel, play tennis and walk the dogs, as well as watch her talented daughters perform on the stage.
Trainer & Coach
Clair is a sales and marketing professional and qualified coach. She spent 12 years working at Unilever on brands such as Comfort, Persil and Slimfast, before moving to Brand Learning where she developed cutting edge marketing and leadership programmes for major blue-chip companies. Clair has worked for Diadem since 2013, combining her deep commercial expertise with a motivational and results-orientated approach that inspires and influences people at all levels. Outside work, Clair spends a lot of her free time on the side of a football pitch supporting her football mad boys and likes to stay active through dancing, running and yoga.
Trainer & Coach
Kate is a commercial specialist and executive coach with over 20 years’ customer facing experience. She has worked for major multi-national companies over a variety of commercial roles including Sales, Account Management, Category Management and Supply Chain Management. In 2012, she became a Commercial Capability Manager at Nestlé where she coached and mentored the UK & Ireland Sales teams. She joined Diadem in 2015 and is passionate about developing people so they can deliver real results. Away from work, Kate enjoys long walks with her springer spaniel, HIT workouts, cooking, travelling and is learning to play the piano.
Trainer & Coach
Sarah has extensive Commercial and Learning & Development experience gained during 20 years with Cadbury and Kraft Foods. Her commercial roles spanned Brand Marketing, NPD, Direct Marketing, Commercial Strategy and Product Change. In HR she headed up the UK&I Learning & Development team working closely with global teams. Sarah joined Diadem in 2012, bringing a broad blend of commercial and HR experience with a passion for helping people achieve their full potential. Sarah enjoys staying fit with HIT and Yoga workouts. Less actively, she can also be found reading, sitting in the sun and making espresso martinis.
Trainer & Coach
Miranda is an experienced performance coach with more than twenty years’ experience in Sales and Learning and Development within the Pharmaceutical sector. For ten of those years, she headed up the L&D function at Servier. She is a strong believer that everyone can reach their full potential with the right support and development. Miranda brings to Diadem deep expertise in coaching, commercial skills training, leadership and team development. In her spare time, Miranda cherishes time with her family; enjoying bike rides, walks with her Cockapoo and discovering new places to visit. She also loves to cook and draw.
Trainer & Coach
Lisa is a former solicitor with over 10 years of legal expertise in intellectual property and commercial litigation. She has extensive experience working within the professional service sector and across a variety of industries. Before qualifying as a solicitor, Lisa gained a degree in psychology and in 2007, she returned to her roots and retrained as a coach. She has worked for Diadem since 2012, equipping people with the EQ skills they need to be successful in their professional and personal life. She is a highly experienced coach and has achieved senior practitioner level with the EMCC – the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. Away from work, Lisa enjoys kayaking and hiking with her husband and aims to take a sea kayaking course this year to enable them to go on bigger adventures. She has two sons and loves playing board games (not Monopoly!) as a family and watching TV quiz shows.
Operations Manager
Tanya has more than 20 years’ experience working as a Barristers Clerk, where she was responsible for the day-to-day management of a team of clerks. She joined Diadem in 2016 as the Operations Manager. Always calm under pressure, Tanya combines exceptional organisational and communication skills with a passion for managing and motivating others, ensuring all of Diadem’s business operations run smoothly and efficiently. Outside work, she enjoys being with her children and spending time outdoors, either in her garden or on the many walks with her dogs.
Client Service and Design Executive
Zoe is responsible for ensuring the smooth-running of all the workshops, whether it’s liaising with clients and trainers, running pre-workshop diagnostics or organising personality profiling. As the Diadem branding expert, Zoe harnesses her creativity to design the artwork for the training materials whether online or in print. In her spare time, Zoe enjoys reading, going to the gym and spending time with family and friends.
Finance
As a Chartered Management Accountant, Emma has more than 15 years’ professional experience providing management information, data analysis and modelling. Emma’s experience is diverse and wide-ranging. She has lived in the UK, USA, South Africa and Thailand, working for a range of businesses from large multinational companies to internet start-ups and non-profit organisations. In her spare time, Emma loves to travel, go on family walks with the dog and has just taken up quilting.
Communications
Katharine is an experienced marketing communications professional with a background in the agency side with Burson Marsteller, and in-house with banking group Investec. She combines creativity with commercial experience to powerfully communicate the Diadem brand, whether it’s through social media, blogs, internal comms and events. Outside work, Katharine is kept on her toes by her three teenage daughters and two dogs. She enjoys tennis, yoga, paddle boarding and skiing.
Trainer & Coach
With more than 20 years’ learning & development experience, Katy is an innovative and skilled facilitator, trainer, assessor, and professionally certified coach. She draws on her breadth of experience as a sales manager, buyer and training programme manager with several Blue-Chip companies. Katy uses a no nonsense yet empathic approach in everything she does. Whether it’s helping clients work through difficult conversations, create engaging narratives or build value in what they have to offer. Outside work, Katy is usually found on an outdoors adventure, from hill walking in Scotland to surfing in Devon.
Olivia is responsible for managing the CEO’s diary, ensuring Nicole’s time is maximised and her day-to-day activities run smoothly. Calm under pressure, Olivia is proactive, enthusiastic and efficient, whether it’s organising client meetings, arranging 1-1 coaching sessions or collating workshop materials. Away from work, she enjoys socialising with friends and going to the gym.
Best-selling books by Nicole Soames
Inspiring guides, packed with practical tools
and techniques to set you up for success
Click to purchase via Amazon
