Happy 5th Birthday Mint Coaching!

It’s been 5 years this week since I qualified as a financial coach.

Five years since I set up Mint Coaching to help people manage not just their money, but their emotions around money too.

Because money is never just money.

It’s stress. Freedom. Shame. Confidence. Choice. Security. Relationships. Identity. Possibility.

And over the last five years I’ve helped individuals and couples try to untangle all of that.

The practical stuff … the mountains of paperwork going back years, the lost pension pots, the many accounts, the forgotten direct debits, the “where on earth does all my money actually go every month?” conversations. We’ve set up savings pots, tracked spending, worked out ‘what it really costs to be you’, got people logged into accounts they’d avoided for years, and figured out what’s important and what simply isn’t.

But of course, it’s never only about the practical stuff.

It’s about the guilt people feel when they spend money. Or the embarrassment around not understanding ISAs or pensions or investing. The overwhelm. The avoidance. The “I earn well but somehow I’m still in debt.” The stories we grew up with around spending and saving and what being “good with money” is supposed to look like.

And the shame.  It’s painful.  Honestly, almost everyone I work with arrives carrying some kind of shame around money.

“I should be better at this.”

“I should know this by now.”

“I should be more organised.”

“I should have sorted this years ago.”

So many shoulds.

We’ve talked about insurance and protection and planning - but never in a ‘what everyone else says you should do’ kind of way. Always in a ‘what works for you?’ way. Because everything I do is bespoke to the individual or couple sitting in front of me.  Of course it is.  We are all different.

We’ve talked about communication a lot too - why money conversations can feel so difficult with partners, parents, children. How hard it can be when people come from completely different financial backgrounds and perspectives.

And underneath all of it, is life.  What it has done to us.  What we want to do with it.

Careers. Burnout. Divorce. Bereavement. Teenagers growing up. Parents growing old. Hormones. Friendships. Relationships. Time. Productivity. Identity. What matters now. What matters later.

Because money coaching and life coaching are inseparable. They go hand in hand. 

That’s why I do both, weaving them together.

Money informs our lives, yes. But what we want our lives to feel like, and what we want for the people we love, that’s the essential bit.  That’s our driver.  Our ‘why’.

So … what about the next five years?

Well, I’m going to keep going!  Running Mint Coaching gives me a huge sense of purpose, and I feel incredibly grateful and proud watching the transformations my clients go through.

But I also want to do more.

I’m considering training as a financial planner because I genuinely love the organisational and strategic planning side of things. I’d love to use more tools like cashflow modelling to help clients visualise their long-term options and future possibilities more clearly.

I also really want to improve my marketing skills (currently close to non-existent!) and do more speaking in companies and organisations, because there’s something incredibly rewarding about supporting financial wellbeing in the workplace. So if any of you work in companies that might be interested in workshops, talks or team sessions, please do get in touch.

But most importantly, I want to keep helping people realise this:

You do not have to be ‘good at maths’ to get on top of your money.

You do not have to carry shame forever.

You do not have to stay overwhelmed.

Whether you need help with organisation, confidence, decision-making, communication, planning, or simply knowing where to start - you can do this.

And if you can, invest in support. Whether that’s with me or one of my wonderful colleagues in this industry, do it because it’s really an investment in yourself.

An investment in finally facing the thing that’s been weighing you down.An investment in confidence.An investment in clarity.An investment in building a life that feels calmer, more intentional, and more aligned with what matters to you.

I’m excited for the next five years.

Happy birthday to my little Mint Coaching company.

I’m very proud of what’s been achieved so far … and very excited to see what happens next.

Claire x