CAROLINE MCHUGH
Chief IDOLOGIST

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'“I found myself contemplating our two days together over the whole weekend, which has been almost as invigorating as the two days themselves. I know it will be a life-changing experience for me. I found you an amazing person to listen to, observe and learn from.”
— MD, Investment Bank

“Thank you for one of the most motivational experiences of my life. I am taking on board as much as I can from that day — it has really changed my outlook.”
— MT, Marketing Director

In the early 90s, Caroline founded IDOLOGY, a movement dedicated to helping individuals and organisations be original versions of themselves, not pale imitations of each other. A deeply unfashionable philosophy at that time, in two decades it’s gone from being fanciful, to a lapel grabber, to received wisdom.

Caroline has dedicated herself to being a student and teacher of human potential and its application, working with leading politicians and global economists, captains of industry and internationally renowned artists. She and her small team of IDologists have swept through organisations proving that when spirits rise, profits do too — turns out the idea of engaged authenticity is not just hip, it’s the only place in your life you have no competition.

Speaker, teacher and author of Never Not a Lovely Moon, Caroline delivers keynotes and masterclasses at dozens of Fortune 500 companies, bringing a wholly original approach to the careless but well meaning invocation to ‘just be yourself.’ In a world that’s ever more competitive and precarious, her message on finding your voice has brought a whole new meaning to ROI — a Return on Individuality.

Decide which ‘I’ you mean when you say ‘I.’

LUCY RATCLIFFE
Head of Learning

“I think what you guys are doing is extraordinary…what I like about the course as a whole is how it isn’t 'a course' – not in the conventional 'you’re going to be taught something' sense. It’s unlike any course I’ve attended… It has changed my life!”
– Head of Internal Customer Services, BSKYB

“Absorbing, life-changing, relevant. I will say that the course was by far the best I have ever attended at Northern. I thought you were absolutely excellent, too. You take great pride in your work and obviously genuinely care. It was a pleasure to spend a couple of days in your company.”
– SVP, Northern Trust

“The best coach I’ve ever worked with!”
– Director, Vodafone

Lucy spent the first ten years of her career as a professional actress. Highlights include writing and performing a one woman show for Kenneth Branagh’s Theatre Company and being part of the Olivier Award-winning Spanish Golden Age season at the Gate Theatre in London, directed by Steven Daldry.

In 2005, she became involved in the pioneering Elite Coach Programme for UK Sport, an initiative designed to develop the most talented and successful coaches working in all sporting disciplines into gold medal-winning coaches, and to help them become the next generation of leaders. She’s developed projects with the gold medal-winning British Equestrian and Cycling Teams, and worked alongside world class coaches such as Yogi Breisner (Head Coach of the British Equestrian Team), and Chris Boardman and Tim Foster from British Rowing.

Since joining IDOLOGY in 1996 Lucy has developed dynamic relationships with CEOs and senior business leaders in corporations all over the world, designed and delivered high-potential talent programmes for American Express, BP and Sainsbury’s, and is simultaneously consulting many of our clients on corporate culture, resulting in accolades not only for us but for them.

ANNA JONES
Development Director

“An absolutely terrific day, Anna. You took us to a new level of understanding, motivation, clarity, presentation and communication. Thank you.”

Between acquiring a degree in Experimental Psychology and spending a number of years being one of Goldman Sachs best assets, you might have spotted Anna being a tour guide in Germany, wielding a very competitive hockey stick or doing some cattle mustering in Australia, exactly the kind of portfolio career that beats a path to our door.

The most important criteria for being an IDOLOGIST is that you’re good at being yourself, and Anna has spent the last eight years breathing her own brand of life into not just our IDOLOGY culture but that of our clients. She’ll read you like a newspaper, with curiosity rather than judgement, then offer an opinion based on her dual vantage points of commercial understanding and human insight. Anna’s a development consultant to corporations like Northern Trust and MTV, and an intrepid coach to the many who’ve been inspired by her. Like all of us, Anna is unrepeatable, but life is contagious, and she’s a carrier.

NIKKI HINKSMAN
IDOLOGIST

“The best learning experience I have had in my entire career to date. The big difference is that I actually learned something about myself rather than techniques or facts and figures.”
– Senior Manager, Vodafone

“Thank you so much for helping us pull this off. You were unbelievable, what an incredibly talented woman you are. You made us look so good, your level of expertise and flexibility was refreshing and inspiring.”
– Manager, Barclays Retail

Wholehearted, dynamic and emotionally contagious, Nikki’s energy arrives in a room three minutes before she does. Over the five years she has been with IDOLOGY, she has worked with a diverse range of clients from investment bankers to media and PR companies, from graduate students to CEOs.

Nikki’s individual perspective is informed by a background in the theatre, both as a performer and running her own company. Parallel to the work she does at IDOLOGY, Nikki has a career facilitating theatre workshops with young people (the toughest audience she’s met yet!).

Nikki has a particular talent for helping people find their voice. Her expertise and motivational style could coax a performance out of a lampshade.

CORINNA POWLESLAND
IDOLOGIST

“I genuinely am a very harsh critic but I think that everyone, even chief executives, can benefit from this course….It totally exceeded my expectations! Corinna was an outstanding example of a communicator with edge, and provided constructive feedback throughout. Thank you.”
– Manager, Tui Travel

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have experienced these sessions, and for the expertise and care with which they were led. I learnt more about myself in two days than I have been able to work out in thirty-five years!!! Learning about each other has been transformational in the way we interact as a team.”
– Managing Director, Northern Trust

Corinna has been a part of the team at IDOLOGY since 2000 and began her career here as our resident voice specialist. Like many of our team she draws on her artistic expertise as a working actress and singer to help our clients combine the art of finding an authentic voice with the very specific techniques she’s perfected in the acting world. Authentic performance is no oxymoron, and Corinna proves it every time she teaches a class, with her energy, expertise, drive and just-swallowed-a-lightbulb glow. She’s the kind of confident that infects you with your own, and has made a serious impact on some of our most serious clients, both culturally and commercially.

HILARY COLDICOTT
IDOLOGIST

“Thank you so much for the wonderful session. Your experience and insight were extremely helpful.”
– EVP, Northern Trust

“Many thanks for your patience and coaching. I really enjoyed the programme. I do think this has really helped me…I’ve already started to try and put some of the things I learned into practice. I’m finding that I’m much more aware of what’s going on and feel more in control when I am present in conversations.”
– Business Advisor, BP

“It was a pleasure to have worked with you. Thank you for the experience and expertise shared. I truly treasured that and hope that one day we cross paths again and repeat the experience.”
– Commercial Manager, BP

With seventeen years experience in the world of consultancy, facilitating and coaching leadership and change management, Hilary’s not as old as she should be. Before becoming a consultant, she worked in learning and development for British Airways for 10 years — but didn’t need a plane to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro, her latest offsite between assignments.

So she’s our highest achiever, but if Hilary owned a word it would be 'wise'. She will never reach for a stock answer. In fact, she’s more likely to reach for an unusual question, since her favourite thing is to help people truly think, rather than just rearrange information.

We haven’t met a client she’s not right for or a problem she can’t help solve. In fact, we’re pretty sure she could land it in the Hudson if need be.

“I cannot tell you the impact you had on me. You told us you love words, and I hung on every last one of yours. You were so kind, yet so relentless, in helping us to discover what it was that held us back from being the best we could be. Thank you!”
– Bare Escentuals

“Thanks, Hal, for breathing so much life and humanity into our hard-working souls. I truly believe Credit Suisse will be a better place after today.”
– Credit Suisse

A native Southerner, Hal has lived and thrived in New York for over 20 years. Columbia University and its diversity drew him to the wonders of the Big Apple. With an MFA in creative writing, he has written and produced many short plays and also writes substantially about golf and golf course design for an array of publications (by late summer he sports a three handicap). His love for language and character brings a literary edge to his workshops, and his intuition and understanding of people bring a depth and commitment to personal transformation. Hal’s clients include several of the top ten Wall Street investment banks, ESPN and Weight Watchers, where he was named leader of the year. He works mainly with senior executives who need to take their presentation skills to the next level and beyond.

COOKIE SAMI
IDOLOGIST

IDOLOGIST-in-waiting is not a position we fill lightly. Being good at being yourself is the pre-eminent qualification, and we take great pains to choose people with the right spirit, teach them everything we know, then encourage them to make their own mistakes.

Cookie earned a Drama degree at Hull, followed by a Masters from Central School of Speech and Drama, which led to leading roles in Shakespeare in the Park, playing Juliet in an extensive Japanese tour (who knew?) and performing in the world’s longest running comedy show, the News Revue.

She was invited to join Endemol as Development Creative, where she was instrumental in developing some of the UK’s most successful TV shows before she undertook our IDOLOGY apprenticeship.

Her portfolio career also includes an indefatigable volunteer schedule, working with the homeless community and teaching kids in community theatre (slacker!) and there is nothing trending anywhere that Cookie doesn’t know about.

She has acted, directed, produced, designed, written, pitched, intuited, inspired her way into becoming a fully fledged IDOLOGIST and the most creative Life’s A Pitch coach we have (what’s more she cannot tell a lie, so don’t ask her if your bum looks big in that unless you really want to know).