Meet Val

My story

I’ve been in tech for almost two decades and I’ve never had a manager that looked like me. Barely worked with anyone that looked like me — never mind the queer, neurodivergent, disabled version of me. I’ve been bullied. Neglected. Held to unreasonable standards. Left to get on with it alone in toxic environments where support was a foreign concept. Told I lack the pedigree to be on the C-Suite. Multiple times.

And yet. Here I am.

I survived despite the odds, and I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through. Working in tech is f*cking hard. It’s harder when you’re multiply marginalised. It’s harder still when you finally claw your way to the top and hit that ceiling.

I coach because I know what it costs us to survive in spaces that were never designed for us to have a seat at the table in the first place.

Who I work with

I primarily work with women, disabled, non-binary, queer, and neurodivergent people in tech who are struggling, growing, or trying to figure out how to navigate a world that wasn’t built for them. That includes individual contributors who are ready to stop shrinking, new managers who’ve been thrown in the deep end, and senior leaders smashing their heads on a very real, very present glass ceiling.

If you work in tech and you’re done with navigating a broken system alone, let’s talk.

How I work

Here’s the thing: most of the people I work with are already capable. They’re not broken. They’re stuck because nobody’s ever given them permission to do it their way — to be fully, unapologetically themselves and actually belong.

I unlock that through a blend of coaching (guided questioning, genuine challenge, new insight) and mentoring (18 years of lived experience as a technologist and executive leader, at your disposal). I’m autistic, which means I can’t do performative niceness. What you get is directness, honesty, and someone actually in your corner.

What I stand for

I am direct — not because it’s a brand choice, but because I’m autistic and I genuinely cannot do performative niceness.
I am in your corner. Unconditionally, without judgement, whoever you are.
I am a queer, non-binary, neurodivergent and disabled coach — I’m not an ally looking in from the outside, I’m in the same boat as you.
I am an LGBTQIA+ ally and actively ND affirming in everything I do.
I am committed to fairness, generous assumptions, curiosity and kindness in every session.

Credentials

ILM Level 5 Executive Coach
Creator of Holy Sh*t I’m A Manager™
Dare to Lead trained
Leaders Who Coach trained
14 years hands-on engineering
8 years as an exec leader
BSc Computer Science (First Class)
BA Accountancy & Finance
Author of Stakeholders™

The human bit

I draw weird little creatures with my human meat brain and my human meat hands and the occasional haunting vampire portrait. I love to do art to play and express myself by dreaming up little feral drawings, and give myself precious space to think and breathe. I write corporate vampire fiction that lets us laugh at the absurdity of tech. I sew things. I run TTRPG campaigns. I play Nintendo Switch and read a frankly unreasonable amount of romantasy.

The racoon is not a metaphor. It is just me.