Carly Ashdown
AC Executive Coach and ANM Practitioner
Carly works with people navigating all kinds of crossroads. This includes those stepping into new positions, returning to work, becoming parents, or facing any turning point that
calls for clarity and courage. Her focus is always on the person behind the role. She helps clients uncover what drives them, what holds them back, and what becomes possible when what is hidden comes into awareness. For Carly, leadership means meeting whatever life puts in front of you with openness and responsibility. It is about moving through change, facing complexity, and being
willing to look at yourself honestly. She is known for helping people access potential they did not know they had. Her approach is grounded, psychologically precise, and
deeply attuned to each person’s lived experience. She creates a space for insight, clarity, and real change.
I was born into a world that saw my disability before my capacity. Early exclusion made the invisible visible. I came to see that beneath even the most outwardly successful lives there is often an unseen fracture, a point where self-worth, belonging or identity has split. Coaching gives form to that recognition. It is the work of restoring wholeness, where truth becomes visible and visibility becomes change.
Experience
Carly’s career spans executive coaching, group facilitation and organisational development. She began in TV post-production, working with Channel 4 and the BBC in
high-stakes delivery environments. Alongside this, she spent 15 years as an internationally exhibited artist, where her inquiry into what it means to be human took root, through work that explored identity, perception and the complexity of lived experience.
She later spent three years training in psychoanalytic therapy at the Tavistock, followed by further training in group analysis at the Institute of Group Analysis. Her coaching development also includes certification in Dare to Lead and qualification as a practitioner in applied neuroscience for coaching.
Her early coaching experience included extensive voluntary work with clients from all sections of society, including parents, individuals navigating mental health challenges,
people in recovery and those going through major life transitions. Carly has since coached senior leaders in global firms, clinicians in the NHS and teams in fast-growth
start-ups. She also delivers keynote talks on organisational development, inclusion and the human experience, both within the workplace and beyond.
Specialisms
Carly specialises in the psychological and human aspects of leadership. She works with clients to explore what shapes how they lead, relate and make decisions, often revealing hidden patterns, assumptions or beliefs that influence outcomes. With a strong track record in supporting clients through transition, including returning to work, parental transition and stepping into new roles, her coaching helps leaders step into alignment and access the clarity needed to lead from presence.
She integrates neuroscience, systemic thinking and psychoanalytic insight to build emotional and psychological awareness. Her work supports clients in building resilience, vision and self-leadership, allowing them to influence change in the systems around them.
Personal Style
Carly’s style is grounded, relational and precise. She listens for what is said and unsaid, helping clients name and work with the truths that most need to be seen. Her coaching invites clarity rather than control and supports action that is aligned, intentional and lasting. She believes leadership is not limited to traditional roles but includes the leadership of
one’s life. Whether navigating a new role, returning to work, holding responsibility for others or facing an internal crossroads, Carly helps clients return to what matters and
lead from there. Making the invisible visible is at the core of her approach, not for insight alone, but for the transformation it enables.
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