You may be interested in why my company is called Includes You. Well, it is simple. I am passionate about inclusion and want you to know that when we work together, I will have the same values and drive for you and your business success as you have.
I am fully focused on helping Businesses, and individuals understand the importance of knowing how to run a business, it all seems straightforward till the challenges start.
With the proper advice, it can result in the freedom you had expected when you went out on your own.
I also run a Business Academy recognised by CIMA, ideal for Business Owners, or Senior Managers that look for a blended course of online and 9 workshops, that cover Mindset, Leadership, Business Planning, Marketing Finance and Personal Wealth.
You never see an elite sports person or team without a good coach. A coach that guided them to build on the natural abilities stay committed and reach their goals.
So the question is, why wouldn't you get the help of a business coach in your business? A coach can recognise ways for you to improve.
We will get to the root of what's holding you back from being this success that you desire and deserve.
I see your success as my success. I will help you push the boundaries that you find challenging on your own. Having a supporter in your corner will make it easier.
I'd really like to work with you. Let's connect.
Scottish Business Network
Operations Director and Board Member
My key responsibilities are:
- Support Russell Dalgleish in building the Scottish Global Diaspora
- Grow the membership of the Network
- Host membership meetings both online and face to face
- Speaking at events
- Building the Global Ambassadors group
- Attend Global Trade Missions in 2023 in New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Europe.
Govtech
Cluster Community Manager
A key member of the team delivering a Scottish Govtech Cluster over the next 3 years.
We can conduct a Diversity and Inclusion audit for you.
The audit is suitable for any company that wants to measure their compliance with current legislation.
This will include a review of the following:
● Core learning & development resources to identify barriers to inclusion and areas of opportunity for improvement. ● Core recruitment policies, processes and existing talent plan to identify barriers to inclusion and areas for improvement. ● Other IDEE related policies and relevant documents identified during the initial exploration ● Online presence (incl website, social media, news).
For full details please contact us using the form below.
Over the past few years I have formed strong Business Partners, and work closely with them:
Exolta Consultancy Headed up by Russell Dalgleish Serial Entrepreneur.
I work with his team offering Business Advisory Services and Executive Business Coaching both for Business Growth and for Personal Development.
Diversity Scotland
Headed up by Tony McCaffrey leading Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultancy practice I work as part of his team advising on Best Practice Inclusive Recruitment.
Business Academy
Derek Mair who founded Business Academy, selected me as an affiliate I run Business Academy recognised by CIMA more details are found further down this page.
STEP Stirling Enterprise
I offer Coaching Services to their clients
My Network includes:
Powerful Women in Energy, Lean in Equality & Sustainability, AFB, WISE Group, WES International Engineers Forum, STEM I have worked with a cross section of companies:in Engineering, Pharmaceuticals Renewables an assortment of SME’s and Schools and Colleges
EC Coach of the Year 2021
Cath won coach of the year, having been nominated by her clients. She had a wealth of experience in the corporate world, having been a headhunter for over 25 years, recruiting CEOs, CFOs and Commercial Directors for both small businesses and very large Organisations. Through this work Cath gained a real insight into how successful businesses tick and was keen to start helping businesses implement change to make a real difference to their lives. Her versatility and straight-talking approach now sees her working with clients from a wide range of sectors
Being a coach excites Cath every single day. She rises at 6.00am to spend 90 minutes every morning to improve and develop her own knowledge and works tirelessly to help her clients reach their goals, achieve their dreams and tick things off their bucket lists. Cath places all of her clients on an intense 6 week ‘Kickstart programme’ at the beginning of their journey with her - this enables both her and the client to really understand the things that are going well in the business and the things that are not going so well, along with the drivers, and the blockers for success.
Many of Cath’s clients have noted that they’ve experienced ‘light bulb’ moments during these first 6 weeks which they wouldn’t have had without Cath’s handholding and encouragement – some have even admitted that they had fallen out of love with their business, but with Cath by their side, they have reignited their passion for the business. Cath believes in the power of relationship building and gains new clients every month purely from referrals. She’s straight talking, honest and very well respected within the Coaching Community.
She is always there to offer advice, listen and share ideas with her fellow coaches. Cath is an incredible lady with a determination to keep going like no other and her strength of character and willingness to help wherever she can is infectious – all of which make for an excellent Coach and a very worthy winner of this award. Congratulations Cath. You’re a star!
Every business encounters problems from time to time. Here are ten of the most common problems that our Business Academy – Thrive Level Programme can help you fix:
Reason 1. You work longer hours than your staff and take shorter holidays Reason 2. You spend your day fire-fighting rather than developing your business Reason 3. Cash flow is tight and/or profits are poor in relation to overall sales Reason 4. You find it hard to motivate yourself or your team Reason 5. You need to generate more enquiries and new leads Reason 6. Your sales team don't perform as well as they should Reason 7. It's hard to recruit, retain and motivate good quality staff Reason 8. Your business seems to break down when you're not around Reason 9. You are losing customers to the competition and want to fight back Reason 10. You read lots about business growth, but don't know where to start
If you're a business owner and you're frustrated with the performance of your business but don't yet know how to make that step change, our Business Academy offers a comprehensive blended learning programme & support system designed to elevate & grow your business One step at a time!
The experience will redefine the context of business growth for everyone and change the way you look at and understand every aspect of your business and leadership.
Join Cath Strachan from Includes You for a free 90-min online seminar;
Discover A Better Business - Discover An Exceptional Future
If your business, right now, is not providing the returns in time, money or satisfaction you deserve, come along and we’ll give you strategies on how to overcome your current challenges - plus you’ll discover how Business Academy can help you to FastForward Your Future
Cath has been incredibly helpful with professional advice and so many ideas how to take my business forwards. She's very generous and honest with her feedback, and quickly connected with me and my business goals.
I would highly recommend Cath coaching for any business at any stage!
Saule Zuk
When you work with profesionals like Cath Strachan the results come easy. Cath has a knack of aligning your dreams and goals with a call to action/plan that gets results.
I always aim to work with the best and I've noticied massive success since working with Cath.
Craig Gunn
Working with Cath has been an incredibly transformative experience. As a highly action-oriented business coach, she helped me gain the confidence I needed to take the critical step of launching my business.
With her guidance, I was able to focus on the services I wanted to offer and learned how to package and market them effectively. Her advice was always highly practical, backed by real-world examples that made implementation straightforward and impactful.
I highly recommend Cath to anyone starting their business and looking to take the right actions to make it happen quickly and successfully.
Christina Brugger Product Innovation Consulting
It's all about connecting with people.
If someone were to ask to describe my sessions with Cath, that would be the sentence above. Don't be mistaken : Cath will give you clarity in your business (or professional career in general), operational advice. She is very direct and straight to the point. She did all of this for me. She sees things for you that you did not even think about.
During these 2 sessions, I have a learnt a lot about myself and my business. How to reach out to people on LinkedIn with intention, how to propose my services, pricing... I am only at the beginning of my business and I can tell you one thing : Cath's sessions saved me a lot of time !
The reason why she is able to do all these amazing things is because first and foremost, she connects with you. And that's what you will need to do if you want to improve your career/business. You can know all the tricks about cold email, networking and stuff. But if you do not connect with the person listening to you, it's going to be useless. Do I recommend Cath ? 100% yes
Clemence Betesuku Clemence Betesuku Coaching
I was at a career crossroads after being made redundant three times in my career so far, and wanted to hire a coach to help me navigate my way forward: be it running my own consultancy or getting back into the corporate world.
Cath came recommended to me by an industry contact. I was reluctant at first, not because of Cath, but because I wasn’t sure coaching was right for me. However, after speaking to Cath on an introductory call, explaining my situation, where I wanted to go and all my concerns, Cath listened, and gave honest, transparent feedback. I took the plunge! I am so glad I did. I imagine most coaches are good , especially if they come recommended by a trusted person. Cath however, is exceptional.
She delivers sound, logical, practical advice, combined with empathy and compassion. She is very intelligent in every way, and helped me navigate my career and next steps. I found her experience and advice invaluable. I have reached the goal I wanted to achieve.
Working with Cath taught me a lot; skills that I will take on further in my career. I would recommend Cath as a coach whole heartily. Apart from her experience and credentials she is a person with integrity and kindness. If you're in doubt (like I was), just go for it
Sharan Dhami
I recently had the pleasure of working with Cath for two transformative sessions.
Cath's approach is deeply empathetic and insightful, she stood with me and offered grounded, operational advice and support and genuine encouragement. Cath's ability to see the bigger picture while also focusing on the details made a significant difference to me and allowed me to gain clarity on my path forward.
I highly recommend Cath to any Entrepreneur seeking not just a coach, but a true supporter in their journey.
Kate MacDonald Founder and Director Kadence Consultancy
Before I met Cath I had lost a lot of confidence and belief in my abilities, whilst trying to maintain a high standard of professional competency in a high pressured job. It was a time of low self esteem and a lack of professional satisfaction and direction.
I then met Cath who created a structured approach to help me build my confidence and identify a career path that suited my skill set as well as my professional ambition. She introduced tailored techniques that built my confidence and helped me realise that I have a huge amount to offer the business World. Cath gave me regular goals and targets and followed these up regularly with support and guidance to help me achieve more than I could have imagined a few months earlier.
I had never previously considered a career coach but thanks to Cath's techniques, support and positivity I can see this time being the most pivotal of my career." I can't thank you enough for all you've done and I am genuinely excited to start my new career in 2024, which has been my ambition for several years now and you helped make that possible.
I wish you all the best and am sure you will effect other clients as you have me, My sincerest thanks again, Chris Armstrong
Chris Armstrong
I have only been working with Cath for 4 months but already the transformation in myself and business has been astounding.
Cath has helped me so much with my mindset, confidence, self belief and business strategies. Cath is wonderful at generating momentum and creative ideas, she has a fantastic style of coaching and teaches you how to think outside of the box in your business whilst setting a solid foundation in the basics.
I would recommend Cath to any business owner who needs guidance & support in growing and expanding their business and improving their mindset! Thank you for everything so far Cath!
Rebecca Bain Temple de Luna
I have been working with Cath to re-build my confidence in my management skills after a difficult 12 months and a relocation from Edinburgh to London.
After just 3 sessions she had really boosted my confidence in myself and provided invaluable advice and help to re-focus my mind.
She is incredibly easy to talk to, and very knowledgeable in what she does. I would not hesitate to recommend her services to anyone in need of a little business guidance.
Ailsa Ross General Manager Motel One
Cath @ Includes You came to my property business to help coach a member of staff. Cath was professional and very straight to the point.
I was very impressed with her coaching skills. I myself, learnt a lot too from her visits. I would highly recommend Cath @ Includes you to any business. She helped my team focus and gain valuable techniques and skills to use moving forward.
Antoinette Orr Business Owner Martin & Co Estate Agents
The support, advice, ideas and motivation that I've received from Cath Strachan at Includes You Coaching has been game-changing for me and my business.
The approach has been personally tailored, insightful and tremendously useful. Her goal-setting activities and follow-up have helped me to take real accountability and have been useful in pushing beyond my own expectations.
I highly recommend her pragmattic and valuable services to any other individual or small business leader looking to grow and gain additional success.
Tony McCaffery Values into Action, Scotland
Gillian Robertson Remember Love www.rememberlove.co.uk
I just wanted to send you a wee message of huge thanks again for the work that you have done on my website.
I am so very grateful to BOTH of you because, through my website, I have met the most wonderful people. I have over 20 wedding bookings for this year, 6 for next year, and 1 for 2024!! I led a very special funeral service a few months ago – the lady who contacted me, rather than taking recommendations from the funeral director (which is usually what happens), she looked through various Celebrant websites, and was drawn to mine because, she said, it made her feel calm, and she thought it was very inclusive.
My wedding bookings have taken me, so far, to indoor and outdoor locations in Glasgow, Pitlochry, St. Andrews, Couper, Crieff …. And I still have Glencoe, Callendar, Perth, etc. plus a ‘ceremonial journey’ with a couple from Brazil, who will travel from Edinburgh to Pitlochry, and we will stop at different places of significance, hold brief ceremonies, until we arrive in Pitlochry for a Handfasting …..
We started working with Cath in September last year and immediately felt the benefits of the relationship. Cath genuinely cares about our business and quickly felt like one of the team. She is able to see through quickly to the heart of an issue and is enormously helpful in keeping me focused on the most important things. We initially discussed the huge list of areas we wanted to address and Cath was able to keep this all in mind whilst helping us to prioritise.
She recommended that we focus initially on updating our website and on developing an entry level product for the Christmas market. The new website is about to launch which is hugely exciting and we are working with Cath on how we should best capitalise on this and the PR we can generate.
Cath is fantastic at reminding me to be prolific not perfect and she holds me to account firmly (but kindly) and I need this!! The response to our Christmas launch was disappointing but I suspect it will do better in Christmas 2022 with a longer lead time. We also now have a new product that we can sell online through the new website.
Under Cath's guidance:
- we have developed and implemented a customer journey which delivers fantastic client service, - our Google page is back in use and gathering reviews, - we completed our recruitment of a kickstart employee and Cath has been instrumental in advising how best to utilise them - we are finessing our strategy to build strong relationships with interior designers - we are increasingly focused on our numbers - we are increasing our marketing streams and have been reminded to not stop doing stuff that works!
Cath is positive, friendly, hugely knowledgeable and experienced and her involvement in our business has been massively beneficial. I am genuinely excited about what we can achieve together this year. She is a delight to work with. Thank you Cath.
Karen Walker Owner Roast Designs Limited
Cath Strachan of Includes You, has provided pin point business coaching support to achieve clarity to the approach of the development and marketing of the organisation I lead.
Cath has worked with me to identify the key actions to focus valuable time and attention on, whilst the organisation travels through a vital period of change.
Delighted with the results, I have asked Cath to continue to support our organisation to achieve its next level of success.
Working with Cath, not only do you benefit from her own wealth of knowledge and expertise but also the opportunity to connect with her own vast professional network.
Jane Deary CEO Craigshill Good Neighbour Network
I am writing this short testimonial due to Cath of Includes You Ltd guiding me along with my business.
She has helped me realise what I actually want to do within my business. Within the past few weeks I have gone from being someone who repairs watches for a living to developing my own brand of luxury mechanical timepieces!
Launching Sobek watches has been a project that I’ve been trying to do for approximately 7 years now, and Cath has given me the opportunity to understand what it is I do and appreciate how fortunate and unique a position that I have been in for many years considering my contacts.
So far we have achieved a lot more than I could on my own and considering all the covid-19 restrictions we are finding a new way to adapt to the current situation, We have nailed down my goals, my new website is up and running (it looks awesome) and the social media sorted,
I’m so looking forward to the next stage of her coaching.
Cath I wouldn’t hesitate for one moment to recommend you on to any of my networks that require your professional guidance, whether its friends, family or professional colleagues.
Mr K Dunn Sobek Watches BNI Bentley
I would highly recommend Cath at Includes You Coaching.
Cath gave me a professional, objective assessment of my skill set based on her extensive experience in recruitment and across industry categories.
We used this to form a clear plan of action to help me achieve my business objectives and Cath was able to provide tools and techniques to execute this plan.
Moreover, working with Cath gave me the confidence that I had the experience and ability to add real value to my clients and that I was making the right choices with respect to my career choices.
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