Phil Hanson: all the facts!
As well as being a trained Professional Coach and Mindfulness Practitioner, I am also a career Technology Professional, and a life long musician. Here is everything you might want to know about me and my life so far:
Throughout my journey in Coaching and Mindfulness, I have worked as an IT Professional in corporate businesses of varying types since the late 80's, and it is still my day job today. The corporate life is my main source of income. Maybe this resonates with you?
I am a husband of 20+ years and a father or 2 teenage children so I know what it is like juggling a busy career with the needs of my children, my wife and my family commitments etc, all whilst trying to find time to play my trumpet and express myself artistically.
I know what it's like to lose ones sense of self identity and be seen primarily as the bread winner, the provider (however you describe it) and not so much any more as the person you are.
I know what it is like to chase down ones own dreams, with all the complications and exciting challenges that brings.
I have suffered from burnout, stress and anxiety at various points in my life. I have found that a combination of regular exercise, mixed with meditation and mindfulness (and music!) is the key to finding a path through and out the other side.
Throughout my journey with meditation and mindfulness I have discovered my spirituality and I am on something of a spiritual journey myself. This is in the secular (non-religious) sense in my case. Specifically I am a practicing meditator, a mindfulness practitioner and I would class myself as a Buddhist. I am learning what all of these things mean and it is a life long journey I am only at the start of, but I know what it means to bring these things into your life and the benefit they can bring to every day life. Somewhere in this I have re-discovered who I am as a person and started to find something of my own identity again, without compromising my important roles as a husband and father.
In 2015 my wife and I wanted to have a slower pace of life and "escape the rat race" and so after much planning we moved from the UK to live in France with our then 2 young children. We knew nobody, barely spoke the language and had no jobs lined up, just our savings. Yet despite this we made it work and today almost 10 years later, we're still here. We now have a much slower, more European pace of life, we both do lifestyle jobs and my kids are now both bilingual who talk in sentences made up of part english and part french words, to them this is now the norm. This process has taught me a lot about resiliency, self reliance, self confidence and about the fact that just because someone says a thing is not possible, that does not mean that it cannot be done. I am living proof of this several times over.
As a coach you will find me to be relaxed, laid back, I prefer a more informal approach so you will often see me in just a tshirt or hoodie. I like to laugh, humour is part of my make-up, and as a musician I will use creativity as a means to explore self expression and growth.
In terms of coaching credentials, I have been coaching informally for a decade or more as part of my ‘day job’ and I began the process of formalising this In 2022 when I started down the path towards professional coaching certification (hopefully completing December 2024 tbc!). I am qualified to offer professional coaching and I have multiple client relationships under my belt already. I hope you will feel comfortable joining me on this journey as we work together. I am excited to meet you.
Finally, I am a certified Master Mindfulness Practitioner. This is more than a qualification for me, it defines my life and forms a lot of who I am. With that said, this certification does allow me to bring mindfulness into my coaching practice with a degree of confidence. You can find details of all my certifications on my linkedin page