Who we are
At Connected Coaching NE, we believe meaningful change begins with courage, compassion and connection. We are a team of qualified coaches who bring deep experience in supporting people to grow, lead bravely and unlock their potential. Our backgrounds are rooted in working alongside individuals and teams through challenge, transition and opportunity — and we carry that passion into every conversation.
We coach with heart. We listen with curiosity. We hold space for honesty, insight and possibility. Whether we’re helping you strengthen your mental fitness, build brave leadership or navigate what’s next, we bring the same commitment: to walk beside you with warmth, clarity and belief in what you’re capable of.
We’re excited to meet you, to understand what matters most to you, and to explore what becomes possible when courage and connection lead the way.
Amber Farrier
Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator and Coach Courage Catalyst
Amber qualified as a Coach in 2009 and is an experienced Executive Coach, Trainer and Facilitator that is passionate about personal and professional development. She brings a wealth of practice from previous roles in her earlier career within senior management positions.
She holds a First-Class Business Degree, Management and Leadership qualifications and has the golden thread of coaching and whole person facilitation incorporated in her approach.
Amber loves extreme challenges and coaching underpins how she approaches them with determination. She enjoys working with organisations to develop teams and individuals that are future fit for purpose. Ambers coaching style offers a challenging space to explore options, learn, develop and unlock potential.
Julie McVeigh
Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator and Coach Courage Catalyst
Julie is an Executive Developer, Supervisor, Coach, Trainer, Whole Person Facilitator and Project Manager who has experience of working with a number of organisational settings – health, voluntary, statutory and private sectors.
A Social Worker by profession, Julie secured many years of practice experience before moving into management/leadership positions.
As a senior manager of one of the UK’s largest children’s charities Julie trained as a coach and executive developer and incorporated coaching into her leadership style and approach. She has a varied client base which adds to the richness of her coaching and leadership development offer.
Julie is passionate about people and working with them to be the best they can be. Her approach encourages reflection, self -awareness and personal growth; underpinned by the belief that people are resourceful and in the right supportive conditions can find solutions to their challenges through positive action and nurturing self -belief.
Cheryl Devine
Associate
Cheryl is coach, leader, and facilitator, with expertise spanning health, local government, and voluntary sectors. After many years leading place and regional preventative public health programmes, Cheryl progressed to a strategic leadership position, having responsibility for operational and management teams and leading organisational change. Here she witnessed the transformational effect great leaders can have on teams and the importance of working with the whole person, using empathy and compassion.
A genuine interest in people, emotions, and behaviour, led Cheryl train as a coach and study the fields of positive psychology and neuroscience in leadership. Here she learnt to harness her teams’ innate resourcefulness and strengths to deliver organisational objectives and personal growth.
Duncan O’Brien
Associate
Duncan is a qualified coach, Dare to Lead support facilitator and a one to one health and well being coach and trainer.
Duncan loves working with clients as they begin to explore their ability to create meaningful mindset change in the unique space created by a coaching relationship. Beginning from the moment clients relax into the session he invites them to gain clarity on where they are now and challenge themselves in a way that can unlock their potential from the past, in the present or their thoughts about the future.
Duncan enjoys seeing first-hand the impact of a teaching versus a coaching centred approach. The personal confidence and growth which occurs when an individual defines and refines their own pathway and goal in line with their personality and values is completely different to being told what they should or need to do. Duncan has been integrating a coaching style and ethos into his sessions and using a slightly more physical version of Biofeedback to help clients understand the link between their bodies, minds, and goals.
Alison Priestley
Associate
Recently retired from senior leadership within Children’s Services in a North East Local Authority, Alison has abundant experience of using coaching techniques to facilitate complex, transformative organisational change and managing integrated children’s services in both public and voluntary sector. With a professional heritage in education, Alison pursued a holistic approach to working with people, building relationships, and developing skills of partnership building, project management, management of resources and a strong collaborative approach.
Demonstrating a commitment to communities where individuals often have a history of low achievement and expectation and where people face many barriers to achieving their potential, Alison’s work is inspired by a belief in the abilities and potential of all. She is passionate and enthusiastic, building strong professional relationships, rooted in doing things “with” people rather than “doing to” or “doing for”.