Client Stories

A Complete Turnaround at Fifty

When Elaine and Kevin Simpson came to coaching in February 2017, both were teaching music for a living. Elaine taught singing at a private school, and Kevin taught guitar around Bedfordshire. They were also part of the leadership team in a small but struggling community church. Their grown-up children were leaving home, and they knew life was changing.

Uncertainty and Frustration

‘We were moving towards the empty nest stage, and we felt uncertain about what to do next. Hitting fifty, we started to see limitations in our energy levels and the time we had left in which to do a good job with our lives. We were experiencing real frustration because we also knew that there could be so much more despite this.’

‘We didn’t just want to become stale and stagnant. We knew there was a lot of potential and we wanted to be intentional about this life change.’

Elaine was already familiar with the idea of coaching, so when a friend shared about his positive experience of Marianne Welsh’s faith-based approach, she and her husband Kevin decided to commit to a series of sessions.

‘When coaching started, we were really energized and excited about this new thing…yet wondering if it would be worth it, but because we had committed, we just went for it.’ Elaine and Kevin’s courage paid off. Although the coaching journey was challenging and stretching at times, they had many breakthroughs.

‘Every week there were ‘Oh wow!’ moments.’

‘In one of the exercises, we talked about how our world could be. It was very utopian but very powerful. We are in the beginnings of that now.’ Seeing the future that she dreamed of motivated Elaine to invest more heavily in her friend and mentor, Karen Gibson, founder and conductor of The Kingdom Choir. At that point, the choir was little known.

One of the best moments for Elaine was gaining a better understanding of Kevin and what he needs to be fully himself. ‘Hearing Kevin articulate his dreams was a real high. The penny really dropped for me in finding out that music was the dream for Kevin. And because of the coaching, Kevin became firmer and surer of his love for music. He set up his new band, Soul Music Collective and is now doing music writing. Teaching is very much secondary for him now.’

Elaine goes on to explain that the coaching was challenging because ‘it brought up lots of stuff’. However, this gave Elaine the boldness to tackle issues that could have easily been avoided.

Saved from a breakdown

In one very memorable session, when Elaine was dealing with a lot of conflict in her church, coaching enabled her to step back and see things from a different perspective.

‘That session saved me. It was a key moment. I felt like I was on the verge of a breakdown. I am not sure how I would have dealt with things had I not had that session. Seeing from a new perspective helped me to rise above the challenges and to be ok with things not working out so well.’

Not long after the coaching finished, the lead pastor left the church, and although everyone was looking to Kevin and Elaine to carry it on, they knew that the right thing to do was to close it down. Kevin and Elaine managed the closure, hired change consultants, helped people find a new church, and had a wonderful final service.

‘I am not sure we would have ever come to that decision if we haven’t done the coaching. It is easy to start things but to finish things well is a courageous thing to do. The status quo is much easier to keep going even if it isn’t the right thing to do’.

A Complete Turnaround

At the same time as the church closed in March, The Kingdom Choir received a call to invite them to sing at The Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle. ‘The call was so random that I wasn’t sure it was going to happen, but it was only when we were actually in the cathedral that I thought ‘, this is not normal but God-ordained! I also felt like He is grooming for us for even greater things.’ Since that day, The Kingdom Choir has toured in Australia, the USA, and at home. They have performed at sporting events, in adverts and have become a well-known brand.

When asked how life has changed, Elaine says that before, she classed herself as a singing teacher and church leader. ‘Now I am a singer. I help to lead The Kingdom Choir. Now, most of my income comes from performing all over the world. It is a complete turnaround.’

For Kevin, he still teaches, but now he introduces himself as a musician who teaches in schools. Now he has time to pursue what he loves. He took a break from church leadership, where he had become burned out following more than 40 years of being in some leadership role. Kevin’s band goes from strength to strength. People often come up to them at the end of a pub gig to ask what church they go to because they have been so touched by their music!

What would Elaine say to people who are thinking about the next 30-40 years of their life?

‘You owe it to yourself to really think and examine what you want from your future. You are allowed to do that. The future can offer you lots. You have to be intentional about grabbing it. Having a spot where you can have a look at things properly with the help of someone external to you is invaluable.’

‘Honestly, it was a turning point for us. If I hadn’t done coaching, who knows what would have happened? Even if the phone call for the Royal Wedding would still have happened….how would I have reacted? How useful will I have been? Would we have been brave enough to close the church? The church may have closed anyway, but we decided how it closed and when it closed. If I hadn’t had coaching, maybe certain things would still have happened, but our response to them and our ability to manage them in a healthy way would have been different. God has to get us ready for certain things in our heart, body, relationships so that we can handle the things He has planned for us.’