About Us

Our team bring you pioneering thinking to revolutionise your personal and professional development.

Our mission

At Persyou, we understand it can be difficult to inspire and unlock the potential in individuals, teams and organisations.

Our award-winning approach combines premium coaching with leading-edge thinking from across a range of disciplines, creating sustainable change and enhanced performance.

Meet our Pioneers

Nicholas McKie

Founder and Director

Nicholas McKie began his coaching training in Boston, Massachusetts through the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation.

Nicholas’ career path has been rich and diverse, starting as a professional classical musician, before entering teaching in the UK and then internationally in Japan, China, Egypt and the US, rising to school Principal and ISI inspector. As an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, Nicholas developed and established Warwick’s inaugural PGCE international course as well as iQTS with the Department for Education in the UK.

Dr Katie Best

Leadership Coach

Katie is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics, heading up their flagship online certificate programme, MBA Essentials; and is also Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London Business School, where she delivers executive education programmes to high profile clients. She has a PhD from King’s College in Leadership, Strategy and Communication and ACC and PCC coaching qualifications from the International Coaching Federation.

Katie’s clients include: NHS, Chief, Mishcon de Reya, Oxfam, V&A, PHD Global Media, Verizon, Goldman Sachs and Barclays.

Laurence Halsted

OLY - Performance Coach

Laurence Halsted is a two-time British Olympic fencer and multiple European medallist, who competed in the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games. After more than a decade of performing at the highest levels of sport, Laurence hung up his swords becoming the Head of Mentoring at UK charity, The True Athlete Project. In 2021 Laurence published his first book, which introduces and describes a practical philosophy for flourishing in sport. Accredited as a Senior Practitioner with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, Laurence is based in Copenhagen and currently works as a performance consultant and coach in sport, business and education.

Lydia Hall

Certified Coach, Counsellor, Psychologist

With over a decade of experience as a British Psychology Society registered and qualified psychologist, coach and therapist, Lydia has worked with businesses, schools, individuals and families to improve communication, resilience and confidence.

Lydia also brings more than a decade of corporate experience in marketing and project management across the FMCG sector, including Beiersdorf (Nivea), Gillette and British Bakeries (Hovis). She has a wealth of international experience having worked in 19 countries.

Kate Hamer

Coach Trainer

Kate has a wealth of experience in the education sector, with more than 20 years in teaching, primarily in senior school Physical Education and various leadership roles. She is currently working at Warwick University in Initial Teacher Education and has been an Assistant Professor on the PGCE course since 2014 leading on coaching and mentoring across the school partnership.

Alan Rapley

OLY - High Performance Coach

Alan is a standout in the field of leadership and executive coaching. His career has taken him across the globe, working in diverse environments to help leaders and teams reach their highest potential. With a background that spans from being an Olympic athlete to becoming a renowned ILM coach and strategist, Alan knows how to blend individual needs with organisational goals to create high-performance environments.

Sandra Henson

Master Certified Coach

Sandra Henson is a highly experienced and internationally well-respected Corporate Executive Coach. She is a Master Certified Coach accredited by the International Coach Federation working with individual leaders and leadership teams globally across the Private Sector, Further and Higher Education and Charities.

Sandra’s clients include: Microsoft, HPE, Dell, Silicon Valley Bank, Standard Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Takeda, Johnson and Johnson, GSK, Almirall, Cabinet Office, Chanel, University of Gloucestershire, Regents University, Aston University, University of Brighton and Kingston University.

Jane Ball

Professional Dialogue Practitioner

Jane Ball is an internationally recognized pioneer in professional dialogue, founder and trustee of the Academy of Professional Dialogue, and Director of Dialogue Associates. As a systemic thinker and dialogue practitioner, she partners with leaders to drive culture transformation, resolve organizational conflicts, and bridge silos to achieve collaborative outcomes. Jane has spent the last 25 years working with multi-national corporations and also across the prison service in the US and UK. Her stories and insights are included in the six books of The World Needs Dialogue! series (seventh forthcoming). Jane recently launched the “Dialogic Teamwork” programme and leads an international research project on the Dialogic Classroom. Jane is an Associate Coach at Persyou, bringing dialogue to schools around the world.

Michelle Smorfitt

Resilience Practitioner

Michelle is a resilience researcher and practitioner, workplace wellbeing consultant, and coach.

Michelle holds an MSc in Integrative Health and Wellbeing (Distinction) from the University of Westminster and was awarded a PhD studentship in 2023 to continue her research on student wellbeing.