When a London publication calls you witchy...

October 2019

Interview with James Gill for Balance

https://balance.media/treatment-of-the-month-life-coaching/

The sign of a classic Treatment Of The Month is how many texts, emails and those self-indulgent What’s App voice messages I send to friends in the aftermath. So apologies to those whom I’ve been bombarding with my enthusiasm for Caroline Britton. 

With Caroline, there is no messing. Of Manchester stock, she cuts to the quick in our one-on-one. Straight in there; she wants to know what you <really> want. If therapy is about healing, Caroline explains, then a session with a life coach is about driving you forwards. Caroline’s USP is that she’s also a little “Witchy”; more on that later. 

I respond, “Well, actually, things are pretty good, thank you very much...”

“OK, so, we both know that I don’t believe you,” she replies without batting an eyelid.

“Well, there is one thing I’d like to explore (Caroline would make an excellent interrogator). There seems to be a pattern in my life where I’m the person <behind> the thing. I got into comedy more than nine years ago, and then became an MC – never the main attraction. Then I got into TV warm-up. Again, I love it, but again I’m the guy behind the thing. And at Balance I’m the deputy editor. Now, I have zero designs on being editor, yet it’s interesting to me that it continues the pattern.”

And we’re off exploring my formative years, discovering why this is the case. I sob uncontrollably on more than one occasion as Caroline explains which key moments in my life have caused me to believe that I’m better off essentially hiding; it’s a form of safety. 

I open up further and admit how I wish more things would land on my lap. I have what I consider a hustler’s mindset – I feel like I’m always on the chase, rather than things coming to me. It is, frankly, exhausting. Caroline points out that I need to remove mental blocks. If I can do this, then things will flow my way. Homework comes in the form of two letters: one is a letter from Fear. The other from Love. I can’t recommend this enough; the catharsis proves stirring. The Fear letter – written the next day – has to be set fire to, and my poor wife must wonder about the ones that got away as I return from the garden, box of matches in one hand, exuberant air punches with the other. 

And now, the magic. Or, as Caroline describes it, “The Witchy Stuff” (her inbox, she says, is crammed full of the witch emoji from delighted clients). With my hand to god, as I wave goodbye to Caroline, my phone rings. Would I like to work on a secret TV project? Yes please. I’ve since signed an NDA like the Yellow Pages, so have to leave that there. Several other opportunities land on my lap in the next few days, including a recent dream gig at the iconic London Palladium (check my Instagram for proof).

Now, with this sort of stuff, you’re either in or you’re out. You’re Fox or Mulder; Kirk or Spock. But with Halloween looming, now might prove the ideal time to let things get a little “Witchy”.