HELLO!

DDS Dobson-Smith

founder

I help leaders get up out of the weeds of their comfort zones and into places they didn't know they needed to go.

I bring my multi-sector global experience, decades of training in human potential, and enduring dedication to creating leaders who are worth following to every single thing I do.

I believe that, at its core, executive coaching and leadership growth is about delivering shifts in what you do and how you do it. And I believe that shift happens most sustainably and radically through a process of hard human kindness. 

A beloved teacher of mine once told me that our goal in life is to become increasingly better at being at odds with ourselves, and I felt that to be true deep in my soul. I notice that accepting this to be true and welcoming this into one’s experience requires shift; shifts in the way we think and feel, the way we make-meaning from our experiences, and the way in which we show-up for our Self, other Selves, and within life itself.

I believe that true shift happens through a process of hard human kindness; of immense empathy and love along with a good dollop of nerve and candor. I also believe that shift happens most sustainably - and alchemically - through a greater acceptance of, and connection with, the person you really are; when you are fully you - your youest you - life, and everything in it, can be gorgeous, fulfilling, and joyful. Each of these philosophies underpin my approach and my work.

I have notched up over 25 years of working in small, medium, and large corporations. I literally grew up in the hospitality industry [my parents owned a pub and restaurant in the UK] and I started my career as a college professor teaching hotel and business management. I've since held a range of senior, executive, and C-Suite level roles across a host of sectors and companies including retailer Marks & Spencer Plc, travel and tourism company Eurostar International, Crossrail Ltd - the company that built the Elizabeth Line [a new train line through the center of London], music giant Sony Music Entertainment, and Essence Global - part of the world's largest advertising company, WPP.  In 2018 I founded Soul Trained, an executive coaching and leadership growth consultancy that is on a mission to create a world that is full of leaders who are worth following. My professional roles have provided the opportunity for me to work across all continents and to develop the awareness and empathy required to work successfully with people from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds.

I'm certified as an Executive Coach by both the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring, I'm credentialed with the International Coach Federation, and I am a coach-supervisor through the Coaching Supervision Academy.

In 2022 I published my first book, ‘You Can Be Yourself Here: your pocket guide to creating inclusive workplaces using the psychology of belonging’ which quickly became a #1 bestseller. My second book, ‘Leadership is a Behavior Not a Title: your pocket guide to being a leader worth following’ is set to be published in September 2022.

Before I moved to the US in 2014, I managed a small psychotherapy private practice as a licensed Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapist. Between 2020 and 2022, I worked as both a clinician and as the Board President at Pacific Center for Human Growth in Berkeley, America’s second oldest community mental health clinic serving the needs of the LGBTQIA2+ community which centers mental health as a social justice issue. Through my work at Pacific Center I have learned to value the question, “What happened to you?” vs wondering, “What’s wrong with you?” and to appreciate the many ways in which systemic racism, sexism, ableism, and heterosexism impact our emotional, mental, and physical health.

In addition to my training and licensure in the UK, in 2021 I graduated from California Institute of Integral Studies with an MA in Integral Counseling Psychology. As a student of integral counseling psychology, over the years I've had the opportunity to train with, and learn from, many luminaries in the transpersonal field including Louise Hay [author of You Can Heal Your Life], Marianne Williamson [author of A Return to Love], Dr. Patricia Crane [author of Ordering From The Cosmic Kitchen], and Jason Chan [author of The Radiant Warrior]. In 2007 I became a Reiki Master and Teacher under the guidance of Christina Moore. In 2019 I completed an internship with The Narrative Enneagram and in 2021 I completed an internship as a crystal bowl sound healer with Shalom Mayberg. In August 2022 I embarked on a new journey of personal and professional growth when I began a PhD in Human Sexuality at California Institute of Integral Studies. I run a private psychotherapy practice called SoulFull therapy in Newtown, CT. I help adult survivors of chaotic childhoods to heal the parts of themselves that hold the pain of their past so that they may live more fully in the here-and-now.

I have lived in the US with my husband, Davis, and our two Main Coon cats - Harper and Hemingway - since 2014. After 8 years of living in the Bay Area, in January of 2022 Davis, Harper, Hemingway and I moved to Connecticut where you’ll find me taking great joy in the transitions of the seasons. I love losing myself in repeats of The Voice, American Idol, and X-Factor on YouTube or keeping up with the Ru Paul’s Drag Race seasons that seem to now run concurrently around the world. I bring all of my experiences as a human and my training as a clinician and a coach to show-up in my authenticity, genuineness, and truth and to approach my work and my clinical practice in a person-centered, trauma-informed, culturally-humble way.