about us
Chanel’s Story
Founder | Educational & Leadership Coach
EMCC Accredited.
Chanel Hicks is an educational, leadership and professional coach with more than 15 years' experience working with young people, teachers, school leaders and teams in the UK and Australia.
With a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and a PGCE in Primary Education, Chanel began her career as a teacher before moving into school leadership in Australia. Having worked across a diverse range of schools, including some of Melbourne's most challenging educational settings, she developed a deep understanding of the complexities of school life and what enables both young people and educators to thrive.
Her passion for coaching grew from seeing its power to transform learning and relationships. Following specialist training in Educational Coaching with the Victorian Department of Education, Chanel worked as a full-time Educational Coach, coaching students, teachers, teams and school leaders.
She has worked with schools to develop whole-school coaching cultures, supporting leadership teams to strengthen their vision and practice, teachers to develop their capacity and confidence, and young people to become more self-aware, motivated and active in their learning.
Her particular expertise lies in leadership coaching, team coaching and student coaching, with a strong focus on developing self-awareness, agency, mindset and meaningful action. She is passionate about helping schools create environments where people feel empowered to think for themselves, take ownership and achieve their potential.
Drawing on her Psychology background and extensive experience in education, Chanel has continued to develop her expertise in Positive Psychology, Neuroscience and Coaching, and is a qualified, accredited coach.
In 2017, Chanel founded Emergence Coaching to bring together her experience in education and coaching with her belief that every young person deserves the opportunity to understand themselves, believe in themselves and thrive.
Today, Emergence works with young people, educators, leaders and schools, providing one-to-one coaching, team coaching, professional learning and mindset education.
Chanel is serious about what she does, but doesn't take herself too seriously. She believes coaching should be purposeful, evidence-informed and impactful — but also human, warm and, wherever possible, fun.
Our values
Our company values can be summarised by our brand standard ‘RESPECT’.
Relationships:
Good relationships are at the heart of everything we do as coaches and team members.
Empathy:
We show empathy not judgement.
Strive:
Supporting each other and our clients to have the courage to keep striving for what they want, even when they don’t succeed at first.
Positivity:
We are optimistic and know the power of Positive Psychology. We believe everyone ‘CAN’ and empower our clients to feel the same.
Energy:
We have grit and drive for the journey. We don’t give up on you!
Curiosity:
We listen with genuine curiosity, to understand not respond. We are curious about the latest research into coaching and keep fine tuning our practise.
Time:
Our coaching provides time and space, yet we hold our clients accountable to action the changes. After all, coaching without change is just conversation.
associate emergence coaches
Our associate coaches are professionally qualified Life and Workplace Coaches, trained through EMCC- or ICF-accredited programmes. They bring extensive experience working with children, young people and educators, alongside a minimum of an undergraduate degree.
Many of our coaches are former educators, school leaders or psychologists. Having worked within education ourselves, we understand the realities and challenges of school life and bring genuine empathy and insight to our coaching relationships. At the same time, we understand the important distinction between our previous professional roles and our role as coaches.
We select our coaches not only for their experience and coaching expertise, but for their character and their natural ability to build authentic connections with young people. Warmth, integrity, curiosity and a strong sense of fun are qualities we value highly.
The safety and wellbeing of young people is paramount. All our coaches hold an enhanced DBS certificate and complete annual safeguarding training.
testimonials
Joshua, Newly Qualified Teacher, Athol Road Primary School
“Chanel was integral in my development as a Junior Teacher, providing me with exceptional coaching during my time working in Year 6. Her personable and professional approach to coaching helped to make me feel comfortable and supported, creating a space where I was able to effectively challenge my practice and develop not only as an educator but as a person. Chanel employed high level questioning techniques, allowing me to find my way in an effective and supported way. She is one of those people who is naturally empathetic but not afraid to ask the hard questions. I would love to work with Chanel again in the future and highly recommended her to any individual or organisation who would benefit greatly from her exceptional practice.”
Ilknur, Head of Senior School, Springvale Primary School
“Having the huge task of bringing groups of teachers together after the merge of two very different schools, Chanel used her skills to lay the foundation for the trust that is needed between teacher and coach; with the ultimate goal of improving student learning. Chanel was able to build relationships with her coaching partners (teachers) which was built on respect and trust. There was honest communication between all team members to express concerns and fears, and the ability to show vulnerabilities to impact teaching and learning. Her coaching style involves coaches and teachers working together in student focused conversations targeted at meeting the needs of students and the high impact teaching approach that would need to be employed to get them there. Her approach enabled us to reflect deeply and understand our mission and what was getting in the way of us achieving it. Chanel is non-directive and listens deeply before asking questions to move thinking forward. Her influence is still very much felt in our school and has changed the mindset of our Teacher’s and Leaders. I would highly recommend Chanel as a coach and educator to support individuals to step out of their comfort zone!”
Aaron, 14 yrs, London
“Chanel helped me recognise my strengths and improve my confidence to make better friends. She helped me believe in myself and feel more comfortable being out of my comfort zone. I don’t think I would have started basketball if it wasn’t for coaching with Chanel. I really enjoyed the sessions. They helped me think a bit more clearly. I enjoyed it when we sometimes chatted about other things like music and Nike Airs.”
Jo, Parent, London
“We referred my 13-year-old daughter to see Chanel as she was worrying a lot, becoming more withdrawn and seemed a bit lost. She was nervous going to social events and her confidence was slowly chipping away. We couldn’t believe the change in her, even after a few sessions. We felt like we got our daughter back! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone with children who need a bit of help finding themselves again. I’ll be forever grateful to Chanel for helping Tilly get her spark back!”
Donna, Parent, Harrogate
“My son Alfie suffered with bouts of anxiety, and it started to take control of his life. Alfie began taking up coaching with Chanel and has since made great progress controlling his anxiety. He found the sessions extremely beneficial. The coaching gave Alfie a clearer understanding of what was causing the anxiety in his life. He seems to be a much happier child since the sessions.”
Monique, Master’s, student
“Chanel is amazing! She really helped me overcome my Imposter Syndrome, but I got so much more from her coaching than I expected. I could write a long list of how it has impacted my life. It really helped me have some self-compassion and stopped me putting so much pressure on myself. As cheesy as it sounds, I really feel like I can go about anything now and I feel more comfortable when things don’t work out as planned. I’m learning to really like who I am becoming and will be forever thankful for that.”
Angela, Parent, London
“My daughter has always been a confident, happy child but after starting Year 6, she started getting anxious about going to school and her attendance was falling as a result. It was really challenging as she couldn’t give a reason for why she felt that way and although the school was fantastic, they couldn’t seem to get to the bottom of what was happening either. Emergence Coaching was recommended to us by a friend, and it was just the right intervention we needed. After coaching, Jess was able to recognise what was triggering her and her fear of making a mistake or being compared with others was a big factor in making her feel so anxious. It really helped her work out the issue and how to handle it. It also helped her build her confidence up again, which we felt she really needed. I would highly recommend Emergence Coaching and am so glad we found them.”