Clare Smale (Director)
Clare Smale is a Director of inspired2learn and leads the team. She is an experienced trainer, facilitator, executive coach and supervisor and was awarded the Global Coach of the Year 2023 by the EMCC.
She has published three coaching books and speaks at a range of events in the UK and beyond. Her current work includes the design and delivery of ILM Coaching and Supervision Qualifications at levels 3, 5 and 7, plus private practice offering executive coaching and supervision to a range of clients. Clare’s CPD packages for newly qualified and experienced coaches are becoming increasingly popular.
Clare began her career as a secondary school teacher (Geography and PE) in Crewkerne in Somerset, moving on to schools in Wiltshire and Bath in leadership roles. During that time was seconded to the University of Bath to deliver the Geography PGCE programme which is probably where her experience in mentoring and coaching began. Clare left teaching in 2002 and set up inspired2learn with her husband Barrie.
Clare’s first project was to create and take to market a successful professional magazine ‘Teaching Expertise’. With subscribers worldwide, she subsequently sold the publication to Electric Word PLC and briefly worked for them in London as editor of the publication. She was also a judge for the National Teaching Awards. It was during the development of the magazine and its associated conference, that Clare began her coaching and NLP skills training – the rest as they say, is history.
Clare’s first coaching contract in 2008, was to provide leadership coaching for 50 FastTrack teachers (National College for School Leadership) in the west region. This three-year period shaped Clare’s coaching practice, due to the requirement to adhere to a robust leadership coaching framework, regular quality inspections, attention to key outcomes and a focus on delivering strategic business critical projects in over forty schools. As a result, Clare has an eye for detail and the delivery of clear coaching objectives, with genuine regard for the people she coaches. Since then Clare has had nearly 2000 hours of coaching experience and continues to take her development and CPD very seriously in service of all her clients and students.
