We have always needed and benefited from people who bring insight, bold critique and honest storytelling to our ways of seeing. If this is you, and you want to (but are struggling alone to) cut through the noise of outside influences as much as your own mind, I can help you.
Words and the attention we give them can have a profound impact on how we perceive and respond to ourselves, other people, experiences and life in all of its multitudes. The same applies to how we show up in the world in our relationships, through our work and for our own lives. How we talk about and relate to each other and the wider world has infinite ripple effects. Fundamentally, it’s about making skillful choices that come from a place of careful consideration – but not so much that we get tangled up in the weeds of overthinking.
My work as a writing coach, book mentor, editorial consultant, copywriter and spiritual caregiver revolves around empowering people to find their way towards that; to choose wisely, listen deeply, speak clearly, and act with greater care, more freedom and less baggage (whether that’s intellectual excess or the residue of old story lines). The rest is a waste of precious time.
I enjoy getting to know people, learning about their stories, understanding their challenges and supporting them to express themselves freely. That often means working to transcend limiting constructs of all kinds, whether that’s ideas we may have uncritically or subconsciously absorbed that fuel misunderstanding or perpetuate unhelpful messages, or narratives that overshadow our own wisdom, or the formulaic ways we articulate ourselves at the expense of conveying what we actually mean.
My own, ongoing, experience and explorations of discovery and recovery has taught me several things: the value of disentangling from habits of striving, perfectionism, seeking and self-loathing; that life is a process to be navigated with all its undulations; the practices of observing the mind and working in the interests (rather than punitively resisting the changing rhythms of) the body, are best approached with curiosity, patience and care. That’s not easy to do alone - nor do we have to.
Testimonials
“I first had the pleasure of working with Aliya over a decade ago when she was our client at Peloton Design, collaborating on a range of marketing, exhibition, and design projects for the University of Bristol. Her professionalism, creativity, and sharp eye for detail immediately stood out, pushing us to elevate our own standard, a challenge we welcomed. When Aliya transitioned to freelance, we didn’t hesitate to continue working with her. Together, we delivered a wide range of projects, including annual reports, brochures, campaigns, brand guidelines, prospectuses, and full branding projects. Her ability to seamlessly navigate both technical and creative outputs has been invaluable, consistently elevating the quality and impact of our work. It has always incredibly easy to work with Aliya. Her approach to editing and refinement is thoughtful and highly effective, helping to navigate complex topics while balancing diverse subjects and personalities. She consistently demonstrated an excellent ability to identify and engage target audiences, ensuring each project resonated with clarity and impact. Aliya brings a fantastic, positive attitude to every project. She’s a natural problem-solver, always finding ways to refine and evolve ideas to produce the best possible outcomes. Simply put that any team or project would be fortunate to have her on board.”
“Aliya is an incredibly gifted facilitator and instructor. I hired her two years in a row to create and lead somatic-based writing workshops for marketers, and then transitioned her to working with another program (and not with me sadly) as a coach for executive leaders and marketers. She is an active listener, has sharp analytic skills, and is able to synthesize content and perspectives. She’s a strong collaborator, highly creative and inclusive of others. Her work was always on time and thorough. I ended up hiring Aliya as a leadership coach; we worked together for over a year. Her compassion and insight was instrumental to my professional growth overall and strength as a writer. I cannot recommend her more.”
““Aliya offered me space and time to hear my story, what I wanted to get across and who I wanted my website to ‘speak to’. She led this process from a place of warmth, empathy and curiosity and she was invested in making a proper connection in order to reach my goals. Through our work together, Aliya helped me find clearer messaging – that didn’t just serve the website, but made me more confident in who I am and what I stand for as a result. She beautifully brought my vision, intended value and offerings to life through her words. The result is not just a website to be proud of, but deeper clarity about my purpose and impact.””
“Aliya is a great storyteller and communicator. I’ve worked with her on a number of projects, exploring complex subjects and working with a broad range of contributors. She has a real gift for finding the heart and soul of a story and opening it up so that others can see and understand it. She writes beautifully, with a lightness of touch and a depth of purpose. She is also organised, effective and focused. I’d thoroughly recommend her.”
““I joined the writing group as it combined several things I wanted to do more of : improve my writing skills, practice yoga and focus my focus! Never having shared my writing before I was understandably nervous but Aliya put me at ease straight away. I developed confidence in my writing and in speaking up and found the group to be warm friendly and non judgemental. Definitely happy I signed up and Aliya is wonderful.””
““It is hard to sum up how deeply Aliya’s reflective circle touched me. Aliya held the space in a beautiful light way that always felt supportive and safe and welcoming. Don’t worry if you think that yoga, breathwork, meditation or writing aren’t quite your thing - or one isn’t. This is about so much more than any of those things - it is about giving yourself some caring attention.” ”
“Aliya researches the subjects that she covers extremely diligently and is then able to convey their importance in writing that is compelling, hard hitting and well informed. She has a wide breadth of experience in journalism, PR and marketing that encompasses everything from the true cost of human rights abuses through to specialist areas such as international relations and legal reform. Aliya is a consummate professional who ‘adds value’ to everything to which she turns her hand.”