From Burnout to Breakthrough: Real Client Transformations Inside The Feminine Edge

client results the feminine edge Sep 28, 2026

What actually changes for female founders once they get the right support?

Three women share their stories.

From overwhelm and constant rushing to a plan she could stand behind

Sarah Huntley, a Performance Psychologist and Olympic Team Performance Coach, came into 1:1 Executive Coaching from a place many high-achieving women will recognise: capable, credible, and quietly overwhelmed, rushing from one thing to the next without a strategy holding it together.

When we met, Sarah was running 3 businesses, burning out and desperate for more time to enjoy her life. We began by stripping back. Having so many competing priorities was ultimately costing Sarah serious profit. Over 5 months Sarah let go of one business, sold another and focused solely on the business with the biggest potential that was not getting the attention it deserved.

Within those 5 months, Sarah went from averaging £40 an hour to £1k an hour through leveraging her time and expertise through a scalable signature offer that she could deliver in both an intimate 1-1 format as well as through a group programme.

Choosing Mel as my coach has been the best decision I’ve ever made. I started from a place of overwhelm and constant rushing around. After three months, I had a strategy, a plan, and more importantly a feeling of confidence and calmness. I am making more money than ever in my business and the change has been beyond what I ever expected to achieve.

— Sarah Huntley, Performance Psychologist & Olympic Team Performance Coach

What stands out isn't just the commercial result, though making more money while feeling calmer rather than more stretched is exactly the outcome the Conscious Leadership Model is built to produce. It's the order things happened in. The strategy came after the settling, not before it, because a plan built on top of overwhelm rarely holds the way a plan built on steadier ground does.

The power of the room, not just the one-to-one work

Not every transformation happens in private. Beryl Preuschmann's experience inside the Inner Circle points to something different: the specific value of building alongside other women rather than working it all out alone.

The magic and power of ‘the group’ was and is incredible.

— Beryl Preuschmann

This is the lateral intelligence a mastermind room offers that even excellent 1:1 work can't replicate on its own: conversations, reflections and challenges that only surface when you're sitting alongside women building at a similar altitude, in different industries, asking different questions than the ones you'd think to ask yourself.

The Inner Circle is designed for proximity and profit. With a personalised strategy designed to grow your business in a way that fulfils your vision and fits your lifestyle, it has a powerful blend of private coaching, group masterminding, in-person events and a luxury retreat held in Scotland or Sri Lanka.

From losing multiple lines of business to building a new one, somewhere new entirely

Deborah Craig's story is the clearest example of what the right container, at the right time, can catalyse. She stepped into the Inner Circle a year after losing multiple lines of business, not a small setback, but a genuine rebuild from a difficult place.

"I lost multiple lines of business at the end of last year and I sat there wondering what I would do. I joined Mel's mastermind for connection and clarity and it helped me go after what I really wanted - so, 9 months on I am now living in Italy.

I hosted my first ever retreat here, which was a great success. I have clients signed for my new retreat too."

Deborah Craig, The Holistic Hypnotherapist

So, like you say… anything is possible if you trust the path will unfold as it’s meant to.

The Inner Circle, including The Rewilding retreat, became the inflection point. Within that container, Deborah's next chapter took a shape that likely wouldn't have emerged from either strategy work or peer support alone: a move to Italy, and a new retreat business of her own.

It's proof of something worth naming plainly. The right container at the right time can produce transformation that no individual pathway, strategy alone, mindset work alone, community alone, quite manages by itself.

What these three stories have in common

None of these women arrived already certain of what they needed.

Sarah needed settling before strategy.

Beryl needed a room, not just a coach.

Deborah needed an architecture that could hold a genuine rebuild, not a quick fix.

Different entry points, different chapters, different outcomes, and in every case, real change that took longer than a single session and held past the engagement itself.

That's usually the honest answer when a founder asks what results actually look like. Not a single dramatic before-and-after, but a woman whose strategy, leadership and sense of her own worth finally started moving in the same direction at the same time. It's rarely tidy, and it rarely arrives on the timeline you'd have picked for it, but in all three stories the shift held, which is the part a single glossy testimonial can never quite prove on its own.

Where your story might start

If you're weighing up whether 1:1 Executive Coaching or the Inner Circle fits where you are, the fuller comparison is here: how to choose between them. Many clients move between the two as their chapter changes, which is usually a better indicator of what to expect than any single testimonial on its own.

You don't need a fourth story to feel certain. You need one honest conversation about which chapter you're actually in. A strategy call is where that conversation starts.

Frequently asked questions

Are these real client results?

Yes. These are genuine accounts from women who worked inside The Feminine Edge's Executive Coaching and Inner Circle programmes, shared here with their words intact.

How long does it typically take to see results like these?

It varies by starting point and container. Sarah's shift happened within three months of Executive Coaching; Deborah's rebuild unfolded across 6 months of being part of the Inner Circle. Neither was instant, and both held past the engagement itself.

Do most clients only work with Mel once, or does the relationship continue?

Many clients return across more than one chapter of growth, often moving between Executive Coaching and the Inner Circle as their needs change.

Is the Inner Circle only useful for founders in crisis, like Deborah's story?

No. Deborah's story shows what the container can hold at its most demanding, but most Inner Circle members join from a stable, growth-focused place rather than a rebuild.

How do I know which container is right for my situation?

A strategy call is the most direct way to find out. It's a genuine conversation about your situation, not a sales pitch for one option over the other.