Darren: On this week’s Engaging Marketeer, I am speaking with Louise Pode of Proability. Louise is a coach that specializes in helping people with anxiety on the ski slope. Now, it doesn’t get much more niche than that.
(01:10) Darren: Louise helps skiers—not with their professional skiing or ability to ski—but with their mindset, so they can enjoy skiing with their families and not feel isolated. She’s also worked with the military, with the Army, the RAF, and with businesses to help improve values and profitability. So let’s get into it with Louise.
(01:47) Darren: You mentioned your experience—we talked about a mutual client that we’ve got—your experience with the military. Can you tell me a little bit about that? You don’t strike me as someone that works in the military—don’t take that the wrong way.
Louise: That’s an interesting question—I should be asking you that! So, my background is I’m a physiotherapist. I qualified in Leeds, and as soon as I qualified, I went straight to Australia, which was quite unusual back then.
Louise: I worked in Perth as a community physio, then in Sydney. Traveled around, met my husband, came back to London and worked at Guy’s.
I was very focused on being a musculoskeletal physio.
Darren: That’s easy for you to say—musculo… musculoskeletal?
Louise: Right! Musculoskeletal—muscles and joints. That was my thing. Eventually, we moved back up to Yorkshire and I started working for the military with a training battalion in Strensall.
(02:56) Darren: How did you get that gig?
Louise: I wanted to work in different environments. Not just private practice—it’s very different. I loved working in the NHS but wanted to develop more, and I was interested in the military and training environments. Also, by that point, my husband had joined the military. He was in the Army Air Corps, so I was already familiar with the environment.
Louise: I got the job at Strensall working with phase one recruits. We were seeing the same injuries again and again. I thought, “What’s going on out there?” We needed to look at the training programs themselves.
(03:53) Louise: That got me very interested in how you create a physical environment where people can perform at their best.
Louise: I then set up a physio service at RAF Linton, nearby, where they do phase one fast-jet training.
Darren: Can I delve into that? You mentioned you were getting the same injuries over and over again—because of how they were training?
Louise: Exactly. You get a lot of repetition in training—same exercises again and again. Even things like running on a cambered road can cause imbalance—your joints and muscles are constantly out of sync, which leads to injuries.
(05:15) Louise: That experience got me into ergonomics—understanding the working environment. Originally it came from aviation—cockpit design, positioning of controls—that’s where ergonomics was born.
I went off to Loughborough and did a Master’s in ergonomics.
Louise: It was fascinating—not just about the physical space, but the emotional environment too. How do you create a culture where people thrive? Where they’re motivated and engaged?
Darren: And with the RAF—you’ve worked with the RAF before—how different is the RAF from the Army?
Louise: I didn’t really see the “love-hate” dynamic people talk about. I worked in a clinical role, focused on rehab, diagnosis, treatment.
They were patients to me—each with their own musculoskeletal challenges.
(06:50) Darren: Presumably, RAF injuries are different though—pilots deal with G-forces, cockpit movement?
Louise: Yes, definitely. For example, neck injuries from pulling negative Gs. Different stresses. Not dissimilar injuries—many were sports or training related—but different rehab needs.
Louise: I haven’t practiced as a clinical physio for 30 years now, but that whole phase helped me broaden my scope.
Louise: After finishing my master’s in ergonomics, I set up my own consultancy. Because of my medical background, I was drawn to people in the corporate sector with long-term health conditions—and why so few of them made it to senior management, let alone director level.
Louise: This was when the Disability Discrimination Act was coming in. I quickly realized you can have the skills and a supportive environment—but if you have low self-esteem, a lack of confidence, or self-limiting beliefs, those become your ball and chain.
That insight sent me down the coaching path.
Louise: At the time, I was doing ergonomic assessments for Access to Work—mostly for computer users, workstation design, some manufacturing. I started noticing that behind the physical injuries were undiagnosed or unaddressed mental health issues.
(08:40) Louise: It took me six months to get a meeting with the head of Access to Work. I said, “You should be addressing mental health in the workplace.” She said, “Interesting, but people with mental health conditions don’t usually come forward. They step back.”
Louise: She encouraged me to submit a proposal to deliver a pilot service in the Northwest. So I designed a coaching-based program for people on long-term sick leave with mental health issues.
(09:29) Louise: The aim was to empower them—to help them understand their barriers to work, set goals, create action plans.
On day one, I’d visit someone sitting in a onesie, curtains drawn, watching daytime TV. Three months later, they were back in work. It was a game-changer.
Louise: It wasn’t just about financial reward—it was about routine, value, social interaction. Work gave them purpose.
(10:26) Louise: The pilot ran for two years. We supported 178 customers. It became a national service, originally run by Remploy and now by Maximus.
Darren: That’s amazing. What kind of issues were people facing? What kept them isolated like that?
Louise: Mostly anxiety—a real fear of stepping back into the work environment. They’d worry: Will I fail? What will people say? What if I can’t cope? That fear causes their comfort zone to shrink—just like what happened during COVID.
Louise: But when you give the right support, things change. We averaged seven hours of one-to-one time per client. 70% got back into work—and stayed in work six months later.
(11:54) Darren: Seven hours? That’s short! To get someone from never wanting to leave the house to back in employment?
Louise: I know—it’s extraordinary. But if you focus that time well—really unpack their barriers, create goals, make step-by-step action plans—it works. The first few weeks we’d meet weekly, then space it out as they gain confidence. You don’t want to become a crutch. The whole point of coaching is to empower—not to advise or direct, but to help people find their own way forward.
(14:05) Darren: Is that program still running?
Louise: Yes. Now run by Maximus, funded by Access to Work. If you’re in employment for more than 16 hours a week and have a long-term health condition, you can apply. That includes neurodiversity, physical limitations, chronic illness—not short-term issues like a broken leg.
Louise: It’s a brilliant service. The employee applies, but it’s always good for the employer to be aware it exists.
(15:42) Darren: Things have changed a lot since 2011–2012. But now, some right-wing media brands this kind of help as “woke.” Do you think enough is being done to help people now?
Louise: Oh, there’s still so much more to do. Back when I worked in the NHS, the focus was all physical health—mental health was an afterthought. But mental health is massive. We all sit somewhere along that spectrum.
Louise: Especially young people coming through COVID—resilience is low, anxiety is high. We need serious investment. And while the stigma is dropping, and coaching and therapy are more mainstream, we’ve still got a long way to go.
(17:38) Louise: I’d recommend coaching to anyone. When you train as a coach, you go through the process yourself. And it completely changed how I live my life.
Louise: I’ve built my work around people I love working with. I’ve created opportunities that really stretch me. I stepped into arenas I never would have before coaching. It opens up your mindset—you realize how much potential we all have.
(18:05) Darren: That brings us on to skiing—another part of what you do. What exactly can you do to help anxious skiers?
Louise: So this is very much about mindset. There’s a bit of a story behind it. I was the anxious skier. I started in my late 20s, began skiing as a family in my 30s, and had both hips replaced in my 30s due to a condition I was born with.
Darren: Wow, that’s young to have that done.
Louise: Yeah. So I had reasons to be anxious about skiing. Then I had a serious accident—was on crutches for four months. It was a real sliding doors moment: do I give up and sit out future ski holidays? Or do I find a way through?
Louise: The family loved skiing, and I didn’t want to be left out. I realized I was self-sabotaging. The anxiety wasn’t about my hips anymore—it was internal. I needed help. So I leaned into coaching, studied NLP—became a Master Practitioner—and that was my game-changer.
(19:40) Louise: It helped me reframe the anxiety. I fell back in love with skiing.
Louise: Then a ski journalist for the Sunday Times had a column where someone wrote in, saying, “I’m anxious about an upcoming family ski holiday—what course should I take?”
Louise: The journalist only recommended technical ski courses. I thought, “None of those are going to help with anxiety!” That’s when I realized I had to share what I’d discovered.
Louise: I started working with ski companies pre-COVID. Then I partnered with New Generation Ski School across the Alps, did masterclasses with Ellis Brigham across the UK, and worked with the Ski Club of Great Britain.
(21:09) Louise: Ski anxiety is a silent struggle. People don’t talk about it, but it’s common. You can be standing on a slope, skis on, and suddenly feel overwhelmed—your inner voice kicks off, your mind goes into white noise, your muscles go rigid.
Louise: That’s when people lean back on their skis, which makes them more unstable and prone to accidents. So it’s all about switching mindset—from fear to calm and curiosity. That’s the goal.
(22:31) Louise: It’s no different from what pro athletes do. Think of golfers stepping onto the tee at the Open. They focus, calm their minds, and anchor into the emotions they need to perform.
Darren: But if you mess up a golf shot, it’s just a bad shot. On a ski slope, anxiety could lead to a real accident. Isn’t fear helpful?
Louise: Yes—some anxiety is healthy. It keeps you alert. But when it overwhelms you, that’s when it becomes dangerous.
Louise: Imagine freezing on a red run—stuck, facing the wrong way, too afraid to move. That’s a vulnerable moment. So we teach people to calm the mind, regulate the inner voice, focus on a safe pathway, and make a plan. It gives back control.
Louise: Once you know how to handle any situation on the mountain, it takes away so much fear. You learn how to feel the way you want to feel—calm, confident, excited, whatever works for you.
Louise: And while I coach through skiing, the techniques are transferable. I used the same mindset tools when I was speaking in Boston!
Darren: So you’re not actually teaching people how to ski, then?
Louise: No, none of what I do is ski tuition. Everyone I work with already knows how to ski. It’s not about technique—it’s about mindset. How you manage the psychology of skiing.
Louise: I wouldn’t say I’m a super advanced skier who tackles every couloir, but I can ski most pistes and I love it. And that’s the thing—it’s about how much you enjoy it, not how extreme you go.
Louise: What I’ve found is really interesting—almost all of my clients are women. I’ve had no male clients in seven years.
Darren: Really? None?
Louise: None one-to-one. I did a snow masterclass recently with Ellis Brigham, and there were eight people—three women and five men.
But in terms of personal coaching programs, it’s all women.
Louise: I’ve had men call me to get support for their wives—which is great—but they have to want to do it. You need that internal motivation.
(27:13) Louise: A lot of these women started skiing in their 20s or 30s, whereas their partners have skied since childhood. They pick it up faster, have less fear, and often keep up their skills on boys’ trips. Meanwhile, the women are juggling kids, organizing the holidays.
Louise: The kids catch on quickly too. Suddenly, mum’s the slowest one, feeling like a burden or the handbrake. It becomes isolating. You’re technically on the family holiday, but emotionally and experientially, you’re not part of it.
Louise: That builds anxiety. You’re afraid of holding others back, or ruining the experience. It compounds over time.
Darren: So what kind of techniques do you use to help them get past that?
Louise: First, we identify what they want from the coaching. How will they know when they’ve “got there”? That gives us a goal—and it has to be an emotional goal, not just a technical one.
Louise: For example, someone might say, “I want to ski a red run.” Okay, why? What’s behind that?
Louise: Maybe it’s that her husband and sons always ski together and she’s left behind with an instructor. Maybe he taps her on the bum skiing past, shouting “Hurry up!”—totally humiliating. Maybe every evening they’re laughing about their day, and she wasn’t part of it.
Louise: So we dig into that. Eventually, she might say, “My goal is to be sitting on a chairlift with my sons and husband, laughing about a run we just did together.”
Louise: That’s a goal. That’s powerful. It’s emotionally resonant. And it gives you real forward momentum.
(30:28) Louise: Then we explore the anxiety itself. What does it feel like? When does it start? What’s the first physical sign? We have to understand it to manage it.
Louise: After that, we identify what emotions they want to feel instead—calm, empowered, excited—everyone’s different.
Then we anchor those emotions so they can step into them when needed.
Louise: We build it up in stages before the ski holiday. By the time they go, they’re excited. They’ve rehearsed it, visualized it, practiced.
Louise: I also use something called the Mood Map. It has four quadrants:
– Top-right is red: high anxiety, stress
– Bottom-right is gray: burnout
– Top-left is green: creative, energized
– Bottom-left is yellow: calm, recharging
Louise: We work on strategies to stay in the green and yellow. When they feel themselves slipping into red or gray, they learn how to shift back.
Darren: So these same techniques—you could use them for anything, not just skiing?
Louise: Absolutely. I use them in executive coaching, personal development coaching—it’s all about identifying what’s holding you back.
If it’s anxiety, the question becomes: how can you manage that anxiety and then decide if it’s something you want to do? Don’t let the fear decide for you.
Louise: With skiing, clients might say, “It’s the sound of my skis on ice—it terrifies me.” Or, “Snowboarders are unpredictable, I’m scared they’ll hit me.” We reframe those.
Louise: Instead of panicking when you hear that icy scraping sound, you go: “Okay, useful info—there’s ice, time to adjust my technique.”
Or: “I hear a snowboarder. Where are they? Can I move out of their way?” It’s about moving from panic to curiosity—so you can plan.
Darren: You’re just reframing the same situation.
Louise: Exactly. That’s what coaching does—it reframes things so you’re no longer a passenger in your fear. You’re in the driver’s seat.
(35:08) Darren: So how do people find you? Is it mostly word of mouth?
Louise: Yes—especially for skiing. I do masterclasses with Ellis Brigham, write articles, appear on podcasts like this. I also have a “Ski With Confidence” Instagram and work with the Ski Club of Great Britain.
Darren: And those masterclasses—are they online or in person?
Louise: In person. I’m doing two in February—Bristol and London.
Louise: The ski coaching is niche, but the mindset tools are universal. I work with clients who are anxious about big presentations, going through court battles, even divorces. If anxiety overwhelms you, it can derail the outcome. These tools help you stay clear and logical when it matters most.
(36:16) Darren: So how do you balance that with your other work?
Louise: The ski coaching happens mostly in winter—January through March. But my day job is executive coaching and personal development.
(37:20) Darren: And what sort of businesses do you work with for that?
Louise: I specialize in small to medium-sized businesses—maybe six to 40 employees. I love working with passionate business leaders who want clarity around their vision and want to build strong, values-led teams.
Louise: Often we start with coaching the business owner—getting clarity around why they do what they do. Then we work with the wider team to embed that vision. It’s not just about what you do or how—it’s why you do it. That’s your real USP.
Louise: And with a values-led business, your team becomes energized and aligned. When big challenges hit, they respond with curiosity—not anxiety or fear.
(38:49) Darren: So the business owner doesn’t need to already have those values figured out? You help create them?
Louise: Exactly. And I really believe everyone in the business has something to contribute. We involve them in the process, so they have ownership—and it energizes the whole company.
Louise: It’s tough out there right now—especially for small businesses. But when your team believes in what you’re doing, and why, it makes all the difference.
Darren: Is there a specific industry you work best with?
Louise: I’ve worked a lot with the tech sector—but really, it applies to any industry. From businesses recycling phones, to manufacturers, to fast-growing social media agencies. It’s more about the personality of the business owner than the sector.
(41:10) Darren: So what’s the actual business benefit of all this? Why should a business owner invest in this kind of coaching?
Louise: Because it creates a team that’ll go the extra mile. It’s about building goodwill in the business—and that’s not something you can buy.
When things get tough, goodwill carries you. Without it, things can go horribly wrong.
Darren: Can you share a success story? No names, of course.
Louise: Yes—there was a local business with seven employees. The owner came to me for clarity on the future of the business. He had some blocks and wasn’t sure why.
Louise: Through coaching, we uncovered some really important things about his values and direction. Then we brought in the team and looked at their values. There was so much synergy—it became clear what the core values of the business were.
Louise: He had this “aha” moment. He literally drew a cherry tree—with deep roots representing the team, their professionalism, their qualifications… the bedrock of the business.
Louise: The blossoms on one side were all the benefits the clients got from working with them. The blossoms on the other side were the things they gave back to the community—something they’d always done, but never really talked about.
(43:52) Louise: That drawing became a big visual in the boardroom. It became part of their tenders. They talked about it with potential clients. It captured the whole personality of the business.
Darren: That’s so powerful. And it ties into something I was thinking about today—legacy. What do we leave behind? Do we make the world a better place? It becomes more important as you get older.
Louise: 100%. Legacy is huge. That’s why I believe so strongly in giving back. Coaching is usually reserved for executives—but what about people who’ve never even heard of coaching, let alone can afford one?
(45:17) Louise: I work with local charities like Youth Fed—they’re right next door to you, actually!
Darren: Are they? That’s amazing.
Louise: I’ve been doing resilience training with their teams, so they can take those strategies into their own communities. People living with adversity often feel stuck. They’re in survival mode. They need tools to move forward—and they deserve access to them.
(46:14) Louise: That’s why I wrote my book: How to Get There – Your Personal Coaching Guide to Take You to the Next Level. It walks people through that journey—from stuck to thriving.
Louise: It starts with values: What are yours? What do they tell you? Then it moves into goal-setting, creating a growth mindset, building resilience, crafting the right environment to thrive in.
Louise: And when you reach your goal? You’ll probably already be setting a new one. Because the journey changes you. That’s the beauty of it.
(47:00) Louise: My first goal was to fall back in love with skiing with my family. Now? I’m an international coach, doing something no one else is doing—and loving every second.
Darren: You mentioned earlier that some businesses don’t even know where to find a coach—let alone how to afford one. So, for people listening who think, “I’ve found a coach, and it’s you”—how can they get in touch?
Louise: I’ve got two websites. My business is called Proability—that’s Pro as in professional, and ability. (Though I will warn you—Google loves to autocorrect it to “probability”!)
Louise: The full address is www.proability.co.uk, and my name is Louise Pode. I also have a personal website: www.louisepo.com. That one has info about my book, my values, my legacy work, and all of that. And you can always email me at louise@proability.co.uk.
Darren: Perfect. Louise, thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast. I’ve learned loads—including how to say musculoskeletal! Wait—nope. Still haven’t got it. I’m going to practice. I swear.
Louise: (laughs) Thank you, Darren—really enjoyed it. Thanks so much for having me.
