Life Beyond Your Job Title
Pre-retirement and career transition coaching for when hearing loss is part of the picture
You're here because something shifted, didn't it?
Maybe it's the career that's ending. The role that defined you for decades suddenly doesn't fit. You're wondering who you are without the job title. Or you've realised you've been holding everyone else together while quietly coming apart yourself.
And maybe - though you might not have named this yet - you've also noticed that conversations have become harder work. You're saying "yes" when you didn't quite catch what was said. Avoiding meetings where you might miss something important. Pretending you heard when you didn't.
You're still functioning. People might even call you resilient. But there's this exhaustion that sleep doesn't touch, and a question you keep circling back to: "What now?"
I know from working with people who are experiencing this that you're not broken. You're in transition. When that transition includes hearing loss - something 40% of people over 50 experience - it adds a layer that most retirement planning completely ignores. You don't have to face this alone.
Let's work on this together.
I work with people navigating pre-retirement and career transitions, particularly when communication changes (including hearing loss) are affecting your confidence, connections, and sense of who you are. I help you find solid ground when everything feels uncertain.
“I was absolutely blown away. I have spent months trying to figure it out but you helped me have that light bulb moment in an instant.”
Ready to turn things around?
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THE SHIFT THAT NO ONE TALKS ABOUT
Most people approaching retirement worry about pensions and whether they can afford to travel. Almost no one talks about what happens to your sense of self when work ends, or how hearing loss changes everything about that transition.
After 30 years as a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, I understand something most coaches don't: communication isn't just what you say to others. It's how you listen to yourself, how you interpret what's happening, and the stories you tell yourself about who you are.
When you're navigating pre-retirement or career transition AND dealing with hearing loss (even if you haven't named it yet), that internal dialogue shifts in specific ways.
You start withdrawing. Avoiding conversations where you might not catch everything. Saying yes when you didn't quite hear the question. Pretending you heard. Feeling exhausted from the constant effort of trying to follow conversations. The doubt creeps in. Your sense of worth wobbles.
Yet almost no retirement planning addresses this emotional aspect of hearing loss-fears of stigma, feelings of dependence, or losing your sense of self, which can significantly impact your transition.
40% of people over 50 have hearing loss. 70% of those over 70. It's estimated to account for 8% of dementia cases, one of the most significant modifiable risk factors we have.
People wait an average of 10 years before addressing it. During that decade, they're quietly withdrawing. And when retirement arrives, and daily workplace interaction vanishes, that isolation becomes a critical issue.
That isolation, those misunderstood conversations, the exhaustion of constantly asking people to repeat themselves, it all feeds directly into how you experience career transitions, your sense of identity, and who you are beyond the job title.
I'm the only pre-retirement and transition coach I know who specifically addresses how hearing loss affects this entire process. Because I've spent three decades understanding exactly how communication breakdown - including hearing loss - shapes every relationship, every interaction, every sense of self.
"Thanks to Sarah I went to my very first in-person networking event with a sit-down meal!... I didn't worry at all about my usual anxieties... Don't waste any more time - I highly recommend Sarah to anyone."
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MY APPROACH: THE 3 CS
Three interconnected areas - and hearing loss affects all three.
Communication
Not just how you talk to others, but how you listen to yourself. The stories running on repeat. When hearing loss is part of the picture, this gets complicated fast. You might be telling yourself: "I'm slowing down," "I'm not as sharp as I used to be," "People find me difficult," "I don't belong in these conversations anymore." We look at how hearing changes affect both your external communication and your internal dialogue. What's actually changing? What stories have you built around that? What's true and what's assumption?
Clarity
When everything feels overwhelming, your career ending, your hearing changing, your identity shifting, we work out what actually matters. How do you get clarity when you're not catching every word in conversations? How do you navigate getting hearing support without shame? What does solid ground look like when both your professional identity and your communication abilities are in flux? We find the path through all of this.
Connection
To yourself first. Accepting that hearing loss doesn't make you less capable, just differently abled. Then to others. Finding ways to stay connected that work with your hearing, not against it. Then to what's possible. Hearing loss doesn't end your productive life, it changes how you navigate it. This matters particularly when work relationships end and you're wondering where you fit. We work on rebuilding connection in ways that acknowledge your communication needs.
I bring 30 years as a British Sign Language interpreter and an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology (MAPPCP) to this work. I'm one of the very few BSL interpreters who is an EMCC Senior Coach Practitioner.
That interpreting background taught me to understand how hearing loss affects everything, confidence, relationships, sense of identity, and willingness to engage. I've worked with thousands of people navigating communication breakdown. Now I help people in pre-retirement navigate this transition when hearing loss is part of the picture.
WHO THIS WORK IS FOR
This tends to attract people who:
- Are approaching retirement but are uncertain about who they'll be without their job, especially if hearing loss is making work conversations harder
- Notice their hearing changing and worry about how that affects their professional credibility and future connections
- Feel stuck in midlife, wondering what's next when communication feels like more effort than it used to be
- Are managing sandwich generation pressures while also noticing they're asking people to repeat themselves more often
- Face redundancy or unexpected career change, and worry that hearing loss will make job-searching or networking impossible
- Work as freelancers or in precarious employment with constant uncertainty, and hearing loss adds another layer of worry
- Want honest conversations about hearing loss and retirement without shame and embarrassment
- Prefer exploring transitions with curiosity rather than fear, including the transition of accepting hearing support
HOW WE WORK TOGETHER
One-to-One Coaching
Using my "Finding Solid Ground" framework for people in career transition, facing pre-retirement, or navigating midlife identity shifts.
We work face-to-face in Derbyshire or online, whichever suits you best. Sessions focus on the 3 Cs - Communication, Clarity, Connection - helping you navigate the transition ahead.
Nature-Based Coaching
I often work outdoors when that suits people - there's something about being outside that helps people think differently. I'm based in Derbyshire near the Peak District, where I run outdoor group sessions.
Walking side by side changes the conversation. Nature provides metaphors that indoor coaching can't.
Corporate Pre-Retirement Programmes
I run pre-retirement programmes for companies seeking to support employees beyond financial planning, focusing on identity, communication changes (including hearing loss), and maintaining connections after work relationships end.
Get in touch to discuss what would work for your organisation
WHY THIS WORK MATTERS
Most retirement programmes focus entirely on pensions and finance. They completely ignore the communication changes that compound isolation when work connections disappear.
Hearing loss is estimated to account for 8% of dementia cases. It's one of the most significant modifiable risk factors we have. Yet when you look at corporate retirement programmes, they never address it.
I see this differently because I combine 30 years as a BSL interpreter with positive psychology coaching. I understand how communication breakdown - both external and internal - shapes transitions.
I also understand from lived experience. I'm part of the sandwich generation, managing complex caring responsibilities while navigating my own identity shifts. My MSc research focused on freelancer self-care under stress. I know what it's like when the ground beneath you feels uncertain.
Sounds Good? Let’s grab a Cuppa!
If you think we could be a good fit to work together, have any further enquiries, or want to meet for a chat (either online or face-to-face), please don't hesitate to get in touch via the button below.
START HERE: FINDING SOLID GROUND
Not sure if coaching is right for you yet? Start with my free workbook and see if we're speaking the same language.
"Finding Solid Ground: Seven Nature-Based Practices for Life Transitions"
This workbook walks you through the transition you're in right now. Addressing identity shifts, communication changes (including hearing loss that often goes unmentioned), and how to find your footing when the map you had no longer fits.
Download it. Work through it at your own pace. See what resonates.
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