20 Years of Motion Learning
We recently took an extended trip down memory lane on Linked In, as we celebrated our the 20th anniversary of Motion Learning.
We’re very humbled by people’s good wishes, and very grateful to all the support we’ve received over the years, and we wanted to capture the story, before it slips from memory.
If you’re reading this, you’ve very likely been part of journey, so thank you!
2004
It’s the summer of 2004, and the location is the William IV in W10 (thank you Nicholas Daniel).
Two eager (but possibly a little naïve) young trainers and coaches have their heads together. Their first brilliant piece of work - a business plan! Superbly written over a boozy lunch on a paper napkin!
And so, Motion Learning was born. Apparently, we were going to be turning over millions in a matter of years. Of course we were, and resigning from well paid jobs was definitely going to be worth it!
We had a fabulous logo (thank you Neil Felton), and a great launch party at Zilli’s (thank you Martin Southcott), but needed a place to call home.
Welcome to 3 Percy Street – or the Motion Mansion as we fondly named it. Our W1 base for the next 10 years.
It was within these walls, that Motion Learning began to take shape. We met amazing people, heard incredible stories and had the opportunity to begin to support businesses and people.
So many of you who are still in our network were part of our beginning. We worked with wonderful brands like Deloitte, Oddbins and Nike, ran programmes for students at University of the Arts London, and were even tutors at the inception of the Fashion Retail Academy.
Oh, and we were listening to Keane. LOTS of Keane. 😁
2009
Passionate, still (just about) youthful and wanting to make a real difference working in partnership with like-minded people we invited others to hang out with us.
Monthly taster sessions, complete with very popular M&S biscuits, provided us with the opportunity to share ideas, show our work and generate connections with brilliant people.
Building on this we began The Concept Club – a group of like-minded peers. Brilliant people leaders across industries. It provided us with the opportunity to share our views on latest thinking and leadership ideas, to support each other and to collectively engage and develop in best practise.
Help for us came in the form of a third person around the table – at different times Kristina Coxall, Sam Aldridge, Jenna Hurley – thank you guys, you’re all part of our story.
Despite the global financial meltdown, we’d also developed a strong core of clients, allowing us to see inside the world of TV with UKTV, travel around Europe with DHL, and work in beautiful locations like the Royal Household and Harvey Nichols and our own rooms.
Ooh, and Rachel had a couple of babies in the course of 14 months which wasn’t in the strategic plan.
All to the sound of Vampire Weekend. Thanks Sam.
2014
Ten years in, brought a big shake up. We built another business plan and updated our brand.
Our strategic focus shifted to increase our coaching work, and within a matter of years Rachel was logging over 800 hours of coaching in 12 months.
Our ever growing network of loyal clients and supporters continued to bring us fascinating work with teams and individuals, enabling us to partner with incredible brands like Manolo Blahnik, Rituals, and the sadly missed Paperchase and Links of London.
And with the sounds of the Motion babies rattling around in the background we became early adopters of remote working. We left the Motion Mansion, meeting and working instead in The Hospital Club, to increase our ability to meet the more diverse needs of ourselves and our clients, and in other wonderful venues in the UK and around Europe. Howard even left his home town of London, moving closer to the South coast in the hope of sunnier weather.
2019
Motion was evolving, and in our quest to do great work with brilliant people, we found some wonderful like-minded souls and invited them to join us.
The first coach to join our team was Lucy James followed by Rob Olorenshaw, Gayle Tong, Rakhee Patel, Sophia Taylor, and Bert Stemarthe, great people doing great work, every day. Supporting our increasing portfolio of international clients, by delivering coaching from the UK, North America and Australia, we've been more recently joined by Amy Funkhouser Watkins, Michele Wolfenstein Aptman, Helen Brooks and Julie Nelson. (We haven't yet managed to all get together IRL, but we'll keep on trying!)
Everyone was impacted by the Global Pandemic, and our profession was altered greatly too. In February 2020 95% of our coaching work was taking place in person, but within weeks we were delivering 100% online. The way in which we delivered our work changed overnight. And it’s only just showing signs of moving back again.
Now really being considered as experts in our field, we turned our attention to Though Leadership – writing, speaking and interviewing on topics important to us. We even copyrighted our own Parental Transition Coaching Model! That was an interesting process for sure.
In line with our values, we have focused heavily during this time on making the insight we produce and our services more widely accessible. Whether through Rachel’s first book Working Mother Book or through our not-for-profit Coach Community.
We are proud of the work we are doing and of what we continue to stand for, 20 years after we took the plunge.