A York Transformational Life Coach who built a senior corporate career while battling imposter syndrome is on a mission to help other women unlock their highest potential.

Diane Spence spent decades working in leadership roles at blue-chip companies including Nestlé and Asda. But while her life appeared successful on the outside, inside she was plagued with feelings of self-doubt.

“I grew up on a council estate in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the 70s and 80s,” says Diane. “I was a shy child and came from a very working-class background, but I worked hard and did really well at school. However, my local comprehensive didn’t offer A-levels, so I left to do a full-time Youth Training Scheme, earning £29.50 a week at Marks & Spencer. At the end of that year, the person looking after us said, ‘Diane, you have brains to burn. You should continue your education’. So I went back to college.”

From there, Diane went to university, gaining a degree in Business Studies and Management, which included psychology and marketing, before completing further professional marketing qualifications.

“I got a good corporate job and was promoted over the years,” says Diane, who lives in York with her husband and their daughter. “But, maybe due to my background, I battled self-doubt and constantly wondered whether I belonged.”

The turning point came when she broke down at work.

Diane explains: “Early in my career, I was in a performance appraisal, and my manager was giving me lots of really positive feedback. Suddenly, I started crying, as I realised I didn’t really believe it. That was a defining moment; it became clear that no amount of external validation or success could change my deeply held subconscious beliefs. I decided to start working on my self-development. After a lot of hard work, I overcame my self-limiting beliefs, which transformed my life. Now I help other women do the same.”

Diane’s experience ultimately led to her retraining as an accredited Transformational Life Coach and breathwork facilitator, and leaving the corporate world to start her business, Diane Spence Coaching. It also inspired her to create her group programme, The Subconscious Recode®, designed to help ambitious women overcome self-limiting beliefs and achieve their full potential.

“Working on myself changed everything. I also learned how to swim properly at the age of 39, got fit, started going on annual solo adventures all over the world and became a yogi. I also try to do something that scares me every day.”

Imposter syndrome is common among senior women. A study by KPMG found that three in four female executives experience imposter syndrome at certain points in their career. And nearly half (47%) said they felt self-doubt because they never expected to be so successful.

Diane adds: “There’s a wider, ongoing conversation about high-functioning women who look successful on the outside, with the career, qualifications and financial independence, yet feel like frauds, internally battling imposter syndrome, low confidence, perfectionism and chronic self-doubt.

“I’ve distilled what took me years of learning, self-development, investment and trial and error into this programme, which addresses beliefs and patterns around self-doubt at a deeper level. I want to give ambitious women a much clearer and more direct route through the process so they can achieve their highest potential.”

Launching at the end of October 2026, with new groups starting regularly, the 12-week online group programme combines coaching, breathwork, visualisation, strengths discovery and practical action, all rooted in Diane’s professional training and lived experience.

She adds: “Breathwork isn’t woo-woo. It works with the nervous system and gives us a way to access what’s going on beneath our conscious thoughts.

“Coaching is a powerful tool, but we can consciously know exactly what we want to change and still find ourselves repeating the same patterns. That’s because so much of our behaviour is influenced by deeply ingrained beliefs, emotional responses and the identity we hold about ourselves. Our conscious mind is only a small part of what drives us, so my work goes beneath the surface to help women recognise and change those patterns.

“When you breathe in an expertly guided way, you can begin to calm the nervous system and quieten the mental noise. It creates space for deeper self-awareness, where you can start to recognise what’s driving your self-doubt, move beyond the patterns holding you back and find greater clarity, confidence and fulfilment.

“As a reformed over-thinker, my purpose is helping ambitious women get out of their own way and achieve their highest potential.”



For more information, visit: https://www.dianespence.com
Find Diane on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamdianespence/