if it doesn't challenge us it doesn't change us
About us at firefly adventures
If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you
We are both passionate about helping individuals become more resilient, confident, powerful leaders in their own lives. That may be professionally or personally, but our focus is on developing individuals and using the power of challenge, connection and community to achieve life changing results. Our eight week coaching journey is designed as a playful way to help people understand their relationships with challenge and how they can respond to, prepare for, and choose them in order to grow.
​
Our coaching programme combines self directed learning, daily coaching support (as required / requested), weekly online group coaching sessions with an adventure residential experience that will support you to grow mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. We believe that true growth comes from stepping out of your comfort zone, getting curious about where there is resistance to action and leaning into your growth edge. We will provide you with the tools and support you need to thrive on this journey.
Beth
Hello! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Beth.
Professionally I’m a facilitator, psychometric practitioner (personality profiling), and ICF (International Coaching Federation) ACC certified coach, working predominantly in leadership development helping people become the best version of themselves, so they can increase the impact they have within their lives and their work.
I am fortunate that I LOVE my work and genuinely pinch myself on a daily basis that I get to play a small part in helping people align with who they are, what their values are and how they choose to show up in the world.
In this firefly adventure space however, I’m the tortoise, the one (who is always) at the back, the slow coach, the person who is exposed and vulnerable because I can’t perform in the mountains in the same way I do in every other aspect of my professional life.
I didn’t start adventuring for professional reasons, however. My journey to the mountains was a personal one.
You’ll learn more about that when we come to journey together but, in a nutshell, following the separation from my ex-husband and the complicated journey of my divorce, I embarked on exploring a new relationship.
‘think of it like climbing a mountain, I’ll start at one side and you can start at the other… and we’ll meet at the top’
As will be the case for many people, this potential new relationship came with complications, but this man said to me ‘think of it like climbing a mountain, I’ll start at one side and you can start at the other… and we’ll meet at the top’.
Given I love metaphors (and use them a lot in my coaching work) I totally bought into this concept, but decided I needed to physically experience climbing a mountain in order to understand the commitment I’d made, to ‘feel’ it. To live it.
So I ask Gil if I could join him on an adventure… or 2… or 3.
What I thought was going to be a clever way for me to get through the emotional challenge that had presented itself in my life in the shape of this new man, actually turned out to result in some of the most profound personal learning I’ve had in my life.
I learnt that for me climbing mountains is hard, that it’s emotionally and physically exhausting and that there are no guarantees I’ll get to the top. I learnt how to manage my relationship with the challenges in my life and the disappointment of things not turning out as I want them to. (Incidentally, if you're interested, the man who set the metaphor, didn’t make it to the top… his actions showing me that he decided to turn back, that the climb was too risky.)
I learned that my mind is strong, that I can push myself hard, in every aspect of my life, to prove to myself and others that I can achieve what I set my mind to, that I can ‘keep going’. But I’ve also learned that I have physical limits and that going beyond them means risks for myself and for the people around me.
​
Most significant for me though, as a fiercely independent woman, is the fact that I’ve learned how to ask for and accept the support of others. The physical landscape of our adventures has pushed me beyond my comfort zone into a place where vulnerability (not something I am comfortable with!) has just been what it has been, something I've not been able to push away and something simply to ‘be’ with. However, it’s been the magic within that vulnerability (rather than my strength) that has opened my heart back up to the richness of human connection, both to myself and the people around me.
I have grown as a result.
It was my own learning, combined with my experience as a coach and my gratitude for Gil’s love of the mountains that sparked the idea for our firefly Adventure… The prospect of being able to share it with you is tremendously exciting!
Gil
Hi I’m Gil.
​
I have always had a sense of adventure and wander, and a real need to be moving, active, working on or towards something. In fact that is where my story about firefly Adventures and my friendship with Beth is personal.
I've always been an outgoing people person. I love interacting with people in a professional sense, and there is nothing better for me than creating valuable exciting experiences for people. I naturally think about others before myself, which can sometimes be a barrier to my own growth.
​
For the past 10 years I have worked in youth engagement and development, as well as volunteered in countless roles that put others first (parkrun run director, race director, club chairman, running coach and run leader to name a few) and my greatest personal value is about service to others. Doing what I can to help and support those around me.
​
I also love to explore and be in nature. In particular I love to run along trails and up high, usually along ridgelines and to mountain tops in the UK. But this is where, for me, I like to escape to and often be solo. It is where I slow down my brain, think, reflect and recharge. Not most people’s idea of a relaxing holiday!
​
I mentioned before that I always like to be moving and doing something worthwhile. Well, this is where my friendship with Beth has taught me a lot, and it's the perspective I bring to our adventure programmes. Yes I have the outdoor, experiential development, skill based knowledge to take groups safely up mountains, but that is not all I bring to the party.
'The hike isn't the challenge...
understanding how to connect with myself is where my metaphorical mountain begins, and where my challenge starts'
The hike and the physical mountain isn't the issue. The vulnerability I experience is in noticing how I feel and understanding how to connect with myself. That is where my metaphorical mountain begins and where my challenge starts. My comfort zone and where I feel most in a state of ‘flow’ and ‘peak performance’ is much more on the physical side. Climbing physical hills and being in challenging environments. However, my firefly Adventure journey is all about exploring my limitations and becoming more confident and comfortable with the emotional challenges. More specifically connecting with myself, internally, listening and feeling, rather than ignoring and bypassing on an every day basis.
​
Our programme is all about exploring our relationships with challenges, discovering and facing our limitations, becoming more resilient and being able to lean into and face challenges in a more confident way.
​
For me, personally, I have to ask myself what it is about adventure and physical challenges that excite me rather than overwhelm me? Why is it I can be the most prepared person and plan all sorts of experiences for others but when it comes to looking introspectively I make myself busy? How can I learn from my approaches to physical challenges and apply those learnings to day to day, metaphorical ‘mountains’?
​
If you are a man, in particular, you may relate to this in some ways. Well, not only have I experienced the benefits myself already, but I continue to learn about myself, from myself, and just as importantly from those who I connect with in this space.
​
This is the perspective I am excited to bring to firefly Adventures and I am so excited to continue to push myself, discover new vulnerabilities and limits, and connect with and learn from all the brilliant people who come and join us.
​
You are all welcome to join us on this journey.