Leadership & life coaching for women
For capable women who doubt themselves
If you’ve ever felt stuck, held back by self-doubt, or like your career, business or creative plans never quite become what you know they could be, you’re not alone.
I’m Kate James, a leadership and life coach and mindfulness teacher based in Melbourne. I work with creative women and leaders who want to find clarity, self-trust and the courage to share their ideas and work with the world.
At the heart of my work is helping you develop deeper self-trust – the ability to quiet overthinking, move beyond self-doubt and make choices that feel aligned with your strengths, values and purpose.
Together, we explore the patterns that keep you stuck, understand what’s driving self-doubt, and create a practical path forward with small, manageable steps that help you build confidence at your own pace.
Who I work with
My coaching clients come from all walks of life. They are lawyers, artists, policy makers, designers, psychologists, leaders, writers, advertising executives and everything in between. You may recognise some of these qualities in yourself:
- You feel stuck, lost, or unsure about your next steps
- You sometimes feel like an imposter (and maybe you have always felt a little bit different)
- You hope to make a positive difference in your lifetime
- You value the idea of being creative, even if you don’t have a traditionally creative pursuit
- You like the idea of living ‘consciously’
- You might be feeling burnout from over-functioning, people-pleasing, or carrying too much responsibility
- You’re prone to overthinking, self-criticism, or perfectionism
- You value authenticity and being true to your values, over external measures of success
My coaching experience & approach
Since 2002, I’ve supported thousands of women to build confidence, navigate midlife transitions, strengthen their leadership, start creative projects and small businesses, and create lives that feel more meaningful and fulfilling.
I’m the founder of The Confidence Course, a small group coaching program for women, and I host an annual retreat in Byron Bay. I’m also the author of six books on personal development, including Change Your Thinking to Change Your Life and Quietly Confident.
Alongside my life and leadership coaching work, I integrate the practical aspects of mindfulness to help build self-awareness and lasting change. My focus is on helping women move beyond overthinking and self-doubt into a grounded sense of calm, clarity and confidence.
You can also join over 30 million meditators on Insight Timer to access my free guided meditations, or take my ten-day audio course, Build Self-Belief through Mindful Action, which has helped more than 30,000 people take meaningful steps toward greater confidence.
About Kate James
Kate James is an author, leadership coach, and mindfulness teacher based in Melbourne. She draws on principles from Positive Psychology, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, and coaching philosophy to support women to grow as leaders and create meaningful, fulfilling work and lives. Her approach integrates clarity, balance, confidence, and inner calm, helping women reconnect with themselves and make decisions that feel authentic and aligned.
She is the author of six best-selling personal development books, including Believe in Yourself & Do What You Love, Be Mindful & Simplify Your Life, Change Your Thinking to Change Your Life, and most recently, Quietly Confident.
Kate began her coaching practice in Melbourne in 2002, combining her business experience with a background in psychology, mindful leadership, and coaching. Since then, she has supported thousands of women to gain clarity and confidence in their careers, leadership, and lives.
Get to know Kate
Join me live each week for a guided meditation on Insight Timer
Every Monday morning at 9.30am (AEST), over 150 people from around the globe join Kate when she shares a free talk and meditation on Insight Timer. With over 138,000 followers, Kate’s popular guided meditations will help you find clarity, calm and confidence.
What people are saying
Clare Bowditch
Big Hearted Business
‘I absolutely adore Kate. She is a highly skilled, generous and enormously gifted business coach, especially for those who don’t traditionally consider themselves “business people”. I discovered her through sheer luck (thanks Google), and I remain sincerely grateful for the counsel she offered me back in 2010 when I was first fleshing out the bones for what would become Big Hearted Business. Thanks Kate!’
Elise Bialylew
Mindful in May
I had some coaching sessions with Kate to help me in becoming clearer about a project that I dreamt of running. Kate is authentic, professional, sparkling with creativity and truly inspiring. She provided generous ideas and helped me to develop this idea into a reality. I had been to other career counsellors in the past but this was an entirely different experience for me. Kate’s practice is grounded in the wisdom of meditation and you can certainly feel her clarity in the room. I felt absolutely blessed that although I found her through a random web search, she proved herself to be so helpful. I have already spread the word to my friends and would highly recommend seeing her if you are needing inspiration and support to reach your goals.’ Elise Bialylew, Founder, Mindful in May
Catherine Morey-Nase
The Wellbeing Corner
“Working with Kate has literally been life changing. In addition to being extremely professional and having the highest integrity, Kate is wise, kind and generous. She is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives and does just that with her compassionate, grounded and creative approach. When I first met Kate, I was longing to find more meaning and purpose in my life but I lacked the confidence to start pursuing what inklings I did have. Working with Kate helped me gain clarity and, more importantly, develop the self-belief to pursue what is truly aligned and meaningful for me. What a gift! Thank you Kate.”
Quietly Confident
In Quietly Confident, Kate looks beyond the narrow scope of popular culture and paints a broader, more human definition of what it means to have confidence and be ‘successful’. In an era that rewards those with the loudest voices (and the most followers), Kate encourages introverts to let go of outdated ideas and beliefs so that they too might shine just as brightly. With a better understanding of an introvert’s many invaluable gifts and showing us how to tap into our infinite worth, Kate will guide readers towards the confidence that already exists within each of us.
Read Kate’s recent articles
Every day in my work, I meet thoughtful, capable women who aren’t struggling with their ability. They are successful in their roles, well-regarded by their peers and managers, and doing...
“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin — real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be...
Midlife is sometimes overlooked in conversations about career direction, with many believing it’s a time when reinvention is no longer possible. And when work stops feeling fulfilling, retirement is sometimes...