Words by, Wellness Coach, Debbie Green

This month marks twenty years since I founded Wishfish, and it feels like the right moment to reflect on what two decades of coaching has taught me about business, resilience and human potential. In 2005, I took what felt like a terrifying leap. I’d just been made redundant and was completely burnt out from corporate life. There was no business plan, no funding, no safety net. Just an overwhelming desire to do something meaningful – to help people build the confidence and self-belief I’d struggled to find during my own difficult years in corporate environments.

The name itself came from an unexpected place. A few years before starting the business, I’d been hospitalised for three months with a gallbladder infection that had gone undetected. My mother cared for my six-year-old son Karl during my recovery, and one day he brought me a drawing. “Mummy, this is your Wishfish,” he said. “If you wish on this, you’ll come home. Because wishing is just the beginning.”

I kept that picture on my bathroom wall for years. When I was searching for a name for my new venture, it kept catching my eye. Wishfish. Where wishing is just the beginning. It perfectly captured what I wanted to create – a space where people could move from hoping for change to actually making it happen.

Those early days required considerable faith. I decided to trust in people and connections rather than traditional marketing. Within six months, work started flowing through referrals. By year one, I was working full-time. Twenty years later, we’ve worked with everyone from small startups to major organisations including Heathrow Airport, ITV, Universal Music and Marks & Spencer, spanning sectors from aviation to retail, music to healthcare.

The four principles that sustained me…

If I had to distil twenty years into key learnings, they would be these; Trust the process. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t compare yourself with others. Trust your gut.

These aren’t just platitudes. They’ve been my compass through every challenge. Trusting the process means accepting that growth isn’t linear and that quiet, consistent work often yields better results than dramatic gestures. Not sweating the small stuff has protected my energy for what truly matters.  Avoiding comparison has allowed me to build something authentic rather than chasing someone else’s definition of success. And trusting my gut has guided every major decision, from which clients to work with to how we’ve structured our approach.

The reverberations of coaching

What continues to surprise and delight me is the long-term impact of this work. Coaching happens quietly, behind the scenes. I rarely publicise individual transformations. Instead, I receive private messages that remind me why my work matters.

One client stands out. Ex-military, he struggled to show emotion and connect with his team. We worked together on purpose and values, and over several sessions, something shifted. 

Years later, he still reaches out whenever he hits a career milestone. In one message, he wrote: “I wasn’t a happy person. I felt undervalued, diminished, boxed in. My confidence was shot. I don’t think one single person made me realise I still had potential, but those that did can be counted on one hand, and you are definitely one.”

These messages arrive years after our work together ends. That’s when I see the true value – not only in the immediate transformation, but in how people carry forward what they’ve learnt and pass it on to others.

Over two decades, I’ve witnessed people walk away from toxic relationships, completely transform their careers, launch charities and businesses and rediscover their sense of purpose. 

Our three-year partnership with Heathrow Airport, delivering purpose and values workshops, was described as life-changing by participants. During the pandemic, we provided free wellness coaching through the Aviation Action initiative. It’s always awe-inspiring to see how coaching supports and elevates people, especially during tough times. 

What remains unchanged

Despite growth and time passing, our core purpose hasn’t wavered. Everything we do comes back to helping people help themselves and others. We focus on mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wellness, supporting individuals and teams to find better balance and life-work harmony.

The business has grown entirely through networks and referrals – a testament to trusting the process rather than following conventional business wisdom. This organic approach has allowed us to maintain authenticity while working across diverse industries and geographies.

So, if you’re thinking of setting up your own business or working with a coach – I wholeheartedly encourage you to take that leap of faith. It has been an exhilarating and rewarding experience, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.   Twenty years in, I’m grateful for every connection, every challenge and every transformation I’ve been privileged to witness. Here’s to the next chapter of helping people remember that wishing really is just the beginning.

Debbie Green is founder and wellness coach at Wishfish Coaching & Development and co-host of Secrets from A Coach podcast. For more information visit: wishfish.org.uk and secretsfromacoach.com