About Gwendolen

Spiritual Doula, Catalyst, Guide

In times of transition and turbulence

we have an opportunity to explore new ways of knowing, seeing and being in the world.

My Journey

My name is Gwendolen.  I  work as a highly trained and experienced coach, facilitator, speaker, teacher and guide. 

I am the founder of Alive Wire, a transformative teaching and learning portal which holds unique programs curated for my clients and students to find meaning and create profound and sustainable shifts in their personal and professional lives.  

My heart is for the healing and awakening of humanity. 

I am a single mother of two young men who continue to delight and surprise me. Motherhood is not for everyone. For me, it has been my making.

I have a longstanding love affair with South Africa. 

For as long as I can remember I have been interested in the interface between science and the sacred and the evolution of consciousness.

I love birds and horses, Cape Town and adventure, friends and community, writing, mythology, sense-making and story telling. 

My life has been full, challenging, real and rich; a crucible for spiritual growth.  I have taken the path less travelled and learnt to follow my inner tuition and trust my truth. As an authentic leader and healer I am here to share my medicine, to point the way inside and, hopefully with humility and transparency, model the way outside.

I would love to be your guide.  

Your Journey

Despite your achievements and outer confidence, you are feeling off-kilter, off-track, restless, jaded or disillusioned. You may be sitting with an odd sense of foreboding – something isn’t quite right – or a feeling that time is running out.  You are trying to make sense of things. You are starting to ask deeper questions. You are looking for substance.

I hold space for you to re-calibrate; to know your true nature and achieve your soul purpose. 

My job is to get out of my own way and be a channel to guide you to guide yourself. Your job is to show up fully and “do the work”.

The invitation is to be part of the Alive Wire community and join me and a small group of others on one of my transformative courses. I can help you decide where to start. 

Learn powerful and essential skills to shape reality and trust life in times of transition. 

Move through spiritual malaise. Heal. Grow. Evolve.

Know yourself. Shift your identity.  Overcome your doubt, insecurity and inadequacy. Own your magnificence. Access your inner guidance. Face your fears. Meet your edges. Walk your talk. Find joy. Participate fully in life. Share your gifts.

Create success, substance and significance.

Do and be what you came here to be and do.

Come join me. 

What qualifies me to create alchemical group coaching programs and be your guide?

The short answer is that I’ve been been in this game for a good 25 years and as you can see I have a roster of happy clients. My heart is singular – for you to stop holding back, stop wasting time, know your value, claim your worth and do your thing in the world. 

I am able to hold space for you because I have learnt to hold space for myself. 

The longer answer is that I have an unusual mix of skills, interests and life experiences.

I guess you can boil it down into six advantages:

1) I am known for creating safe, non-judgmental spaces where the whole of you is welcome

You are in good hands, safe hands and experienced hands. My spaces have clear boundaries.  Confidentiality, co-creation and clarity are essential.  Courage, trust and acceptance are key. 

It matters hugely to me that Alive Wire is a place where you are free to show up exactly as you are, fully yourself, in your power or in your shadow, feeling good or feeling shit. It is important to me that you have a space to be vulnerable and real and a space where it is OK not to have all the answers and not to know. 

I see you. I hear you. I get you. I believe in you. I want the highest and the best for you.

I will meet you where you are at. I will have high expectations of you but I will never judge you. 

2) I have extensive training and excellent qualifications...

I have a Law Degree, a Certificate of Comparative Religion, a Post Graduate Certificate in secondary school education, a Diploma in Creative Education. I have received training from the International Baccalaureate Organisation in the Theory of Knowledge which I taught at Diploma level.

In 2011, I was awarded my Diploma in Practitioner Coaching from the highly credible Integral+Africa Coaching Centre in Cape Town. 

I enjoy giving talks and am a competent Toastmaster. 

...and I continually prioritise my personal and professional development

Here is a list of some of the trainings I have participated in since the beginning of my coaching journey in 2010. 

  • Nancy Kline’s The Thinking Environment
  • 9 Conversations of Leadership
  • The Fundamentals of Team Coaching
  • The Leadership Maturity Framework and Polarity Wisdom
  • Otto Scharmer’s U-Lab
  • The Enneagram
  • Gestalt Theory
  • The Art of Hosting Cafe Conversations
  • Cognitive Therapy Based Mindfulness Course
  • Narrative Coaching and Re-Storying for Coaches, Consultants and Counsellors
  • Harnessing Stress for Growth and Embracing Anxiety
  • Conscious Embodiment: Embodied Leadership
  • Basic Neuroscience
  • Systems Thinking
  • Peter Block’s “Flawless Consulting” and “Community Building”
  • Meet Your Genius, Master Your Destiny, Alchemy for Success, Creative Warrior ~ all teaching in High Level Creative Functioning and the Path of Least Resistance. 
  • Sexual Awakening for Women Facilitator’s Training
  • Sacred Feminine Medicine Wheel
  • Art of Living
  • A Course in Miracles
  • Keys of Enoch
  • Growth Accelerator Masterclass
  • Write It; Build It; Facilitate It

NB: Previous clients include

  • SAPA
  • Accenture
  • Metropolitan
  • Old Mutual
  • Nedbank
  • Woolworths
  • TFG
  • Riskflow
  • Global Load Control
  • the DA
  • Cansa
  • WOLELA (Women Leading in Law)
  • many, many individual clients

I have a rich and diverse tool-kit which I use sparingly and with discernment. This is not about me leading you down a path, or pushing you through a set of practices or process.  I will not be doing your thinking for you. This is about you and you only. Your end results. Your happiness. Your freedom. Your truth. Your evolution.

So…let’s get on with the job, let’s dive deep and let’s do so with professionalism, playfulness, ease and grace.

3) Today I only teach what I have embodied in my own life

I am not perfect but I am the real deal.

I have known hardship and success. I have journeyed many times into the unknown.  Facing my pain and shame. Doing the work. Owning my power and presence.  I have not always walked my talk. I have fallen and failed. I have risen and rallied. 

I value you because I have learnt to value myself. 

What I teach you, I have applied over and over in my life.

Not a lot shocks me. 

4) My essential message has not changed

I start with the premise that you are a powerful creator, inherently valuable, sovereign and whole.  

I will show you your greatness and help you see your shadow. I will make a stand for you. 

You are not flawed. There is nothing to be fixed.

5) I coach with "backbone and heart".

My clients and students are looking for a “trusted thinking partner” who will act as a mirror and not be afraid to hold that mirror.

I push the envelope. I am quirky but not flaky. I care. 

6) My expertise is in resilience. Results matter to me.

Over the past decade I have developed an expertise in resilience, rooted strongly in positive psychology and the new science of happiness.  

Today, my umbrella focus is spiritual resilience and spiritual intelligence. 

People don’t pay a coach to have an uplifting conversation they pay for results. I care deeply about the results you want to achieve. You want transformation. I understand  transformation.

When the student is ready the teacher appears. 

This is your time. This is my time. This is our time.

Learn more about Alive Wire

Alive Wire is an online container for young movers and shakers who look like they’re rocking on the outside but feel jaded, off-kilter, inadequate and alone on the inside. Each program offered is designed to help these unique individuals know themselves, trust themselves and express themselves, equipping them with powerful skills to attend to their soul growth, participate fully in life and create success and significance in times of transition.

My Promise to You

Re-calibration. A fresh take on reality.  A new way of being.
A fresh sense of freedom. Tools to feel good, do good, for good. In short: transformation. 

What others say about Gwendolen

Wendy's workshops and masterclasses are...

enlightening, illuminating, empowering, inspirational, thought-provoking, eye-opening, affirming, informative, challenging, surprising, fun, revealing, interactive, clear, well-prepared, a must for leadership.

Wendy is...

engaging, intelligent, entertaining, professional, passionate, knowledgeable,
interesting, animated, warm, authentic and approachable.

Can you sum Gwendolen up in a few words? (from past clients)

touches lives, powerful and real

on the ball, uncanny levels of intuition

knowledgeable, vulnerable and committed

a wisdom-keeper

softness and strength

a complete package

uber intelligent

technically sound

highly intuitive

she understands who I am

walks her truth

elegance, dynamism, style

professional, approachable, dependable and discreet

a sense of what is possible,  transformation

alternative / quirky

she gets me and sees me in my entirely 

Gwendolen sees into my soul