I'm James Russell
Alongside my work with organisations and leadership teams, I’ve built and led businesses, held senior roles in corporates and navigated my own transitions. I know what it’s like when a role or identity that once fitted well starts to feel old and when the next chapter is calling you but you don't know what it is yet.
I didn’t come to this work through theory.
I came to it through experience - including being coached myself at points when old definitions of 'success' no longer did it for me.
Next Chapter exists because those moments deserve something better than platitudes, productivity hacks, or pressure to reinvent.
Professional grounding
Alongside lived experience, I bring professional training and grounding to this work.
I’m an ICF accredited executive coach and a qualified Transactional Analyst, with ongoing training in the psychology of identity, behaviour, and systems. I work to clear ethical standards, and everything we discuss is confidential.
These frameworks inform how I listen and how I work but they don’t lead the conversation.
The work always moves at the pace the transition requires.
A note from me
I’ve spent much of my working life in roles where responsibility was constant.
Senior leadership.
Running businesses.
Being the person others looked to when decisions carried weight.
From the outside, those roles bring clarity and status.
From the inside, they often narrow identity over time.
I’ve also stepped away from roles and businesses that once defined me because it was time to move on and I needed to acknowledge that.
What I learned in those moments is that transition doesn’t just happen overnight.
It takes time to let the question have air-time and we need to get comfortable exploring it without feelings of guilt or indulgence.
Next Chapter exists because these questions deserve space — not quick answers, and not pressure to move on.
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