Career Coaching
Coaching helps you think. I ask questions, offer structure and hold the space so you can work out what you want, what is getting in the way and how you will move forward. The answers are yours.
About Me

I’m Ann Lucas, a Career Development Coach, Professional Mentor and Freelance Workplace Trainer, and the founder of The Career Haven. My mission is to help professionals thrive, grow and excel in their careers, whether that means finding a new role, flourishing in the one they have or preparing for change they did not choose.
My own career spans more than 30 years in the NHS, including extensive senior leadership experience, alongside a long-standing commitment to coaching, mentoring, professional development and workplace training.
Whether I’m supporting someone to take the next step in their career or designing training that helps people grow in confidence, capability and performance, what drives my work is helping people understand their True Worth and become Always Ready for what comes next.
I work with professionals who want to move forward in their careers with greater confidence, clarity and direction, and with organisations that want to strengthen capability and develop the people they already have.
My approach is personal, supportive and empowering. I create a safe space where you can step back from the day-to-day, think about what you really want, recognise your True Worth and take greater ownership of your career and your choices.
That might be through one-to-one career support or through a workplace programme designed for an organisation. Whatever the setting, I believe people achieve more when they have the space, encouragement and challenge to understand themselves, recognise their strengths and see what they are capable of.
Long before I became a career development coach, I was helping others develop theirs.
Early in my professional career, I mentored people following in my footsteps as trainee professionals. Later, I helped build and develop Professional Skills Development Networks across the healthcare sector, as well as contributing to my professional body and other professional networks.
Through mentoring, coaching and training, I’ve supported people at many different stages of their careers — helping them build skills, confidence and capability and encouraging them to recognise opportunities they might not otherwise have seen.
And I’ve experienced the other side too.
There have been times in my own career when I’ve questioned my direction, my confidence and even my worth. Those experiences taught me just how powerful it can be to have someone who genuinely listens, asks the right questions and helps you see your own strengths and possibilities more clearly.
That experience shapes the way I now support the people I work with.
Whether I’m supporting someone to take their next career step, helping them navigate a change in direction or designing workplace training that builds confidence, capability and performance, my commitment remains the same:
To help people recognise their True Worth, take charge of their careers and be Always Ready for what comes next.
Coaching helps you think. I ask questions, offer structure and hold the space so you can work out what you want, what is getting in the way and how you will move forward. The answers are yours.
Mentoring adds my experience. Where it is useful, I share practical guidance, perspective and suggestions drawn from more than 20 years of coaching, mentoring and professional development experience.
Awards and finalist nominations recognising my work in leadership, developing people and supporting professional growth.
“Ann has been, without a doubt, the biggest influence on my career for which I am eternally grateful, and I can't thank her enough.”
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