I am Helen Mirren. ish.

Temu Mirren

I recently took on a very creative client and have been giving them loads of encouragement to get brave and do some extremely creative work that sits outside their usual work. I’m not a huge fan of ‘Magic happens outside your comfort zone’ because most of the great ideas or truly magical experiences I have had have been in the most cosy and comfortable circumstances and not when I’ve been pushing myself or been terrified or high-masking. But when I’m relaxed and my nervous system is nicely toasting, not on fire.

That said I do want to give myself a little jolt and because I’m holding a huge amount of future space for the dream and vision that this new client holds.

3 years ago I won a photo shoot with one of Tokyo’s top photographers, Tia Haygood. I used to hire Tia to do photos for all my one year clients, so they could experience looking great, having excellent professional shots and also discover parts of themselves that they might not know about and that we could fold into coaching. You see Tia’s good like that - she brings things out in people.

Which brings me to my shoot. She was excited when I won and had a vision for our time together - a VANITY FAIR SHOOT!

YEP - this is where I get pushed outside of my comfort zone.

I was also newly sober, feeling a bit off kilter, a bit shy and a bit vulnerable, in the most basic of senses not in a coachy-performative way. I mean the kind of vulnerable where you have taken a metaphorical cheese grater to your skin and everyone is in possession of salt shakers. Sobriety is like that - you are truly vulnerable in the outset when every thought you’ve ever thought surfaces and gets rethought. I made some odd wardrobe choices that day - I styled myself for the most part with Tia directing. Not the choices on this page - these are fabulous - I love that dress and suit. The suit and heeled shoes are now in the swap ether - I know who got the suit but not sure who got the shoes, my trusty gala shoes, but I cannot take a heel any longer. I digress.

Now I look at these pictures and prepare to press publish, I feel very good about them.

You see I’m not shy of a camera - I can smile broadly, pose like a pro and I love a photo shoot because I love working with professionals and getting great results.

But a Vanity Fair shoot - with me looking all sexy and starry. It felt absolutely scandalous and I felt like a kind of sexy imposter doing it.

Like Reader’s Wives or something. Don’t Google that.

Tia was fabulous and I trusted her vision completely and WOW - a good photographer or stylist will see things in you that you can’t see yourself. It might even take 3 years for you to truly appreciate them. She saw this kind of sexy, juicy, Mirren-esque badass that I was a bit self-conscious about unleashing, hence why it has taken me 3 years to share them. And wanting a felt experience of what a client is going through. And don’t get me wrong, when I’m working with professionals I hand myself over to them and follow their instruction and try and give them as much as I can. They know what they want and their eye and vision is sharper and more well defined than mine. Again, a good photographer will be able to see and dream up things that you can’t for yourself.

And a good coach for that matter.

The photos came out really well - the vision was fulfilled, but until now, I simply couldn’t bring myself to get the photos out there. LOOK THIS IS A VERSION OF ME - ALL WOMANLY, CURVY AND WELL LIT. The more I look at them now as I’m posting, the more I like them. Silly me. The dread of doing it really is worse than the actual doing it. This applies to most tasks I dread. (This is the point I could feed you some coaching subtitles but I trust you to pull what you need from the story - to read your own magic into it).

Too earnest.

Taking myself too seriously.

Showing off.

This is just a fraction of the chatter that hums inside my head when I try and do things that may signal I’m in on the Vanity Fair concept.

Is this how to manifest?

And to be fair (lolz) there are people out there who will take that attitude. Who will scoff and laugh. Who will think I’m up my own. Who will think that’s way too much. And my goodness it’s relaxing to honour that and to be entirely unbothered and to know that those comments will be incoming and I can perfect my smile and nod and make it mean not a single iota about me.

In fact - I look forward to receiving them.

It’s all very grand and when Tia showed me the first picture through the lens, I said - my God - what do I look like!? And she said - you look like Helen Mirren. And you know what, yes. I could see it. My Dad once said that too when I was younger - you’re getting more and more like Helen Mirren. And if Helen can pose and have lovely, juicy photos taken, then why not me? Am I less worthy than Ms Mirren? It takes a lot of gall to think I’m that special and that much less than she is. So special, so humble, so modest.

So here it is - the series of stunning photos that Tia took, that I’ve been terribly shy about. Thank you Tia for bringing out my inner Mirren. And for producing such lush photos and edgy concepts.

Tia has a new website - you should hire her if you want some professional photos and a great experience.

Art will never die.

Would you like to be coached by a cover girl? Book a discovery call.

Calls are free, confidential and are no obligation. They are designed to give a taster and answer any questions you have and to do a fit check. I love coaching, come play with me.

Paloma Diamond

In honour of my new super creative client who wants to do things that makes their heart flutter, some images that make my heart flutter.