I'm Hannah Carmichael, a UK-based friendship & connection coach. I specialise in helping people who are thoughtful, caring and independent feel more supported, appreciated and understood by the people around them, as well as building greater joy, adventure, meaning and fulfilment into their lives in the round!

I firmly believe that building more authentic, meaningful connections with others starts with getting to know ourselves better. Whether you're just starting out on this journey, or already someway down the road, I'll help you feel more present and clearer on what it is that gives your life meaning and value, more rooted in the qualities and values that make you truly 'you,' and more in control of the relationships you're building - whether that's with friends, colleagues or potential romantic partners.

Everything I teach is drawn from my professional and personal experience.

In seven years as a youth worker, I helped hundreds of teens and young adults find the confidence to let down their defences and let in people who had their best interests at heart, often people from very different backgrounds to themselves.

And in the sixteen years I spent working for governments, local authorities and charities all over the world, I built close-knit, high performing teams again and again, mentoring incredible people to career success, and creating the deep sense of safety, support and trust needed to deliver multi-billion pound programmes that changed thousands of lives.

I've been on my own personal journey towards greater connection too. I know first hand what it's like to be someone whose life seems fine on the outside, while feeling directionless, alone and 'stuck in a rut' behind closed doors. Overcoming that has been a lifetime's work - these days I'm thankful to feel comfortable in my own skin, with great relationships, work that lights me up, and as much joy, adventure and kitchen dancing as I can muster!

Friendshift was the former name of my business, and is still the name I use for the work I do that is specifically about building better friendships. There are four ideas at the heart of 'Friendshift:'

• That it's often possible to create shifts in our existing friendships that deepen and strengthen the relationship, even when we think it might be the end of the road.
• That by shifting how we approach new friendships, we can drastically improve our chances of making friends with good people who have our best interests at heart.
• That by shifting our expectations and making bigger 'asks' of others, we can unlock friendship as a powerful source of support, emotional intimacy and acceptance - enough even to match or replace romantic relationships.
• That we can use what we know about what makes a really good friendship to shift our asks and expectations in our other relationships (e.g.: with romantic partners, family members, colleagues, neighbours - and with ourselves) - making them better in the process.

I've moved away from calling my business 'Friendshift' for two reasons.

Firstly, because I've realised that when I go out under the Friendshift brand, people think there's a whole team of us all teaching the same ideas! It felt important to establish myself as the only person with my knowledge, my experience, my perspective, and my unique skillset.

Secondly, because the work I do goes far beyond just friendship. These days, I talk a lot about connection - a feeling of being seen, accepted, valued, empowered and at peace - in its broadest possible sense. So it made sense to go with something slightly different.

If you want to know more about building better friendships, my Friendship Accelerator course is where I've captured absolutely everything that came out of my work under the 'Friendshift' brand (and I'm still adding new content all the time!)