Life Coaching Tip: Confidence comes from having a real system for how you respond when life gets hard. My client Heather learned this firsthand, navigating a serious health battle and the end of her marriage while raising three young children, and coming through it with a mindset she now teaches to other families. As a parenting and co-parenting specialist, she helps separated parents build connection and stability for their kids. Now, in her first round of Shine On, she’s found her voice and stepped fully into the work she was meant to do. Read on to see how Heather’s positive approach to hard things became her greatest gift to others.
________________________________________
“I’m not a wallower. I give it to the Universe.”
That’s how Heather describes her approach to hard things. It’s a conscious choice to stay out of the worst-case-scenario spiral and keep moving forward.
It’s a philosophy she’s had to lean on more than most, and it’s just one small window into who she is.
Heather is one of the most brilliant, witty, and genuinely delightful people I know. She’s whip-smart, endlessly hardworking, and has this gift for making everyone around her feel like the most important person in the room. She has lived a life rich with meaningful, sometimes hard-won experience, and instead of keeping that wisdom to herself, she’s built her entire career around handing it to others with love.
Before any of that, Heather spent over twenty years in investment banking, working in the fast-paced, high-stakes worlds of both New York and London. It’s the kind of career most people would call a success story on its own. But somewhere along the way, life redirected her toward something even more fulfilling.
Heather is now the founder of The Parenting Partnership, where she works as a parenting coach and co-parenting specialist, helping separated families stay strong and connected even when a marriage doesn’t survive. She trains family law specialists and sits on the advisory board of a UK charity supporting separated parents. Her path there started back in 2006, when she signed up for her first positive parenting course to help her family navigate her young son’s challenging behavior. What she learned didn’t just transform her parenting, it became her life’s work.
But here’s what makes Heather’s story extraordinary: she built all of this while facing some of the hardest chapters a person can go through. While raising three young children, Heather faced a serious health battle with cancer and the unraveling of her marriage. Somehow, she came through it not just intact, but clearer about who she was and what she had to offer other families walking a similar road.
“I’m generally a positive person,” she told me. “I’m not cynical. I’m a glass half-full kind of person. And when things tip in the other direction, I remind myself, I have a choice. It’s not helpful to go there.”
That mindset didn’t just get her through. It’s the foundation for her family and of the work she does with co-parents every day.
This has been Heather’s first round of Shine On, and her biggest goal coming in was to expand her coaching practice and find her voice. And she has done just that. These days, you’ll find Heather on stage far more often, presenting to law firms about the emotional realities of divorce for children. She doesn’t just do this work; she lights up doing it. Clearly, she was born for exactly this.
She’s also made real strides in balance, carving out space on her calendar for fun and connection instead of only ever giving her time away to the priorities of others. And as an excellent writer who has historically wrestled with perfectionism, she’s been practicing something deceptively hard: hitting send instead of endlessly re-editing.
When I asked Heather what she believes it takes to be successful, she was clear.
“Be you. Stay authentic to yourself,” she said. “Invest in relationships. Good things happen when you pour into other people.” This is something she’s seen firsthand in the close bonds her own children have built.
And she added with a smile, “Of course, work hard. Go the extra mile. Always.”
Simple advice from a woman who has lived every word of it.
Be you. Invest in your people. Go the extra mile. That’s the whole formula, my friend.
Badassery at its finest.
xo Tracy
PS – If you’re navigating a separation and want your children to come through it feeling safe, seen, and supported, Heather’s work might be exactly what your family needs. And if you work with separating families professionally, whether as an attorney, mediator, or practitioner, Heather also offers workshops and talks that can give your clients research-based tools to reduce conflict along the way. Learn more at: https://www.theparentingpartnership.com/
PPS – If Heather’s story has you thinking about what’s possible for you, mark your calendar, my friend. Enrollment for the next round of Shine On opens October 7, 2026 and runs through October 21, 2026. Space is limited. And if you’d like priority access (and really, why wouldn’t you?), secure your place at the front of the line by scheduling a complimentary consultation here: https://calendly.com/movingforwardlifecoaching/shineon?month=2026-09
Do What Lights You Up