Next Steps: Returning Parents

Arabella is an executive coach specialising in supporting individuals through the challenges of motherhood, particularly when returning to work. With a decade of experience in elite sport - including eight years coaching the Great Britain Olympic Cycling Team - she has supported athletes, coaches and senior leaders, and understands how to thrive in high-performing and demanding environments.

Her experience, combined with her academic background in positive psychology with a PhD in Wellbeing and Living Optimally, underpins her coaching to support mothers returning to work. She helps people understand parental guilt, embrace their newfound identity, identify and assert their new-found strengths, reclaim their confidence, and set boundaries for themselves at work and at home. She also supports people in crafting strategies to overcome the multiple transitions faced while continuing to perform at the highest level.

Arabella works with organisations to provide this coaching to employees returing to work, helpoing to improve staff retention and supporting productivity and team culture. She also provides training for managers, equipping them with the skills to have effective conversations and support successful returns to work. In addition, she runs wellbeing sessions focused on enhancing psychological wellbeing, reducing life stressors, and preventing burnout.

Further information is available on Arabella's Asending Motherhood website.

If you’re currently on parental leave or have returned within the last six months, this event is for you.

We want these events to be as welcoming and accessible as possible. If you are breastfeeding, or would otherwise be unable to attend without your baby, please let us know when you sign up - you are very welcome to bring them along. A private space will be available for baby changing, nursing, or expressing, and a separate quiet area will also be provided for your comfort.

Yes - lunch will be provided, along with ample breaks and refreshments throughout the day. Please share any dietary requirements when booking your place.

For directions and public transport options, please visit the RCVS 'How to find us' webpage.

The building is accessible and a full list of facilities is available on the RCVS website.

Please let us know about any accessibility requirements when booking your place. If you need any further assistance, please contact the RCVS Events Team at: [email protected].

The sessions will not be recorded; however, we will be taking photos. You can opt out of all photography at the point of registration. We will not include children in any of the photos.

Please contact the RCVS Events Team for questions about the event: [email protected]. If you have any queries about the Next Steps project or the wider Workforce project, please contact [email protected].

Please email the RCVS Events Team at [email protected] to cancel your place.

Please note that, due to the administrative and event-related costs involved, only cancellation requests received on or before 23:59 GMT on 28 April 2026 are eligible for a 50% refund of the ticket price. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer refunds for cancellations received after this date.