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Neil Shah
Neil Shah - Director of The Stress Management Society
Neil Shah is a stress management expert, business man, life coach and qualified
practitioner in clinical hypnotherapy and neuro linguistic programming.
He has helped thousands of people tackle stress through one-on-one coaching and the
workshops run by The Stress Management Society. He travels all over the world teaching senior executives and leaders from multinational organizations and government agencies about stress management. And he is frequently interviewed as an expert on the subject in media ranging from The Guardian and Cosmopolitan to BBC1’s Road Rage Academy.
Experiences
In his 20s, Neil had great success as an entrepreneur, setting up an IT recruitment company with bases in several countries and a multi-million pound turnover. Neil was a winner in the Shell LiveWire Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, received a Queen’s Award for export and was even invited to Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister of the day, Tony Blair.
However the change in international IT markets after the events of 11 September 2001 dealt a body blow to his company.
“It failed,” says Neil “and I effectively burned out. It left me questioning everything from financial security and social status to my personal relationships. I was on the worst low I’d ever experienced… I’d never felt such defeat in my life.”
“So the only way I could get back on track was to take myself to the highest place I could think of – Mount Everest – which I climbed on a trip sponsored by Business Link.
“The whole thing was life changing, a real physical, emotional and spiritual journey. Looking out over the Himalayas, my choices became clearer. I had to pick myself up, but go back to work in an area that would make me happy. And that meant developing my long-standing interest in helping other people get the best out of themselves.”
Qualifications
Neil had already trained extensively in neuro linguistic programming and was also studying hypnotherapy and counselling. However when he returned from Everest he pursued all these interests to a qualification, and has since graduated from specialist centre in hypnotherapy The UK College, where Paul McKenna trained.
At the same time, Neil used his training and experience to strike out on a new career path, and launch the Stress Management Society which brings together experts in therapy, exercise, nutrition and hypnosis to provide advice, support, consultancy and low-cost training programmes for people who need help.
“By using my management skills, and qualifications in something that I find fascinating, I have turned my life around,” says Neil. “And the nice thing is that now I actually use my skills to help other people with problems of stress. Work for me is no longer a job. It’s a joy!”