Real people. Real challenges. Practical progress.

Founder & Coach

Sophie Bell

Sophie is the founder of OWN.UR.OWN™, a former Assistant Principal and senior leader in secondary education, with a career specialising in coaching, teaching and learning.

She worked across a number of ARK schools, coaching and developing teachers and leaders, and has also worked as a Science Advisor for BBC Bitesize.

Her work has always centred on breaking complex knowledge down so people can understand it, remember it and use it in pressured situations. OWN.UR.OWN applies that same instructional coaching approach to emotionally difficult, high-pressure moments.

Sophie began an MSc in Learning and Teaching at the University of Oxford. After completing the first year of the two-year programme, she paused her studies to have and raise her two youngest children.

It was during her time at Oxford that Sophie began developing the coaching principles that would eventually evolve into OWN.UR.OWN™.

Throughout her career, colleagues naturally gravitated towards Sophie for help navigating difficult conversations, professional pressure and challenging interpersonal dynamics. Soon, friends and family were doing the same.

Sophie realised that the skills she had spent years using professionally - breaking down complexity, recognising patterns and turning insight into practical action - could help people far beyond the workplace.

Her own experience of navigating high-conflict dynamics, co-parenting and the family court system brought that idea sharply into focus.

Coach

Rolan Bell

Rolan is a classically trained professional actor with an established career across the West End and television, alongside his work as a coach with OWN.UR.OWN™.

At the heart of his professional training is the detailed exploration of human behaviour - character, motivation, relationships, objectives, emotional responses and subtext.

Years of character analysis have taught Rolan to look beyond simply what somebody is saying and explore what may be driving an interaction underneath it.

Combined with a strong interest in psychology and emotional intelligence, this gives Rolan a distinctive approach to coaching: helping people step outside emotionally charged situations, recognise the dynamics at play and become more intentional about how they respond.

Within OWN.UR.OWN™, Rolan brings a complementary perspective to Sophie's structured approach - particularly around behaviour, motivation, communication and interpersonal dynamics.