Our story  

Ruth Kudzi, MCC our founder set up Optimus Coach Academy in 2019 as she had seen a gap in the market based on her own experience and that of her clients. She had found that when she was doing coach training it was either practical and based on the GROW model or was in depth and research based requiring essays and exams.

She believes coaching is a practical skill so wanted to have a place where there was the range of Psychology-informed approaches (not only GROW) alongside a practical application of the techniques. 

A space where people could learn how to coach and how to be a coach by having a whole-person approach to what they did.

Ruth has always been interested in human behaviour and enjoys helping and supporting others: she first started studying Psychology at 16 as she wanted to understand what made her different (and to understand others too). 30 years later she has a BA in Psychology & Management, a MA in Psychology & Education and a PGCERT in Psychology & Coaching. Psychology infuses the curriculum at Optimus and Ruth is keen on making the topics engaging whilst signposting to additional reading and research.

Ruth was first introduced to coaching at The University of Leeds in 1998 and has had extensive training as a coach both as part of her role as a Senior leader in education and then through over 1000 hours of study with various providers. She saw the gap which is where she came up with the idea of Optimus.

In 2016 Ruth set up her own coaching business and worked with many other coaches : she found lots of them were lacking confidence in their coaching skills and had limited or basic training. She started to teach people more about coaching and the idea for Optimus was born.

As a former Deputy Head Teacher Ruth has a PGCE in Business Education and had experience teaching up to Masters level in Psychology, Business and Economics. She also knows how to run a school and used her experience to design the curriculum for the courses in the academy, train the trainers and support the students. 

Ruth knew to run the school she wanted to be seen as a credible coach : she achieved her MCC with the ICF in 2020 and has written 2 best selling books as well as coaching over 10,000 hours in a variety of fields both as an internal and external coach with individuals and organisations. This "on the ground" experience means she understands what it's like to be a coach. 

After many years of deliberation Optimus was born in 2019 providing that space for people who wanted practical coach training which had it's roots in Psychology. Since it's inception over 750 students have been through the training and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive (and when there are issues Ruth and her team jump on them).

Ruth wanted to create the training which wasn't available when she was looking and create a community where people support each other during and after the course: again something she didn't find it other programs. 

If you want a coach training school built on strong foundations with a compassionate, supportive feel and a founder who is involved and available then look no further than Optimus.