Maria Iliffe-Wood

It all started with Anne Frank. I always have been a voracious reader. As a child, Anne Frank’s Diary was one of my favourite books. I related so much to her story, except the part about being a writer. That was not my life’s dream!

At school, I wanted to be an air stewardess, but that didn’t last long. I worked as a bank manager for several years, and then as a director of a chamber of commerce. In 2009 I started my own business (now Meridian Iliffe Ltd) and became a Leadership Coach.

I had to write reflections for my coaching qualification and I hated it with a vengeance. I did everything I could to get out of it. But somehow the habit stuck and it became a daily ritual. My first book came out of that ritual. Coaching Presence: Building Consciousness and Awareness into Coaching interventions has been translated into Russian and South Korean and has been read in over 20 countries, that I know of.

My second book Daily Yarns: Riding the Lockdown Roller Coaster of Emotions also came out of that daily writing practice and is my personal social diary of the COVID-19 Pandemic period.

A Caged Mind, is my journey from living a life limited by the cage of my thinking, to a life where I’m now doing things I never even imagined. My hope is that readers will be inspired to do things they too never dreamed were possible.

My latest book, This One Life, is my first foray into writing poetry. This book was inspired by the Duino Elegies, by Rainer Maria Rilke.

I’m British, blessed to be married to Ashley, who is also my business partner and most ardent supporter. I live in Leicestershire UK. My passions (apart from my husband) are writing and pointing people back to their spiritual essence, I feel very blessed to be able to do both at the same time.