My name is Kirsty Melmed and I live in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa.
My passion is helping others feel brave enough to live in alignment with who they really are.
I try to hold myself to the same intention. These days that means doing work I care deeply about, continuing to learn, and spending quality time with the people I love - often walking in the forest or along the greenbelt, going on adventures with my daughter and partner in beautiful places, and finding any excuse to enjoy a good cheese platter.
Becoming a mother to my 4 year old has been the greatest personal growth journey of my life, teaching me more about patience, presence and self-compassion than any book or course ever could. Which is why I take such a special interest in supporting moms.
My twenties were about travelling the world - I’ve been to 31 countries and lived in London, Corfu, Rome and Lyon. My thirties were about stepping into my identity as a coach, business owner and mother. And now, as I enter my forties, my intention is to live bravely integrated - weaving together the freedom of my twenties and the depth of my thirties. And continuing to align my life with my values, in the same way I support my clients to do.
Why Did I Become a Coach?
In high school, I attended a workshop on how to be real in relationships. It changed my life, and I knew then that I wanted to help others feel that same sense of clarity. I went on to complete a degree in Psychological Counselling and then spent the rest of my twenties travelling and working in Europe. During that time I honed my people skills, developed my intuition and learnt a lot about life and relationships.
In 2013 I was working for a tour operator, supervising 60 staff members of different nationalities across Europe. My favourite part of the job was always the one-on-one conversations - sitting down with each team member to talk about what they wanted, what mattered to them and what they were working towards. Those forward-looking, honest conversations stayed with me.
When I moved back to Cape Town in 2014, I realised there was an entire profession built around exactly that kind of work: life coaching. I signed up for the Coaching Essentials course with Coaching Development, and it sparked a deep journey of self-discovery as well as a clear sense that this was the work I wanted to do. By the time my training was complete, I had resigned from my job and was ready to begin working for myself. I’ve been in private practice since January 2015 and haven’t looked back.
Over the years, both my work and my life have evolved. Becoming a mother and growing my own business have deepened my understanding of identity shifts, emotional labour and the complexity of balancing care, ambition and self-trust. Today, I bring both professional training and lived experience to my coaching, supporting women through seasons of change and helping them build lives and work that feel more aligned with who they really are.
Training & Qualifications
- Advanced Transactional Analysis CTA Group - 2021-2026
- The Coach Practitioner (assistant mentor) - 2021
- Educational Transactional Analysis In-Depth Course B - 2020
- Transactional Analysis Foundation In-Depth Course - 2018 & 2019
- Educational Transactional Analysis In-Depth Course A - 2017
- Transactional Analysis 202 - 2017
- Past Life Regression - 2017
- Transactional Analysis 101 - 2014 & 2016
- Inner Tuition Module 1 & 2 - 2016
- Coaching Essentials - 2015
- Presentation Skills - 2014
- Train the Trainer - 2014
- Seven Habits of Highly Effective Management - 2013
- Time Management - 2013
- Conflict Resolution - 2013
- Bachelor of Arts, specialising in Psychological Counselling - Completed 2009
"Before Kirsty uses an approach with a client, she has first immersed herself in it and so she lives what she uses - this makes her work with clients authentic and powerful! She creatively weaves together approaches from different frameworks to support people to discover their best selves. She listens deeply with a grounded presence. She has a skill in designing creative learning moments that both respect peoples’ lived experience as well as challenging them to begin to make new meaning of who they are. You will feel seen, held and challenged when you work with Kirsty!"
- Karen Pratt, coach trainer & supervisor