Meet Hannah Crawford
Hannah Crawford is an experienced executive coach and the producer and founder of Thistle And Rose Arts, a commercial theatre production company. She also has ADHD, so concise bios aren’t really her thing but let’s try! Her practice is built on the founding values of kindness, competence and vision. By placing her clients' humanity at the front and centre of their business strategy, she helps them increase their revenue, impact and wellbeing for the highest good of themselves and the people they serve.
Hannah's background is in arts administration, management and leadership. During her remarkable career she has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, the Isle of Mull Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Chol International Arts and Soho Theatre among others. She has experience with the giants of the commercial and public sectors alike, working on projects with everyone from entrepreneurial superstar Steven Bartlett to the Scottish Government. In her early career, she worked in a vast array of industries including finance, legal, hospitality, tech startups and the charity sector in office support roles. She has witnessed and provided valuable contribution to teams of every conceivable size and structure.
When she’s not producing or coaching, Hannah can be found walking around Hampstead Heath with a latte in hand, or wild swimming on Scotland’s north west coast. She also spends a respectable amount of time at the pub drinking a Guinness or an espresso martini, depending on how the day’s gone.
From narcissistic abuse to resilience, love and stability
Here’s the real story.
Coaching, or rather, helping people to solve problems, has always been my calling.
I grew up in rural Scotland in, frankly, bucolic surroundings. I was fortunate enough to attend private school in Edinburgh, play multiple musical instruments and excel academically. In so many ways, I was so privileged. What no one knew was that my parents were narcissists, and my childhood was a constant battle for emotional, mental, physical and financial survival.
Before I could talk, I was already learning how to read people’s emotions and avoid the worst of their destructive behaviour. By the time I reached high school, I was a master at conflict resolution and relationship management (although I didn’t have the words for it then).
I was also the poster girl for resilience and problem solving. No matter whether it was a relationship problem, a maths conundrum, a university application or a cover letter for a first job, everyone came to 16 year old me for the answers. And somehow, I had them!
University saw me cut off my abusive parents in the middle of my dissertation year, work full time in temp jobs all around London (you’re looking at consecutively crowned Temp Of The Month here people), fall on the university’s hardship fund, host charity parties at five-star venues, nurse a burnout-induced chest infection for four months straight and manage European tours for the many ensembles and chamber groups I played and sang in.
Despite harsh challenges, everyone knew I had a gift for getting the best out of the people around me and the task in hand.
My Secret Saboteur
What no one knew, including me, was just how much I struggled to cope through all of that work and achievement. I had undiagnosed combined-type ADHD.
When I was 23 it was finally discovered and I sought the treatment that was going to transform my brain, my life, and that feeling I’d had forever, like I was being smothered underwater by a thick, dark blanket.
The medications didn’t work, so I was back to square one: figure out how to excel despite my smothered brain and create the life I so deeply believed was meant for me.
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
In early 2023, I took the leap and founded my own theatre production company; at long last taking control of my own needs and dreams. I found and implemented the strategies I’d learned from hundreds of hours of reading, listening, researching, trying and failing to discover the “magic pill” for my ADHD and my childhood trauma. It was like stepping out into the light after a lifetime of suffocating blackness.
I successfully raised £55,000 of investment in a suite of theatre productions, pioneered a revolutionary housing scheme at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and stepped up my coaching business from a high-potential side gig into my front and centre offering. At long last, I had grasped the calling I knew was inside me.
This Is What I Want For You
To break free from the painful stories and experiences that still hold the reins in your life.
To reconnect with the things you’re really good at and love the most.
To take everything I’ve learned and find the shortcuts to your dream life and business.
To blast aside the blocks and sabotages that plague most people for their entire lives, so you can make the money and the impact on the world you know you have the potential to make.
Revenue. Impact. Wellbeing.
It’s all there, waiting inside the sacred hours I’m so honoured to spend with people like you.
We’ll laugh. We’ll cry. We’ll strategise. We’ll innovate. We’ll celebrate.
See you inside.
"Working with Hannah has been a fantastic opportunity.
I went into the sessions with an open mind and after the first session I’d set myself a series of goals and targets, to come to a comfortable decision about a huge change in my life. Through Hannah’s very natural and inquisitive approach, we explored each area of this decision in a calm and flowing manner. Hannah asked me questions which pushed me to explore different areas further but made me feel comfortable to speak openly and narrate my feelings as I was feeling them. By the end of our sessions together, I’d achieved the goals I’d set myself but I left with a lot more. I’ve embraced self-compassionate behaviours and I understand much more about the way I need to communicate and be communicated with in order to be my best self. Working with Hannah has been fantastic. As a fast-paced business owner it’s hard to let people in. It’s brought huge positive change into my life and I’d recommend working with her to everyone!"
- Rachel, Accountant and Founder, 30, UK