Some stories refuse to stay quiet
About Dale
Hi, it’s great to meet you. I’m Dale Darley.
I’ve always believed words have power – not just to communicate, but to transform. What I didn’t expect was how much my own life would prove that theory, again and again.
The Real Version
Life, of course, decided to play with me (how dare it). Health challenges taught me that health comes before wealth. If I want cake, I have to bloody well make it myself.
Writing saved me. Not polished professional writing, but raw, honest writing that helped me make sense of who I was becoming. Journaling has always been my lifeline. Words are my way home to myself. I have written till I bled on more than one occasion… and cried a lot.
The Shift
For years, I coached women to write books that blend story with self-help. I helped them with structure, strategy, and turning their books into businesses.
Then one mad day in 2025, I decided to write Words From The Wild. I knew this book would open a door to different work – and it did.
It led me to the work I’m doing now: supporting women in the messy middle of midlife reinvention.
Over the years, I’d worked with women on different projects – The Awakened Spirit, Ignite Your Purpose, and others – and I kept seeing the same pattern: their creative energy had slipped away. They weren’t following their hearts’ desires. They’d spent decades betraying themselves in so many ways.
Back then, I didn’t have language for what I was seeing. But once I connected the dots and recognised these as self-betrayal patterns, I knew my work had to shift. From book coaching to something deeper: helping women redirect their creative energy from betrayal to becoming.
What I Do Now
I guide midlife women through the messy middle – that uncomfortable, transformational space where you’ve outgrown who you were but haven’t fully stepped into who you’re becoming.
I help them recognise where their creative energy has been leaking (people-pleasing, perfectionism, playing small, constantly putting themselves last) and redirect that same powerful energy toward what truly matters: their Heart Project.
A Heart Project is the creative work that wants to be born through you at this stage of life. It might be a book. It might be a course, a business, a movement, or an art form. What matters is that it’s yours – unapologetically, wildly, beautifully yours.
I encourage my clients to tap into their wild hearts to discover not just the person beneath the layers of conditioning, but also the project that’s been lying dormant, waiting for permission to emerge.
My Own Heart Project
My heart project? To write the novel I couldn’t write because of negativity and conditioning from others. Everything changes when we reclaim our wild.
That’s what this work is about: betrayal to becoming. Using all of my experiences – the health challenges, the self-betrayal patterns I’ve navigated, the years of writing and coaching – to support other women through this transformation.
The Daily Bits
I live in the hills of Almería, Spain, with three elderly rescue dogs – Marley Moo, Angel, and Tommy – who ensure I walk, breathe, and keep perspective.
As a 3/6 emotional projector and INFJ, I see patterns others miss. I sense when someone is ready for transformation, when they’re hiding from their truth, and when they’re finally prepared to claim their voice.
My journey taught me that our stories, especially the messy middle parts are often our greatest gifts.
Not because they’re dramatic or unique, but because they’re deeply human. They connect us. They heal us. They give others permission to stop betraying themselves too.
The Furries
Background
I hold an MBA from The University of Glamorgan, an ILM level 7 Executive Coaching certificate and an NLP practitioner certificate.
Prior to becoming a coach/mentor, I taught Executive Leadership, Assertiveness Skills and Knowledge Management.
I have served in senior marketing management roles in the Health & Safety IT and manufacturing sectors for over 25 years.
Qualifications
- MBA
- ILM (Institute of Leadership Management) Level 7 Executive Coach
- NLP Practitioner
- Reiki 1,2 & Angelic
- Crystal Therapist & Healer
- Nutritional Healing Therapist (Naturopathic)
From Books To The Messy Middle
I didn’t set out to be a book coach. I arrived by creating safe spaces for women to learn writing to heal. Clients came to write without the pressure to publish and then asked me to help them publish.
That became my book Writing to Heal, followed by Plan Your Non-Fiction Book In A Weekend and over 13 years of guiding real people with real stories: the 13 Women’s Stories project (2013), The F Factor anthology (2015), and many more.
In 2018, when my spine fractured, I kept working because this work mattered. Through the pandemic, I balanced part-time corporate marketing roles and then published the first Healing Book Project anthology (2022). It was meaningful, and it burned me out – that was a big fat lesson.
I remained in part-time marketing and book coaching until early 2025, when I got the call to write Words From The Wild. This is part memoir and part self-help.
Sometimes the heart calls.
Milestones
- 2013: 13 Women’s Stories project
- 2015: The F Factor anthology
- 2018: Spine fracture; part-time coaching with new boundaries
- 2022: Healing Book Project anthology
- 2023: Book-to-Business strategist
- 2025: Memoir Foundations
- 2025: The Messy Middle
My Story
The Long And Winding Road
Where do you begin to tell the story of becoming? For me, it’s less of a straight line and more of a spiral – twisting through healing, heartbreak, awakening, and homecoming.
I’m Dale, and I live tucked away in the hills of Spain with my three rescue dogs – my soulful, naughty companions and constant teachers in love, patience, and presence. This wild and quiet place is where I found myself again, stopped performing and started listening, and allowed the pieces of my life to come together in a way that finally made sense.
Like many women, I’ve stood at countless crossroads. Loss, illness, breakups, relocations – moments that felt like endings, only to later reveal themselves as sacred invitations to begin again. Each time, I peeled back another layer, released an old identity, and stepped closer to the truth of who I really am.
My early life held its own complexity – constant moves thanks to my father’s RAF career, the instability of living with alcoholism, and experiences of abuse that left their shadows. But I no longer see these things as the whole story. They were chapters in my transformation, the ashes from which I’ve risen, over and over again.
The most radical thing I’ve ever done? I learned how to love myself. Not in theory but in practice.
Today, my life is no longer about chasing anything. I’m doing my thing quietly.
My dogs are curled at my feet, the mountains keep me grounded, and my words are my offering to the world.
The journey continues. I have a deep belief that it’s never too late to become who you were always meant to be.
Testimonials
What Others Say
Dale, you have a beautiful, gentle energy, and I learned so much more about how to get the most out of journaling and different ways to meditate and connect to the heart and heart of Mother Earth. I loved your books and ways of connecting from our soul to our journal. Dale has a beautiful way of making you feel held in loving energy. Fiona Clark
It’s been an awesome journey so far, Dale Darley! And thank you for all your hard work – you’re such a creative soul! Lorraine Biggs
I am truly grateful for the writing course led by the incredible Dale. From the very first session, her nurturing spirit and brilliant guidance created an environment that encouraged me to explore my creativity in ways I never thought possible. Dale’s ability to bring out the best in her students is nothing short of magical. She has a unique talent for awakening ideas and igniting a passion for writing that truly resonates with each individual. Zipa L
I would never have even got halfway through writing my book without Dales help.
Dale…you have truly guided me through the entire process and believed in me when I felt unsure about myself. This project is excellent, and I am sure it will touch many hearts. Thank you for your calming presence and for offering this wonderful project to all of us.
Working with Dale is a pleasure in both a professional and personal sense. I worked with her on my second book, and she made creating it with my team of co-authors an easy and creative process. This process took us all, step by step, to publishing a very special book – The F-Factor. I can highly recommend her special brand of expertise and support.