Now ~ Daria Williamson

This is what I’m up to at the moment – I’ll be updating this page at random, either when I start something exciting, or I remember that it exists!

Last updated: October 2025

Personal

House and home

I’m in the middle of a major renovation, recladding about 80% of my house. There have been SO MANY decisions, so much noise and dust, and a few left-field decisions from the local council that have added delays and cost. Some days are a struggle, but then I look at my new purple front door and eagerly anticipate the day when the work is done and I’ll have a virtually brand-new home.

I’m excited that the days are lengthening, and am looking forward to a long, glorious summer.

Health and wellbeing

I’ve been back running (slowly) for 10 months, after thinking last year that my running days were behind me.

It’s a wonderful feeling to be getting fitter and running further. I’m back exploring areas I used to run in when I did half-marathons, but right now I’m being “sensible” and targetting an 11km run over the Auckland Harbour Bridge in early November.

Helping out

I love giving my time and energy to good causes, and the one that is closest to my heart is the Kindness Collective Foundation.

They run the PJ Project and Christmas Joy Store. They’re all about helping families and communities to live with dignity and joy, and it’s my absolute privilege to help out with the occasional pro bono workshop and coaching, as well as lending a hand at community garden builds and the Joy Store.

There are so many benefits to volunteering, from the personal psychological boost, to having a positive impact in the world, to meeting new people and strengthening community ties. I gain so much from my volunteering experiences that I can’t imagine life without them.

Business

Leadership development

I’ve had the honour of delivering in-house, bespoke leadership development programmes for several returning corporate clients. Partnering with businesses and seeing people grow their skills and confidence is an absolute highlight.

And I’m excited to have launched my signature leadership development programme for first-time leaders, called The Lightning Leadership Lab.

It’s the culmination of my 20+ years of experience in leadership as a leader, coach, mentor, and trainer. I’ve done extensive research into leadership development for my next book (see the Products section below), and I know this programme is going to make a massive difference for the leaders who join.

Cohorts kick off up to twice a year, so if you’d like to be kept in the loop for when the next cohort launches, sign up to the waitlist here.

Products

I call myself an “accidental” creator – I never planned to make a product, but my frustration with some of the well-known strengths approaches led me to create The Strengths Deck in 2021.

I followed that up in early 2023 with my first book, ‘Unleash Your Awesome’ (available in print, eBook, and audiobook format), and it’s had an amazing response. It’s available from the Store, Amazon and all your favourite eBook/audiobook platforms.

I’m now working on a new book for first-time leaders, called ‘Help, They Put Me In Charge!’. I’ve interviewed emerging leaders to find out how they’re feeling and what they need and want to learn. And I’ve talked with established leaders about their leadership journey, and what they wish they had known when they were starting out. Those conversations have been fascinating, and amplified my motivation to get this book out into the world!

Services

The Strengths Deck

The Strengths Deck continues to go from (ahem!) strength to strength, for my coaching and corporate clients.

I run 1:1 and group Strengths Discovery sessions – why not set up a session for yourself, or get a bunch of friends or colleagues together? I promise that you’ll have plenty of “aha!” moments, and you’ll enjoy the process of clarifying your strengths, weaknesses, and everything in-between. And you’ll walk away armed with powerful, practical strategies to use your strengths to create the life and work you’ve been dreaming of.

Coaching

My coaching clients light up my world! I work with individuals at a variety of career stages – some are very senior leaders looking to hone their practice, others are just getting started and find it useful to have someone they can talk about their challenges and successes with.

From job changes to career progression to delivering sustainable high performance, my clients want to show up fully human and fully awesome, and they’re using their personal strengths to make that happen.

I have some capacity for new 1:1 coaching clients, so book your call if you’d like to talk about how working with a coach can help you get better results with more ease, energy, and fun.

Training & Facilitation

I work closely with several fantastic corporate clients on strengthening their leadership practices and leadership team culture. The workshops are insanely good – we see everything from laughter to tears, and everyone digs deep to consider their impact, hone their skills, and show up as the best versions of themselves.

I keep a strict lid on the number of 1:1 and corporate clients I work with so that they get the very best of me, every time. I currently have space for a limited number of new corporate clients – let’s chat if you want to level-up your leadership team and practice, for sustainable success.

Online book club

I run a weekly online book club for women, called the Personal Mastermind.

We read 5 books a year from Feb to Nov, and meet weekly to discuss the 1-2 chapters we’ve read that week. It’s always a supportive, fun, kind, generous, and insightful conversation. If you’re interested in learning more about the book club, and what we’ve been reading, check out the Personal Mastermind page.

Networking

I am always keen to meet more interesting people, so I’m often out and about at networking groups and events.

I’m a member of the Auckland Executive Club, a wonderful group of women from a range of industries who meet monthly for networking, dinner, and a speaker. Find out about our next event here, and if you’re signing up for a ticket, put my name down as the ‘Guest of’ and ‘Seated next to’, then send me an email to let me know you’ll be coming along. We’ll have a grand old time meeting in real life!

Outside of formal networking, I love meeting people online or in real life to share a cuppa and our stories. I’m constantly energised and inspired by the people I meet, and I’d love to get to know you better. Drop me a line if you’d like to book an Auckland-based catch-up, or book yourself a slot in my calendar for an online meeting.

What I'm excited about for 2025

In October 2023, I kicked off research for ‘Help, They Put Me In Charge’ with online and face-to-face with leaders around Aotearoa New Zealand.

I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me “They promoted me because I was good at what I did, but they didn’t teach me anything about leading people”.

I was fortunate that my first leadership role was in a company that was committed to developing all staff, whether in leadership roles or not, and my boss was an amazing coach and mentor.

I want to make it easier for more people to have that experience, so the book will be a practical guide to the skills emerging leaders need to be effective leaders, and will help established leaders to create a solid leadership pipeline, to prepare people for their first (and subsequent) leadership roles.

I’m aiming to complete the manuscript in early 2026, which will mean a late 2026 launch.

Other things I’m looking forward to in the next 12 months:

Rolling out new training programmes and workshops for my corporate clients
Developing the keynote side of my business
Continuing on with my Personal Mastermind book club. If you’re interested in joining the club, why not book a chemistry check chat?