Lead Self Coaching and Development named professional services winner at NI StartUp Awards

Tuesday 24 June 2025

Cranagh-based start-up Lead Self Coaching and Development has been named the Professional Services winner at the 2025 Northern Ireland StartUp Awards.

Lead Self is the executive coaching practice founded by Caroline McKenna, officially launched in April 2021 after a 20-year career in performance-driven roles within growth-focused SMEs. Drawing on first-hand insight into the pace and pressure of business expansion, Caroline works with business leaders of growing or scaling SMEs.

She coaches ambitious leaders ready to take their business — and themselves — to the next level. Her work focuses on the inner unrest that often arises in these moments: self-doubt, the struggle to step back from day-to-day operations, and the drive to prioritise work at the expense of rest and recovery.

Caroline has supported some of the country’s top business leaders to achieve bold goals — while creating a version of success that feels genuinely fulfilling.

Caroline McKenna, founder of Lead Self, said:

"This award in professional services proves executive coaching is a powerful force for business growth. I’m proud the judges recognised my contribution to exporting. As my business grows, I’m excited to amplify this impact even more. Coaching sparks a ripple effect — empowering leaders to create lasting change far beyond themselves."

Supported nationally by Airwallex, Join Talent, and V-Rum, the UK StartUp Awards were established to highlight the success of start-ups across ten UK nations and regions, and to celebrate the achievements of entrepreneurs in all sectors of the economy.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, entrepreneurial activity in Northern Ireland was recently recorded at its highest level. Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, creator of the UK StartUp Awards, noted that this surge in start-up ambition reflects a new generation of founders who are not only identifying opportunities but are also building innovative, resilient businesses shaping the future of the Northern Irish economy.

“When we launched the StartUp Awards, the goal was simple: to shine a spotlight on the incredible people building new businesses across the UK. Because while the headlines are often dominated by big corporations, it’s the start-ups – the risk-takers, the problem-solvers, the doers – who are quietly transforming our economy from the ground up. Nowhere is that more true than here in Northern Ireland, where new businesses across this region are showing remarkable resilience and ambition. From tech innovators and creative pioneers to manufacturers and social enterprises, they’re creating jobs, driving innovation, and breathing new life into both urban and rural communities.

“All of the winners have demonstrated that they deserve to win their categories, and I’m looking forward to having the ‘best of the best’ from Northern Ireland competing at the UK final later this year.”

As a regional winner in their category, Lead Self will now progress to the UK StartUp Awards final, taking place at Ideas Fest on 11 September – dubbed the “Glastonbury for Entrepreneurs” – alongside finalists from nine other nations and regions.

Tuesday 24 June 2025