Confidence & Co

Confidence & Co create and deliver clear, accessible and evidence-based self-development training via online programmes and seminars. Confidence & Co was founded by Kate Shlugman: I spent the first 15 years of my career training and working as a professional actor. I received my BA Hons in Drama from the University of Exeter, followed by professional acting training at the New York Film Academy and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. In 2015, I began teaching public speaking and interview technique. My acting training provided me with the skills to understand the messages we send to others by the way we use our bodies. We make a judgement about someone within 0.25 seconds of seeing them, so understanding what your physicality says to someone else is an extremely powerful tool. Similarly, our voices are exceptionally influential on how others perceive us, from the pitch and tone, to our dialect. I am phonetically trained and teach dialect and english pronunciation at the Bristol Acting Academy, helping those who wish to speak with more power, control and clarity. After working in this field for a couple of years, I found that although I could give my clients the tools to sound and look confident, this would never truly deal with any underlying lack of self-belief. So I completed a diploma in Personal Performance Coaching with the Coaching Academy, which gave me the skills to help my clients identify what their fears and barriers were and take steps to overcome them. And so, Confidence & Co was born.