ABOUT US
At Sarah Perugia Leadership, we bring over two decades of experience helping individuals and teams thrive.
Our mission is to empower leaders to reach their optimal performance and fulfilment.
Our unique approach focuses on whole-person leadership, recognising that a leader’s ability to connect with their team, inspire innovation and positively impact performance is deeply intertwined with their own happiness.
That means we don’t just focus on refining leadership skills, we help individuals find their most authentic voices, align their values with their roles, and lead with authenticity and a deep connection to their purpose. Our expertise extends to bringing teams together, fostering connection and cohesion and creating a workplace where everyone thrives.
As part of our commitment to high-quality, impactful leadership development, our services are also now accredited by the CPD Standards Office – a mark of the quality, care and expertise we bring to everything we do.
We are now a small team of highly skilled and experienced coaches, facilitators, and communication specialists, who all share in the belief of whole-person leadership. Together, we’re creating a legacy of transformative leadership, nurturing both professional success and personal fulfilment. Our aim is to create a brighter future, not just for your organisation but for you and your team as whole individuals.
I’m Sarah Perugia – a whole-person leadership transformation specialist, expert women in leadership coach, and campaigner for gender equality. Over the last two decades, I’ve had the privilege of working with diverse teams and individuals across the globe, empowering them to advance their careers, build confidence, enhance performance, and ultimately flourish and thrive.
My background as a professional actor uniquely positions me to teach leaders about presence, communication, and confidence – skills honed on the stage but crucial in the boardroom.
Alongside my extensive coaching qualifications and accreditations, I am also a Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner and trained in Positive Psychology, and Strengths-based Coaching.
I have a long track record of bringing this whole-person approach into my leadership development work achieving incredible results for both teams and individuals.
Qualifications
- Accredited Insights Discovery Practitioner
- Accredited Master Coach (AMC) by IAPC&M
- Accredited MBTI Type Pro Coach
- Diploma in Coaching (Distinction) Noble Manhattan Ltd
- Diploma in Executive Coaching, Academy of Executive Coaches
- Advanced Facilitation Diploma, The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
- Advanced Counselling Skills, NHS
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner, Edge NLP
- Positive Psychology Masterclass, Positive Psychology Training
- Accredited by Academy of Executive Coaches
- Member of the International Federation of Coaches
- Honours Degree in Philosophy, University of Manchester
- Diploma in Acting, Drama Studio London
High-quality
I had the pleasure of working with Sarah recently and I can’t recommend her highly enough. She is incredibly easy to work with, flexible in her approach, and consistently delivers high-quality work. What truly stands out is how tailored everything feels, from her coaching style to the way she prepares and structures each session. She takes the time to understand the context and adapts thoughtfully, which makes the experience both impactful and highly relevant. Her colleagues reflect the same level of excellence: well-prepared, open to discussion, and genuinely lovely to collaborate with. Working with her and her team was a truly positive experience.
Giulia Pantano
Product Manager at Boston Scientific
Empowering
Working with Sarah is both thought-provoking and empowering. She has a rare ability to read the room, ask powerful questions, and draw out the best in everyone. Her workshops consistently leave a lasting impact — helping participants build self-awareness, strengthen communication, and grow as confident, collaborative professionals. I would wholeheartedly recommend Sarah to any organisation or team looking for a coach with deep expertise. Her work not only inspires but also drives genuine personal and collective growth.
Laura Crocetti
Associate Professor of Radiology at The University of Pisa
OUR TEAM
Pooja Middleton
Pooja Middleton
Facilitator & Coach
Pooja is an experienced facilitator and coach who designs and delivers programmes that help individuals and organisations communicate with impact, lead authentically, and reach their full potential. With over 20 years’ experience across coaching, facilitation, and programme design, she blends creativity, emotional intelligence, and practical insight to create engaging, transformative learning experiences.
An Insights Discovery Licensed Practitioner, she specialises in Leadership Development, Impact and Influencing Skills, Presentation and Communication Skills, and Psychological Safety and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI). Known for her dynamic, empathetic style, Pooja helps people build confidence, presence, and an authentic voice.
Alongside her coaching work, she has had a successful career as a professional actor and filmmaker, bringing storytelling techniques into her work to create meaningful, lasting change.
Julia Montague
Julia Montague
Communication Skills Coach
Julia is a qualified Speech and Drama Coach and her background in professional acting equips her with a unique and powerful skill set to coach and facilitate leaders in communicating with gravitas and confidence. Over the past eighteen years, she has worked with businesses across a range of sectors including Pharmaceutical, Retail and Finance.
Julia’s energetic, humble, and humorous approach empowers clients to step out of their comfort zone and deliver impactful messages with confidence.
Emma Kedge
Emma Kedge
Communication Consultant, Facilitator, Business Actor & Coach
Emma is a highly experienced Facilitator, Business Actor, and Coach with over 20 years of experience across a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, finance, sport and healthcare.
She excels in building excellent rapport and trust, enabling her to deliver challenging feedback, encourage behavioural change and gain tangible results. Her main focus of work is on communication, personal impact and storytelling.and Facilitator with a successful background in acting, presenting, and sports commentary. He excels in designing and delivering workshops, drawing upon effective communication skills and storytelling.
His diverse delivery repertoire includes leadership and management development, change management, personal impact, presentation skills and communication.
Angela McHale
Angela McHale
Facilitator & Communication Coach
Angela is a Facilitator, Communication Coach, and programme designer with over 25 years’ experience creating engaging learning and development experiences. She specialises in performance management, leadership behaviours, and unconscious bias, and has received a CIPD award, with recent work shortlisted for the 2026 Learning Excellence Awards.
With a background in acting, she brings a strong focus on curiosity, clarity, and kindness in communication, helping individuals and teams improve their impact and presentation skills. Angela has also held senior leadership roles, including director of a global drama-based consultancy, where she led teams and large-scale projects, combining strategic oversight with hands-on facilitation expertise.
Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers
Actor, Coach & Facilitator
Mike is an experienced Coach, Facilitator, and Role-play Actor who has been using applied theatre techniques in learning and development for nearly 30 years. With a background in acting, directing, and voice work, he brings deep expertise in communication, audience engagement, and leadership development.
Mike designs and delivers impactful training for clients across sectors – from senior leaders to frontline staff – using tools such as bespoke roleplay, business simulations, and forum theatre. His specialist areas include body language, presentation skills, and personality styles. As a trained NLP practitioner with a diploma in Body Language, Mike brings an inclusive, engaging, and highly experiential approach to every session.
Claire Lichie
Claire Lichie
Coach & Communication Skills Consultant
Claire is an accredited Executive Coach and Communication Skills Consultant who has worked extensively in experiential and behavioural skills training for over 20 years. Claire brings expertise in presence, influence, and inclusive leadership.
She has designed and delivered leadership programmes, for diverse audiences from graduate to C‑suite across professional services, financial services, the public sector, and global institutions.
The international scope of her work has enabled her to incorporate her passion for travel, and she’s felt privileged to work across 6 continents, with a vast range of nationalities and cultures.
Claire draws on her background as a professional actor to bring a dynamic and engaging approach to the training room. Her study of human behaviour underpins her strong emotional intelligence and empathy. She is passionate about sharing practical, transferable techniques that help individuals strengthen their authentic presence, build confidence, and enhance their personal impact.
Claire has supported leaders across a range of areas, including navigating challenging and developmental conversations, enhancing presentations and personal presence, and in the DEI and Unconscious Bias arena.
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Our Values
Inclusion
Inclusion means creating spaces where everyone is heard, invited in, and every story is valued. We ensure our clients feel empowered to be their authentic selves.
Connection
Connection is at the heart of what we do. We prioritise genuine relationships, open communication, and a sense of belonging where everyone can thrive.
Curiosity
We embrace curiosity. We help cultivate workplace cultures that encourage ongoing exploration, learning, and innovation through the power of curiosity.
engaging & energising
Our Whole-Person Leadership Development workshop was such a relevant day of learning, with insight and tools that apply to my role and style of leadership, and with clear approaches that could be used directly with my team. The day flew by, and was delivered in such an engaging way, with lots of interaction throughout. I also enjoyed the experience you brought from your acting career and the exercises that helped energise and refocus the group, with plenty of laughter. A great illustration of how being pushed outside our comfort zones builds our strength(s)!
Rebecca Brown
Senior Business Development Manager at Henley Business School
outstanding
Sarah takes the time to really understand the business and individual participant needs and as a result the feedback has been outstanding. She has a fantastic ability to work with a wide variety of people of different grades and styles and ensures they all have personalised feedback to take forward. We have seen our directors and staff increase in confidence and performance across a number of areas and look forward to more of them having the opportunity to work with Sarah.
Claire Davis
Director for Learning and Development at Smith and Williamson