Focus on… Henrietta Cyrille
Henrietta Cyrille, founder of The Power of Talk
‘Mind blowing decisions causes head on collisions’ sang the late 70’s band, Heatwave. A tune that resonates with long-time Tower Hamlets’ resident Henrietta Cyrille.
Henrietta is founder of The Power of Talk: ‘I help people problem-solve’, she explains. ‘I’m a decision coach. I listen to people. Give them alternatives.’ Henrietta is ‘a baby’ of Tower Hamlets, as she puts it. Born local, Henrietta went to school in Bethnal Green, lives in Mile End and taught for over 20 years in East London colleges. She knows Redchurch Street fairly well.
“What matters is to adopt a character that’s vibrant, different and keeps some of the original features of a place.”
‘I’ll be direct with you, if that’s OK. It’s almost like a distant world. I find it quite cold. As a child, I remember it being busy. I wish it had some colour and warmth. More of an identity closer to the culture of local people.’
Henrietta thinks that the issue isn’t gentrification or change in itself, but the way in which change is handled. ‘One thing you can’t stop is change. But my concern is when Government and business come into an area with an agenda. When they don’t want to listen. You find that they do stuff that is nice but often copied from somewhere else. What matters is to adopt a character that’s vibrant, different and keeps some of the original features of a place.’
Listening is important to Henrietta in so many ways. As a teacher in Newham and Westminster FE and sixth form colleges, she saw that young people need to talk, to help them make their way in life. And listening is essential to her work as a coach. ‘I’m different from a standard coach’, she says. ‘I don’t seek to discover clients’ goals and then work backwards. I want to support them to make decisions themselves.’
Recent clients include an entrepreneur looking to progress her business and a woman who wanted help to organise her wardrobe: ‘She’d bought six different black dresses and during lockdown needed to decide which ones to get rid of. Question one was: how many black dresses do you need?’
A member of the East End Trades Guild, you can contact Henrietta via her website.
Henrietta and other members of the East End Trades Guild