Laura Ashley-Timms

Laura Ashley-Timms is a global coaching expert and co-author of the multi-award-winning, #1 bestselling book ‘The Answer is a Question’. Recognised as one of the UK’s top executive coaches, Laura is best known as the Co-Creator of the STAR® model and the STAR® Manager programme, alongside Dominic Ashley-Timms. These frameworks are reshaping how organisations develop managers and drive performance. As a speaker, she challenges traditional command-and-control leadership and equips audiences with practical tools to build high-performing, engaged teams.

Laura’s belief in coaching as a catalyst for performance began in her early years as an international athlete. She went on to study at Oriel College, Oxford, where she achieved an MA Oxon in Geography and was awarded an extraordinary Full Blue, captaining her university team and winning a national championship. Her early corporate career included senior roles at Marks and Spencer, Adams Childrenswear and Ragdoll Productions, working across the UK, USA, Europe and Asia. These experiences gave Laura first-hand insight into the pressures facing managers and shaped her commercially focused, results-driven approach.

In 2000, Laura became Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Notion, a performance improvement consultancy with a global footprint. She later became Co-Creator of the STAR® model in 2010, followed by the multi-award-winning STAR® Manager programme in 2017, designed to embed Operational Coaching® behaviours at scale. The programme has been independently evaluated and proven to deliver measurable gains in engagement, productivity and retention, achieving an average 74x return on investment. In 2021, Notion was named L&D Supplier of the Year by Personnel Today. Laura is also Co-Author of ‘The Answer is a Question’, a book that redefines the role of the modern manager and provides a clear, research-backed blueprint for transforming leadership impact. She has been recognised as one of 40 Outstanding Global Women for her contribution to business and leadership.

Organisations hire Laura because she combines academic rigour with commercial realism. Her keynotes focus on Operational Coaching®, building sustainable coaching cultures, transforming accidental managers into confident leaders, and reclaiming time through smarter management practices. Laura delivers clear frameworks that leaders can apply immediately, helping them move from solving every problem themselves to developing autonomous, accountable teams.