SPEAKING & MEDIA

Conversations that make ambitious people rethink success.

Marie Cowgill speaks about money, work, ambition and freedom — and what happens when success still does not give us the life we expected.

Drawing on years spent in banking, working around wealth, coaching hundreds of entrepreneurs and building and leading businesses, Marie brings a commercially grounded perspective to podcasts, panels, events and workshops.

No guru promises.
No one-size-fits-all answers.


Just honest, useful conversations that challenge assumptions and leave people with a better way to think about what comes next.

Hosted business events, workshops and panel discussions

500+

People supported through workshops and accelerator programmes

250+

Entrepreneurs personally coached

Commercial experience

Across banking, business leadership, property and specialist finance

WHAT MARIE SPEAKS ABOUT

FREEDOM, SUCCESS & LIFE BY DESIGN

I explore what freedom actually means beyond the highlight reel — and why earning more, building more and achieving more does not automatically give us more control over our lives.

Topics can include:

• The Freedom Game®

• Why success and freedom are not the same thing

• Building a life that works on an ordinary Tuesday

MONEY, WEALTH & THE WAY WE THINK

Years spent in banking — from conversations with people struggling to make it through the weekend to clients with millions sitting in their current accounts — fundamentally shaped how I think about money.

Topics can include:

• Why everyone has money problems — but some people have much better ones

• Why a high income does not automatically create wealth

• Money as a tool for creating more choice

ENTREPRENEURSHIP, BUSINESS & WORK

After around five years coaching entrepreneurs through a major UK bank’s business accelerator and personally coaching more than 250 entrepreneurs, I have seen what happens when people build businesses to create freedom — and accidentally create another job they cannot leave.

Topics can include:

• Why the business you built for freedom should not own your life

• Why revenue growth does not always feel like progress

• Ambition without building a life you need to escape from

DECISIONS, CHANGE & THE COURAGE TO CHOOSE DIFFERENTLY

Some of the biggest decisions in our lives look irrational when viewed through only one lens. I explore the trade-offs, assumptions and moments when the “safe” or financially optimal choice is not actually the right one.

Topics can include:

• Why the safe option is not always safe

• Making decisions when your goals compete with each other

• What happens when the life that once worked for you stops fitting

SIGNATURE TALKS & CONVERSATIONS

These are some of the central ideas within Marie’s work. Each can be shaped into a talk, interview, panel conversation or interactive session depending on the audience and format.

SUCCESS ISN'T THE SAME AS FREEDOM

Why earning more, achieving more and building more can still leave us with less control over our time and choices — and how to build success that supports the life we actually want.

What audiences take away:

A clearer way to test whether the success they are building is creating more freedom or quietly taking it away.

Well suited to:

Talks, panels, podcasts and leadership events.

EVERYONE HAS MONEY PROBLEMS. SOME PEOPLE JUST HAVE MUCH BETTER ONES.

What years spent around people at opposite ends of the income spectrum taught me about money, wealth, lifestyle and choice — including why more money often gives us different problems rather than removing them.

What audiences take away:

A more honest understanding of the relationship between income, wealth, spending and freedom.

Well suited to:

Business events, finance audiences, podcasts and panels.

THE BUSINESS YOU BUILT FOR FREEDOM SHOULDN'T OWN YOUR LIFE

Why entrepreneurs so often recreate the very lack of freedom they started a business to escape — and how to build growth, systems and success without allowing the business to consume the life it was meant to support.

What audiences take away:

A practical way to recognise when the business is serving the owner — and when the owner has started serving the business.

Well suited to:

Founder events, accelerator programmes, workshops and podcasts.

THE SAFE OPTION ISN'T ALWAYS SAFE

What surviving multiple rounds of redundancy taught me about job security, risk and taking greater ownership over the direction of your life.

What audiences take away:

A better way to assess risk when the familiar option feels safe but remains dependent on decisions outside your control.

Well suited to:

Leadership events, workplace audiences, panels and podcasts.

PLAY TO WIN. THEN HOLD THE DREAM.

Why constantly chasing the next goal can stop us recognising when we have already achieved something worth protecting — and how to know when the game has changed.

What audiences take away:

Permission to remain ambitious while defining what has already become non-negotiable.

Well suited to:

Talks, founder events, podcasts and reflective leadership sessions.

BUILD A LIFE THAT WORKS ON AN ORDINARY TUESDAY

Why the life we live most days matters more than the life that looks impressive occasionally — and how to make decisions around what we actually want our normal life to feel like.

What audiences take away:

A more useful standard for success based on ordinary life, not occasional highlights.

Well suited to:

Talks, workshops, leadership programmes, people-and-culture events and podcasts.

WHO MARIE SPEAKS TO

Marie’s work particularly connects with founders, business owners, leaders, professionals and ambitious people questioning what they are building, why they are building it and what success may be costing them along the way.

These conversations work best for intelligent audiences who do not need another simplistic formula or hour of empty motivation.

They want commercially grounded ideas, honest questions and something genuinely useful to take back into their work and lives.

WHAT AUDIENCES TAKE AWAY

• A more useful way to think about success, money, work and freedom.

• Better questions for the decisions they are already facing.

• Greater awareness of the trade-offs hidden inside conventional measures of success.

• Practical ideas they can apply to the way they work, build and choose.

• A conversation they continue thinking and talking about after the event has ended.

WHY MARIE?

A perspective built in the real world.

My perspective has not come from studying freedom in theory.

It has been shaped by years spent watching how people actually behave with money.

By conversations with wealthy clients.
By coaching hundreds of entrepreneurs.
By working with people building businesses, navigating change and making decisions that affect far more than their balance sheet.
By building and leading businesses myself.
And by having to make some of those decisions in my own life too.

I bring together coaching, strategic thinking, commercial experience and a genuine fascination with the choices people make.

My style is thoughtful, direct, practical and honest.

I like questions that make people stop and think.
I like challenging assumptions we have accepted without examining.
And I want people to leave a conversation seeing something differently from how they saw it when they arrived.

I do not arrive with a generic speech and force every audience into it. I work with organisers to understand the people in the room, the conversation they are already having and what would be genuinely valuable to add.

"No hype. No guru promises. Just conversations worth having."

Experience behind the conversations

  • Hosted business events, workshops and panel discussions

  • Host of the inaugural Biz Women Awards in 2025

  • Judge for the EVA Awards

  • Around five years coaching entrepreneurs through a major UK bank’s business accelerator

  • 250+ entrepreneurs personally coached

  • 500+ people supported through workshops and accelerator programmes

  • COO, Finanze

  • Founder, The Freedom Game®

  • Level 5 Coaching Professional — Distinction

  • EMCC Accredited Coach & Mentor — Practitioner Level

SPEAKING & MEDIA FORMATS

TALKS & EVENTS

A thought-provoking session built around one central idea, shaped to the audience and designed to challenge assumptions without relying on empty motivation or generic answers.

WORKSHOPS

Interactive sessions that move people beyond listening and into clearer thinking, useful discussion and practical application around their own goals, decisions, businesses or lives.

PANELS & LIVE CONVERSATIONS

Honest, commercially grounded contributions that add substance to the conversation, connect ideas across money, business and life, and give the moderator something interesting to work with.

PODCASTS & INTERVIEWS

Intelligent, open conversations about freedom, money, entrepreneurship, work, ambition and the decisions that shape how we live.

Watch & Listen

See Marie discussing the ideas behind her work through interviews, conversations, events and longer-form content.

SPEAKING & MEDIA FAQs

Does Marie speak in person and virtually?

Yes. Marie considers both in-person and virtual talks, workshops, panels, interviews and media opportunities. Include the proposed format and location in your enquiry so the practical requirements can be discussed.

Can the topic be tailored to our audience?

Yes. Marie’s central ideas remain consistent, but the emphasis, examples and format can be shaped around your audience, event and intended takeaway. A briefing conversation will take place before a confirmed booking.

How long are Marie’s talks and workshops?

There is no single fixed length. Talks, panels, interviews and workshops can be shaped around the available event format. Include your preferred timings in the enquiry and Marie will recommend the most useful structure.

Does Marie travel?

Marie is based in Dorset. Travel, accommodation and any related requirements will be discussed and agreed as part of the booking and quotation.

What should we include in our enquiry?

Please include the proposed date, location, format, audience, expected numbers, subject, intended audience takeaway and approximate budget. The more context you can provide, the easier it will be to assess the fit and recommend the right approach.

How are speaking and workshop fees calculated?

Fees depend on the format, preparation required, audience size, location, travel, event usage and whether any recording or content rights are required. A tailored quotation will be provided after the initial enquiry.

Does Marie accept podcast and media invitations?

Marie considers selected podcasts, interviews and media opportunities where the audience, subject and conversation are a strong fit. Please include information about the platform, audience, intended topic and proposed recording date.

Can Marie provide a biography, photographs and topic information?

Yes. Marie’s speaker and media pack includes approved biographies, professional photographs, signature topics, relevant experience and contact information.

LET'S TALK

Let’s create a conversation people are still thinking about afterwards.

Whether you are planning a talk, workshop, panel, podcast or interview, tell me about your audience, the conversation you want to create and what you want people to leave thinking or doing differently.

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© 2026 Cowgill Consulting Ltd. All rights reserved.

Marie Cowgill and The Freedom Game® are trading styles of Cowgill Consulting Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 16478115. Registered office: 124 City Road, London, United Kingdom, EC1V 2NX. Email: [email protected].

Coaching, mentoring and educational services only. Nothing on this website constitutes regulated financial advice, investment advice, mortgage or credit advice, legal, tax, accounting, medical or mental-health advice, or a personal recommendation to enter into any regulated product or transaction. You should obtain advice from an appropriately qualified and, where relevant, authorised professional before acting.

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