The short story of Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother

In the traditional Charles Perrault version (the one that gave us glass slippers and “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”), the Fairy Godmother isn’t a central character in the sense of taking over Cinderella’s life, she appears at exactly the right moment when everything feels hopeless.

Cinderella has done everything she can: she’s kind, capable, quietly enduring, but she’s trapped by circumstance. Then, with a shimmer of light, her Fairy Godmother appears, not to rescue her, but to reveal what’s possible.

In my experience, most people I speak with fall into one of these five areas.

Disorganised Darcy.Her life admin has not been filed for years. Digital and actual letters are left to sort out another time that never comes. Neglected bills & insurances roll over year after year, costing far too much and may not even be suitable for her needs anymore. Money is earned, money is spent, credit cards get used, payments are made, but there’s no knowledge of what’s really going on. It sort of works itself out. Darcy hasn’t got a lot of savings and is starting to wonder when she is going to be able to retire, although she’s never going to want to stop her creative endeavours, she wants to know that she has the choice. She’s in her forties and is worried time is not on her side, financially speaking.
Credit Claire.Life hasn’t been particularly fair for Claire lately. She’s hit some tough times, and her finances show it. She’s worried all the time, using credit to pay for everyday things and has become so scared she doesn’t really know which way is up anymore. She feels sick when she has to look at her bank account and can never explain why her balance looks as it does. The nuts and bolts of her income & outgoings make her feel exhausted, deeply ashamed and low. She just wants to understand it all, simply and efficiently. She knows she needs to speak to a financial advisor but she is way to embarrassed at the state of things so never books an appointment.
Emotional EmmaLoves to create her happy family by buying gorgeous things. She loves watching her favourite YouTube channels to get inspiration for her home, tablescapes, cooking, gardening, fashion, as well as kids’ styling and gets swept up in the feel-good energy. She often uses their affiliate links to treat herself, buy eye wateringly expensive candles and ensures her children are Insta-ready. She has constant FOMO and wants to feel like she belongs. She feels a slightly delicious hot guilt when she presses Buy Now and knows that every penny and more that she earns, disappears fast. She looks like she’s living her best life, wealthy and sorted. The truth is she’s lonely, horribly overdrawn and can’t find the peace of mind she craves. She really wants to get sorted because she hates being in debt and doesn’t know how to tackle it all.
Generous JustineHas always earned a great salary and as a naturally generous person, she often pays for coffees, lunches out and picks up cinema or theatre tabs for her friends. She’s getting weary of being taken for granted so has backed off a little.She’s learning to put boundaries in place, which isn’t always easy, but more than that, she’s planning on reducing her work hours next year and wants to know how she can make this a reality.
She has never “needed” to budget before, but she’s been reading a bit about the power of properly managing her money and would love to have her own system. Nothing she’s read before feels very inspiring or flexible, and she doesn’t really know where to start. She’d love a chic spreadsheet she can use with her banking apps but they’re all either a bit pink and sparkly or corporately boring. She definitely hasn’t the time or the inclination to make her own.
Sensible SophieWants to buy her first house with her partner. They’ve seen a mortgage advisor who helped with the basics of budgeting, but it didn’t really hit the mark for them. Sophie wants to make sure they don’t get into debt, continue to contribute to some savings, but ultimately, have enough money to project manage their home decor dreams – there’s bound to be a lot to do!
She loves using her banking app, has tried ChatGPT to help, which was really interesting but not personalised enough. She wants someone to walk her through some great ideas and a step-by-step approach to a lifelong skill she hasn’t yet learned.

Are you one of these, or a little of all? Do you have a different challenge?

As your Fairy Godmother, I’m not about wishes or rescue; I’m about readiness. I am here right when your heart says, “I want more than this… but I don’t know how.”

And with one gentle nudge, “bibbidi-bobbidi-budget”, I help you to see that everything you need is already within reach.

I do this every day. I help women, couples, and men step into their confidence, not by giving them a new life, but by helping them see the gold threads in the one they already have.

I don’t swoop in to “fix” people’s finances. I help you see that what you already have can be turned into something beautiful and functional. But for always, not just until midnight.

I bring the structure (the toolkit is my modern-day wand), and I add that touch of sparkle that makes you actually want to engage with your money.

My clients are often like Cinderella before the ball:

capable but overwhelmed and longing for a simpler life
hiding their sparkle behind worry and someone else’s rules
convinced they can’t have “nice things” because they don’t deserve them, no matter how hard they work

Then poof! I appear, calm and smiling, waving my metaphorical wand:

You will see that you can have control, feel confident, and be radiant again.