Soaring Birds was founded by Dr Kirsty Reynolds – executive coach, author and researcher – to challenge how demanding careers treat parenthood.
A former investment banker and mother of four, Kirsty (MA Oxon, DProf) brings a distinctive practitioner perspective to the challenge of retaining talent through parental transitions. Her doctoral research explored how professionals can return to work sustainably in high-performance industries, surfacing insights into what ambitious parents want and need if they are to thrive within these systems.
As an experienced executive coach (EMCC Senior Practitioner), researcher and author of Getting a Return on Returners, Kirsty combines lived experience, rigorous research and extensive coaching practice with an ever-current understanding of the challenges facing leaders in financial, professional and legal services.
ORGANISATIONS: Ever commercial and pragmatic, Kirsty works with business and HR leaders to rethink the structures, assumptions and everyday practices that shape the experience of parental leave and return. She equips organisations with strategies – from the simple to the bold – to better retain, develop and progress talented parents into future leaders.
INDIVIDUALS: She also works directly with individuals navigating their careers through parental leave and into sustainable working parenthood, with particular expertise in financial, professional and legal services.
AI COACHING: Soaring Birds is also home to Altitude, a proprietary human-first, AI-enabled parental transition coach, launching in Q3 2026. Built on her doctoral research into parental transitions in high-performance careers, years of specialist coaching experience, and proprietary coaching frameworks and models, Altitude is designed to understand the particular challenges of navigating parenthood alongside an ambitious career – extending specialist coaching support beyond the coaching room and into the moments when it is most needed.