Simonne is founder of Wise Monkey Financial Coaching and co-author of Sheconomics - a book that provides practical tips and solutions to women’s money problems while also tackling their emotional relationship with money.
Simonne has worked in the field of personal finance for over 30 years. Prior to launching Wise Monkey Financial Coaching in 2002, she worked as a fee-based independent financial adviser at William M Mercer Limited and at Fiona Price & Partners. The early part of her career was spent training to be an actuary.
A genuine pioneer
You could be forgiven for not realising just how rare the concept of financial coaching was twenty one years ago. That was when Wise Monkey founder Simonne Gnessen first identified the need for a much more person-centred approach to financial guidance. Indeed, her pioneering work has undoubtedly played a huge part in shaping that landscape.
A pioneer, Simonne was the first person to develop financial coaching in the UK. In launching Wise Monkey, she created her own interpretation of this field – to meet a need she saw wasn’t being met by traditional financial services. Using a unique blend of skills, knowledge and experience, Simonne is able to equip you with the skills you need to take better control of your money and responsibility for your financial future. She provides expert guidance and support on the practical and technical aspects of any money issue. Simonne will also help you unpick the unconscious way you behave with money, so your personal energies and financial resources can work in harmony to create the life you most want to live.
A unique set of skills
Simonne holds a BSc (Hons) in Statistics and is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (life & pensions). She gained a City & Guilds Certificate in Adult Education in 2004, became a Certified Life Coach in 2006, and a Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) in 2007. Simonne later trained with the Kinder Institute and completed the training and mentorship programme in July 2011 to become a Registered Life Planner. In 2021, she completed an ILM Level 7 Coaching and Mentoring training, became a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and is on her way to completing her ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential.
Sharing her skills, tools and methodologies
To date, Simonne has spent many years working with individuals and couples to transform how they think and feel about money, and so transform their lives. But she gradually realised she couldn’t do all the work that came her way.
And so, Wise Monkey's Financial Coach Practitioner Training was born: a training programme which Simonne still runs, alongside her growing training team. As with her coaching practice, the training part of Wise Monkey has grown organically.
Over the years the training has developed into a 10-week programme; with 54 hours of live online training sessions, plus a blended learning experience involving at least 14 hours of self study and practise coaching sessions. And the training also leads to membership in the unique, ongoing Wise Monkey community of financial coaches.
In the press
Simonne’s work has been featured in numerous national newspapers and magazines, including: The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Mail, The Daily Express, Which? magazine, Psychologies, Red, She, Elle, Zest, Glamour, Vogue and Woman & Home.
Simonne has also been interviewed on BBC News 24, BBC's One Show, Kathy Burke: Money Talks and several BBC radio stations and podcasts.