Who we are

Hi, I’m Brenda McCaskie, founder of It’s A Duck! Creative Coaching.

For over 20 years, I worked in retail banking, supporting people through everything from everyday financial decisions to periods of real stress and vulnerability.

My background also includes many years working across the community and voluntary sector, supporting women, families and communities and developing a real understanding of the challenges people can face behind closed doors.

Since qualifying as a coach in 2016, I’ve continued to build on that experience, developing and delivering coaching, talks and creative wellbeing programmes across mental health and wellbeing, confidence and self-worth, menopause and women’s health, healthy and respectful relationships, financial wellbeing and workplace wellbeing.

I’ve worked with individuals, community groups, schools and colleges, charities and businesses, including the Education Authority, South West College, Edgewater Contracts, Care for Cancer, SureStart and St Mark’s High School.

But despite years of helping others, nothing prepared me for my own turning point…

Landscape of a large body of turquoise water surrounded by green hills and mountains under a cloudy sky

My story

It started subtly - moments of brain fog where my mind would suddenly go blank during work. Simple tasks I’d done for years became overwhelming. Anxiety crept in: a tight chest, racing thoughts, panic I couldn’t control. Every day I felt myself slipping further from the woman I once knew.

At 44, my manager gently mentioned the word perimenopause. I had only ever heard of menopause, and when I sought help, I was told I was “too young.” My blood tests came back “normal,” yet nothing about how I felt was normal.

That’s when It’s A Duck! was born.

The name comes from the saying: “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.”
If the symptoms are there, they’re real and women deserve to be heard, believed, and supported.

Four women engaged in conversation at a round table in a restaurant, with drinks, a laptop, and food on the table.

My Mission

  • To walk beside women who feel lost or invisible.

  • To cut through the confusion and the noise.

  • To help you find your voice, your strength, and your sparkle again.

Because I know what it’s like to lose yourself and I also know the joy of finding your way back.

Contact us

Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!