Rosee Elliott: Found Her Thomas on Kilimanjaro

“My father’s name was Thomas, my Grandson’s name is Thomas and when I was introduced to my guide on Mt. Kilimanjaro … yes, his name was Thomas,” says Rosee Elliott.

The third Thomas is the one who got her up the mountain. “He was instrumental for my successful climb; making sure I ate enough, drank enough water and showed me how to negotiate the most difficult parts of the route,” she says. “We didn’t really talk a great deal about anything … saving my breath as we climbed higher! He was just there, ready to guide, looking after my safety and wellbeing.”

The climb, in 2026, raised £3,400 for Kidscape. In June 2025 she had done a skydive that raised £2,400 for Alzheimer’s Research. She has also self-published three books, the third of them this year.

Rosee is a personal coach and inspirational speaker based in Banchory, in the north-east of Scotland, and the owner of Move Mountains with Rosee Elliott. She speaks at events and to groups and organisations, and she coaches people one to one on their mountains, which she describes as “the huge ‘things’ that get in your way and stop you making the progress you so desperately desire.” Her business, as she puts it on her profile, shows you “how to find your ‘Thomas’!” The guide is where the name comes from. “Everyone needs to have a Thomas,” she says, “even if it is only in an emergency halfway up a mountain.”

Walking the Talk

Rosee’s answers run to a line or two each. Asked what climbing a real mountain taught her about helping other people move theirs, she gives one of the shortest.

Clients now know I walk the talk. I share from first hand experiences and emotions about what I believe

What she believes, in her words, is that “you can do anything if you put your mind to it, have self-belief and courage.” She takes that on stage. “I think the best talks I have done have been the ones that feel real, relatable and uplifting,” she wrote in a post about public speaking, where she listed the climb, the skydive and the books among the stories she tells. Speaking is also how she expects people to find her coaching. Her thinking is that once people hear her stories in person and “can relate to my age, experiences” and her belief that “you really can do whatever you set your mind on,” they’ll want to work with her one to one.

The climb has travelled since. A newspaper headline she shared reported that she had earned the nickname “Mama Simba” on the trek. Her comment on it was “Well I never!!” She has also shared the trailer for a documentary about the climb.

The coaching itself starts somewhere smaller.

What She Does First

When someone new arrives stuck at the bottom of their mountain, the first thing Rosee does is one word: “Listen.” Then, she says, she helps the client “separate out the real v imaginary ‘stuckness’” and works out where they are now, their A, and where they want to be, their B.

She gives one example. A client’s boulder was “a specific member of one of her networking groups.” “She felt he did not take her seriously and was inclined to bully in a covert way,” Rosee says. Rosee shared Eric Berne’s Script theory with her.

“Having identified herself as Cinderella and who the other man in question was in the story, she realised he was similar to one of the Ugly Sisters,” Rosee says. “She realised it was she/Cinderella that went to the ball and won the prince! From there on this is the image that she held whenever she met him … a little character to be ignored.”

Asked for evidence that the work lands, Rosee pointed back to this client. She also told a second story, which ends differently.

The Client She Walked Away From

Asked about a hard moment at work, Rosee describes a client who came to her having discovered that her husband had had an affair. “She was scared that she would be unable to function if she left him,” Rosee says. “We talked through how she functioned before she met him and indeed she would be able to move forward without him. She didn’t believe she could … so I had to walk away.”

“I understand the power of self belief,” she has written. Her own training began in education.

I understand the power of self belief.

Before the Mountain

Rosee trained in education. She holds a PG Diploma in Early Education and an M.Ed in Early Childhood Education from Northern College of Education, and in 2014 she was a Development Officer for Assessment and Moderation at Aberdeenshire Council, working with head teachers, class teachers and educational psychologists on what standardised assessment data meant for learning and teaching. She is a Certified Transactional Analyst (specialist in educational applications).

From 2014 she ran House of Colour Aberdeenshire as an image and personal brand consultant. She left the company in July 2026. In March 2026 House of Colour gave her its Helen Canon Award, “for significant charitable giving as a House of Colour Business Owner.”

In 2022 she became a Certified Imposter Syndrome Mentor through The Institute of Leadership and published her first book, Behind the Mirror: What Others Don’t See. Beyond the Mirror: Reflections followed in 2025. “I never imagined a few years ago that I’d end up writing not one… but now three books!” she wrote. Her training also includes The Impactful Coach Training Programme with Claire McPhearson.

I never imagined a few years ago that I’d end up writing not one… but now three books!

The person who shaped how she works is Jean Illsley Clarke, whom Rosee describes as “a human development specialist, author and accomplished workshop leader.” They met at a world conference in Edinburgh.

She introduced herself as: My name is Jean Illsley Clarke, and I am 80 years old! It was at that point I thought I want to be like her at that age.

In July 2026 she started on the next part.

Where Rosee Is Now

Move Mountains with Rosee Elliott is new, and she is establishing it on coaching and speaking. Her third book, Is There Anything You Can’t Do? The Answer Is No!, includes some of her experiences on Kilimanjaro. What’s next, in her words: “Promoting the idea of Is There Anything You Can’t Do? The Answer is NO! through keynote speaking.”

The readers she most wants are the people who book speakers. Her invitation to them is already written: “if you’re looking for an inspiring, warm and engaging speaker for your event, group or organisation, let’s have a chat!” Her habit, by her own account, is to do what she says she will.

If I say I’ll do something, I do it no matter how hard it may appear. My Mother called it ‘my terrier with a rat mentality’.

Outside work, there’s the gym. “I spent most of my school life skiving games/gym,” she says. “I now work with a Personal trainer 3 times a week at the gym and love it!” Scottish Government guidance asks older adults for strength work on at least two days a week, and in 2024, 16% of adults aged 65 and over in Scotland met it. She adds swimming for aerobic fitness, and every day starts with a walk with her rescue Podenca from Spain (“a long story!”), “come rain or occasional snow.”

I now work with a Personal trainer 3 times a week at the gym and love it!

The sentence she wants people to remember her by is the one she already signs off with: “Be brave, be bold, and above all be your adventurous self.”