Michelle Carey is one of the coaches that we found this month and we did a little interview with her. She impressed us with her passion and dedication.
She brings a coaching approach shaped by lived experience, resilience, and a deep commitment to dignity and emotional safety. Her work highlights the challenges many people face when navigating complex systems while offering clarity, compassion, and practical support.
She is the Director of Megan’s Voice Advocacy, a consultancy grounded in trauma informed practice, accessibility, and systemic reform. Her coaching extends beyond personal growth by blending advocacy and strategic communication to help individuals and organisations create safer environments.
She shares insights rooted in both personal experience and professional purpose, creating a voice that feels authentic and impactful. Her reflections throughout this interview reveal a mission focused on empowering others to find their voice, navigate complexity, and reclaim their sense of agency. Here is what she said…
Meet Life Coach Michelle Carey:
Name: Michelle Carey
Pillar: The Mind
Who is this coach for: Individuals and organisations navigating complex systems who need trauma informed support, clarity, and confident self advocacy.
How they can help: By using trauma informed communication frameworks, strategic mapping tools for complex cases, and emotional regulation techniques tailored to each client.
First of all, how are you and your family doing in these “crazy” times?
My family and I are navigating a period of change with resilience and purpose.
Like many people, we have faced both personal and global challenges, but those experiences have strengthened our clarity, compassion, and commitment to supporting others.
How did the coronavirus pandemic affect your clients? Did it affect you at all?
Megan’s Voice Advocacy was not yet in operation during the coronavirus pandemic, so I was not coaching clients under the business at that time.
However, the pandemic deeply shaped my understanding of how fragile systems can be and how urgently trauma informed practice is needed.
I witnessed the impact on individuals and families, including isolation, service breakdowns, and increased emotional strain.
Those experiences directly influenced the foundations of Megan’s Voice.
The business was built with those lessons in mind, including clarity, safety, accessibility, and human centred communication.
The Origin:
Tell us about you, your career, how you started with your coaching career?
I am the Director of Megan’s Voice Advocacy, a trauma informed reform consultancy based in Wales.
My work blends coaching, advocacy, and systemic reform.
My coaching journey began organically.
I found myself supporting people who were overwhelmed by complex systems such as health, social care, education, housing, and welfare, and who needed both emotional grounding and strategic clarity.
Over time, this evolved into a structured approach that helps individuals and organisations communicate safely, navigate conflict, and create trauma informed environments.
A core part of my work is shaped by lived experience.
It is the driving force behind Megan’s Voice and the part that gives depth, authenticity, and emotional intelligence to everything I do.
Professional qualifications give you knowledge, but lived experience gives you understanding.
It allows you to recognise the unspoken, the subtle, and the emotional truth behind someone’s words.
This is also how I connected with my associate in Australia.
We found each other through LinkedIn, not through algorithms, but through trauma informed language.
When someone writes from a place of lived experience, you feel it.
You recognise it instantly.
Even though we live on opposite sides of the world, the resonance was immediate.
That connection alone shows how powerful trauma informed communication truly is because it draws people together who share the same values, the same wounds, and the same mission to create safer systems.
Megan’s Voice is currently in its early development phase, and the response has been immediate.
A Local Authority placed the business on file within twenty four hours of receiving our service outline, recognising the relevance and urgency of our offer.
We are also supported by Business Wales through a dedicated advisor who is guiding our strategic development and growth.
We have expanded internationally with an associate based in Australia whose expertise in trauma informed language and safety strengthens our global capability.
I have begun engaging with commissioners across Wales and mapping where trauma informed reform can support safer practice.
I recently filmed a video at the Senedd with Llais, promoting trauma informed approaches in health and social care.
I have also been invited to meet with another Local Authority and attend their People’s Panel, reflecting early trust in our approach and the appetite for trauma informed reform across sectors.
Alongside this, I am exploring opportunities with the DWP, including external Work Coach roles and independent advocacy for Universal Credit claimants.
I am also contacting Housing Associations and G4S, who run South Wales prisons, to understand how independent advocates are commissioned and how Megan’s Voice can support tenants and prisoners through trauma informed communication and self advocacy.
Most recently, I have begun arranging a collaboration with AVMA Action Against Medical Accidents.
Their focus on patient safety and justice aligns closely with the trauma informed, dignity centred ethos of Megan’s Voice.
This partnership will strengthen our ability to support individuals navigating harm, complaints, and system failures within health and social care.
What was your biggest obstacle that you had to overcome in your life that made you who you are today?
My greatest obstacle was advocating for my mother during her mental health decline and end of life care.
Navigating fragmented services, challenging unsafe decisions, and ensuring her dignity shaped everything I do today.
It taught me that systems can be changed, but only when someone is willing to stand their ground.
What are the biggest lessons that you learned overcoming your greatest obstacle?
- Compassion is powerful, but boundaries are essential.
- Documentation protects people.
- Advocacy is clarity, not volume.
- You can be grieving and strong at the same time.
- Systems do not change on their own, people change them.
The Coaching Style:
How do you innovate with coaching your clients?
I coach at the intersection of trauma informed practice, legal literacy, and strategic communication.
My innovation lies in the following.
- Translating complex systems into clear, manageable steps.
- Teaching clients how to communicate with authority and emotional safety.
- Adapting all materials for accessibility, including sensory and cognitive needs.
- Integrating lived experience with professional frameworks.
- Aligning coaching with real world statutory processes.
Clients do not just gain insight.
They gain tools they can use immediately in high stakes situations.
What’s unique about your coaching approach?
My approach is a blend of trauma informed coaching, strategic problem solving, and system navigation.
What makes it unique is that I do not coach people in isolation.
I coach them in context.
Clients learn how to regulate emotionally and how to navigate the structures around them.
This dual approach creates sustainable, real world change.
What benefits do your clients get after working with you?
Clients consistently report the following.
- Increased clarity and confidence.
- Reduced anxiety when dealing with systems.
- Stronger communication skills.
- Improved outcomes in complex or high stakes situations.
- A renewed sense of agency and self trust.
- Practical strategies they can apply immediately.
Organisations also see safer practice, improved culture, and more trauma informed leadership.
Do you use any specific tools to be efficient with your clients?
Yes, I use a combination of the following.
- Trauma informed communication frameworks.
- Reflective practice models.
- Strategic mapping tools for complex cases.
- Accessibility adapted materials.
- Emotional regulation techniques tailored to each client.
Everything is adapted to the client’s needs, not the other way around.
The Impact:
If you had a super megaphone that, when you speak into, the whole world will hear your message, what would you say?
Trauma informed practice is not optional, it is foundational.
When we understand people, we transform systems.
What is the greatest lesson you have learned in your life?
That dignity is non negotiable.
Whether in crisis, conflict, or transition, people deserve to be treated with respect and humanity.
Your final thoughts?
People are not problems to be solved.
They are stories to be understood.
When we coach with humanity, clarity, and safety, we create change that lasts far beyond the coaching room.
Where Can You Find Michelle Carey?
If you liked this interview and if you would love to see how Coach Michelle can help you, watch this video.
If you want to contact her, you can do that through LinkedIn or by sending her a direct message on her email [email protected]. It was an honor having this interview with her.