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Former student helps people and businesses to ‘thrive not just survive’ through coaching venture

April 12, 2021

Edge Hill University alumni, Stacey O'Callaghan, helps people to adopt a positive mindset through all life’s changes after developing her own coaching business.

Whilst studying Psychology until 2009, Stacey O’Callaghan, from Surrey, helped to mentor new students as they settled into student life and it was this work which propelled Stacey’s ambition to help people become more self-sufficient individuals. 

After leaving University, Stacey built her experience in roles which saw her put support packages in place to improve life options for vulnerable people, before embarking on a coaching course which opened her eyes to the possibilities of supporting businesses as well as people.

Stacey said: “I always knew that I wanted to help people to be the best version of themselves, but it was only through my coaching course that I saw an opportunity to offer my support to people in the workplace, too. It was then I decided I wanted to set up my own business to offer my skills and experience on a bigger scale.” 

In 2019, Stacey set up SJS Coaching Services, a venture which helps people to ‘thrive not just survive’ by supporting them to make meaningful changes to their life and work to increase their happiness, resilience, and overall satisfaction. Whilst Stacey works with many clients on a one-to-one basis, her time helping banks, law firms and FTSE 100 companies achieve their strategic goals has led her to amass a wide portfolio of businesses who make use of her services.  

Stacey said: “Having seen first-hand how simply surviving can create unhealthy behaviours like poor communication, lack of trust, and low productivity levels, I knew I wanted to use my psychological and coaching techniques to help people adjust their mindset and live more positive, fulfilled lives. We spend so much of our time at work, it made sense to also take my services to businesses because a happy workplace is more productive and retains staff – a win-win for both the employee and the business.

“I’ve been in business around 18 months now and it’s been hugely rewarding to see people and businesses come out the other side having made changes for the better as a result of my services.” 

When asked about her time at Edge Hill, Stacey said: “I had never studied Psychology before, so taking it up at degree level felt like a bit of a risk. As it turns out, it was the best decision I could have made – I’ve been able to put lots of theory into practise when assessing people in my work, and it has open doors to a career supporting others which I find hugely rewarding.

“If I was going to give any advice to others looking to start up their own business, it would be to believe in yourself, get clear on the impact you want to have and start building your foundations, one conversation at a time.” 

Headshot of Psychology alumni Stacey O'Callaghan

April 12, 2021

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