Episode 20: Advocating for a more accessible coaching industry with Karen Marie Johnston

Welcome to episode #20 of The Thought Leader Show, hosted by Bec Sands and Andrés López-Varela. This ep is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and if you enjoy it, we would love it if you could please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends.

In this ep, we interview Karen Marie Johnston, award-winning trauma and nervous system-informed coach, certified social worker and supervisor. Karen hails from the United Kingdom where she has worked with a range of charities and public sector organisations, with an emphasis on working with marginalised and underserved communities. She has dedicated the past 20 years of her life to helping women recover from addiction and mental health challenges, as well as supporting those working in and looking to exit the sex industry to heal and build a positive relationship with themselves.

Show Notes

04:28 Karen’s story of working with women experiencing complex trauma over two decades in places like red light districts, prisons and other vulnerable communities 

07:12 ‘An imperfect… mix of irreverent humour, social justice and evidence-based research’: Karen explores how her personal brand has helped her balance humour and a trauma-informed approach to her work in serious, complex environments

12:24 The importance of Karen taking care of her community and how showing up for that community every day for five years has helped support the growth of her work and business

18:05 Karen explains why it’s so important to make coaching and wellness services open and accessible to people of marginalised communities and all socio-economic backgrounds

23:45 Understanding the barriers of privilege, stigma and bias in the coaching industry that intimidate minorities from engaging with these services and benefiting from this important work

26:55 Karen advocating for one-to-one supervision in the coaching industry to help improve coaches’ practice, wellbeing and outcomes for clients

32:38: The ‘Thought Leader Five’ rapid-fire questions with Karen 

Connect: 

https://www.karenmariejohnston.com/
https://www.instagram.com/karenmariejohnston_/

Further resources:

The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

The Thought Leader Show features in the Feedspot Top 45 Australian Leadership Podcasts