About Me
AKA Life Coaching’s Founder and Managing Director
Family Life Coaching
Who is Michelle Alexander?
My name is Michelle Alexander I am Life Coaching and Early Intervention Practitioner. 23 years ago I would have never believed that I would have gone to Buckingham Palace, attended Question Time, become a Manager for 14 Years, have worked in Early Intervention for 5 years (Which is a tier of social care) and now my own business. I am trained in coaching, management, early intervention, child care and education, healthy relationships, domestic violence, autism and parenting facilitation to name a few. I am also a qualified OCR child care assessor, which I conducted in a corporate nursery chain alongside my managerial role. (see details below for full list) Click here - download (Qualification’s & training list)
Young Parent
As a teenage parent many people believed that having a baby so young meant that my life was over. But the raised eyebrows and love for my daughter only made me more determined to achieve my goals. It is amazing what can happen when you have clear goals and the right support network around you.
When I first became a young parent I naively thought that if I had a partner, my life would have been easier and more balanced. I thought that the duties would have just been halved. But after 23 years working with women & families (18 years in Early Years and Education and 5 years of working in Early intervention /Social Care), I have come to realise for many women this is often not the case .When they have a partner/husbands this can sometimes mean they have more people to support and care for. ie husband, father & mother in laws etc.
This is why I'm so passionate about transforming the lives of women, to repay, give back and show gratitude to the many mentors that have helped sculpture my journey over the years.
Why did you choose the name for your Business and your LOGO?
"AKA" stand for Also Known As “As many people don’t know what Life Coaching is”.
Why the Eyes?
“I believe that a woman's eyes often give away how she is truly feeling”.
How do you hope to impact equality?
At AKA Life Coaching we support women to ensure they have the equality they deserve at work and in their home lives .
What support is out there for women that would like to start a new business ?
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/back-her-business
Back Her Business is designed to support the set-up of new female-led businesses (whether for profit or not for profit) in the UK by enabling women to test their business ideas (projects).Together they helped me raise money for my business through crowdfunding. We raised £1707.00.
Project : https://natwestbackherbusiness.co.uk/aka-life-coaching-ltd
Helpful Reading : The Alison Rose Review of female entrepreneurship
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-alison-rose-review-of-female-entrepreneurship
What book has impacted your desire for equality for women?
The Moment of Lift : How Empowering Women Changes the World -MELINDA GATES
Chapter 5 The Silent Inequality: Unpaid Work
“what do I mean by unpaid work? it is work performed in the home, like childcare or other forms of care-giving, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and errands done by a family member who is not being paid.” Melinda Gates
We can’t solve inequality in unpaid work until we see the gender bias beneath it. Exposing gender bias is a stunning experience for people who suddenly see their own blind spots it doesn’t matter where on earth you live.
On average, women around the world spend more than twice as many hours as men on unpaid work, but the range of the disparity is wide. In India, women spend 6 hours a day doing unpaid work, while men spend less than 1 .In the US women average more than 4 hours of unpaid work every day ,men average just 2.5 .In Norway, women spend 3.5 hours a day on unpaid work, while men spend about 3. There is NO COUNTRY where the GAP is ZERO! This mean that on average ,WOMEN do SEVEN YEARS MORE of UNPAID WORK than MEN over their lifetimes. That’s about the time it takes to complete a bachelors and a masters degree.
Good Read Kings College London : The Global institute for women’s Leadership - Essay on Equality 2020
What is one of your most memorable career moments ?
Infant and Toddler forum Study Day: Developing positive eating habits . On Thursday 25th November 2010 Michelle Alexander presented with a multi-disciplinary group of experts with first hand experience in child nutrition and development at Royal College of Surgeons, London. Dr Alison Lennox, MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge, UK. Dr Andrew Murrison, MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Andrew Lansley as Secretary of State for Health. Dr Gillian Harris, Senior Lecturer in Applied Developmental Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham and Consultant Paediatric Clinical Psychologist, The Children’s Hospital, Birmingham. Judy More, Paediatric Dietitian, London. Fay Spence, Early Years Development Manager, Pre-school Learning Alliance were all part of the panel. As a result Michelle Alexander was invited to the Houses of Parliament, to thank her for being part of the much needed research.
What have your observations been working with children and families for over 20 years?
My experience has cemented my belief that there is a need for more grassroots and Early stage intervention/Support.
Where women can talk honestly about the problems without fear of judgement.
Working in children and families/social care arena for the past 5 years. I have been fortunate to work with families from all cultures and economic backgrounds.
Working with families from all backgrounds and classes has strengthened my alignment to the Coaching philosophy of Ecology that all human being are inherently the same at the core.
No matter what your financial background we all at the root of things have the same fundamental problems.
I have realised with an ever changing world and our lives being so busy we no longer have the time to reflect in the way we wish. This inevitably mean that we are driving on auto pilot and not seeing the problems until they arise which can be debilitating if not re-framed.
There is a growing trend for family separation ,additional caring responsibilities ( children with a disability or relatives with serious life threatening illness)and mental health issues (children and family members). This coupled with unresolved childhood issues ,inter generational issues and Severe trauma related issues can be a recipe for disaster.
“We at AKA Life Coaching believe there is a need for a commitment to care givers to provide then a safe place to reflect and take action toward goals.
“The role of the Woman has never been so demanding” Michelle Alexander.
What is the most inspiring book that you have read this year?
Malcom Gladwell : Talking to Strangers “Changed my life forever, thought provoking”
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/20/talking-to-strangers-malcolm-gladwell-review
Who are the most interesting people you have meet this year?
Michelle Obama “i went to her book tour”
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/michelle-obama-becoming-london-book-tour-barack-trump-queen-a8870681.html%3famp
Black Magic Awards : Beverly Knight , Baroness Doreen Lawrence MBE , Afua Hirsch and June Sarpo.
David Gauke MP: “Previous lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice minster of justice Re:Young offending”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gauke
Professor David Shemming : “ Mentalization Emeritus Professor of Child Protection Research”
David Lamming MP “Book tour Tribe and black history Month”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lammy
George the poet “who was awarded an MBE but refused it”
Valentino Achak Deng; New York best seller :What is the what https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_the_What
The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng is a 2006 novel written by Dave Eggers. It is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese child refugee who immigrated to the United States under the Lost Boys of Sudan program. It was a finalist for the National Book Award. We met at the embassy of Belgium in Uganda.