Why lived experience matters in coaching
You can't coach what you haven't lived. Here's why our team is built from people who've been through the care system — and why that changes everything.
The gap nobody talks about
When I left care at 17, I had a social worker, a personal adviser and a support plan. What I didn't have was someone who'd actually been where I was standing.
They meant well. But there's a difference between studying a system and surviving it.
What lived experience actually changes
It changes the speed of trust. When a young person hears "I know what that feels like" from someone who means it, the wall comes down faster.
It changes the advice. Not the textbook advice — the real advice. How to read a tenancy agreement. How to advocate for yourself in a meeting. How to not take no for an answer when no isn't the real answer.
Why we built Positive Plugz this way
Every coach on our team has navigated the care system, the housing system, or both. We're not case workers. We're people who've been the case.
That's not a limitation. It's the whole point.