HELLO
I'm Kerry McQueen
Hello, Thank you so much for taking the time to visit the Epiphany Lab, to get to know me, and understand more about what I do, and why.
It gives me great pleasure to share with you my journey, which has now resulted in me doing what I love, helping others.
Born in the UK, I emigrated to Brisbane in 2011. My husband, son, dog and I now call Perth our home. We have a wonderful life, but that is not to say it has been without its challenges.
The bulk of my career was spent in the corporate world working for global and national companies in a variety of roles across sales, project delivery, customer relations and HR. Over my corporate employment, I had the pleasure of working with 1000’s of people.
Then in 2020, I had my own epiphany.
THE NEW NORMAL
Personally, and professionally, I started witnessing people’s language changing. ‘Stressed’, ‘burnt out’, ‘anxious,’ ‘overwhelmed’, ‘can’t cope’, ‘too busy’, were regular phrases. They were being used so much; it seemed it had created a new normal. Benchmarks, expectations and perceptions were constantly changing, yet through lack of support, understanding and education, people’s own thresholds were constantly under threat trying to adjust.
It was obvious that life was becoming busier for many people. Full of more demands, more expectations and yes, more comparisons (#theperfectlife). On face value, we have more information at our fingertips. We are overloaded with opinions. Yet, we do not know what to trust, who to believe, what techniques to put in place to help, which experts to follow. Our lives are changing at a dramatic speed, yet there is no instruction manual to help us.
So where do you go to for help?
Where do you go when you want to be and feel better?
Where do you go when life gets challenging?
Who do you talk to when you want to improve your life?
What I saw, was that this was not an easy question for many to answer, myself included.
MY LIFE EXPERIENCES
Coupled with witnessing and experiencing the above, life has been sure to throw its fair share of challenges, adversity and hard times my way.
The month after my 16th birthday, our family rock, my beautiful mother passed away from ovarian cancer. My world, my fathers and my brother’s, collapsed. She was 49 when she was diagnosed, only 52 when she passed.
In 2021, when my son was only 8 weeks old. My father, my absolute hero and my best friend had been killed whilst he was crossing the road. Only a few weeks before QLD was due to open following COVID, only a few weeks before he was coming to see us. He never got to meet his grandson.
Then most recently, we have been experiencing a new form of challenge. Growing our family. A complex journey, filled with hope and heartache. A true rollercoaster of emotions.
CREATING CHANGE
As someone who, since school, has always been described and as being ‘positive, strong, and resilient’, you would be led to believe I was naturally better equipped at dealing with hard times. This is false. Hard times hit me the same way as they hit everyone. The above experiences impacted our world beyond belief. It has only been over recent years that I have been able to come to terms with the fact that adversity will always hit and often there is nothing we can do to prevent it. What I have learnt however, is how to apply strategies to my own life to ensure I am better equipped to manage the lows and experience greater joy and fulfilment from the highs.
In 2019, after seeing the challenges others faced on a daily basis and with the addition of my own experiences, I decided I wanted to make a change. I wanted to not only help people overcome. But also, to flourish and achieve.
Therefore, I undertook formal training. I first studied to become a qualified Business, Workplace and Performance Coach, then advanced on this by undertaking a Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing. I was then able to lean on my skills, strengths and personal experiences to create an offering that was accessible, effective and life-changing for those in need.
