298: The Silent Struggle: Helping Men Lead, Cope and Rediscover Themselves with Vicky Kelly
About this episode
Vicky Kelly discusses the unique challenges men face in seeking support and how she helps them rediscover their identities beyond professional success.
Have you ever felt the weight of being the "strong one" — the person everyone else leans on, while you quietly wonder who you can lean on? In episode 2 of our Coaching Men podcast series, host Rob Lawrence sits down with Vicky Kelly, a coach who has spent over 15 years specialising in working with men. Vicky shares how, after launching her coaching business in 2009, she found herself naturally drawn to male clients and discovered a profound gap in the support available to them. Her insights into why men often delay seeking help, and what happens when they finally do, are both eye-opening and deeply human. Vicky works primarily with high-performing professionals and CEOs, who from the outside, appear to have it all together. But beneath the success, many are running on empty, held back by invisible pressures: societal expectations around strength and vulnerability, stress responses that hijack their best thinking, and long-held stories about who they are and what they deserve. Vicky explains her approach of building genuine psychological safety, regulating the nervous system, and gently but powerfully challenging the narratives that keep her clients stuck. The conversation also…
People in this episode
Host: Rob Lawrence
Guest: Vicky Kelly
Topics covered
- men's mental health
- coaching
- vulnerability
- professional identity
- psychological safety
Keywords
- coaching
- men's support
- mental health
- vulnerability
- professional coaching
More episodes of The AC Podcast
- 304: Breaking Down the Man Box: Nature, Walking and Vulnerability with Al Kennedy
- 303: Letting Go of Winning: What It Really Means to Redefine Success After 40 with Cassandra Andrews
- 302: Liberating Masculinity with Sam Adams
- 301: Coaching Men Through an Emotional Lens with Jess Spiers
- 300: Six Years, 300 Episodes, and a New Name: Introducing Coaching Voices with Smaranda Dochia, Maxine Bell and Rob Lawrence
- 299: Creating Safe Spaces for Men with Jamie Robins
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The AC Podcast podcast page.