Meet the Coach

Introducing Samantha Mackey

My journey with young people began when I was just eight years old, helping out at Bo-Peep Nursery School, the magical space my mum created. I spent the next decade learning how to settle little ones, play with purpose, and tune in to what children really need. That experience laid the foundation for everything that's followed.

Driven by a deep curiosity about how we think, feel, and relate to one another, I went on to study Psychology at the University of Bristol. Alongside my studies, I spent much of my free time volunteering with children’s charities like Barnardo’s, supporting schools for children with additional needs—emotional, physical, and social—and supporting creative projects such as Notting Hill Carnival costume making, as part of an inner-city youth project. The most challenging and formative of these experiences was my time in Mongolia, working in an orphanage and children’s hospital in Ulan Bator. Each of these moments shaped how I see the world and deepened my understanding of the different ways young people experience it.

After graduating, I joined a top management consultancy to gain invaluable life and business experience—and to meet my husband, it would turn out. Despite being drawn to the pace and the people, I couldn’t ignore the pull back to working with children. I furthered my training at University College London, gaining my teaching qualification (PGCE), and went on to teach in a number of vibrant, colourful schools—each one shaping the down-to-earth, intuitive educator and coach I am today.

After becoming a mother myself, I opened my own nursery - Bo-Peep West London—a nurturing, creative nursery that brought together my love of teaching, emotional connection, and business. It quickly became a home-away-from-home for so many families. Over time, I found myself supporting parents and children in ways that went beyond education—I was instinctively beginning to coach, offering a listening ear, guidance, and emotional support during some of their trickier moments. But I became increasingly drawn to what was happening beneath the surface—to the emotional lives of the children and families I worked with, and the need for something more.

Now, as an Ollie Coach, I support young people, teens and parents, specialising in emotional wellbeing — whether it’s anxiety, confidence, stress, anger, overwhelm or phobias. My approach is grounded in empathy and empowerment, with not an ounce of judgment in sight (I’ve seen and heard it all). Drawing on my broad background with children and young people, I add a relaxed, flexible, and playful tone, with a clear focus on building resilience, confidence, and making lasting, positive change.

To get in contact with Sam please email s.mackey@ollieandhissuperpowers.com