Margaret’s Mission to Help Women Turn their Pain into Purpose.
Plumbridge-based Margaret Kelly fulfilled a long-held ambition to become a life coach through the international Napoleon Hill Institute and has set up her own coaching business to help women become the best versions of themselves.
By Maureen Coleman
Growing up in Nairobi, Margaret Kelly felt constrained by societal norms and self-limiting beliefs. Women were assigned a role to play in the background and chasing dreams was not on the list, so she learned to keep her dreams and ambitions to herself.
Before moving to Co Tyrone, Margaret worked in a small photography studio in Mombasa and after many years of hard work she won Fashion Photographer at the Kenya Fashion Awards. When she relocated to Northern Ireland there wasn’t as big a demand for fashion photography, so she evolved her skills set and began to design bold African prints, sewing face masks to begin with, then expanding her range to tote bags as a way of dealing with grief after the loss of her mother during the covid Pandemic.
For three consecutive years, Margaret showcased her Rafiki collection at the annual One World festival event sponsored by Derry City and Strabane District Council, winning several accolades. She used the name Rafiki from the Swahili word for ‘friend’ a nod to the local community in Plumbridge, who had supported and welcomed her with open arms.
In 2018 after falling in love with Plumbridge man Paul J Kelly, he introduced Margaret to the world of personal development. Paul had begun taking an online personal development programme at the Napoleon Hill Institute to become a certified coach.
One night as she was sewing, she overheard in the background that Cliona O’Hara, the CEO of Napoleon Hill Institute based in the States, was planning a conference in her native city in Derry. This sparked Margaret’s interest, for she was keen to know more about coaching and personal development and often listened in when Paul was studying online. When Margaret heard that great news, she decided to attend the conference.
Sitting in a packed room in Ebrington Hotel, Margaret, who was fascinated by the concept of mindset coaching and hoped to study it herself, listened keenly to Cliona O’Hara speak about the timeless proven success principles of Napoleon Hill. After a short while she asked the audience for a volunteer to take part in a live coaching demonstration. Before her old fears and self-doubts could come flooding back, Margaret’s hand shot up and she was immediately invited to the stage.
“I remember thinking ‘This is my moment. No one is going to take this away from me’,” recalls Margaret.
“Normally, I wouldn’t have made the first move. I would have cared too much about what other people might say. But I raised my hand anyway and the next thing, I was up there with Cliona.
“I told her that I had always wanted to be a mindset coach, that she was a role model and that I wanted to empower and inspire women around the world to know their worth.”
There was an obstacle in her way though, the course fees and Margaret’s dream seemed impossible. Not only did that moment of bravery see the fashion photographer and designer step outside of her comfort zone, but it also led to her being granted a scholarship to study at the Napoleon Hill Institute and become a certified coach. She believes her passion and bravery in putting herself out there, helped her cause and it taught her a vital lesson of persistence and to not let negative self-talk hold her back.
Margaret is now a certified Mindset Coach and has since set up Margaret Kelly Coaching. She is embarking on a mission to help other women become the best versions of themselves regardless of their circumstances and turn their pain into purpose.
“When I was growing up in Nairobi, you couldn’t really dream big because people would say ‘Who do you think you are?’, particularly if you were a woman,” explains Margaret.
“I had no people around me who shared my vision and having role models is critical in personal development.
“As an African woman, society leads women to believe that their place is behind the scenes, that women don’t have a voice, and I think those self-limiting beliefs held me back.
“But Napoleon Hill proclaims that whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve and I want other women to believe that as well.”
Margaret now runs her own coaching business, offering one-to-one coaching, group coaching and mentorship programmes. Using the Napoleon Hill principles, she aims to help women find their purpose, set clear goals, break limiting beliefs and become the best version of themselves.
Margaret strongly believes that our struggles can become the very thing that empower us. She has had her fair share of pain, the loss of loved ones, close friends due to suicide and mental health issues. She endeavours to take something positive from every negative situation she’s been through. And her purpose as a coach is to ‘help women turn their pain into purpose.”
“That pain does not define us but can only refine us,” she says quoting Napoleon Hill.
“Every adversity, every failure, every heartbreak lies within a seed of equal or greater benefit.’
As well as being a Mindset coach and inspirational speaker, Margaret has also contributed to an international best-selling book, EMPOWHER, a collection of 22 women from all over the world committed to growth and transformation, sharing stories of resilience and overcoming adversity. Margaret’s chapter shares her own journey of finding strength through her life experiences and learning to say no. She is open for speaking engagement bookings and hopes to write her own memoir. Given her determination and sense of purpose, there’s no doubt she will achieve this goal too.
Away from her work, Margaret is a member of a local theatre group in Plumbridge called The Glenelly Players and enjoys dancing, music and theatre performances.
Margaret is committed to using the personal development principles and tools that she has learned to fulfil her definite major purpose, to inspire and empower women from all over the world to turn their pain into purpose. She credits her husband Paul for being a key part of her transformational journey.
