We got a chance to sit down with Seattle based self-awareness coach Michelle Preston. She specializes in educating men in the dating space and empowering them to see romance from a women’s perspective.
- Tell us about your background getting to where you are today? After years of dating and working with men, I realized that so many of them are so lost. I attribute it to the same things that affect women, such as lack of support or positive influences. But men are further compromised because they lack the avenues to express themselves (our culture isn’t supportive of this). I realized that there is so much pain and trauma, and men don’t have any awareness around it. They tend to shove down their emotions and refuse to process them because they don’t know (or have an awareness of) how deeply these things affect them. They’ve been raised to believe that boys don’t cry (toxic masculinity) and as adults, are completely unaware of how they show up. I’ve been friends with and dated many men in my life, and this is a pattern I’ve seen so many times. They don’t know what they don’t know, and it creates all kinds of issues in their lives that they aren’t aware of.
- Where are you from? Born and raised in the PNW, Bothell, Washington. I currently live in Snohomish, WA.
- When did you start your business? I’ve been working with men in an unprofessional capacity my whole life. I believe I started to get really involved in this work after my separation from my husband in 2015, but have only been heavily on this track for the past year and a half. I didn’t know what to do with the knowledge I had and that’s why I started writing a book. Then it became clear to me that coaching/teaching would be extremely valuable.
- How did you get into entrepreneurship? Being unsatisfied with corporate life started my journey into entrepreneurship. I’ve had side jobs since I was in my early 20’s, always pursuing creative jobs on the side and corporate jobs full-time. But the truth is, corporate life sucked the soul out of me. I’ve never been a rule follower and I certainly never wanted someone else to benefit off of my talents. Self-employment is where I belong because it resonates so deeply with who I am. I enjoy being in charge of my life in all aspects, doing what I want and feel is necessary, and most importantly, never having a capped earning potential.
- What is the most challenging thing you have overcome in your life? Overcoming the challenges of divorce with two small children and opening and operating my own company with no support was probably the hardest challenge I’ve overcome. I couldn’t tell you how I did it, I just did it. I had no choice but to make it, and I’m happy to say that I did.
- Are you currently working on any new projects product wise? Product wise, I’m working on finalizing my book and intend to start creating online courses.
- Who inspires you most as an entrepreneur? Elon Musk and Sara Blakely.
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