About – Sean Bailey Wellness CIC

About Sean Bailey Wellness

Sean Bailey Wellness was founded as a Community Interest Company in 2020, inspired by the recovery from spinal cord injury and mental illness of Sean.

Broken neck, 9 hours of surgery, 3 days in a coma, 7 months in hospital with a prognosis of “Never Walking Again” did not stop recovery.

Sean Bailey Wellness CIC uses this adversity, experiences and knowledge gained throughout recovery and beyond, to inspire and support others to achieve their potential.

“We cannot change the world but we believe we can change the world of every person who works with us”

About Sean

I am Sean Bailey, I am 38 years old and I have been practicing coaching in many forms for over 20 years. My life has taken me to places of real difficulty and self coaching got me through some very tough times.

Coaching started for me in the Corporate world, employed at 18 I was tasked with a large project that involved a significant amount of coaching. I was given the TAO of Coaching, a book by Max Landsberg, the fundamentals in that book have stayed with me on my coaching journey ever since.

In 2005, at 22 years old, I suffered a life changing injury whilst playing sport. I broke and dislocated my C5 and C6 vertebrae, breaking my neck and severely damaging my spinal cord and various spinal discs.

Long and very complex surgery followed and from there I was placed in an induced coma and was hospitalised for almost 7 months.

Remarkable Recovery

Upon transfer to a spinal cord injury rehabilitation unit I was categorically told that, “I would never walk again.”

Enter self coaching.

My rehabilitation ‘ripped up the manual’ and I walked out of hospital several months later with a variety of walking aids, crutches, splints and supports.

Rehabilitation was tough, however self coaching on the principles; of maximum physical activity, achieve 8 hours of sleep, optimise hydration and try to take in high quality nutrition, played a vital role in my successful recovery.

At every stage of my journey during my 7 months of hospital life, sleeping well, eating with purpose, being physically active and ensuring I was correctly hydrated were of upmost priority.

The rehabilitation was tough, however self coaching on several key principles; activity, sleep, hydration and nutrition, played a vital role in my successful recovery.

Award Winning Coaching

Coaching in sport has taken me around the world earning significant success at international and national level.

It wasn’t sport that led to my first experience of coaching, it was the corporate sector and at 18 years old I was delivering structured coaching on software and application changes to senior members of a global organisation.

In 2007 I undertook my first formal piece of coaching education within the sport of football, the sport that changed my identity to a disabled person.

Following further national and international success, worldwide recognition of being a trailblazer in disability football, I was awarded the BBC Sport Get Inspired Unsung Hero Award in 2017 for my work within disability sport.

Overcoming Adversity

Despite a long journey of physical recovery, the consideration of what was happening inside my head following the trauma of serious injury wasn’t a thing, mental health didn’t exist, or did it?

Inside I was struggling, the first few months after returning home were wonderful but things soon changed.

I had come from an area of deprivation, alcohol played a significant role in many lives, including my own family and talking about mental health just wasn’t the thing ‘done.’ But I was done.

Addiction, anxiety, self harm, depression all followed the diagnosis of PTSD but it wasn’t until 2017 that I finally spoke about my mental health challenges.

Bereavements, spinal cord injury, disability, flashbacks, regret, substance misuse, thoughts of suicide, everything came to a head and speaking about it was the first step.

Hello self coaching again.

Recovery number two, applying my key principles from spinal cord injury; sleep, hydration, activity and nutrition.

I will always be a on a journey of recovery, striving to be better, always looking to have better physical and mental health….. I know my limits, or do I?

FOUNDING SEAN BAILEY WELLNESS CIC

My life and career in the private sector spanned 21 years, working for world class and renowned organisations.

I witnessed and personally experienced so many stories of shocking health and wellbeing in the workplace, from organisational culture to personal challenges with very little done to actually provoke positive change. These experiences were an early driver for the concept of Sean Bailey Wellness.

Growing up on a council estate in an old coal mining town instilled values into me that have undoubtedly supported my recovery experiences, however living within a poor socio economic area, illness and health inequality was common place. Living with these experiences has always driven me to be the change that sparks the change and improve the health and wellbeing of individuals in whatever way we can.

We are passionate about utilising our professional expertise and experience to help others, whether working within organisations or supporting individuals, we are here to support and improve the health and wellbeing of others.

Using Professional Coaching, Neuro-Linguistic Programming blended with our experience as a Personal Trainer, Sleep Coach and Mental Health trainer, we can offer a truly exceptional support programme.

These experiences have led me to today where I can confidently and openly talk about my lived experience of trauma, mental illness and recovery.