When Cat Preston first discovered coaching, she was struck by its power to open new perspectives and spark growth. Now, as a volunteer with More Happi, she's living that transformation herself: sharpening her skills, gaining hands-on experience, and building her professional coaching development.
Each session gives her the chance to help coachees uncover clarity, confidence, and momentum in their careers, while she continues to grow as a coach. For Cat, volunteering isn't just about giving guidance - it's about being part of a journey that changes lives, including her own.
“When I look back over the year [with More Happi], it’s just been so incredibly rich in terms of the diversity of coaching needs and also the people and the professions that they’re from. It’s been really wonderful.”
Cat Preston | More Happi Volunteer Coach
Cat Preston is a qualified coach trained with IPEC in the USA, with a creative background running her own jewellery business in Hong Kong. When she moved to London, she was ready to take her coaching to the next level, focusing on professional coaching development and working toward becoming a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accredited by the ICF, which requires more than 500 hours of coaching in order to be achieved. Volunteering with More Happi gave her exactly what she was looking for: hands-on experience and real-time coachee interactions that are dynamic, engaging, and deeply fulfilling.
Cat was drawn to the More Happi platform because it does something rare in the coaching world: it makes professional guidance accessible to people who might never have had the chance to experience it. She was also looking for a community - peers who challenge, support, and cheer each other on - and found exactly that at More Happi. With our welcoming culture and hands-on opportunities for professional coaching development, More Happi quickly became the place where she could grow as a coach while making a real difference for her coachees.
"I heard about More Happi through my coach, Katie. She's a supervisor coach and she was supporting me in getting from ACC to PCC, digging into perfecting the craft of coaching. And when I said 'look, I really want more variety, a wider background of coachees,' she suggested More Happi as being really robust and kind of aligning with my values of bringing coaching to people who perhaps wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to be coached.”
“But what’s most magical is their solution. They’ve found it for themselves.”
Cat Preston | More Happi Volunteer Coach
Over the past year, Cat has racked up around 160 hours coaching a wide range of coachees from early-career professionals working on confidence and leadership skills to individuals tackling tricky workplace challenges. Volunteering has sharpened her instincts and fine-tuned her coaching abilities, helping her guide coachees to uncover their own solutions instead of just handing out advice. For Cat, the absolute best part is seeing those “aha” moments, when coachees leave a session with clarity, confidence, and even a little spark of joy.
"The moments I love are when people go from coming into a situation and we've only got 45 minutes together, and they're quite tense, stressed, overwhelmed is often the sort of sentiment that they're expressing. And by the end of the session, there's just a lightness, and I see their smile, and that tells me everything that we have done together is moving them through a process of feeling a little bit anxious about something, overwhelmed, stuck in many cases, and they can suddenly see the way forward. But what's most magical is their solution. They've found it for themselves.”
“I think what the gift of More Happi has been for me really is that I can absolutely trust my intuition and meet my coachee where they’re at.”
Cat Preston | More Happi Volunteer Coach
One of the most powerful gifts Cat has gained through volunteering with More Happi is the confidence to trust her own intuition. Early in her coaching journey, she often relied on formulaic questions, trying to anticipate what a coachee might need. Now, she has learned to truly listen and meet each coachee where they are, guiding them toward insights and solutions that come from within.
With experience across a wide range of coachees, Cat has built the confidence to know that her intuition is often exactly what's needed in the moment. It's a skill that deepens with practice, and one that has transformed both her coaching style and her professional growth, making each session more authentic, impactful, and rewarding.
“I think what the gift of More Happi has been for me really is that I can absolutely trust my intuition and meet my coachee where they're at. So whereas when I first started coaching, I was probably leaning on formulaic sets of questions that might come up, trying to anticipate. And what happens now is I understand that all I have to do is really listen and it's as if the intuition of where I can be most insightful to help the coachee do the thinking, where I can really lead them into a place where they are doing the work. I've seen it happen time and again now, and I think you almost have to have that experience just through a range of different [coachees] in order to really reassure yourself that, yeah, whatever you are intuitively feeling is needed in this moment turns out to be the right thing.”
“Right from the get go, it was easy to book in times, to find all the information you needed in one place to be able to access communication tools with coaches.”
Cat Preston | More Happi Volunteer Coach
Cat values the More Happi platform for its flexibility, ease of use, and strong support network. It lets her fit coaching seamlessly around work, travel, and life, while mentorship and practice sessions keep her professional coaching development moving forward. Even for those less confident with technology, the platform makes coaching feel smooth, approachable, and genuinely rewarding.
"What's been really impressive for me about More Happi is the platform they use and how easy it is to navigate. I'm not a particularly techy person, so things that can be really complex just drive me insane. Right from the get go, it was easy to book in times, to find all the information you needed in one place to be able to access communication tools with coaches.”
“What I really love now is that I get to work with people who are often quite early on in their careers, and I think the more we can bring a sense of coaching people, as those people go up through the ranks, they’ll become better leaders.”
Cat Preston | More Happi Volunteer Coach
One of the things Cat loves most about volunteering with More Happi is the chance to make coaching accessible to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity and how much earlier access to coaching could have shaped her own career. Now, she enjoys helping coachees—especially those early in their professional journeys—gain clarity, confidence, and self-awareness. By providing guidance and support, Cat helps people advance their talent and take meaningful steps toward growth, both personally and professionally.
"I think what I really, really respect about More Happi and the reason I was so keen to get involved is it does that thing of democratizing coaching. I came into coaching when I set up my own business in Hong Kong, but I was in my 40s and I think it was the first time I'd really encountered coaching and the power it had to just help me see things from a different point of view, to broaden my horizons, to really step into my true potential. And I remember thinking it was such a shame that I hadn't had access to this until I was 40 and wondered if I'd been in my 20s, how that might have changed my life. And so what I really love now is that I get to work with people who are often quite early on in their careers, and I think the more we can bring a sense of coaching people, as those people go up through the ranks, they'll become better leaders. They'll become leaders who use coachability as a way of helping people to step into their own potential.”
“I have got so much out of it personally, but I also think professionally it’s been a real game changer for me because I now feel that level of confidence.”
Cat Preston | More Happi Volunteer Coach
Cat's advice for anyone thinking about volunteering with More Happi is simple: just dive in. Volunteering is a chance to grow your confidence, stretch your skills, and learn in a real-world setting, all while being part of a community of supportive, like-minded coaches who cheer you on every step of the way.
"The advice I'd give to anyone who's considering More Happi is definitely give it a whirl. It's been so much more than I had considered. I have got so much out of it personally, but I also think professionally it's been a real game changer for me because I now feel that level of confidence. Even though I've never had a corporate role, I've always been in the entrepreneurial space. I now feel I understand the challenges within those corporate contexts so much better. But also I think what it really brings is that sense, if you're a freelancer, and you want to be part of an amazing community with coaches from around the world who all bring their own individuality, their own approaches, and be able to have those discussions with them. This is the place for you."
Cat Preston's journey with More Happi proves that volunteering isn't just about giving your time. It's about growth, discovery, and making a real difference. Through empathy, intuition, and thoughtful guidance, Cat helps coachees uncover clarity, confidence, and momentum, all while sharpening her own professional coaching development. Every session is a two-way street: coachees gain insight, and coaches like Cat gain experience, perspective, and fulfilment.
If Cat's story inspires you, there's never been a better time to get involved. Step into a role that challenges you, rewards you, and lets you help others feel empowered.
Apply to become a coach with More Happi today.
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