How do you build peer-led support for parents and what does it take to step into supervision as a coach? In this episode, Sarah Bramall and Rebecca Daniels welcome Penny Phillips, founder of the Parent Village and newly qualified coaching supervisor. Penny shares her evolution from community development in the public sector to leading a charity supporting parents, especially those facing isolation or significant challenges like cancer or parenting neurodivergent children. She recounts building peer-led and co-designed support, the vital role of coaching in her approach, and her motivation for training as a supervisor with The Coaching Catalysts.
Together, they discuss why supervision is essential for coaches, what it means to hold practitioners safely, and how group learning shapes both professional growth and system change. Plus honest reflections about imposter moments, learning through community, and the power of lived experience.
Highlights:
01:00 Meet our guest – Penny Phillips
03:22 From community development to the birth of the Parent Village
04:06 Weight Watchers, open questions, and discovering coaching
06:11 Running parent-led peer support during the pandemic
08:02 Supporting vulnerable parents and founding the Parent Village
09:08 What does the Parent Village look like now?
12:29 Planning groups for neurodivergent children and solo parents
13:20 Peer coaching, National Lottery funding, and local wellbeing courses
14:25 Building and sustaining your own 'village' as a parent
16:13 Importance of community and informal support networks
17:01 Supervision helps hold facilitators safely
19:25 Supervision as a space for sharing mistakes and growth
21:05 The power of cohort learning and professional community
22:36 Gaining confidence and realising "I am good at this"
23:07 Supervision as a multiplier
26:35 Why all coaches should experience supervision
27:50 Improving leadership, and confidence through supervision
28:50 Love of learning and ongoing development
30:16 Two-word checkout
Key words:
Community, Coaching Supervision, Peer-led, Parenting Support, Collaboration, Reflective Practice, Group Learning, Leadership
Connect with us here:
Website: https://www.thecoachingcatalysts.com
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Work with us:
Find out more about our supervision service: https://page.thecoachingcatalysts.com/the-collective
Train to become a professional coach supervisor: https://page.thecoachingcatalysts.com/supervision-diploma
For ICF mentoring: https://page.thecoachingcatalysts.com/icf-mentor-coaching
Book a call: https://tidycal.com/coachingcatalysts/explorationcall
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Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecoachingcatalysts
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecoachingcatalysts_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecoachingcatalysts
Sarah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahbramallcoaching/
Rebecca: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrebecca/
And our Whatsapp:
https://wa.me/15557022689
About Penny Phillips:
Penny Phillips is a coach, supervisor and community-builder who believes deeply in people and the power of connection. As Founder of The Parent Village, she works alongside parents to support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. A mission rooted in both her professional expertise and her lived experience as a mum of two.
With over 25 years in public and voluntary sector leadership, Penny helps leaders and teams create cultures where people feel safe, energised and able to do their best work. Her approach is grounded, warm and refreshingly relatable from founding community cook-and-eat projects to launching her own granola brand, she knows the magic that happens when people gather, and her workshops feel just like that: nourishing, joyful and full of real conversation.
Connect with Penny:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/penny-phillips/
Website: www.theparentvillage.org.uk
