When OLGA MCCARROLL showed us around her home in Pui O for our Summer issue this year, she mentioned that she was a former lawyer and neuroscientist turned executive life coach in Hong Kong. Here, we find out more about why and how she made that switch, and how she helps others struggling with their own careers or just general life challenges.
Tell us a bit about your career trajectory and making the change to now being a life coach in Hong Kong.
My complicated and winding road of a career is exactly why I became a coach!
I have always loved science and graduated university with a degree in neuroscience in 2005 – a time when focus on mental health was next to non-existent and things like “cognitive bias” or “dopamine” were far from people’s hearts and minds. I was fascinated with what I was learning and yet had no idea what I could actually do with that degree. The options presented by career counsellors seemed entirely binary: either go to medical school or become a researcher/academic. I very nearly did go to medical school, but instead I became a lawyer.
I worked for over a decade as an international commercial litigator across London, Paris, Geneva and offshore, advising massive corporations as well as high-net-worth individuals in major global disputes involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
But by 2023, I’d had enough. In the high-pressure cooker of a corporate environment, very few people were truly happy or fulfilled. Above all, I’d stopped liking the person I‘d become.
After hiring my own life coach, it became clear as day that what I ought to be doing is combining my knowledge and passion for neuroscience and psychology with my experience in the corporate world to help professionals lead more fulfilling lives on their own terms.
My vision for the future is for every hard-working, intelligent, driven, curious individual to be doing exactly what inspires them in life!
What are some of the life challenges your clients are facing?
The issue with professions like law, medicine and finance is that they swallow you whole. I felt it myself and see this time and time again with my clients: you step onto the travelator of law school, medical school or an MBA, you get snatched up by the big law firms or the big four accountancy or consultancy firms or the top hospitals and then, provided you do what you’re told, you progress almost by inertia through your career to some senior position. The next thing you know, you’re 39 and rarely if ever do you stop and take stock of where you are, whether you want to be there, or whether it’s working for you.
So, what I do is help people slow down to speed up… in the right direction, this time.
Most of my clients are professionals over 35 years old. They hail from all corners of the world, including the UK, USA, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia, and of course Hong Kong.
What is your life coaching approach or methodology?
My approach is influenced by my love of science, human psychology and philosophy. My toolkit is multi-disciplinary, and my outlook is entirely global. I am a deep empath, but I speak with radical candour to ensure my clients make the mental breakthroughs they need to address core issues holding them back and make progress.
We’re all beautifully flawed with many a blind spot. I listen and ask questions until you gain new positive perspectives and feel supported and empowered to make the necessary changes in your life. The approach is customised to each client and their needs.
The key, however, is my clients’ attitudes. Every one of them considers coaching with me as an invaluable investment in themselves for long-term growth. Just like with personal training, no amount of reading or ruminating about getting a six-pack will result in an actual six pack. You need to put in the work to see real results, and my clients do.
How does a typical session look?
There’s no such thing as a typical session. I could be helping one client secure a new job – working on her CV or preparing her for an interview, for example, or helping a senior barrister deal with his junior by working through a particular scenario; or it could be helping a teacher expand her horizons about business ownership so she can open her own yoga studio. It all depends on the client and where we are in the process.
Where a client has a particular problem to solve, I would typically do four to eight sessions over a period of two to six months. If they require ongoing support, I do a yearly retainer where we meet consistently and work through challenges as they arise.
What do you hope your clients take away from their sessions?
I ask all my clients for feedback, so I know exactly what they take away from a session – for example, better clarity of who they are as people, their values, and what they want from life, a renewed sense of excitement for the future, and a feeling of empowerment about achieving their own version of success.
What do you enjoy most about being a life coach?
I love seeing my clients succeed on their own terms. I am with them for significant periods of time, and I have the honour of becoming their advisor and confidant through what is often a stressful time filled with tension and internal turmoil. Seeing them grow, gain clarity and become more confident, gain real practical life skills, and achieve their goals means the world to me. I stay in touch with many of them long after our formal coaching engagement has ended.
Have you had any major influences on your work?
I was fortunate in my early career to work at various Harvard affiliated hospitals (including the world-renowned McLean Hospital) and see extraordinarily talented neurologists in action. Seeing how they treated severely troubled patients with grace, patience, kindness and empathy (à la Oliver Sacks) made a huge impression on me.
Today, I’m inspired by the works of many brilliant scientists, including mental health physician and trauma specialist Gabor Maté, organisational psychologist Adam Grant, Esther Perel with her nuanced insight on human relationships, and Daniel Lieberman who opened my eyes on the problem of mismatch diseases.
Lovers and haters
Olga says that while she assists with a wide range of life challenges, most of her life coaching clients fall into two key categories. Here’s how she approaches their very different concerns.
#1 Those who love their careers
“I help them do it better and progress through the ranks or set up on their own. This involves helping them navigate all the intricacies of their professional relationships, team dynamics, presentation, leadership skills, business acumen, career progression, business development, confidence, infinite mindset – you name it.”
#2 Those who hate their careers
“I help them pivot to something they love. We work to understand the client’s loves, hates, skills, passions and aptitudes, consider all the relevant life circumstances, and make a plan for transitioning out of the career they’re in now to where they want to be.”
Find out more at olgamccarroll.com and email olga.mccarroll@gmail.com to schedule a two-hour complimentary preliminary consultation.
This article on a life coach in Hong Kong first appeared in the Autumn 2025 issue of Expat Living magazine. You can purchase the latest issue or subscribe so you never miss a copy!
