Michelle Thompson
Michelle Thompson, MBA, PMP, CLC is the Founder of Empowering You Life Strategies, where she serves as a transformational life coach, life strategist, podcaster, and speaker. She partners with individuals seeking clarity, growth, and meaningful change, providing strategy, structure, and support to help clients overcome obstacles and expand their impact. Through a holistic coaching approach, Michelle guides clients in examining thought patterns, identifying limiting beliefs, and intentionally designing a future aligned with their values and purpose.
With a strong foundation in corporate leadership, project, and program management, Michelle brings a distinctive blend of strategic rigor and compassionate guidance to her coaching practice. Her professional background includes leading complex, high-impact initiatives across healthcare, retail, and global organizations, managing multimillion-dollar programs, and driving organizational change at the executive level. This experience enables her to help clients break down ambitious goals into achievable steps, maintain momentum, and translate vision into sustainable results.
Michelle is deeply passionate about empowering women to step into their next chapter with confidence and intention. She is motivated by witnessing transformation in her clients—seeing them grow, reclaim their voice, and create fulfilling personal and professional lives. A graduate of Wake Forest University School of Business, Michelle continues to give back through leadership, speaking, and community involvement, using her expertise to inspire others to trust the process, embrace growth, and lead lives of purpose and impact.
• How Leaders Can Motivate Others by Creating Meaning
• Developing Executive Presence
• Wake Forest University School of Business
• Guilford College
• President's Award of Excellence Nominee 2011
• President's Award of Excellence Finalist 2010
• Fellowship Hall
• PMI, Project Management Institute
• American Heart Association
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to having the courage to walk away from what felt guaranteed in order to create the life I truly wanted. Choosing growth over comfort allowed me to take intentional risks, stay aligned with my values, and build a path that reflects both purpose and fulfillment.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest opportunities in my field right now is the ability for entrepreneurs to redefine success on their own terms, even amid uncertainty and constant change. The challenge is staying committed when outcomes aren’t immediate. My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to stick with it—self-motivate, trust the process, and understand that results come in time. Believing in your own second act can make all the difference.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in my work and personal life are growth, purpose, and empowerment. What truly fuels me is witnessing the transformation in my clients—seeing other women grow, step into their potential, and find fulfillment is incredibly rewarding and reinforces why I do the work I do.