About the Soul's Calling® Academy
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You Were Born With a Purpose. We Help You Remember It.
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Soul's Calling Academy is where women come to rediscover themselves, unearth their sacred work, and step boldly into the life that has been waiting for them all along.
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Your purpose in life is to BE YOU.
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Fully. Authentically. Unflinchingly. Unapologetically.
But so many of us spend our lives trying to be somebody else.Â
At midlife, you can’t fake it anymore. You’ll feel an angst, a divine discontent, a yearning for something more.
Sometimes this yearning is initiated by an outer event – but so often it’s an inner dissatisfaction that is hard to name.
It’s a call from the soul.
A call for congruence. A call to be the same on the outside as you are on the inside.
Our work is to help purpose-seeking women who have tried to fit in for most of their lives, but they know they are different. They know that they came here to do something, but they don’t know what it is.
And when they are approaching their third act, their children are grown, and they are close to retirement age they know that the time is now to claim that unanswered calling.
We’re your midlife midwife.
We help you to re-discover who you are now, create & do your “work of heart”, overcome the cultural programming that keeps you stuck, and re-write your story as the powerful woman you’ve become.
Women are creating a new story for the world as we age, sharing our gifts and facilitating the transformation of the planet.
Our job is to help you become who you were always meant to be.
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Hi, I'm Bev Barnes, Master Life Coach, Coach Mentor & Purpose Discover Coach. Â

My Story: A Journey to Sacred Work
I spent much of my life trying to fit in, not make waves, and stay unseen. I believed it wasn’t safe to be visible—and I had plenty of evidence to support that belief.
I’m a Black Canadian woman, born in England to Jamaican parents. My husband is French Canadian. My son is mixed race and perfectly bilingual. My bonus son and daughter-in-law live in Crete, Greece.
I’ve lived in Derby, England; Montreal, Amos, and Gatineau, Quebec; and Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario. Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked virtually with hundreds of clients across the U.S. and worldwide.
Despite all that, I’ve never felt like I fully belonged anywhere—except maybe Mexico.
My life’s theme has been pretending to fit in while knowing, deep down, that I don’t.
Painfully shy as a child, and mostly silent until I was eleven, always observing human nature, I was fascinated by what makes people tick.
Growing up as an immigrant and a Black girl in an all-white environment, I appeared to fit in, but I knew I was different.
And then after university, when I entered the job-market, every job felt wrong.
I craved meaningful work—"helping" work—but it never seemed to pay enough.
So, I followed the corporate path, where I couldn’t fully express myself or find purpose.
But divine discontent kept nudging me, trying to guide me toward the life I was meant to live. I had to get truly miserable before I started listening.
My Real Life Began
My real life began when a few things happened at once: A relationship ended. I became a mother, and I was downsized from a job I’d been too afraid to quit.
It was my volcano moment when I had to dare to decide to stop being who other people wanted me to be – to choose myself, and to start being who I was always meant to be.
That’s when I dared to choose my sacred work—motherhood, coaching, facilitating, and helping people see the beauty of who they are.
No longer driven by the need to fit in, to avoid criticism, or to be "good", I found the myself
What I Learned—and What I TeachÂ
- Coping with misery keeps you stuck; it won’t lead you to your right life.
- A lifetime spent fitting in makes you forget who you truly are.
- You have a purpose, and you can find it if you allow yourself to feel your divine discontent rather than ignore it.
- Your purpose is to BE you—fully, authentically, unapologetically.
- If you’re not congruent—if your outer life doesn’t match your inner truth—you’ll never discover your sacred work.
I struggled to find my purpose because I wasn’t being me.
I didn’t know how. I didn’t know who I was and I’d learned to that it wasn’t safe to be seen.
When I was growing up, standing out as a Black person in a white society was dangerous.
As bell hooks said:
“Sometimes people try to destroy you precisely because they recognize your power—not because they don’t see it, but because they see it and don’t want it to exist.”
Many of us have been gaslit into questioning our own value.
We’ve dimmed our dazzling light.
But when I finally saw who I was beneath the camouflage, I realized that not doing my sacred work would be betraying my soul.
So I embraced my light.
I started doing what I was born to do: facilitating renewal, helping YOU, shining lights with deep purpose to stop being invisible, to see yourself clearly, and to embrace your light.
It’s what I can’t NOT do. That’s what you get from me—as your coach, teacher, mentor, or friend.
My Work Today
In 2016, I renamed my business the Soul’s Calling® Academy to reflect our mission: coaching, training, and mentoring purpose-seekers—helpers, healers, teachers, leaders, and guides. Women who know they’re here to contribute but need support shifting from survival work to sacred work.
Credentials & Experience
- Master’s Degree in Psychoeducation.
- Graduate Diploma in Brief and Strategic Therapy.
- Graduate Training in Career Development & Group Facilitation.
- Former Member, Professional Order of Guidance & Career Counselors of Quebec.
- Life Coach & Master Life Coach Certification (Dr. Martha Beck).
- Certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Practitioner.
- Certified Sparketype® Advisor.
I’ve held management roles in quasi-government organizations, creating national programs in Disability Management and Organizational Transition. I’ve facilitated healing and professional development programs on Cree and Algonquin First Nations reserves. As a sessional instructor for the Indigenous Studies program at the University of Quebec, I taught management, human sciences, career development, and education—always receiving recognition for teaching excellence.
I spent over a decade as a Master Coach Instructor in Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coach Training program, consistently earning praise for my leadership, authenticity, and compassion.
Since 2008, I’ve run my own online coaching, mentoring, and training business. I’ve created and led retreats, workshops, and programs that have helped hundreds of people find their true direction and embark on their own soul’s calling journey.
Why This Matters
I know it’s possible to create your "work of heart"—to be who you were always meant to be—despite the challenges you’ve faced. We’re here to support you as you do this.
Because that’s how we change the world: one soul at a time.

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