About
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If you've found your way here, there's a good chance you're searching for something more.
More purpose, more clarity, more alignment, or simply reassurance that change is possible.
The life you see today didn't happen overnight. It was built one small step at a time. At sixteen, I was homeless on the streets of Vancouver, navigating adversity and ADHD without the tools or support to understand what I was experiencing.
There were times when simply getting through the day felt like too much. What changed my life wasn't a breakthrough moment or a perfect plan. It was learning to take the next step, and then the next. Then the next.
Small choices, repeated over time, became the foundation for everything that followed.
Today, I am a registered nurse, author, speaker, and creator of The REAL Success™ Framework. Through my work, I help people move from survival to fulfillment by reconnecting with their purpose, navigating change with courage, and building lives that feel meaningful from the inside out.
I hope you find something here that reminds you of your own capacity to grow.
Always in your corner,
Professional Bio
Ness Mickey is a registered nurse, author, speaker, and creator of The REAL Success™ Framework: Rooted in Purpose, Evolve with Life, Align Your Energy, and Live Fulfilled. Drawing from a unique combination of frontline healthcare experience, leadership, and lived adversity, she helps people navigate change, build resilience, and create lives guided by purpose, alignment, and fulfillment.
After experiencing homelessness as a teenager, Ness spent years rebuilding her life one step at a time. That journey ultimately led her into healthcare, where she has spent more than a decade supporting people through some of life's most vulnerable moments. Her experiences reinforced a belief that now sits at the center of her work: resilience is not something we're born with, it's something we build.
Ness graduated from nursing in 2019, receiving the BCNU North-East Region Award for Leadership, and completed her Emergency Nursing Specialty at BCIT with distinction. As an emergency nurse serving communities across Northern Canada, she has worked at the intersection of high-acuity care, system challenges, and human resilience, advocating for both patients and healthcare professionals from the front lines.
She is the author of Resilience in Residence, a memoir and guide to rebuilding after adversity, burnout, trauma, and life's unexpected detours. Through her writing, speaking, and advocacy, Ness gives language to experiences many people struggle to describe, helping others rebuild self-trust, reconnect with their purpose, and move forward with courage.
Today, her work focuses on resilience, identity, leadership, and humanity within the systems we live and work in, particularly healthcare. She is a strong vocal advocate for change, universal safety, and a more human-centered approach to care.
Whether speaking from a stage, writing from personal experience, or caring for patients at the bedside, Ness's message remains the same: your circumstances may shape who you are, but they do not get to decide who you become.
Notes from the author
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