A County Durham-based entrepreneur is utilising her expertise in educational psychology in a new business venture designed to offer specialist supervision, coaching and training to support leaders, business owners and psychologists.
Founder Maxine Caine is an Educational Psychologist with more than two decades of psychology experience under her belt. Having initially trained as a teacher, Maxine has worked with a number of initiatives – including the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes (C4EO) and the Wellbeing Education Return Project.
Maxine launched Max Purpose Psychology in 2022 as a way to promote authenticity, learning, collaboration and trust within the education sector.
Maxine comments: “Educational Psychologists have broad skillsets. We can work at an individual child or family level, through schools or at an organisational level. Often, our skills aren’t fully utilised. I wanted to create a way to use my skills that helps as many people as possible. That’s why I set up Max Purpose Psychology.”
“I often talk about the Japanese concept of ‘ikigai’, which is the idea of finding the place where your happiness, skills and values intersect. If you imagine a Venn diagram that includes what you’re good at, what you enjoy, what you think the world needs, and what you get paid for, the place where these things overlap is ikigai, and that’s where you find your purpose in life.”
“Max Purpose Psychology is the intersection for me – it allows me to do the work I enjoy and that I’m good at in a way that helps other people.”
The business was supported by the Durham Ambitious Startups (DABS) programme, an ERDF-funded programme that aimed to help high-quality North East start-ups begin trading, providing premium quality support during the pre-start phase and critical first 12 months of trading. DABS was delivered by Business Durham, with support from delivery partners TEDCO, UMi and Candle Digital.
Maxine continues: “I can’t sing DABS’ praises highly enough. It’s changed my life and given me the knowledge I need to run my own business with confidence. At the start, I knew very little about going it alone as a business, but now I feel like I’ve learned a whole new language. It can be quite isolating running a business, but DABS showed me the importance of building up a strong network, both online and in real life.”
Maxine’s “warm, empathetic and caring” approach, as described by one client, is helping Max Purpose Psychology go from strength to strength.
Judith Wheatley, DABS and TEDCO Business Advisor, comments: “Maxine is already establishing herself as a trusted and professional supervisor and advisor for those in the education sector. The testimonials speak for themselves, and it’s great to see Max Purpose helping people in the North East get the support they’re looking for. Maxine’s experience, knowledge and approachability are all evident in her work, and it was a pleasure to provide the support she needed to get her business up and running. I wish her all the luck for the future.”