Coats is educated from the University of Idaho, and in 2002 graduated with a Master of Theatre Arts in Directing from Victoria University of Wellington and Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School.
[1][2] She also has a postgraduate diploma in Arts Education Management from the University of Leeds.
[6] A very popular touring production for children by Capital E that Coats directed is Seasons in 2021 first created by Peter Wilson, Laughton Pattrick (who died in 2020) and Jenny Pattrick in 2000 and Coats was one of the performers.
[7] This production honoured the memory of Peter Wilson and Laughton Pattrick.
[8] Coats received the Peter Lees-Jeffries Memorial Scholarship from the Dame Malvina Major Foundation in 2018 for professional development[9] and the Pettman DARE Fellowship at Opera North, University of Leeds in 2019.