Training with Heart
“Subtle, soulful and sublime, Mel offers a unique opportunity to stop, think and enquire of oneself.” Ododo Dafe, BHCC
As well as running Lunar Lemon Retreats, writing novels and singing at the Savoy, Mel has been designing and delivering innovative training programmes with Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence at their heart for major organisations like Easyjet Airline and The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea since 1997.
What’s Different about Lunar Lemon Training
Some organisations employ actors to liven things up, others bring in psychologists to improve communication and wellbeing. Mel does it all.
Mel was a performer who retrained as a Drama and Movement Therapist and set up her own business, Creative Edge, in 1996. She developed her own cutting edge training method and was soon snapped up by EasyJet airline, where she designed and delivered 2.5 day residential customer care courses for the entire ground staff, which are still talked about to this day!
What gets in the way of change is often how people feel about their situation, rather than what they think. This is where Mel excels.”
Chris Goscombe, Head of People and Culture, Easyjet Airline
Mel then moved on to design and deliver bespoke change initiatives at every level of organisations big and small during the 90s and noughties in the public and private sector.
Mel’s current area of interest is the Yin and Yang of communication and leadership and how mindfulness and yoga can be deployed to enrich and inform more traditional training initiatives.
”I’ve been working for Brighton Council for 20 years. Mel’s two day course is by far the best, most useful and most interesting training course I’ve ever attended.”
Mel stepped back from training for a few years in 2017 to write a novel and develop Lunar Lemon Retreats but now she’s back! Her aim is to help people recover and flourish following the Pandemic by working with enlightened leaders who truly believe in supporting and empowering their people as well as improving performance and productivity.
“Complex Concepts delivered in a fun way which makes them real… “
Qualifications: BA (Hons) French and Italian, Bristol University, MA Drama and Movement Therapy from Central School of Speech and Drama, MA in Creative Writing and Authorship from Sussex University, Diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling from Regents’s College, London, Diploma in Organisational Constellations.
Case studies
EasyJet Airline - In at the Deep End
Shortly after graduating with an MA in Drama and Movement Therapy from Central School of Speech and Drama in 1997, Mel set up “Creative Edge” with fellow graduate, Milly. They cooked up a leaflet, cold-called fearlessly and almost immediately landed a big contract with Easyjet Airline. At that time Easyjet was a collection of portakabins outside Luton Airport going through very rapid change and wanting to grow without losing their creativity and zest. Mel and Milly were employed to lead two day residential trainings in Customer Care for the entire ground staff in Luton and Geneva. This was followed by 3 years of contracts including leading an envisioning day for the Board, setting up a mentoring system and running the management development programme.
Kensington and Chelsea Council - 18 years of Change
Mel led RBKC’s most successful and popular 2 day course ever - Assertion Skills - for 18 years. She became a trusted training consultant for the entire organisation and trained hundreds of staff members in numerous departments including Planning, Parking, Housing and Benefits at all levels in communication skills, conflict management, stress reduction and customer care. One of her favourite interventions was being learning and development coach for the amazing leadership team of a fantastic children’s home in Notting Hill.
Other clients include Virgin Atlantic Airways, the NHS, the Derngate Theatre, Brighton and Hove City Council.
During Lockdown Mel ran an online corporate Wellness programme for a firm of patent lawyers in York.
Areas of Expertise
Non-Violent Communication, Transactional Analysis, Mindfulness, Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Management, Creativity.
Qualifications
BA in French and Italian from University of Bristol. Diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling from Regent’s College, London. MA in Drama and Movement Therapy from Central School of Speech and Drama. MA in Authorship and Creative Writing, Sussex University.
Courses
Every course is bespoke and tailored to objectives and time available. However these are tried and tested ‘ready to go’ courses Mel has delivered over many years:
Assertion Skills (2 days), Manager as Effective Communicator (2.5 days), Manager as Coach (1.5 days) Train the Trainer (2.5 days) , Mindfulness for stress reduction (1.5 days) , Communication Skills and Transactional Analysis level 1, 2 and 3.