About

An international team of experts with one purpose.

Ground+Air was built with the vision to change the way organisations perceive and promote performance. At the heart of our work lies the ethos that performance and wellbeing are symbiotic and must be nurtured together to achieve healthy and sustainable success.

Our strength is rooted in the depth of experience and expertise across our team, coupled with the cutting-edge technologies and techniques that elevate our impact.

Based in the creative heart of Shoreditch in London, Ground+Air delivers sessions and programmes remotely and in-person for clients in the UK, EMEA, APAC and the US, supporting founders, boards and high-potential talent.

Our delivery and advisory team includes master coaches, development experts, performance psychologists, Olympic athletes, sleep experts, globally recognised psychotherapists, insight specialists, exercise physiologists, thought leaders and wellness experts from the worlds of business and elite sports.

Jim Brown

Founder and Head Coach

Jim works with business owners, executives and high-potentials across a range of industries.

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Kirsty Askwith

Commercial and Operations Director and Coach

Kirsty is an experienced HR and Commercial specialist who focusses on Organisation Design, Development and Effectiveness

Joe Davis

Chartered Psychologist

Joe is a Performance Psychologist and Senior Consultant at Ground + Air and the most recent recruit to our ever-growing team. He was previously Head of Performance Psychology at RocheMartin.

Joe has considerable experience in the world of human performance and is highly skilled at applying his knowledge of performance psychology into business, education and sporting environments.

Sarah Glover

Programme Architect, HR and L & D Specialist

Talent Management and Development leader with the passion and drive to deliver creative, yet pragmatic solutions to help businesses move forward with their strategic agendas. With over 15 years’ experience as an HR leader in financial and professional services organisations, Sarah has worked with a range of business leaders in complex and fast paced environments and now use this experience as a consultant.

Kate Courthold

Project Coordinator and Personal Assistant

Kate is an experienced Executive Assistant, supporting C-suite and senior leadership teams within different sized and structured organisations from small start-ups to major multinationals such as Microsoft. Most recently before Ground and Air, Kate was at Connor where she worked as Executive Assistant to Kate Mason-Keaney.

Kate is a key component of the engine behind the team at Ground and Air, ensuring we’re all in the right place at the right time, amongst her many other responsibilities. A calm head, ability to think quickly and in a very organised way means that Kate provides us all with the steadiness required when juggling so many projects at once.

You are most likely to ‘meet’ Kate first when you work with Ground and Air, as she has a big part to play in the smooth running of all of our projects, from start to finish. A particular focus of Kate’s is managing the process of the diagnostic tools we use when working with teams and individuals – so she’ll be the person keeping everyone on the right track.

Clayton Green

Performance Coach & Data Specialist

Hailing from a background of physical performance, and after working in Formula One with McLaren for over 12 years, Clayton now pursues the potential of enhancing the functions of the mind, body, and environment to produce results.

Advisory

Professor Windy Dryden

CBT Expert and Psychotherapist

Windy Dryden is one of the most respected practitioners, contributors and trainers in the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) tradition of psychotherapy. He is best known for his work in Rational-Emotive Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (RECBT.)

Windy is Emeritus Professor of Psychotherapeutic Studies at Goldsmiths University of London.

He has published over 230 books and has trained therapists all over the world, in as diverse places as the UK, Australia, the USA, South Africa, Turkey and Israel.

Ground and Air is commited to incorporating approaches and techniques from a range of fields which we feel will help get the best results. We see RECBT as a central approach – and something that differentiates much of our work.

It’s a privilege to have Professor Dryden’s involvement to help inform our work.

Steve Backley OBE

Performance Expert

Steve is one of the all-time greats in his sport and the only British track and field competitor to win medals at three different Olympic Games. He broke the World Record three times and was crowned ‘World Athlete of the Year’ by the IAAF in 1990.

Steve is the co-creator of the Mind-Setting Programme and co-founder of BackleyBlack.

He is an ambassador for UK Athletics, commentator for the BBC, author of “The Champion in All of Us” and “The Winning Mind”, and co-author of “The Little Book of Inspiration.” He has worked with a huge range of executives and teams at organisations including EY, BP, Staples and Lloyds.

Engaging with Steve underlines Ground and Air’s commitment to incorporating approaches and techniques from a range of fields which we feel will help get the best results.

Alan Robertson

Business Psychologist

Alan Roberston is the creator of VoicePrint, the diagnostic and development tool which is designed to improve individual, team and organisational performance by bringing unconscious patterns of talk and behaviour into conscious awareness.

Alan’s corporate career began in the aerospace and industrial relations sectors when both were going through turbulence and change. This took him into leadership and organisational development, and expanded his interests into business psychology and consultancy.

In parallel with consultancy, facilitation and executive coaching, Alan was a Senior Visiting Teaching Fellow at Cranfield University the Cass Business School, where he taught personal and inter-personal skills helping individuals to re-orientate and progress their careers. Alan is a Fellow of the CIPD, a member of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Ground and Air is delighted to have Alan’s involvement.

Consultancy and Delivery

Julian Linley

Presenting Specialist, Media Lecturer, Coach

For the past 25 years Julian has worked at the cutting edge of media, leading generation-defining brands and creating award-winning content. The former Editor-in-Chief at Heat and Digital Spy, Julian lectures as part of City, the University of London’s journalism course. He has worked on every major platform, managed teams large and small, and trained-up the next generation of talent across a range of educational and talent initiatives. Julian has invented awards initiatives, presented at Cannes Lions, the global advertising festival, and hosted ITV2 reality shows.

Paul Emslie

Executive Coach, Digital Consultant

Purpose driven & people focused professional with over 20 years’ leadership experience up to executive board level across multiple national retail businesses. Responsibilities included commercial, marketing, and digital; holding the P&L for these areas, and creating a supportive, collaborative and progressive environment for teams of over 300 colleagues.

A Henley Business School accredited coach with over two years private practice combined with 10 years as an internally trained coach and mentor, supporting the development of senior leaders and emerging talent.

Carla Faria

Executive and Team Coach

Carla is a qualified, accredited coach, who works with individuals and teams to support them in gaining a deeper understanding of who they are and how they work so that they can define their goals and move forward effectively.

Helen Mundy

Master Executive and Team Coach

I am an energising coach and a specialist in leadership development, who puts my client’s unique needs at the heart of my work. I coach individuals and teams, and specifically boards and executive teams, to increase their performance in pursuit of the organisation’s aims.

Nick Jenkins

Culture Specialist and Coach

I qualified as a coach with the Co-Active Training Institute (formerly the Coaches Training Institute), completing its ICF Accredited coach training programme ‘Fundamentals’ in 2009.

Since then, I have coached in various capacities: as a line manager, privately as a personal (or ‘life’) coach, and as a performance coach for numerous senior and mid-level executives.  I enjoy working with my clients on a broad range of areas, helping them to become more effective and create positive change, both in and outside of work.

Whether at an individual or company level, I particularly enjoy working on values – an area that resonates with me personally and which I believe is key to unlocking potential.

When not coaching, my time with clients is mainly spent facilitating sessions for them, working with teams to unlock performance and providing company culture and talent consultancy services.

Elina Winnel

Sleep Expert

Elina has built an international reputation for helping executives, teams and private individuals to improve, regulate and enhance their capabilities to restore through sleep. Based in Sydney, she is the founder and architect of The Sleep Expert System and a popular contributor to media organisations including ABC, Network 7, Buzzfeed, PopSugar, Women’s Health, Men’s Fitness. Her expertise spans across a comprehensive range of modalities including Meta Coaching, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Hypnotherapy, Sound Healing, Brainwave Entrainment, Brainwave Mapping and various Human Development Frameworks. Elina’s system is founded on proven neurological principles, independent research and practical, easy-to-apply techniques that target all the root causes of insomnia simultaneously. The Sleep Expert is a multifaceted programme that addresses inflexible brainwave states, imbalance in the nervous system, and several other problems that collectively damage our ability to sleep well. Elina has an MBA and has worked with organisations including Procter & Gamble and Macquarie Bank. Clients include Citigroup, TAL and Qantas.

Anusha Parshotam

Executive Coach, Leadership Facilitator, Consultant, Diversity & Inclusion Specialist

Anusha is a commercial, pragmatic and highly focused accredited executive coach and leadership facilitator. She draws on sound psychological theories, her working experience and balances this with using practical interventions that are fit for purpose for organisations and individual clients. She continues to receive positive feedback for her ability to understand a client, being relevant, her style and knowledge.

Sara Barker

Leadership and Sales Development Specialist

Sara spent over 15 years working in a corporate environment, managing teams and leading the commercial strategy for several high-profile consumer media brands. Sara has spent the past 7 years working as a trainer and facilitator and coach across a diverse range of clients and sectors.

Sara’s business experience and roles included, Group Advertisement Director at Haymarket Consumer Media, Sponsorship & Promotions Director at Bauer Media and Managing Director of round8 – a specialist media recruitment agency. It is this ‘real-life’ business experience that adds credibility, relevance and a level of empathy to Sara’s approach and delivery style.

Sara has worked with a wide variety of clients and sectors including; Media (BBC Worldwide, Bauer, Citywire, Net a porter, SKY, Hachette, Business Insider, The Mill), Food & Beverage (Camden Town Brewery, Bidvest Fresh, Dalziel, Hain Daniels), Recruitment (Odgers Berndtson, round8, Horizon Teachers), Finance (ICG), Sport (Fulham Football Club), Transport (Heathrow Express), Telecoms & Technology (Virgin Media, Oracle, Ve Interactive, BT), Events (London Tobacco Dock). Sara has experience of delivering and facilitating programmes both locally and globally.

Josh Robinson

Personal Brand Expert

Josh helps senior executives and founders capture and elevate their personal value proposition – the true and unique value they will bring to an opportunity, industry or the world. His consultancy is often given at pivotal times when a client is making a big move ‘up’ or is exploring a significant career change. By drawing on creative branding and storytelling techniques honed through twenty years of highly-commercial brand consultancy for the likes of Google, Under Armour, Amazon and a host of startups, Josh brings powerful authenticity, emotional impact and an infectious confidence to a client’s personal and professional story.

Most recently Josh has worked with CEOs, C-level executives and founders of top tier organisations across the tech and media industries, including Salesforce, DAZN, Red Bull and The Jamie Oliver Group. His honest, energising and inspirational consultancy is typically delivered through one-to-one sessions and often culminates in a beautifully written and designed personal Brand Book or opportunity-focused content. Everything always stems from one guiding principle: Give them something to believe in.

Dr. Laura Alcock

Clinical Psychologist

Dr Laura Alcock is a senior clinical psychologist registered with the Health Care and Professions Council (HCPC). ​

She has worked primarily within child and adolescent mental health services in the NHS and, in private practice, she works with children, adolescents and adults with mental health difficulties. Dr Alcock has particular experience in the assessment and diagnosis of children, adolescent and adults with neurodevelopmental conditions including autism spectrum conditions and ADHD.

She also works with a range of difficulties including, challenging behaviour, depression, anxiety, panic, OCD, bipolar disorder, trauma, emotional regulation, attachment, substance misuse, learning disability and self-esteem.

Polly Downes PCC

Executive Coach, Team Coach

Polly is an experienced coach who achieves high impact results with her executive clients across the globe. Approachable, yet challenging, she enables her clients to progress and grow by creating a deeper understanding of their whole self. Polly’s coaching leads to long lasting, positive change for her clients.

Claire Salvetti

Leadership Coach

Claire is an award-winning creative industry CEO turned Leadership Coach who guides talented executives to become unforgettable.

Right now, great leaders matter more than ever and in this unpredictable and demanding world, being a leader who people trust and admire is a commercial imperative.

Claire is at her best when asking questions that unlock transformative insights for people who feel stuck. Ideally she would be doing this with leaders and teams who choose to do the hard things and value inclusion and laughter.

Claire offers an ethical, evidence-based and systemic coaching model for leaders. It leverages an individual’s unique qualities and gives them the power to harness long-term loyalty from their people, the result of which is to create far-reaching influence and all the organisational benefits that follow.

When she is not coaching, you’ll find her leading an examined life, advocating for a more inclusive world, learning Danish so slowly it is making her teacher question his ability to teach and trying to convince her daughter to eat more veggies.

Hayley Mascall

Accredited Coach and Clean Language Practitioner

I provide coaching and mentoring across the media, marketing and creative industries, as well as personal coaching to individuals.

With 16 years experience in media and marcomms I have an understanding of the challenges, pressures and needs of the industry and appreciate the importance of return on investment.

I work with organisations who wish to invest in their people to help them fulfil their potential.

I believe in progress, forward movement and in creating solutions. I believe in supporting individuals and organisations to facilitate change, to improve performance and build progressive cultures. I believe in enabling people to become the best version of themselves.

Robert Kirby

High Performing Facilitator and Consultant

Robert is a high performing facilitator and consultant with extensive experience in designing and delivering interventions which specialise in bringing about behavioural change within people.

Amy Dempsey

Consultant and Coach

With 18 years of experience in Financial Services, Amy is a trusted adviser to industry leaders on questions of culture, leadership and people strategy.  She combines first-hand experience and sector expertise with a natural talent for understanding people and how to develop, challenge and motivate individuals and teams.

Sarah Broadhead

Coach and Chartered Occupational Psychologist

Sarah is a psychologist with over 20 years’ experience of maximizing performance at the highest level in elite sport and business. She is passionate about helping people perform at their best and thrive in the process. Sarah specialises in coaching high potential individuals and developing high performing teams.

Bart Pronk

Advanced Wim Hof Method Instructor

Bart Pronk has been a teacher at the highest Wim Hof Method Instructor level since 2015.

He started as a participant in 2011 and can be seen on the 2015 Vice documentary. He has practiced the Wim Hof Method and worked with “The Iceman” from 2012.

Bart has climbed Kilimanjaro 3 times in shorts and guided a group of people up Kilimanjaro in record time together with Wim Hof (2014, 2015, 2016).

He has trained more than 8,000* people worldwide. Since 2012, he has toured the world as assistant to Wim Hof (Australia, USA, Canada, Hawaii, Spain, Poland, Iceland)

Bart is a Trainer of the Trainers in the Wim Hof Academy and has been training the instructors of the Wim Hof Academy worldwide since 2018. He has worked with companies including Red Bull and ING Bank, as well as Special Forces Operatives and elite sports teams including AZ Alkmaar.

Dr Vanessa Moulton

Chartered Counselling Psychologist, Executive Coach and Psychological Fitness Expert

Dr Vanessa Moulton is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist who has 17 years’ experience within the mental health field. She has over the years provided a range of treatment and prevention based support to enable and maintain individuals and employees Psychological Health.

Oliver Patrick

Physiologist and Expert in Lifestyle Management

Oliver Patrick is a Physiologist and leading expert in lifestyle management. He speaks widely on the application of contemporary wellbeing strategies and consults businesses and individuals globally.

Emy Rumble-Mettle

Executive Performance Coach, Board Facilitator, AGILE Leadership Transformation Practitioner

Works with leaders and founders in understanding existing business performance, unlocking potential and enhancing performance for both commercial and personal gain.

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