Coaching
Available free of charge and exclusively to Music Mark Members, our professional coaches from the music education sector and beyond will work with you on your personal and professional development through a coaching approach, supporting you to unlock your own potential.
Music Mark Members can benefit from our coaching scheme, providing free of charge access for up to four one-hour sessions (or equivalent) with one of our qualified coaches.
Is coaching right for you?
Do you have a specific and current goal you would like to achieve?
A coach is someone who works with you to develop your skills, offering new approaches to problem solving and achieving goals and objectives in your personal and professional life. A coach tends to take a wide view on challenges and where they originate from, often exploring more deeply engrained personal traits or challenges from both your personal and professional life. A coach will not provide advice but will instead enable you to establish your own solutions to problems through tools and techniques, such as open questioning, action plans and feedback.
How does it work?
Read through the profiles of our coaches below and decide who you would like to work with. Once you have submitted an application, a chemistry meeting will be arranged and if both parties wish to continue, an agreement will be formalised.
Our coaches will start by arranging a chemistry call with you to ensure that you get the most out of the coaching conversations. Each coach works differently and arrangements for how the coaching sessions will run will be agreed before starting with your coach. All conversations with coaches will be confidential.
Coachees will be required to sign up to our Coachee Agreement.
Whilst we endeavour to match you to a preferred coach, this is not always possible due to availability.
In addition to coaching, we can support you through peer groups and mentoring. We also have a programme of training and events that members can access for free or at reduced rates.
If you have any queries or would like to discuss this further, please get in touch with us.
Meet Our Coaches
Marion Friend MBE - Coach, mentor and consultant in the arts and education
How can I help you?
I am an experienced coach, mentor, facilitator and consultant with a professional background in education and arts management. I work regularly with clients across the age range from students to chief executives, teachers, administrators, performers and composers. I have supported many Hub leads and other senior staff with coaching and mentoring including at conferences (Music Mark, Music Teachers Association, Musicians’ Union) and for the Hub Support Programme.
My approach is always targeted to individual needs and might include career development, building skills and confidence and addressing a range of challenges in the workplace. My clients comment that they value my insights, encouragement, confidentiality and trust.
Having begun my career as a class and instrumental teacher and a freelance oboist, I held senior management positions in prestigious organisations, including as Director of Junior Trinity at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and at Wigmore Hall, BBC Television Music and Arts and Philharmonia Orchestra.
Areas of Expertise
Building resilience | Career development | Leadership challenges | Change management | Job applications and interviews
Coaching Qualifications
Postgraduate Certificate (Level 7) Coaching, University of Sussex.
Åsa Malmsten - Coach & Facilitator
How can I help you?
I am an International Coaching Federation accredited coach & facilitator providing creative collaboration for clarity and purpose. With a background as a charity CEO and producer within the music sector for over 30 years, my approach is rooted in the power of effective communication and new habit formation, which in the workplace translates into effective leadership and working methods. with communication and creativity at its core, I offer one-to one coaching, group coaching and training. Working together, we will create a safe space for you to explore challenges and opportunities, gain clarity and design the route ahead. As a facilitator I work with leadership teams, boards and managers, supporting you in building stronger teams and resilient businesses.
Areas of Expertise
Leadership coaching | Communication skills coach | Change management & new habit formation | NLP practitioner
Coaching Qualifications
Approved Coach Specific Training Hours certified coach in 2020. Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation in 2022. Certified Neuro-linguistic Programming practitioner with Neuroscience.
Carmel Cardona - Director/Founder of Stitch Your Parachute
How can I help you?
With over 20 years of experience in cultural sector leadership and consultancy, I specialise in coaching people navigating the menopause in a leadership role, returning to work after an illness or having a family, or navigating a career or life transition.
I am the founder/director of a social enterprise called Stitch Your Parachute where I help to build resilience in people and organisations through training, coaching and consultancy, including research, evaluation and strategic planning. I have worked with Music Mark and their membership since 2019 so have a solid understanding of the sector.
Areas of Expertise
Return to work coaching | Menopause coaching | Working with chronic illness | Women in leadership roles | Resilience coaching
Coaching Qualifications
Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation. Original training with the NeuroLeadership Institute.
Alan Cameron - Director at Cameron International Coaching, former Head of Music Service in Glasgow City Council and also Head of Music Service in Dumfries & Galloway Council. Former Education Adviser at Spotify/Soundtrap
How can I help you?
I was a music teacher in a variety of primary and secondary schools for 20 years and during that time led 3 music departments in secondary schools. I was also head of two very different music services in Glasgow City Council and Dumfries & Galloway Council. In 2004 I started work as a Schools Education Officer in Dumfries & Galloway, which involved wider responsibilities in leading Music, Art and PE specialists.
In 2016 I retired from local authority work and joined Swedish company Soundtrap as Education Adviser. Soundtrap was acquired by Spotify in 2017 and this led to opportunities to work with Spotify in meeting teachers and educators across the globe at conferences, training sessions and in schools.
Through my formal training as a coach and the leadership and management experience gained throughout my career, I believe I can help unlock people’s potential to maximise their own performance and goals.
Areas of Expertise
Managing change through coaching | How to become ‘unstuck’ through coaching | Executive and Leadership coaching | Health and wellbeing coaching | Goal setting in coaching
Coaching Qualifications
Diploma in Coaching and Positive Psychology accredited by the ICF
Susannah Tresilian - Coach, Theatre Director, Radio Producer
How can I help you?
I am an experienced coach specialising in working with women navigating change in their lives.
I facilitate powerful coaching conversations based on the neuroscience of motivation, learning and change. I bring my creative skills from my arts and media leadership experience to coaching in an intelligent, focussed and empathetic way:
“No two brains nor lives are the same, and you will know the answer better than I will. My role is to enable you to find those answers, and support you to make the positive changes that will improve your life.”
Alongside coaching, I have a vibrant portfolio career in the cultural sector: I work as an international theatre director and founded ARIADNE, an organisation working with women making theatre in conflict-affected countries. As a radio producer, I produced BBC R4’s Woman’s Hour for many years, before moving to The Guardian to produce their weekly Books podcast.
Areas of Expertise
Leadership challenges and aspirations | Women at changing points in their lives | Menopause and life milestones | Changing, moving or returning to work | Navigating careers in the cultural sector
Coaching Qualifications
Results Certified Coach with the NeuroLeadership Institute.
Kitty Bazalgette - Freelance coach & singer, elective leader Authentic Artistry
How can I help you?
Coming into connection with your true self is how I like to consider coaching. There can be a lot of noise around us that distracts from recognising our real self. As a coach, my aim is to equip people with the tools needed in order to be able to live and perform at a high level with authenticity and pride in what they do.
In our sessions we will work to facilitate deeper awareness, improve communication with yourself and others and to peel back the different levels of thinking to provide you with more clarity in your life and work. Through coaching, I work with you to find the career that reflects you and your values and support you to unlock your potential. Behind every person, artist and musician is a thinking, feeling person and we must look at the person as something that informs artistry and growth.
Areas of Expertise
Self-awareness | Navigating change | Artistic identity | Performance anxiety | Performers’ health and well-being
Coaching Qualifications
Accredited Coach Training Program (Level 2 Coaching, International Coaching Federation).
Paul Douglas - Deputy Head of Music Service (Birmingham) and Freelance Coach
I am an accredited coach with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, and specialise in helping vocational leaders reach more of their potential by gaining a fresh external perspective, assessing alignment, work/life balance, and personality style. I also help leaders find breakthrough with issues such as managing conflict, career change or development, goal-setting, anxiety, confidence and Imposter Syndrome.
I have 40 years of experience leading music and charitable projects and diverse teams of people in the UK and across Europe. I have also spent 10 years in senior leadership in one of the largest Music Services in the UK, supporting and training staff teams to to deliver high quality music education in the city of Birmingham.
I have also worked extensively as an arranger, conductor and studio artist as well as a consultant (e.g. for ABRSM), and currently having some of my published music on the ABRSM syllabus.
Areas of Expertise
Deep listening | Intuitive and incisive questioning | Leadership Development | Self-Awareness and alignment | Values elicitation
Coaching Qualifications
ILM Level 7 Diploma in Senior and Executive Coaching
Justyn Waterman - Professional Coach / Freelance Musician and Teacher
After qualifying as a transformative coach in 2020, I have worked with individuals struggling with overwhelm, stress, work-life balance, procrastination and habit change. My understanding of these situations has come from my years in education as a teacher and senior leader, where I honed my skills in mentoring, leadership, and personal development. I continue to work in education as a peripatetic teacher and conductor for a local music hub alongside my coaching work. I am currently an associate with Leadership Edge – Coaching in School, Life Clubs and My Leadership Coaching.
During our sessions, I will create a safe and confidential space for you to explore your challenges and support you in finding the solution that works best for you. by listening deeply and asking curious questions, I can help you to find the clarity you desire.
Areas of Expertise
Overwhelm and stress management | Dealing with imposter syndrome | Building self confidence | Gaining control over you work/life balance | Addressing procrastination
Coaching Qualifications
Certified Professional Coach in Transformative Coaching (Coach Masters Academy), ICF accredited
