Who we are

Jen Rolfe - Founder and Director

After studying Psychology at Cambridge, Jen became fascinated by how its concepts apply to the world of work (and 'real life' in general, as opposed to the clinical side). Before founding Practically Positive, Jen spent several years working for The Mind Gym as an instructional designer and then later in consultative sales, solving people-challenges with a huge range of clients from the FTSE 100 to SMEs. And in pretty much every sector you can imagine.

She moved on from The Mind Gym* and set up Practically Positive in 2011 because she wanted to see clients all the way through the consultancy cycle, building in-depth and successful relationships on a more bespoke, longer-term basis. She also wanted a stronger focus on her expertise in Positive Psychology, and how these techniques in particular can support individuals and teams in the workplace.

Her academic research has taken her in a similar applied direction, with her original research dissertation "What does it mean to flourish at work?" (i.e. what is employee engagement) contributing to her MSc in Applied Positive Psychology. As well as her Masters, she is MBTI® step I and II certified, has a certificate in Transactional Analysis, is a qualified Strengths Practitioner, and a member of the British Psychological Society.

She's worked on management development, customer service, performance management, employee engagement, personal effectiveness and change programmes. A selection of clients include: RBS, RBS insurance, Fortis Investments, Orange, Vodafone, Royal Mail, McLaren, TomTom, Carillion and Ecclesiastical Insurance.

Her favourite thing is to facilitate workshops, focus groups or one-to-one coaching to help individuals get more from their lives (at work, and at home).

Ultimately, Jen's interest is in people as individuals. So she very much looks forward to meeting you.

*She is still an Accredited Associate Coach with The Mind Gym and facilitates training on their behalf.

Caroline Laycock - Director

What gets Caroline up in the morning, apart from her two lively children, is thinking about how she can help organisations to get the best from their people and unlock this potential with exciting results. As a Strengths Practitioner specialising in maximising performance in teams, she believes strongly in focusing on the positive and celebrating what makes us unique.

Caroline first indulged her fascination with people and communication when studying Communication, Advertising and Marketing at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. On graduating she went on to join the Change Management Practice at Accenture. During her nine years with the firm Caroline gained deep skills in training design and delivery working on a wide range of projects for clients such as the Irish Police Force, Immigration Authority and Revenue Commissioners, the UK Government's Ministry of Justice and Border Agency and Pfizer.

Caroline's insights into strengths based coaching are further enriched by the associate work she does with The Mind Gym and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Caroline spends her time facilitating 90 minute psychology-based workshops, improving professional and personal effectiveness, across a variety of industry sectors. Some of the clients Caroline has worked with recently include Dyson, Unilever, Ernst & Young, PepsiCo, Sony, Accenture and British Gas.

She is also a facilitator on PricewaterhouseCoopers' professional skills training for consultants. In this role she uses interpersonal insights to help participants to make a positive impact even in difficult interactions.

Connecting with Jen through their shared passion for helping people and teams to be their best, Caroline adds an invaluable dimension of energy and expertise to Practically Positive's strengths-based coaching initiative.

Associates

Alexia Dhruve

Alexia loves learning about people. What makes you tick? Why do you do what you do? What brought you to read this profile?

After graduating with a first class honors in Psychology from University College London in 2005 she knew she wanted to become a psychologist, she just was not sure which kind. She entered the working world starting in the media industry where she quickly rose to a managerial role. A role that saw her recruit, train and manage her own team. She then saw the company through an acquisition and moved to Sydney to assist in the start-up of new offices. Through the challenges and the mishaps she witnessed it soon became clear Occupational Psychology was her calling. In 2009 she completed her Masters in Organisational Psychology from City University, London and has since been working as a consultant in the field. Working with a range of different clients from corporates to charities, she has consulted on projects including employee engagement, performance management, management development, recruitment and reward & recognition (amongst others). Alexia is currently training to become a chartered Organisational Psychologist.

Gill Weston

Gill wants everyone to enjoy work. She wants people and businesses to achieve success together and be the best they can be. So for the past ten years Gill has provided counsel and training on performance and wellbeing in the work environment. This has included coaching individuals, helping launch the HSE Management Standards, heading up a consultancy team at Bupa to assist SME's and multinational businesses with psychosocial issues, and conducting academic research on inspiration at work. Prior to this Gill had a ten-year long consulting career in public affairs, PR and sponsorship which ignited her interest in the drivers of behaviour, the impact of communications, and the influence of attitudes and emotions.

Gill has an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology, an MSc in Psychobiology, a diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy and certificates in Stress Management, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Training, and 'Level A' Psychometric Testing. She is a member of the Association of Business Psychologists.

She continues to provide training to Bupa's business clients and works on a variety of projects to build flourishing organisations.

Nic Malcomson

Nic Malcomson is a specialist in delivering Positive Psychology ideas in an upbeat and engaging style.

Having started his career in IT, Nic is used to turning client requirements into practical solutions. Creating clear programmes and engaging groups in diverse organisations is his thing, from The London School of Economics to smaller businesses, such as the members of BNI (Business Network International).

Nic has a MSc in Applied Positive Psychology, is a member of the British Psychological Society, as well as holding a MA in Philosophy (Critical Theory) and a BA in Computing and Artificial Intelligence.

As Dr. Ilona Boniwell, the founder and Programme Leader of the MSc in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of East London says:"I really like Nic's energy. If anyone can change the world - it's him!"

Sarah Foraud

Sarah has a deep interest in psychology which stems from childhood. In 2000 she trained with a highly successful international company to facilitate personal development using a multi-faceted approach; combining the benefits of cognitive therapy, neuro-linguistic programming and positive psychology.

In 2007 she qualified as a MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) consultant and has a particular interest in exploring how our personalities and individuality can influence us positively.

She has enjoyed working with a wide variety of clients helping them to better connect with their 'core' selves, highlight their personal strengths and further realise their potential.

In 2010 she gained her MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and her dissertation had a focus on resilience, coping mechanisms and post traumatic growth.

Yannick Jacob

Yannick is a highly enthusiastic and well-trained personal development facilitator determined to introduce effective programmes into schools, companies and the general public.

He is a certified Existential Coach and Regent's College-accredited mediator. His MSc in Applied Positive Psychology has led him to work with various personal development programmes, most notably LifeClubs, the German "Schulfach Glück" and the Haberdasher Askes Wellbeing Curriculum developed at the University of East London by some of the leading figures in the European Positive Psychology scene.

The latter two are to be implemented nationwide as individual school subjects. Yannick is part of the core team at London's renowned Personal Well-being Centre and works towards an integration of coaching and therapy.