The Founder’s Story

At the Heart of TealBerry House

TealBerry House has been founded to help individuals, leaders and their teams to appreciate the importance of inner wellbeing and to support them to become more aware of the habits and skills needed to live, work and lead with clarity, connection, purpose and a sense of inner peace.

It is the lesson I wish I had embraced much earlier in my life:  that inner wellbeing isn’t a luxury—it’s foundational. It shapes how we meet the world, how we relate to others, and how we lead.

The Journey that led to TealBerry House

From an early age, I was deeply attuned to the presence—and absence—of kindness. I noticed how it softened people, created ease, and allowed connection to flourish. When it was missing, something in the atmosphere changed: things felt tense, brittle, or confusing. I didn’t understand why people wouldn’t choose kindness, when it clearly made things better. That question never quite left me.

This sensitivity to human interaction has been a thread running through all of my work.

From Teaching to Consultancy

My first career was as a developmental psychologist, early years teacher, and facilitator of parenting groups. I saw how learning and growth depended not just on what was taught, but on the emotional and relational environment that held it.

This led naturally into 15 years of independent consultancy—supporting leaders and teams to build trust, emotional intelligence, and strong interpersonal skills. I taught facilitation skills, coached executives, and designed programmes for teams—just as emotional intelligence and coaching were beginning to be recognised as essential for leadership. It was a time of growth and learning, woven with the joys and juggle of family life and service.

Executive Leadership

Over the next 19 years, I was greatly privileged to be part of a values-driven, global not-for-profit organisation—first as Deputy Director, then as Director of Education, leading a network of over 200 schools across three continents serving over 90,000 students in mainly rural underserved areas of the world.

During those years, I came to understand the complexity of organisational life on a global scale: the many relationships that need care and attention—from board governance and stakeholders to peers, team members, and beneficiaries. I learnt how systems function (and sometimes don’t): how operational structures, resource management, strategic planning, and spoken and unspoken rules of engagement all shape what’s possible. It was a privilege—and a challenge.

The work was inspiring but also consuming. It took me a long time to realise that I was slipping into burnout. Inevitably this was reflected in my professional and personal relationships and the quality of my work. Like many in burn out mode, I thought working harder and longer would solve it. I came to realise that if I continued as I was, I would no longer recognise the person I was becoming. I knew that something had to change.

Coming Full Circle - Reclaiming what matters

That moment marked the beginning of a new journey: one of reclaiming my emotional and relational wellbeing and applying everything I’d once taught with a new level of humility and insight.

Looking back, I see how profoundly my inner state shaped how I led, related, and made sense of the world around me. I wish I’d had the tools and perspective then that I have now—they might have helped me navigate difficulty with more grace and savour the beauty more fully.

TealBerry House is the fruit of the journey so far. Today, with my husband and son, both working in similar fields, we have come together to share what we know.