Merlinda Kammerling
Hi, my name is Merlinda (people call me Merly) and I am the founder of Well & Being. I am a therapeutic coach and integrative therapist with over 6 years experience offering psychological support and education to the hospitality industry.
Before launching Well & Being in 2018, I had spent my whole life working in the hospitality and retail industry. The first decade of time my in London, I worked on the shop floor of Liberty, Matches Fashion and Selfridges, as well in head office for brands such as Kurt Geiger and All Saints
The next decade I changed career and transitioned in to the kitchens of London restaurants such as Caravan, Modern Pantry, Temper, The Good Egg and Sambal Shiok.
During those two decades in retail and hospitality, I experienced depression, anxiety and burnout (more than once or twice!). I was fortunate enough to seek help and started my own journey through therapy and coaching.
It didn’t take long before I realised that there are a lot of parallels in retail and hospitality, and that combing my professional experience and psychotherapuetic training could be a powerful combination in support other retail and hospitality professionals and businesses in building safer and healthier workplace cultures.
Shaun Crabtree-Alpine
Shaun started his career as a classically trained chef in his early twenties and went on to co-own an award-winning restaurant in central London for 14 years.
During Covid, Shaun took the opportunity to begin studying Psychotherapy while also developing his passion for gardening while working as gardener at Hampton Court Palace, and is a strong believer in the power of nature to help with mental health issues.
Three years on, he has gained a Level 4 certificate in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy at Birkbeck University and is now completing his Masters.
Tony Carelli
Tony has been working in the field of psychological support and intervention for over 24 years, but it was in 2016 that his passion for food pushed him to take a leap of faith and he opened his own London restaurant and began his hospitality career.
When the pandemic hit, he began to cross over his clinical therapy within the hospitality sector, developing groups and workshops as well as individual support. Tony currently works with adults suffering a range of complex mental health difficulties within inpatient and outpatient settings specialising in addictions, eating and personality disorders.
Michelle Moreno
Michelle is a hospitality leadership specialist with over 25 years in the industry. She is hugely passionate and dedicated to empowering and inspiring teams within the industry. She excels at engaging, focusing and creating honest conversations, enabling leaders to go from surviving to thriving in their roles, which in turn creates resilient and high-performing businesses.
Michelle has the unique ability to provide precise and effective training infused with energy and a genuine love for hospitality. Michelle works with companies such as Wright Brothers, Leon, Trinity, Accore Hotel Group , MJMK, Ministry of Sound.
Katharine Yates
Katharine is an experienced facilitator and coach with a background in theatre, conflict awareness and group facilitation. She specialises in creating intentional spaces for relationships and organisational culture to flourish. Over the past 5 years she has been collaborating with Tony Weekes to deliver workshops that support people to have conversations about race and racism. As a trained mediator she is skilled at holding space for teams as well as individuals to have challenging conversations and blends lightness with depth, understanding with curiosity and acceptance with challenge.
Tony Weekes
Tony is one of the most practised conflict resolution, personal development and safety experts in the UK. He has decades of experience in working with violence, challenging behaviour and aggression in culturally mixed communities throughout Europe, plus training adults who face these issues in either their voluntary or employment roles.
Doug Sanham
Doug Sanham is an award-winning chef who has spent years advocating for Mental Health reform in the workplace. Taking his passion for food, he wants to introduce people to the gut-mind connection, showing people that what you eat and how you eat can have a vast impact on overall health, from the damage it causes to the benefits it has on our well-being.
Kane Lyons
Kane is a leadership and business growth coach with over 15 years experience across retail, from Amazon to scale-ups.
Kane can help with challenges including: Dealing with difficult work relationships, overcoming imposter syndrome, communicating confidently, people management and setting organisations up for success with more effective ways of working.
Alex Kammerling
Alex started his career in hospitality over 30 years ago working as a bartender and waiter in London, Hong Kong and Australia. He went on to work as a brand ambassador and has delivered spirit and brand trainings for 1000’s of bartenders across the globe. He has helped to launch several spirit brands including his own and brings years of sales and marketing knowledge to the team. Alex is Operations Director at Well & Being.