Our Team

Comprised of experienced coaches, creative thinkers, and performers. We take pride in offering our clients a unique and engaging training approach that is memorable and fun.

Joel Beckett

Coach/Actor & DISC Practitioner

Kelvin Downer

Team Coach & DISC Practitioner (ORSC/ICF/DiSC)

Ben Abell

Role-Player & Facilitator

Olga Thompson

actor & lecturer

Oliver Jackson

Actor & DISC Practitioner

Lori Shook

Leadership & Systemic Team Coach

Owen Brazendale

Role-Player & Facilitator

Liz Wren

COACH

Our purpose is to enhance connections, inspire values and deliver memorable experiences. It's as simple as that.

Human Understanding is a training company comprised of experienced coaches, creative thinkers, and performers. We take pride in offering our clients a unique and engaging training approach that is memorable and fun.

Let us help you work better together

Contact Us
Thank you for delivering such an awesome Sales Kick-off event, in 22 years I can honestly say it was the best one I have ever been to!
Rachel BeerCAPITA, PLC
You’ll get a shot of energy through your team . I’ve worked with Kelvin a lot before, I like the fact that he quickly gets deep into the business and is able to pinpoint and suggest ideas that really resonate very quickly.
Naz DossaCEO, PEOPLESAFE
Over the years I’ve bought them in to give us that boost, that shot of adrenalin and focus on our growth ambitions and team cohesion that they deliver every time.
Christa NortonChrista Norton, Head of Demand & Portfolio Marketing, CAPITA PLC
"I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them for any business that wants to rethink their business and people strategy and be future fit."
Andy NelsonHead of Banking & Finance Markets CGI
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Joel Beckett

Coach/Actor & DISC Practitioner

Joel has been an actor, director and voice-over artist for over 25 years; probably best known for his role as Jake Moon in EastEnders and for playing Dawn’s fiancée, Lee, in BBC’s The Office, so he knows a little thing or two about performance and how people behave.

Joel is an exceptional coach and DISC practitioner with expertise in confidence building, performance enhancement, and acting. With a passion for empowering individuals to unlock their full potential, he combines the power of DISC assessments to provide valuable insights into behavioural styles.

An accredited coach, ACCPH member, hypnotherapist and with a background in acting, he brings a unique perspective to enhance communication skills and harness the power of body language. Joel’s commitment to empowering others has earned him a reputation for helping clients achieve new heights of success and self-awareness.

Kelvin Downer

Team Coach & DISC Practitioner (ORSC/ICF/DiSC®

Kelvin loves helping people work better together to create experiences that matter. So that you see better results. He coaches senior leadership teams across a wide range of private & public sectors including technology, automotive, professional services, utility and local & central government.

A trained Team Coach (ORS@WORK) and accredited member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), DISC practitioner (CPD) certified in administering personality profiling and qualified (ICF) in Professional Coaching Practice.

He has coached leaders and teams within large organisations, as well as small business owners, around the world. He is passionate about partnering with large and small organisations to develop their people and culture to create a great place to work.

Ben Abell

Role-Player & Facilitator

Ben has over twenty years of experience as a Role-Player and Facilitator. He has worked in experiential theatre-based learning, leading forum theatre, running a room of delegates, coaching, helping with presentation and communication skills and providing detailed, constructive feedback. 

Having been a professional actor of thirty years, this has deepened his skills as a communications expert, helping people become more assertive and confident, improving their personal impact, their presentations and their vocal and physical presence. As a role-player and facilitator Ben creates an atmosphere of safety, trust, fun and sensitivity in which he encourages personal and collaborative exploration, insight and reflection.

Ben has worked extensively in both the public and private sector with middle and senior management in sectors including healthcare, manufacturing, finance, publishing, education, architecture and retail.

Olga Thompson

Actress & Lecturer

Olga has a wealth of experience in the performing arts as an actor, writer, director and trained lecturer. She has been passionately involved in drama coaching workshops for over 25 years. Her work with The Riding Lights Theatre Company included performing and leading lessons and assemblies and running workshops in schools, colleges, young offender’s institutions and prisons across the country.

In the Lebanon she worked as a drama teacher and mentor writing and directing theatre productions. With the N:Flame Youth Trust she ran workshops in North London schools on issues such as selfharm, bullying and sexual abuse. Recently Olga has led corporate training workshops on well-being for the BBC. Olga is also an ambassador for Kidscape the anti-bullying charity, a spokesperson for the UN Refugee Charity and an active campaigner for mental health issues.

Oliver Jackson

Actor & DISC Practitioner

Oliver is not only an accomplished English Actor with over 25 years of experience in Film, Theatre, and Television, but he is also a passionate DISC practitioner. With a deep understanding of personality assessments, Oliver guides individuals and teams on a journey of self-discovery, empowering them to thrive in their personal and professional lives.

His fervour for performance is evident in his illustrious career, creating iconic roles like Ned Schneebly in School of Rock and captivating audiences in the sell-out concert of Les Misérables at The Gielgud Theatre. Oliver’s theatrical achievements extend to various West End productions, including the original cast of Our House, Mrs Henderson Presents, The Glee Club, and She Stoops to Conquer at The National.

With a true passion for both performance and understanding human behaviour, Oli continues to make a profound impact in the realms of entertainment, coaching, and self-discovery.

Lori Shook

Leadership & Systemic Team Coach

Lori is a Master Certified Coach (ICF) and a Certified systemic team (ORSC) coach. She has served on faculty of three coach training schools, for both individual and team coaching.

She has coached leaders and teams within large organisations, as well as small business owners, managers and executives around the world and in many industries. She is passionate about partnering with small organisations to develop their people and culture to create a great place to work.Neuroscience of behaviour, leadership and team development, training leaders in coaching skills.

Lori’s first career stop was as an engineer for the US Navy. In the mid-1990s, she leapt into the budding world of coaching, which led to coach training, then leadership and team development. She has soaked up neuroscience research in the last 20 years and integrated those findings into most of her training, coaching and work with people development.

Owen Brazendale

Role-Player & Facilitator

Leisure, Publishing, and Charity sectors. This extensive exposure has honed his ability to Owen has been immersed in the world of Drama Based Training since 2003, bringing a wealth of expertise and passion to the field. As a versatile professional, Owen adeptly assumes roles as a role player, forum theatre actor, and facilitator, seamlessly connecting with diverse audiences.

With a natural flair for coaching and mentoring, Owen effortlessly engages with both small groups and large training sessions, fostering a supportive learning environment. From construction workers to Partners in financial institutions, Owen feels equally at home, skilfully adapting his approach to suit the unique needs of each audience.

Having traversed multiple industries, Owen’s experience spans across Financial, Pharmaceutical, Government, Telecommunications, Construction, cater to the specific challenges and dynamics of each domain, making him an invaluable asset in any training context.

Liz Wren

Coach

Highly competitive in her early adult life, Liz competed in athletic multi-events to international level, at the same time as designing and selling ‘designer’ sports kit. Her first career was in advertising and branding, eventually running her own consultancy.

Since this she has been in demand coaching and mentoring a large number of company owners and directors. Noticing the challenges business owners face in maintaining strong, generative relationships in the face of continual change, she trained as a systemic team coach. She now works with teams facilitating performance and growth.