About me

Hi, I’m Phil...

I started out working in the NHS as Children’s Cancer nurse in the early 90s, always enjoying the variety of learning opportunities and development a career in the NHS could give me. 

  

After a brief foray into the world of pharmaceutical account management, I unexpectedly became a single parent to 3 girls, so I returned to the world of nursing establishing a community cancer and epilepsy service. A few years later, I transitioned into the world of NHS management working as a Service Redesign Manager before eventually making the move into Higher Education. At the University of Luton (now the University of Bedforshire) I lectured in Children’s Nursing and supported students in clinical practice placements. 

 

In spite of working full time and completing the last year of my MA in Medical Education, I decided I wanted to retrain… as an actor! So I spent the next 3 years studying for a degree in English and Theatre Studies which I completed (with first class honours) in 2010, kickstarting my love of stories and the positive power stories can have on the people and the world around us. 

 

 

In 2012, I started my first business, LifeBox Theatre with my wife and business partner. As a creative theatre company, we wanted to work artistically creating our own theatre work, though we knew we needed to be sustainable – amazingly, there’s not much money in theatre – so we got in touch with some of our contacts to talk about providing actors to work within learning and development programmes to bring training to life. 

 

Eleven years on and a global pandemic later and LifeBox is still going strong led by the amazing Harri Mardlin (I’m biased, I know, but it’s true). Within a year or two of working with some of our wonderful clients I had transitioned to working as a facilitator for a number of leadership and management programmes. 

 

Much of my time and attention is now spent working with individuals, groups and organisations coaching and facilitating around the power of telling stories.
 

Qualifications

  • BSc (Hons) Professional Nursing Practice – Paediatric Oncology
  • BA (Hons) English and Theatre Studies.
  • Masters in Medical Education
  • StrengthscopeTM Master Practitioner
  • Diploma in Transformational Coaching
  • Registered Practitioner with EMCC
Phil Mardlin

"“Good stories surprise us. They make us think and feel. They stick in our minds and help us remember ideas and concepts in a way that a PowerPoint crammed with bar graphs never can.” - Joe Lazauskas and Shane Snow.

Connecting with Nature

One of my favourite places to work is out in nature.  There’s something truly powerful about being outside, connecting with the earth and nature.  The outdoors is often a place where we can dream fully.  I often work with coaching clients outside in nature.  The benefits of this include: 

  • Walking side by side allows for pace to reflect what’s happening internally
  • the changing landscape allows for connection with metaphor and greater imagination
  • increased connection with emotions allowing a coachee to think in different ways than if they were indoors. 
  • The openness of the outdoors often leads to unblocking and freedom of thought. The sights, sounds and smells of the outdoors can enhance positive emotions
I run individual coaching sessions outdoors and can create bespoke team building days with accompanying coaching packages.
Find out more