I’m Abigail. Let’s design how you want to live and work.
The Fast Track
- I bring over 25 years’ experience in creative business development, programme design, and partnership building.
- I am an artist and creative practitioner, with a first-class honours fine art degree, work exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy, published poems and BAFTA New Talent and BAFTA Scotland awards.
- I have trained and worked with world class creative, business, health and wellbeing organisations, blending professional expertise with embodied practice.
- I have co-founded, led and managed creative companies and collaborative hubs, developing innovative programmes and partnerships.
- I look after my personal wellbeing through a blend of yoga, dance, outdoor swimming, hot/cold exposure, cycling, hiking, running (slowly), and international motorcycle travel.
- I guide people to integrate creativity, movement, nature and rest into sustainable, enjoyable, and energising ways of living.
The Scenic Route
In my career, I’ve built, led and managed creative programmes, established partnerships, and worked across business development and organisational learning, alongside a parallel path of exploring what it means to live a more embodied, self-directed life.
This path has involved gradually rebuilding my health, energy, and attention over time, moving from someone who didn’t want to be in her body to dancing like everyone is watching, exploring the world by motorbike, and found joy in building a creative career, growing an entrepreneurial mindset en route.
I’ve navigated early life challenges around food and health, stopped smoking and developed a stable and resilient relationship with my body over time.
I’ve travelled and worked in more than 60 countries, many of them solo, and spent time exploring my own landscape in Scotland, including 55+ of its islands. I’ve reconnected with my early interest in the natural environment, having worked as a conservation and agriculture volunteer in Scotland, Nicaragua and Cuba before embarking on a creative industries career, recently studying forest therapy while in the Andes and Amazon in Ecuador.
Motorcycling has been a significant evolution in my journey, literally moving through uncertainty and self-doubt to find my personal solution for stress management. Persisting through several attempts at my Mod 1 test, I found the way that worked for me to complete my full licence, undertook advanced training, and have since ridden in multiple countries and continents, including a 10,000km solo journey from home and back. I understand the joy that comes from not letting setbacks stop you.
Through these journeys, I’ve become interested in sustainable energy, attention, and how the body learns to regulate through movement, environment and what it consumes, building greater strength and stability through movement, time in nature, and consistent, progressive changes in daily routines.
This integration of lived experience and professional practice now informs my work as a health and wellbeing designer and creative practitioner invested in:
~ attention restoration and deep work
~ sustainable wellbeing
~ creative leadership and self-leadership
~ lifestyle stress and energy management
Training & Expertise
- Creative and artistic development: Training at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee Repertory Theatre (receiving an Outstanding Performance review in the Scotsman at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating with first-class honours, exhibiting work at the Royal Scottish Academy, publishing poems and winning BAFTA New Talent and BAFTA Scotland awards
- Leadership, strategy and commercial development: Training at London School of Economics and Oxford Saïd Business School, focusing on leadership, strategy and organisational development
- Programme and learning design: Training at the Kinharvie Institute, undertaking a Training & Development Diploma, professionally designing experiences, leading learning programmes, and facilitating development journeys that inspire curiosity, growth, and excellence with and for national organisations.
- Health, wellbeing, and embodied practice: Training at Health Coaches Academy (Level 5 Health Coaching Diploma, including establishing and leading the first Scotland national student and graduate network), The Therapy Adventure (Outdoor Coaching), and Alma Oasis (Forest Therapy Practitioner), supporting sustainable energy, vitality, and wellbeing in nature-based contexts.
- Personal embodied journey: Over time, I’ve built my own wellbeing through movement, adventure at home and abroad and mindful practices – from yoga and Biodanza, to social partner dancing and rhythm-based movement, to outdoor swimming year-round, hiking, motorbiking, and running in nature.
Level 5 Health Coaching Diploma | Health Coaches Academy
Course approved by UK and International Health Coaches Association and Accredited by the Association for Coaching
Accredited Outdoor Coach (ICF Continuing Coach Education) | The Therapy Adventure
Course accredited by the International Coaching Federation
Qualified Cycle Ride Leader | Cycling Scotland
Forest Therapy Practitioner | Alma Oasis
Course accredited by International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine (IPHM), the Complementary Medical Association (CMA), and the International Compliance Assurance for Holistic Practitioners (ICHAP)
