Mel Bligh Director
Mel has always been passionate about women's health and empowerment. This is something that she has championed throughout her career in leadership development.
As a women in mid-life, Mel experienced the challenges of being part of the 'sandwich generation'. A business owner, mother to teenage daughters, daughter to aging parents, she felt stretched by life. Then the perimenopause hit. At first she didn't connect the dots, until she had a conversation with her GP. This was an extra challenge she didn't need.
This realisation prompted Mel to learn as much as she could about the menopause and talk openly about it in her social media, with colleagues and clients, in an attempt to educate and dispel unhelpful sterotypes that exist. She was on a mission to help educate younger women, so they were aware and empowered to navigate the menopausal path, when it arrived.
Soon Mel was being approached to develop and deliver menopause awareness by clients who could see the negative impacts on their colleagues and organisations. The rest is history.
Mel has been in the leadership and team development field for the last twenty-five years and has worked with many large organisations to develop and grow their people leaders. She is an experienced consultant, facilitator, coach and psychometrician who loves to create a fun learning environment where learners are comfortable and open to share.
Mel has a wealth of experience working in both multi-national corporate and public sector environments, driving behavioural change through people.
Mel cares deeply about the importance of menopause awareness in organisations. She brings this together with her many years of leadership development to create transformational and meaningful programs that drive demonstrable behaviour change. She works with leaders to build knowledge, understanding, empathy and the necessary skills to support colleagues going through the menopause.
Mel has worked in many sectors including telecoms, financial services, logistics, and public sector. Organisations such as Capital One, Telefonica (O2), NFU Mutual, LV, Lowell Group, Baillie Gifford, HM Prisons, Westminster City Council, The Royal Mail, The Department of Health, Lloyd’s Register, The Government of Jersey, The European Parliament.
Mel is also a qualified personal trainer and is passionate about wellness and the link to performance in people and organisations. Mel lives In Yorkshire with her husband and two daughters. She loves lifting weights, watching & writing comedy and socialising with friends.
Mel's Toolkit
B.A. (Hons) Business Studies – 2:1
Postgraduate Diploma in HRM
Psychometric Testing Qualifications:
Occupational Testing Level A and Level B
MBTI, WAVE, FIRO B, Emotional Intelligence
City & Guilds – Training & Assessing
Advanced Diploma in Coaching - Distinction
NLP Practitioner & Master Practitioner Certificates
PRISM Neuroscience – Brain Mapping
Membership: Chartered Member MCIPD – Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
Bee MacPherson Consultant
Bee has a passion for promoting equality, belonging and helping empower others to make the right choices for their holistic health. At 42 she started experiencing a wide range of physical, physiological, and psychological perimenopausal symptoms which left her feeling at odds with herself. At this time, no one was talking about menopause which left her feeling isolated and it was clear to Bee that menopause and its potential impact was one of the last health taboos and an occupational health issue. Bee decided she could not be the only person within the organisation to be experiencing perimenopause in this way so led a strategic innovation within the organisation she worked, to influence how menopause is viewed and provided for at a policy level. Bee openly admits that she felt quite vulnerable in doing this, but her desire to make things better for people was slightly greater than her fear of vulnerability, she also believes that there can be strength in vulnerability. The menopause is not (just) a women’s issue and Bee has been working for the past 7 years to raise awareness of menopause, the potential impact on personal and professional life and to change cultures so conversations about menopause are normalised and not taboo. Bee has written menopause guidance, as everyone needs to understand menopause and its potential impact. She is an experienced facilitator, facilitating monthly workshops for colleagues and managers and ‘menopause for thought’ cafes for peer support. Impact of this work is creation of a safe and supportive space affording people the opportunity to be heard and develop knowledge and skills in menopause support.
Through this work she quickly established herself as an expert and leader in menopause and has been an invited speaker at a number of events, including Health Education England Yorkshire and Humber Deanery. She teaches menopause to medical students and is working with Leeds Health Care Partnership to improve understanding and support within the LGBTQIA+ community. Bee’s personal focus, leadership and research is around menopause as a health and well-being issue and pedagogy of menopause.
Bee has 35 years’ experience within the NHS and Higher Education. As an expert clinical educationalist she has developed curriculum, educational strategy and is a skilled facilitator of workshops where everyone is welcome, irrespective of age or gender.
Bee lives in North Yorkshire and loves going on adventures in ‘the truck’ and spending time in nature, usually on top of a mountain or in a river, finding this alchemical.
Bee's Toolkit
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Master of Education (Clinical)
Registered Nurse Teacher
BHSc Child Health Nursing
Registered General Nurse
ENB 415 and 998
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