Hello. I’m Carmel Cardona and I’m really pleased to welcome you to Stitch Your Parachute, building resilience in people and organisations, through coaching, training and consultancy.

So what’s it all about then? And where did the idea come from? Well, I’ve been working in leadership roles in the cultural sector for most of my career, and have recently moved into research in the social health and medical humanities field. After completing my masters at the LSE, I knew I wanted to take a pivot in my career, and become a freelance consultant, but I wasn’t quite sure which direction to take. A creative polymath, I seem to be able to put my hand to a lot of things, so it was hard to narrow things down!

Then in 2017 I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and a gruelling year of treatment ensued. Through it all, I remained strong and resilient, and carried on working through chemo. 2018 was a recovery year, then in 2019 I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After another tough few months, more chemo and some major surgeries, I was given the all-clear in December 2019. By then, it had become clear to me that I wanted to dedicate my life to helping people build their resilience, so that if traumatic things happened to them, as they had to me, they would be able to survive, thrive and experience post-traumatic growth rather than PTSD or burnout.

During my treatment, I began to research extensively into positive psychology, eudaimonic happiness, mindset and resilience, and I completed my brain-based coaching training with the NeuroLeadership Institute. I knew I wanted to start a podcast which explored people’s stories of having overcome, and where people shared their lessons about resilience. And I realised that I could apply my extensive experience working in senior roles in the arts to helping small businesses with their own organisational resilience. Suddenly I could see this lovely link between all the things I wanted to do, and I had the perfect visual metaphor to describe it. So the idea for Stitch Your Parachute was born. It’s early days yet, but I’ve already worked with some fantastic clients, both individuals, whom I’ve empowered through coaching and mentoring, and organisations, which I’ve supported with projects to help them build their resilience.

There are loads of exciting things in the pipeline, and it feels like the right time to be talking and learning about these themes. I’ll update you all regularly here, but if you want to get in touch with me, feel free!

Carmelx

What do you mean when you say ‘resilience’?
Resilience is a bit of an overused term these days, and I think some people have a misconception as to what it actually is. It’s NOT about ‘bouncing back’ or ‘toughing it out’. It’s actually about flexibility and change. It’s about being able to adapt when under pressure, to change direction or tactic, rather than remaining rigid in our focus. Importantly, resilience is about being open to learning and having a growth mindset.

What has resilience got to do with leadership?
Building resilient organisations, teams and employees is vital for the success of businesses in our ever-changing, fast-paced, highly-pressured world. Cultivating a growth mindset in your organisation, with a strengths-based approach, will lead to greater innovation. Resilient people feel more comfortable taking risks, safe in the knowledge that they can adapt to the consequences, and view failure as a learning rather than a disaster. This will prevent your organisation from stagnating, it will encourage a dedicated, engaged workforce, and it’s also really key for building diverse and inclusive organisations.

What kinds of organisations have you worked with?
I’ve worked with organisations across all the major artforms in the cultural sector, from small theatre companies to huge international festivals. Big names like Sky, Breast Cancer Now, Arts Council England, the Women’s Institute, as well as smaller organisations like the Association for Art History, or Historic Environment Scotland. I also coach social entrepreneurs, such as the founder of Yoganauts, who run kids’ yoga classes in Australian schools. I love a new challenge and find it easy to adapt my experience to suit new situations.

What is coaching?
I coach people in 1:1 settings, either in person or over zoom. I enable people to discover and define their strengths, values and resilience, and guide them to realising their personal and professional potential. Coaching is hugely important to support people taking steps up into leadership roles, or to help people returning to work after having a family or after a long illness. I help people find their professional mojo and be their very best at work, no matter what else is going on in their lives.

What’s next for Stitch Your Parachute?
I’ve been running several resilience training sessions and courses, with leaders and groups from all over the world, and these are constantly evolving as people adjust to the changing world of work following the pandemic. I’ve also started recording Season 1 of my new podcast series, and have already learnt so much from the fabulous people I’ve interviewed. I can’t wait to share these amazing insights with you.