About Us
Welcome to hygge associates
At Hygge Associates, we are business professionals with a human touch. We hold people at the centre of everything we do. We act with passion and authenticity, integrity, honesty and transparency which creates an environment of psychological safety for ourselves and our clients.
Hi, I'm Julie
Workplace Wellbeing, Inclusion and Compassionate Change Consultant | Coach | Trainer
I bring together my lived experience, professional expertise and a human-centred approach to help organisations create healthier, psychologically safer and more inclusive workplaces.
With a career spanning more than 30 years across the public, private and charity sectors, including time as a teacher, I bring a rich and authentic blend of experience to my work. Over the past 15 years, I have focused specifically on mental health and disability service delivery, staff wellbeing, staff development and business change. My work is driven by a desire to develop and support people, enabling them to achieve their full potential while maintaining their wellbeing.
I design and deliver workplace and CPD training programmes that equip staff and managers with the knowledge, confidence and practical tools to support wellbeing, inclusion and change. I believe in co-creating solutions with people, and provide training, coaching and consultancy across wellbeing, inclusion, change management and professional skills development.
At the heart of my work is a belief that wellbeing, inclusion and compassionate change should be part of everyday working life, not treated as one-off initiatives. I support people and organisations to turn awareness into practical, meaningful action, creating workplaces where people feel valued, supported and able to bring their whole selves to work – because when people thrive, organisations thrive too.
When I am not working, you'll find me volunteering at parkrun or my local Scout group, spending my time exploring with my husband, Paul, in our campervan, or out and about exercising somewhere.
Hi I'm Paul
Developing and empowering people is at the heart of everything I do, whether that’s in my volunteer roles or in business. In my professional life I have developed and led some very successful teams and this has been the highlight of my career to date. I specialise in creating high performing teams and a psychologically safe space in which the individual members can thrive.
In 2023 I was very proud to be a finalist in the Women in Construction and Engineering Awards in the mentor category. I thoroughly enjoy being a mentor and over the last ten years or so have supported people from across the business at all grades. The majority of my mentees have been women who have sought my support and advice, particularly when returning to work after a period of leave or looking to navigate their way to more senior roles.
If you’re an individual looking for a mentor to help develop your career, or a business owner looking to tackle operational challenges or change initiatives, then get in touch to explore how I might be able to support you.
Why hygge associates?
What’s in a name?
Well quite a lot as it turns out. Whilst ‘hygge’ has come to mean a lot about ‘cosiness’ over the last few years, for us at Hygge Associates it means so much more than that.
Although Hygge is a Danish concept, the word actually originates from Norway and means wellbeing. It’s a word that’s been in our vocabulary for a number of years, my husband works for a Danish firm and we therefore have a strong connection to the country and it’s principles. Hygge is often cited as a way of being that contributes to Denmark being one of the happiest countries in the world. Why? Because they prioritise wellbeing, they have a welfare state funded by high taxes, but these aren’t viewed as taxes but an investment in society.
For us at Hygge Associates, we firmly believe in the philosophy of creating a safe space in work and life where people have the opportunity to be the best they can be and are able to develop both personally and professionally. Wellbeing and happiness create productive and engaged employees and that has to be good for business right? So if whether you are a business owner or manager, or simply an individual looking for a better understanding of your life, purpose and what might make you happy then please get in touch.
