I trained at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was awarded a scholarship from The William and Eva Fox Foundation (from Twentieth Century Fox) to work internationally with various theatre companies. 

I spent 9 months in South Africa studying with amazing companies. I then went on to create an original theatre show and took it to India,  where it opened The International Theatre Festival in New Delhi.

The show also was presented at the fringe at The National Arts Festival in South Africa.

I have worked with Hoodwink theatre company performing at the end of beds in hospitals bringing a dreamlike show to inspire, entertain and sooth patients, nurses and their carers. Performing to people with dementia, Alzheimer's, cancer and to high care patients and to various children that needed uplifting whilst being very ill.

I have also performed Shakespeare at The Bristol Old Vic and with AandBC Theatre Company.

I have had another parallel career as an illustrator and have written and / or  illustrated 7 books.

In 2011 I a book I illustrated won the US based NAESP National Association of Elementary School Principals 2011 Best Picture Book Award (USA) with author Mary Jo Amani. 

I am the co founder of Jump, Fall, Fly, who’s latest family orientated show challenges our relationship with the environment. I am also working on a plant based cooked book for JFF.

Lehla is a fellow of The Royal Society of Arts.

You can follow me at @Lehlae on Twitter or @lehla_e on Instagram

I have been a creative entrepreneur in some way or another all my adult life.

I started out as a fashion and portrait photographer, moved into directing music videos and commercials.

I started a London based production company with three partners. The first (and last) film we made was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars.

Once a serial creative entrepreneur I was hooked. Moving to South Africa, over the next 25 years I set up a number of creative ventures in film, commercials and tv production. Added into that was a PR & marketing agency.

Clients and organisations I worked with along the way included BBC Worldwide, DSTV, MNET, Carlton TV, Naspers, Conde Nast, Polygram.

I have worked as producer, writer, director and director of photography, festival and live event executive producer.

Apart from all this I have always seen the greatest and most important place for creativity as in the creation of your own life. I have worked all my adult life to support people in recovery from addiction and mental health challenges. I left the media business as I had become fascinated with how people help each other over difficulty and challenges (or don’t) and this became a career as an executive recovery and wellness coach. I created a training programme and have trained hundreds of coaches from New York to Vietnam.

In all of this I became a Dad 15 years ago and have been pioneering alternative education with my wonderful kids and partner. This lead to the writing of a book called Jump Fall Fly. Over the last 6 years we have become involved in the circus and I am now trying to learn to be an acrobat! No joke.

Becoming a Dad also nudged me into sorting out some of the glitches in my male psyche. That led to leading men's workshops and retreats.

And here we are in the what is a perfect storm of a project named  after the book Jump Fall Fly. I am now bringing all these experiences and learning together in one place in service of the next generations that are going to be leading the way into the future. A future I hope to help them create in as positive way as possible.

Jump Fall Fly is outrageously ambitious. But what the heck. We wish to have a large positive impact on new and next generations. We think that play, creativity, love and community are where it is at.

I am gushingly happy to say I married the finest person in the known and unknown universe, my partner Lehla, and that it is most likely a huge glitch in the universal matchmaking system that she married me.

We have lived in Africa, Italy, Spain and at  moment we live in Devon in the UK. Too much rain but…

I am a trustee for MKP UK & I and Swamp Circus Trust

And a final note to the pessimists.

It ain't over yet and I plan to die (in very many years of course) creating the next positive step for my and all our children. I am not alone.

I am a fellow of The Royal Society of Arts. (FRSA)