Co-Founder of Wild & Raw
Little did I know that becoming Michelle’s very first client when she qualified as a hairdresser at just 17 would one day lead us to create Wild & Raw together.
Mark skiing with his two daughters
A Shared Journey
For more than four decades, my professional life has been spent helping people navigate financial planning complexity, make important decisions and move forward with greater clarity and confidence.
Along the way, I became increasingly fascinated by people: what motivates us, what holds us back, how we make decisions and, particularly, what happens when someone believes in us and helps us see possibilities we may not yet see for ourselves.
I’ve spent years developing the soft skills and emotional intelligence to connect more meaningfully with everyone I meet — overcoming crippling shyness through Toastmasters, training in public speaking, and eventually presenting on stages from London to Hawaii, Bangkok, and Hong Kong.
I’ve studied NLP, Numerology, and Hawaiian Huna, attended Strategic Coach workshops for over two decades, and helped found my local BNI networking group in 1997 — always in pursuit of becoming a better version of myself, and helping others do the same. That same coaching instinct has shaped my work with golf, skiing, and my financial advising clients alike.
Foundations of Trust
Then, many years after becoming one of her first hairdressing clients, I became one of the guests on her first retreat.
I arrived expecting five enjoyable days, a healthy reset and some time to recharge, but I left with something even more valuable: a positive change that I wanted to carry forward into everyday life.
Mark golfing at Bandon Dunes overlooking the Pacific and being watched by a rare eagle
Instead, something changed.
What struck me first was Michelle’s extraordinary calmness. There was no rigid agenda and no sense that every minute needed to be organised. She trusted that conversations, lessons and realisations would arrive when they were needed.
I watched her host with enormous care and attention to detail. Every meal and drink was nourishing, enjoyable and beautifully presented. She listened intently to questions and responded naturally, fluently and confidently.
Most importantly, she never lectured and never judged.
Instead, she educated, encouraged curiosity and consistently reminded us:
“We all have choices.”
Gradually, I began to experience the consequences of different choices for myself.
Towards the end of the retreat, I realised something I hadn’t expected: I didn’t have to return to exactly the same habits simply because the retreat was ending.
I had a choice.
The elegance of Michelle’s approach was that this felt entirely like my own realisation. I hadn’t been persuaded, argued with or told that I needed to change. Through gentle, sometimes amusing, completely non-judgemental education and experience, I had discovered that I wanted to.
That experience is one of the reasons I am now so passionate about Wild & Raw.
My role isn’t to become Michelle or replicate her gifts. I bring my own: listening, asking questions, seeing potential, encouraging people and helping them find clarity and confidence.
I’ve spent much of my life helping people make confident decisions.
Through Wild & Raw, I now have the privilege of helping people create the space to make some of those decisions about themselves.
Because sustainable transformation isn’t something somebody does to you.
Sometimes it simply begins with the realisation: