Meet your coachup coaches

Andy has been working as a performance psychologist since 2006.

He started his career with the New Zealand Navy where he supported and coached members of the special forces, Navy divers & world-class operational teams. Andy was then selected to spend a year as a United Nations unarmed peacekeeper in the Middle East where he saw what it truly takes to create a high-performing team under extreme conditions.

After that, he spent several years with Emirates Airlines working as a performance psychologist and as a coach to both pilots and cockpit teams.

He then spent many years working in sport performance & coaching in Europe where he was the senior global director for talent & leadership development for adidas. It was there where Andy focused his work on psychology and applied neuroscience, believing that from understanding how our mind and brains work, sports coaches can take their coaching to the next level.

Andy continues to work as a performance coach and expert with professional rugby teams and head coaches alike.

He started off his sporting career as an elite rugby player where he’s played at the highest level across five countries before moving into rugby coaching. He is still an active athlete himself playing rugby and football (soccer), snowboarding, hiking and surfing.

Ali Tisdall is the cofounder of coachup, a deep expert in collaboration and teaming and is the author of the coachup model, translating applied neuroscience to creating high performance teams.

Ali has led development initiatives in over 60 countries worldwide over her career to date, working with athletes, Olympians, universities, business leaders from sports brands such as adidas, Reebok and Nike, teachers and sports teams.  

Ali is a published thinker and frequent speaker on applied neuroscience to high performance, collaboration and gender inclusion. She holds an MBA and BA, is accredited in psychometric assessments with the British Psychological Society, an Accredited Coach and a Practitioner of Applied Neuroscience.  She lives with her sports obsessed family in London, UK.

From humble beginnings in Greece and dreams of playing basketball professionally, Mark developed an interest in psychology and what makes people tick (off the back of his own sporting shortcomings).

Having studied Sport Psychology at University, Mark took a lecturing role for three years, but swiftly realised he missed the buzz of sport. He went on to significant positions with England Rugby League, Manchester United & Formula 1, all focused on the psychological development of athletes and staff, tailoring the support based on their career stage and individual needs. Additionally, Mark’s Doctorate is on talent pathways and the role coaches have on shaping these and the support they need in the process.

Mark’s interest in neuroscience was amplified by his epiphany of how much neuroscience research complimented what he’d be doing for years with athletes & coaches. Over the past few years, the work he’s done in the field has been a natural progression. He’s worked as an executive coach and delivered a Neuroscience module on an MBA designed specifically for leaders within sporting organisations.

Outside of work, Mark very much flies the Greek flag with his love of food and coffee, and is at his happiest with his family around him, and his feet in the sand.

Sam has over 15+ years of experience in people development & delivers inclusive leadership & coach development programs across the globe.

Sam’s passion for people & sports, titanic volumes of energy coupled with her rational approach to problem solving allows her to galvanize & motivate coaches & teams to achieve personal & shared goals. These attributes have served her well in delivering success across a wide breadth of industries ranging from global businesses through to professional sports clubs. Her personal favorites & long-lasting partners remain Arsenal Football Club, Fédération Française du Rugby, the English Cricket Board & the Professional Cricketers Association.

As a cognitive neuroscientist & coach, Sam juggles brain research with coach development. She leads women personal strategy retreats across the planet & lectures in women universities in the Saudi Arabia. She is a frequent speaker on applied neuroscience to gender inclusion, leadership & high performing teams. She holds an MBA, a MSc & BA, is a member of the British Psychological Society & a practitioner of Applied Neuroscience. She is continuing her research & study of the field of neuroscience of the female brain through UAB.

In her personal time, she can be found mentoring vulnerable children, jumping out of planes (with a parachute on!) or climbing mountains.

Mariane has been a registered psychologist since 2002, and a psychologist in the Royal New Zealand Navy for over 20 years. She has a diverse background and range of experiences, including specialisations in resilience development, personal and professional enhancement, team performance, culture, leadership development and of course sport and performance psychology.

Aside from continued military service, Mariane also works extensively with athletes and sports teams in both the development and elite athlete space. Due to her work with athletes and teams at the Olympic level she truly knows what it takes for coaches to create high-performance environments. Mariane is comfortable working with individuals, as well as small and large groups.

Mariane is also a Certified Personal Trainer (American Council of Exercise), Fitness Nutrition Specialist, and Youth Fitness Specialist. She has experience working with both adults and children in teams or as individuals.

Outside of work, she is an ex-runner and Bootcamp Coach, which took a long time to adapt to following a series of chronic injuries. As a substitute for running, Mariane took on the challenge of horse ownership and riding, and also enjoys cycling, swimming, yoga, hiking and skiing.