Training, Facilitation and Program Design
My training targets the avoidable issues that quietly erode culture: unclear feedback, poor communication, persistent conflict, and opaque decision-making. These pressure points undermine trust, performance, wellbeing, innovation—and the budget.
“The most valuable thing I experienced [from Susan’s training] was listening with an open mind.”
Why I get it.
I’ve stood in your shoes—on stage as a musician under pressure, and behind the scenes in senior management. I understand what makes or breaks a team in an orchestra or classical music organisation because I’ve lived it from every angle.
Here’s the experience I bring when we work together:
Senior leadership in Development and Philanthropy at a major classical music organisation.
Freelance orchestral musician, performed with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
University lecturer, international trainer, and PhD researcher specialising in trauma and workplace culture in orchestras.
Founder of a multi-million-dollar tech consultancy in Europe, with hands-on experience managing a high performance team under pressure.
I combine this unique blend of insights to design transformative training tailored specifically for musicians, managers, and leaders who want change that actually works.
“I was reminded of the importance of empathy and the need to let others be heard even with a belief system at odds with mine.”
My values
I’m driven by respect for people’s stories and creating safe spaces where everyone can grow and lead.
My approach blends practical empathy with effective tools designed for the specific challenges of our workplace.
Training On Demand
Here are must some of my ready to go workshops that are suitable for small or all company training, let’s have a no obligation chat about delivering these for your team.
Core Communication Skills
These workshops build the essential foundation for clarity, collaboration, and trust across the organization.
Giving Safer and More Effective Feedback Practical tools to give feedback that lands clearly and constructively. YOU NEED IT BECAUSE Misdelivered feedback creates confusion and resentment and prevents people from improving the work that matters.
Receiving Feedback With Clarity & Confidence Skills to stay regulated, extract useful information, and respond without defensiveness. YOU NEED IT BECAUSE High-stakes feedback can trigger strong reactions that block learning and damage relationships.
Active Listening That Works Techniques for listening that increase accuracy, reduce assumptions, and make others feel genuinely heard.. YOU NEED IT BECAUSE Most workplace conflict comes from misinterpretation, not disagreement.
Relationship & Culture Strengthening
For teams that want smoother collaboration, healthier interactions, and better shared outcomes.
Navigating Difficult Conversations A structured approach for handling emotionally charged or complex discussions. YOU NEED IT BECAUSE Without a framework, tough conversations stall, escalate, or avoid the real issue.
Building or Rebuilding Empathy Tools to understand how others think, feel, and interpret situations.YOU NEED IT BECAUSE Misunderstanding colleagues’ perspectives is one of the fastest ways to stall problem-solving and collaboration.
Trust When It’s Tough Strategies to build, repair, or extend trust even when pressure or history makes it difficult.YOU NEED IT BECAUSE Teams can’t collaborate—or take healthy risks—without trust, and trust doesn’t rebuild itself.
Wellbeing & Sustainment Skills
Workshops that support long-term performance, psychological safety, and sustainable work practices.
Trauma Aware Facilitation Practical tools to lead calmer, clearer, and more inclusive meetings—especially when emotions or histories are in the room. YOU NEED IT BECAUSE
When meetings aren’t facilitated with psychological and emotional awareness, tension rises, people shut down, and collaboration becomes harder than it needs to be.Boundaries & Burnout Prevention Clear, humane boundary-setting to protect capacity, energy, and long-term performance. YOU NEED IT BECAUSE Without boundaries, high-performing people burn out—and burnout silently undermines team stability.
“I took away the value in understanding what communities need, rather than providing what we want to give”
Training PILLAR Progam
PILLAR Program is a 12 month practical, skills-based program designed specifically for orchestras. Through group training and individual coaching, it builds psychological safety, communication confidence, and the capacity for constructive feedback across rehearsals, meetings, corridor conversations, and everyday work.
“Wow, outstanding. Very powerful. You are brilliant. Thank you!”
“Genuine ease and safety of conversations so that we could tackle big topics effectively and openly straight to the heart”
“I found the one on one session really valuable and I took a lot out of that short session!”
Program Structure
2 × full cohort workshops (2.5 hrs each)
3 × individual coaching sessions (1.5 hrs each)
4 x minimum participants per orchestra
Musicians will improve their feedback, communication and resilience, while expanding their network and decision-making skills to foster a supportive workplace culture.
Administrators will gain tools to improve communication, resolve conflicts, and make data-driven decisions, streamlining processes and boosting organisational efficiency.
Leadership will learn strategies for fostering open communication, trust, and emotional resilience, enabling them to lead with empathy and create a cohesive, high-performing team.
Impact
Confidence in giving feedback increased from 31% → 85%
Confidence in communicating across the organisation increased from 50% “somewhat confident” to 100% reporting “confident or very confident”
Participants reported greater readiness for difficult conversations, stronger collaborative leadership, and improved resilience under pressure
“100% I’m using the tools already! Tools for giving feedback, positive and negative, understanding of why and when I might want to give feedback; tools for managing myself and empowering myself to function at highest level in ‘realtime’ situations (often by pressing pause....) I have gained so much value from this programme and can’t wait for the upcoming sessions. I would love to see more of the organisation have the opportunity to access this training and tools. ”
Facilitation
ONE AND DONE OR ALONG FOR THE RIDE
Sometimes you just need a chat with somebody who isn’t stuck in the weeds. I’m here for a one and done gig, and know that just one discussion can be transformative. Or I’ll hitch my carriage along for the ride bringing my obsession with all things business theory along for the ride. Full disclosure, we’re likely to try some or all of my skills in Design Thinking, Systems Thinking and Trauma Informed Process.
“Susan is a warm, intelligent and engaging moderator, and seamlessly manages conversation between speakers so that you never notice that she is directing the flow. She weaves the audience into the experience, so that the discussion really does offer something for everyone. She also manages to keep to time! And she’s funny!”
In less than an hour I helped my Global Leaders Program (GLP) mentee team to get from this hot mess…
There is a lack of centralized communication between researchers, organizations, practitioners, and performers that address health issues through music therapy. This inhibits the public’s access to diverse health resources long term. Our mission is to improve communication and understanding between these populations so that more job opportunities become available and funding and research becomes more centralized. During our first-year pilot project, our organization will partner with the Music Therapy Program at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA to provide early career development services and secure job opportunities post-graduation.
→
To THIS crystal clear mission statement…
“To achieve more diverse job opportunities, music therapists need stronger advocacy to convince the health sector of the necessity of their work.”
In just two hours, I helped an executive leader work through complex organisational history to find a clear path that honoured the past and made space for what’s possible.
In the course of an hour, Susan helped to shift my thinking on key problematics involving the Grainger Museum and its eponymous founder, particularly helping me to understand challenges as opportunities… In my note-taking I had drawn a picture of two hands, cupped around dichotomous ideas: over the left hand I had written “sadomasochism, racialism”, and over the right hand, “experimentation, breaking boundaries, radicalism”. Through well-chosen metaphors, Susan guided me to conceptualise a resolution to the biggest challenges. From practical advice on immediate actions, to long-term radical thinking, Susan guided my strategic thought process across a range of ideas with a light, sure, warm, and encouraging hand, all the while giving generously of her deep professional expertise.
Dr Heather Gaunt, Curator, Grainger Museum
Program Design
Music needs virtuosi on and beyond the stage. I am obsessed with dreaming, designing, delivering and evaluating programs that develop talent.
I catapult forward the thinking and skills of all kinds of folks in the music sector from artists and arts managers to pre-college, tertiary students, early stage administrators, freelance and professional performers and experienced arts leaders. I’ve delivered culture shifting programming for the Australian National Academy of Music, Young Classical Artists Trust (UK) and IgniteLAB for the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and here are a few other things I’ve hatched from scratch…
Artist Assembly for Melbourne Recital Centre
“Susan has provided invaluable advice on our program design and delivered much of the content. Our young artists have greatly benefitted from working with her, she has also been an eloquent and passionate advocate for the program when working with our staff and meeting with our program donors. Susan’s expertise as a musician, entrepreneur, educator and innovator ensures that the program aligns with our organisational priorities and supports our artists to thrive on and beyond the stage.”
Marshall McGuire, Director of Programming, Melbourne Recital Centre
AMEB Award for AMEB
“Susan is the perfect person to guide is in the design, philosophy and motivation behind the setting up of this Award. Her input at the webinar was fantastic. She said all the things that are sometimes quite hard to articulate about why this is important, and of course it’s always great to have someone not from AMEB to talk about it!
Fiona Seers, Head of Examining Australian Music Examinations Board.
Navigate Well for Arts Wellbeing Collective
“Susan is one of our incredible consultants who has done the most stellar job with Navigate Well (working with an unbelievably complex brief, she’s absolutely nailed it). I can also speak to her talents as a facilitator, strategist, writer, researcher and generally brilliant human.”
Tracy Margieson, Head of Program, Arts Wellbeing Collective