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About Us
We are All Great Apes: Capable, Collective, Connected
In our corporate careers, we often felt the strain that comes when wellbeing is overlooked — and we know the organisations we worked for would have benefitted too. Later, in private practice, we saw how supporting people’s mental fitness helps them not just recover, but thrive. CAPE was born to bridge those two worlds: taking what we know works for individuals and bringing it into organisations. Because when people flourish, teams strengthen, customers feel the difference, and businesses perform better. Our purpose is to make that ripple reach further — across people, profit, and planet
Simon Davis & Bernadette Doyle
The Pattern We Couldn’t Ignore
In our corporate careers, we experienced first-hand the strain that can build when wellbeing is overlooked — both for the people doing the work and for the organisations they are part of.
Later, in private practice, we began to notice the same themes appearing again and again.
People came to us carrying far more than the problem they first described. Underneath stress, anxiety, conflict or burnout were often the same deeper pressures: trying to keep up, hold everything together, meet expectations, stay strong, and keep going.
Over time, the natural ups and downs of work and life had quietly accumulated. What began as pressure or uncertainty often became something heavier: exhaustion, disconnection, self-doubt, strained relationships, loss of confidence or the sense that they were no longer coping in the way they once could.
We saw how these experiences rarely stayed contained to work. The effects radiated outwards — into home life, health, relationships, confidence and identity.
That is what we mean by Life in Work: the understanding that work does not stay neatly at work, and neither do people.
At the same time, organisations were feeling the impact too. Good people were becoming disengaged, withdrawing, losing confidence, leaving, or feeling unseen, unheard and unsupported.
Yet it did not need to be that way.
We realised that helping one person at a time, whilst valuable, was only part of the picture — what we call the Effective Ape.
To create lasting change, we needed to work at a wider level too: supporting teams, leaders and workplace culture — the Collective Ape and, ultimately, the Connected Ape.
Connected Ape was born to bridge those two worlds: combining what we had seen, what the evidence showed, and what people and organisations need in order to function and flourish.
Because when people flourish, teams strengthen, customers feel the difference, and businesses perform better. Our purpose is to make that ripple reach further — across people, profit and planet.
Expert Team
Simon Davis
Life in Work Coach
I help people evolve in how they live and work — building resilience, clarity, and confidence in the process.
Before becoming a Coach, my career was rooted in relationship-focused, commercially driven roles across sales, account management, customer service and people leadership. High-pressure environments where performance and wellbeing often competed for attention taught me how closely the two are connected — and how easily one can erode the other.
Working across start-ups, SMEs and a FTSE 100 company exposed me to diverse cultures, structures, and leadership styles. These experiences showed me the impact that team climate, communication, and organisational systems can have on individual resilience and performance. They also highlighted how critical it is to have the space, skills and support to stay well, learn and grow in the midst of workplace pressure.
Those lessons, learned through lived experience rather than theory, now shape how I work with individuals, teams and organisations. I understand what it’s like to lead people, meet targets and manage constant change while trying to sustain wellbeing and purpose. Coaching provides the reflective space to navigate that balance — to think clearly, recover perspective, and make sustainable progress.
My approach combines real-world experience with evidence-based coaching and neuro-somatic tools that build emotional agility, psychological flexibility and practical resilience. Because when individuals feel psychologically safe, emotionally regulated and connected to purpose, performance naturally follows — good for the organisation, and the human behind it.
If you’re curious about how coaching, neuro-somatic approaches or workplace wellbeing programmes could support your people — or yourself — Let’s connect and explore
Training
Business & Personal Coach Training – Barefoot Coaching Ltd – (Course Accredited by the University of Chester and the International Coaching Federation – ICF)
Oxygen Advantage Advanced Instructor Training (Certification in progress) – Oxygen Research Institute Ltd – (Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for Performance, Flow, Focus and Wellbeing)
Foundations of Subjective Wellbeing (Happiness) at Work – University of California, Berkeley X – (Online Learning Initiative of UC Berkeley)
Mindfulness & Resilience to Stress at Work – University of California, Berkeley X – (Online Learning Initiative of UC Berkeley)
UKATA Transactional Analysis 101 – Berne Institute
The Mind – Body Connection – Emotions, Movement & Calm – Human Givens College.
The Mind – Body Connection – Food, Mood & Sleep – Human Givens College.
Understanding Anxiety & Managing it without Drugs – Human Givens College.
From Stress to Psychosis; How to Prevent Mental Illness – Human Givens College.
Mental Health First Aider – MHFA England
Bernadette Doyle
Life in Work Neuro- Somatic Coach & Therapist
I help people understand what happens beneath the surface when life, work or pressure begin to take their toll — and support them to respond differently.
I work with people who often look as though they are coping on the outside: busy professionals, overwhelmed parents, leaders carrying a great deal, and people who are used to being the one who keeps going. Yet underneath, they may be feeling stretched, anxious, exhausted, disconnected or no longer quite like themselves.
As a trauma-trained therapist and coach, I help people make sense of what is really going on beneath the thoughts, behaviours and pressure they are carrying. Often there is far more underneath than first appears: emotional load, stress responses, old patterns, self-doubt, or the impact of holding too much for too long.
My work combines Somatic EMDR, Cognitive Hypnotherapy, NLP and Transformative Coaching with nervous system science, emotional intelligence and practical psychology. Rather than focusing only on mindset or behaviour, I work with the deeper patterns underneath — helping people create change that feels steadier, safer and more sustainable.
Being trauma-trained also means I can work safely and sensitively at greater depth if that is wanted or needed — whilst equally being able to stay practical, forward-focused and grounded. The pace and depth are always shaped around the person, team or organisation in front of me.
I’m also a working parent of three and have worked in FTSE 100 organisations and the charity sector, so I understand both the human and organisational side of pressure: the deadlines, responsibility, competing demands and the feeling of trying to hold everything together whilst slowly losing sight of yourself.
Whether I’m working one-to-one, coaching a leader or supporting a team through workshops, my aim is the same: to help people feel more understood, more connected to themselves, and better able to adapt and move forwards.
Training
Neuro-Linguistics Programme Master Practitioner – The Quest Institute
Cognitive Hypnotherapy Master Practitioner – The Quest Institute
Transformative Coaching – Animas Coaching (ICF and EMCC Accredited)
Somatic EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reconsolidation) – Advanced EMDR (NCIP Accredited)
Resilience & Wellbeing in the Workplace
Deb Dana Polyvagel Theory in Action – creating Safety & Connection with Trauma Clients
Anxiety & Panic Programme
Addictions Inside Out
Deep Dive into Trauma
Connection starts with a conversation....
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