1AM talks – Details, episodes & analysis

Tight L&D budgets, big staff learning ambitions, constant OD  pressure?
1AM Talks shares bite-sized, real stories about what actually works in learning and organisational development. Each 20-minute episode takes a 360° look at one real programme — through the eyes of the commissioner, the facilitator and the participant. Launching 5th November.

🎙Your host Andry McFarlane shares a taste of what’s to come in Episode 1,  when Andry and co-host Rachael Palmer meet Amanda Cummins and Karen Nelson from South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust, exploring how wellbeing and communication focused coaching and a workshop,  were designed to help staff build confidence, speak up and thrive at work.

#LearningAndDevelopment 

#ProgrammeDesign

#HRLeadership

#OrganisationalDevelopment

#PsychologicalSafety

#WorkplaceWellbeing

We’d love to hear from you: 

💭 What are your thoughts on designing learning that meets both individual and organisational needs? 

📧 E: andrymcfarlane@gmail.com


📱 Insta: @pod1amtalks

🤔How do you help busy staff engage, grow and make confident career decisions when they’re stretched  and not yet ready to focus? In this episode of 1AM talks, we explore that practical challenge  - something nearly every  for every Head of L&D, OD, organisational  coach and facilitator faces. 

At South London NHS  Mental Health Trust , Amanda Cummins and Karen Nelson and other staff  took part in a coaching programme and a  communication skills workshop — that led to real workplace impact: clearer career direction, renewed confidence, several  promotions, study choices and role changes across the team.

Hosts Andry McFarlane and Rachael Palmer join Amanda and Karen for a 360° look at impact and learning journeys; simple grounding practices that helped staff be focused and resourceful, managers taking part in the same learning as everyone else, and thoughtful workshop preparation that ensured everyone came more ready to learn.

Karen, a woman of colour with lived experience of mental health, describes how being genuinely understood by her coach gave her the skills to ground herself daily — and gave others the confidence to speak up, take initiative and influence colleagues at work. Amanda reflects on seeing every team member make a decisive move in their professional journey — proof of how presence  and confidence translate directly into career growth and talent development.

For internal coaches and trainers, this episode offers practical insights into how to make learning stick in pressured environments by:

• Grounding staff for focus and presence using somatic learning
• Creating psychological safety across identity and lived experience
• Preparing teams before workshops,  so learning lands
• Supporting staff to create the confidence to explore next career steps
• Using Nonviolent Communication to strengthen workplace voices

It’s a reminder that when any learning begins with a good foundation, people don’t just learn better — they also act differently, in ways that have a positive impact on their work and careers.

🎧 We’d love to know your thoughts: What helps you create the right conditions for staff to focus and grow when they are not yet ready for learning?

⏱ Episode guide 00:00 – Introduction: grounding and focus in learning 02:05 – Feeling understood and building psychological safety (Karen) 04:28 – Embedding grounding for readiness to learn (Andry) 09:34 – Confidence → career movement (promotions, study, role changes) 13:52 – Speaking Up workshop: design & engagement 15:17 – Nonviolent Communication: ‘I’ language, needs and requests 16:51 – Commissioning lessons for L&D, OD and coaching professionals

🎧 For coaches and facilitators who want to see visible impact — from confidence to career growth. 📧 andrymcfarlane@gmail.com 📱 @pod1amtalks

Guest Details: 

Amanda Cummins and Karen Nelson at South London NHS  Mental Health Trusthttps://www.linkedin.com/company/south-west-london-and-st-george's-mental-health-nhs-trust/?originalSubdomain=uk

#WorkplaceCoaching #LearningAndDevelopment #CareerDevelopment #CoachingCulture #PsychologicalSafety #SpeakingUp #Grounding #LeadershipDevelopment #WellbeingAtWork #1AMtalks

Trailer Episode 2: Discover how staff grounded themselves through somatic techniques, built confidence to communicate and grew their careers within a dynamic, lived-experience workplace culture — through co-design, inclusive coaching, and communication programmes.

1AM Talks hosts speak with Karen Nelson and Amanda Cummins about somatic learning and all things L&D impact — an insightful chat about a real L&D project at South West London & St George’s Mental Health Trust, and how we all made it happen.

Plus — what is 1AM Talks, anyway? At 2 mins 36 secs, it’s our longest trailer yet… we’re learning — next time, even shorter!

#LearningAndDevelopment

#TalentDevelopment

#CoachingCulture

#WorkplaceWellbeing

#CommunicationAtWork

#PsychologicalSafety

#CareerGrowth

#OrganisationalDevelopment

#InclusiveLeadership

#HealthcareLeadership

#LivedExperience

🎙 Episode 1 - Getting a Team on Board: Coaching, Confidence and Psychological Safety

In this 20 minute episode we speak with Amanda Cummins and Karen Nelson from South London NHS  Mental Health Trust,  about how a team with lived experience of mental health commissioned and co-designed a wellbeing- and communication focused coaching and workshop programme.

This conversation offers a personal look at how collaborative commissioning, psychological safety and staff involvement came together to create a programme that really engaged staff. It met people where they were — acknowledging the realities of lived experience, imposter syndrome and identity — and worked because it followed an emergent, adaptive approach rather than a rigidly fixed plan.

There’s a lovely humour and warmth running through this episode. It’s filled with ideas on how to commission collaboratively, insights into whether one coach working with people from the same team can be effective, and tips for those wanting greater return on investment from coaching by partnering closely with their coach.

You’ll hear how the Trust’s challenge was to help staff build the confidence to speak up, reflect on their wellbeing and identity, and invest in learning that was both personal and systemic — connecting individual growth to wider organisational change.

Tight L&D budgets, big ambitions, constant pressure? 1AM talks shares what really works in L&D.

⏱ Episode guide

00:00 – Introduction: meet hosts Andry McFarlane and Rachael Palmer; how 1AM Talks brings 360° views from L&D commissioners, facilitators and participants.

01:05 – Imposter syndrome & confidence: Amanda Cummins and Karen Nelson share how coaching supported promotion and wellbeing.

04:50 – The commissioning challenge: designing L&D for staff with mental health and carer lived experience.

07:20 – Designing for emergence: how the programme evolved through reflection and feedback.

10:40 – Creating psychological safety: linking lived experience and anti-racism objectives to Trust strategy.

14:05 – Systemic and relational coaching: building learning that extends from individual to organisation.

🎉New Season, New Episode How do you develop leaders while an organisation is growing and changing?

🎙️In this  mini trailer for 1AM Talks, your hosts introduce a conversation with leaders from Brunel Academies Trust about how a coaching and masterclass L&D programme supported leadership development, while the organisation was expanding.

As Brunel grew, leaders needed space to reflect, think strategically, and develop their own leadership practice. The L&D programme brought together coaching conversations and masterclasses to help leaders respond to new responsibilities, organisational priorities, and the realities of working in a complex education environment.

⏰This short 1AM talks trailer gives you a flavour of the upcoming episode, where leaders from Brunel Academies Trust reflect on how the learning supported them to respond to organisational growth while continuing to develop as leaders.

🎧You’ll hear about:

• How coaching and masterclasses can work together in an L&D programme
• Supporting leaders during organisational growth and change
• Creating space for reflection while responding to strategic priorities
• How leadership development connects with day-to-day practice
• Supporting staff working with colleagues, partnerships, students, learners, children and young people — some with special educational needs

Hosts

To find out more about your hosts, Andry, Miranda, and Rachael: https://linktr.ee/andryam

To find out more about the team’s workshops, coaching, and consultancy work with UK organisations for your staff: https://thelearningmoment.org

Guests

David West — Director of People & Culture, Brunel Academies Trust David West is Director of People & Culture and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at Brunel Academies Trust. A CIPD Level 7 HR professional, he leads people strategy across recruitment, learning and development, employee relations, and organisational change. https://www.brunel.org.uk

Kirsty Fyfe — Brunel Academies Trust Kirsty Fyfe works in recruitment and resourcing within the education sector and has previously led recruitment for a large multi-academy trust. At Brunel Academies Trust, she focuses on strategic recruitment and the wider people journey for staff. https://www.brunel.org.uk

Follow 1AM talks on Instagram for early releases and early updates https://www.instagram.com/pod1amtalks

Podcast recording and production team: https://www.artifactfilms.co.uk/

#LeadershipDevelopment

#L&D #OrganisationalDevelopment #WorkplaceLearning #1AMtalks #podcasttrailer #podcastepisode

#SEND

#SpecialEducationalNeeds

#SENDLeadership

#MultiAcademyTrust

#StaffResilience

#EducationLeadership

What makes EDIB Global Majority leadership programmes effective in the workplace? Share your ideas here and listen to the stories and tips from our team of facilitation experts.

In part two of our Experts’ Masterclass episode, Andry, Rachael, and Miranda discuss what they have learnt about high quality design and delivery on effective EDIB (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging) leadership programmes. They focus on quality in Global Majority and Black leadership development programmes.

You will hear stories and gain insights into:

• Collaborating with learning and development leads and commissioners to ensure your EDIB programme meets organisational needs and creates meaningful change
• Encouraging leadership at all levels—how to help individuals step up, even without a formal title
• The importance of lived experience in EDIB programme design, and why facilitators work best when they draw on their own stories to create authentic, relatable learning
• Scaffolding for success—what needs to happen before, during, and after a programme to make it truly effective

With thanks to Rosie Grundy, who inspired our Global Majority Leadership Programme.

Full Timestamps 

00:00:06:06 – 00:00:41:02: Introduction to the episode; designing learning that is systemic, sustainable, and rooted in lived experience 

00:00:41:04 – 00:00:57:08: Exploring the most impactful leadership programmes designed for underrepresented groups 

00:00:57:10 – 00:01:53:21: The Authentic Leadership programme: origins, impact, and the importance of lived experience in facilitation 

00:01:53:23 – 00:02:40:09: Addressing imposter syndrome and creating spaces for underrepresented Global Majority leaders to thrive 

00:02:40:09 – 00:03:25:06: Evolving language: from "Ethnic Minority" to "Global Majority" leadership programmes 

00:03:25:06 – 00:03:47:24: Developing tailored programmes for Global Majority and Black staff 

00:04:30:22 – 00:05:19:14: Leadership without titles: encouraging individuals to step up and create their own opportunities 

00:05:19:14 – 00:06:09:08: The importance of preparation and follow-up: why one-off workshops are not enough 

00:06:09:08 – 00:07:15:05: Ethical considerations in programme design; ensuring participants are supported beyond the workshop 

00:07:15:07 – 00:07:55:02: Long-term impact: career progression and the value of action learning, coaching, and networks 

00:07:55:08 – 00:08:44:17: Face-to-face vs. online delivery: what works best for leadership development? 

00:08:44:19 – 00:09:34:07: Scaffolding for success: what organisations need to have in place for programmes to be effective 

00:09:34:13 – 00:09:55:19: Systemic change: working collectively and collaboratively for lasting impact 

00:09:55:21 – 00:10:16:16: Tips for co-creating learning programmes with participants and organisations 

00:10:16:18 – 00:11:17:13: Designing for engagement: moving beyond tick-box training to meaningful participation 

00:11:17:15 – 00:12:08:00: Sustainability and longevity: providing practical tools and follow-up support 

00:12:08:04 – 00:12:54:18: The power of consultation and authenticity in programme design 

00:12:54:18 – 00:13:34:24: Creating opportunities for collaboration and ongoing conversation 

00:13:35:01 – 00:14:52:24: Designing from lived experience, research, and flexibility; embracing both serious and joyful mindsets 

00:14:53:01 – 00:15:49:08: Beginner’s mind: staying open, curious, and adaptable as a facilitator 

00:15:49:08 – 00:16:09:23: Key takeaways: the importance of what happens before, during, and after a programme 

00:16:10:00 – 00:17:00:17: Episode closing and preview of the next episode: exploring a learning programme from three perspectives

This episode is for learning and development professionals, facilitators, and coaches who want to move beyond tick-box training and create programmes that empower leaders, foster inclusion, and drive real organisational change.

As you listen, you are invited to reflect on what resonates for you—and to share your own thoughts and experiences with us. Please add your reponses  here.

To find out more about your hosts, Andry, Miranda, and Rachael: linktr.ee/andryam . To find out more about the team’s workshops, coaching, and consultancy work with UK organisations for your staff: thelearningmoment.org .

#LeadershipDevelopment #EDIB #GlobalMajority #Facilitation #L&D #OrganisationalDevelopment #WorkplaceLearning #InclusiveLeadership

What if you don’t need a title to be a leader?

In this trailer for 1AM Talks, your hosts explore a powerful insight: leadership is not about the job title—it’s about how you show up. Many people wait for permission or a promotion to step into leadership, but sometimes leadership happens when you take ownership, create opportunities, and lead responsibly from where you are.

This mini 1AM Talks trailer gives you a flavour of the 20-minute leadership and EDIB-focused masterclass episode, where you’ll hear how experienced facilitators and coaches—Andry, Miranda, and Rachael—help participants recognise their own leadership potential, even without formal roles. You will also hear how they lead on EDIB Global Majority leadership programmes.

You’ll learn:

• How to reframe leadership as something you do, not something you are given
• Ideas for how to step up and create opportunities for yourself and others at work
• How to lead on EDIB programmes focusing on race and ethnicity
• What we’ve  learnt about the importance of language and EDIB
• Why waiting for a leadership role can hold you back—and what to do instead

Whether you are a facilitator, coach, aspiring leader, or someone ready to make an impact at work, you’ll  discover tips to lead EDIB programmes effectively.

The full 20-minute episode is released later this week.

#1AMTalks #LeadershipWithoutATitle #StepUpAndLead #OwnYourLeadership #Facilitation #Coaching #WorkplaceLearning #CareerGrowth #LeadershipDevelopment #Empowerment

What keeps experienced facilitators and coaches curious, engaged and successful after years of practice?

In this Expert Tips Masterclass episode of 1AM Talks, three experienced facilitators and coaches reflect on  insights they have gleaned over the years, including what to do when things go wrong.

This episode looks at how learning happens not just through techniques, but through attention to what’s happening in the room, in our mindsets, between people, and within wider organisational systems — and how this shapes facilitation and coaching practice over time.

You’ll hear reflections on:

• Working with discomfort in workshops and programmes
• Holding a beginner’s mindset, alongside deep experience
• How to set up a workshop with supportive guidelines
• Systemic and relational ways of thinking about coaching
• What long-term practice teaches you about motivation and failure

A thoughtful, experience-led episode for facilitators, coaches and L&D and OD practitioners who are  interested in reflective, successful learning.

As you listen, you’re invited to reflect on what resonates for you — and to share your own thoughts and experiences with us.

• 00:00:11:06 – 00:00:45:16 Introduction to the episode and hosts; learning journeys as designers, coaches, and facilitators
• 00:00:45:18 – 00:01:06:03 Experiences, challenges, resilience, and working relationally and systemically
• 00:01:06:05 – 00:01:45:12 Current work: delivering the BFFs – Black Female Founders programme
• 00:01:48:17 – 00:02:18:10 Current work: coaching managers, mergers, and culture change
• 00:02:23:12 – 00:03:47:22 Research for book two; learning from new coaches and mentors
• 00:03:47:22 – 00:04:14:22 Moving from research to models, tools, and community support
• 00:04:30:14 – 00:05:41:16 Systemic and relational coaching practice; mentoring within coaching
• 00:06:21:22 – 00:07:42:04 Facilitation practice: expertise in the room, collaboration, reflective questioning
• 00:07:42:06 – 00:08:40:00 Authenticity, continuous learning, and drawing on participant expertise
• 00:08:55:11 – 00:10:42:18 Early learning experiences; internal narratives and assumptions in facilitation
• 00:10:42:24 – 00:11:34:12 Reflection, mindfulness, and learning through practice
• 00:11:34:12 – 00:12:30:21 Resilience, refinement, iteration, and learning from experience
• 00:12:38:19 – 00:13:20:24 Giving yourself grace; unexpected learning moments
• 00:13:21:01 – 00:15:12:22 Tailoring sessions, working with resistance, organisational involvement
• 00:15:12:24 – 00:17:42:07 Being a learner as an expert; beginner’s mind and openness
• 00:17:42:09 – 00:18:32:05 Ground rules, psychological safety, and learning spaces
• 00:18:32:07 – 00:20:36:00 Learning contracts, guidelines, and inclusive programme design
• 00:20:36:00 – 00:21:20:00 Episode closing and next episode preview
• 00:21:20:02 – 00:21:47:19 Where to listen, follow, and connect

#1AMTalks

#Facilitation

#Coaching

#CoachingMasterclass

#FacilitationMasterclass

#ExpertTips

#OrganisationalDevelopment

#ReflectivePractice

#SystemicPractice

#RelationalPractice

#BeginnerMind

#WorkplaceLearning

#GlobalMajorityCoaches

#GlobalMajorityFacilitators

#FemaleFacilitators

What does 25 years of coaching and facilitating teach you? And what do you do when a workshop doesn’t land the way you hoped?

Introducing the Expert Tips Masterclass episode, where three experienced facilitators and coaches share practical insights from real life — including what helps when workshops feel challenging or don’t go to plan.

The full episode explores how practitioners stay resilient, keep refining their practice, and what they have learned from years of lived experience working in L&D and OD.

In the full episode you’ll hear:

• Practical, experience-based tips from facilitators and coaches
• What helps when L&D sessions are challenging
• What is systemic and relational coaching 
• How to set up a workshop with supportive  guidelines 

Honest, grounded, and full of takeaways you can use straight away.

#1AMTalks

#ExpertTips

#Facilitation

#Coaching

#OrganisationalDevelopment

#WorkplaceLearning

#ReflectivePractice

#LearningFromExperience

#ContinuousImprovement

#ResilientPractice

#Facilitators

#Coaches

How do you design for culture change using  a coaching and leadership programme — including enabling leadership presence  for Women of Colour? How do you do set up that L&D culture change   programme in a  friendly, values-driven organisation?

How do you facilitate  L&D and OD programmes for teams where staff care deeply about their work but sometimes find accountability, difficult conversations, and stress hard to navigate?

In this episode of 1AM Talks, Andry McFarlane and Miranda Gay speak with Luna Ali and Aurora Arista from Spiral Learning, an inclusive charity supporting younger adults from underrepresented backgrounds.

Together they share how a truly inclusive programme was shaped to help staff build calm, strengthen accountability, and support their work with clients — all within a workplace culture that aimed to keep client focus and professionalism at its core, while developing leadership,  including leadership by Women of Colour.

A behind-the-scenes look at how thoughtful design and delivery — grounded in EDIB, safeguarding, and partnership — lays the foundation for meaningful transforming workplace-culture.

We’d love to know your thoughts:

💭 And when you’re working with teams who are friendly — even friends — but sometimes lack clear boundaries, how do you design learning that helps them stay supportive and professional?

💭 How do you lead learning programmes for youth-focused teams that build safeguarding and wellbeing into the design, set-up and communication — not just the workshops?

#LearningAndDevelopment #ProgrammeDesign #CultureChange  #Accountability #OrganisationalDevelopment #WorkplaceWellbeing #YouthDevelopment #EDIB

#InclusiveDesign

#YouthEmpowerment #YoungAdults

Contact 1AM talks: 

📧 E: andrymcfarlane@gmail.com


📱 Insta: @pod1amtalks

Guest details:

Aurora Arista and Luna Ali at Spiral Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spiralskills/posts/?feedView=all

https://www.spiralskills.co.uk/

00:11 – Welcome to 1AM Talks — Andry McFarlane and Miranda Gay introduce the series and their experience in learning and development.

00:59 – Introducing Spiral Learning — why the charity commissioned a post-Covid culture-change and wellbeing programme.

01:33 – Meet Aurora Arista and Luna Ali — how Spiral supports young people from under-represented backgrounds.

02:27 – The organisational challenge — communication, trust, accountability and managing conflict in a friendly culture.

04:13 – Designing the programme — six-session coaching cycles, workshops, and senior-leadership consultancy. Luna being a Woman of Colour in leadership.

07:28 – Building psychological safety — confidentiality, coaching boundaries and reassurance for staff.

09:23 – Embedding inclusivity and Safeguarding into learning design.

10:19 – Reflections from Luna —  cultural background, slowing down, stress, and learning to support young people calmly.

13:55 – Closing thoughts — wellbeing, culture change and partnership.

14:48 – Outro — connecting with 1AM Talks and The Learning Moment.