Working with you

Event Director

Rosanna is a powerhouse in managing large-scale events and communication businesses, taking a strategic overview of complex projects for corporate, governmental and charitable organisations. Known for the creativity and flair that she brings to the table, she will get under the skin of your organisation and find the best way to bring your content to life. From setting the strategic direction to handling the complexity and detail of production and delivery, she is skilled at guiding project development at a senior level, liaising with clients and stakeholders, troubleshooting and getting the best out of teams and budgets.

Rosanna offers project direction, creative development and can convene and lead a team for your event.

Coach

One-to-one executive coaching

Rosanna works with individuals to raise their self-awareness, gain greater clarity of a situation which in turn opens up choices.

She is passionate about supporting people to find what makes them really come alive and having the awareness and confidence to follow their hearts, in what might sometimes feel like an unconventional path.

Energy is an important part of every session. The energy that she brings to a session, the energy she would like to create within the session and how you both feel after the session.

She likens it to going on an open water swim together…

Imagine swimming side-by-side in the open water. You have a destination in mind. To get there, we immerse ourselves, diving deeper to explore with curiosity whilst the water holds us in a safe positive space. Occasionally we emerge to survey the wider landscape. By getting into flow and rhythm, we’ll have greater self-awareness of the here and now. Sometimes the currents of life may carry us in a different direction, sometimes we navigate deeper waters and it becomes challenging but we’ll swim together, uncovering pathways, continuously moving forward, and we will arrive, feeling energised and with greater clarity.

Group Coaching sessions

A number of workshops are available exploring interpersonal skills with a particular focus on building your influence through emotional intelligence.

Topics covered include self-awareness, resilience, values, stakeholder management and looking at how to communicate effectively in a virtual world.

Sessions can be tailored to your individual requirements.

Business Mentoring

Having held CEO and COO positions, Rosanna offers mentoring to business owners to help them with focus, direction, people development and operational challenges.

Speaker

Rosanna loves to encourage everyone to go on their own journey of self-awareness. She speaks about challenge and change, owning and rewriting your story, building resilience and her own journey from swimming fears to taking part in a Channel relay swim in 2021.

She has spoken at the Women in Banking and Finance Network,

She is also a keen contributor to podcasts – check out her podcasts here.

Changemakers podcast

CEM podcast with Kirstin Bourne

Writer

Rosanna writes about self-awareness, creativity, emotional intelligence and embracing uncertainty and change in your life

My Sealand Journey

by Rosanna Machado • 16 September 2025

Last Tuesday, I took on my biggest swim to date, swimming from the Principality of Sealand to Felixstowe. I wanted to mark turning 50 with a positive challenge, that would allow me to grow. Why this swim? I have been intrigued by the Principality of Sealand - a micronation on HM Fort Roughs, off the coast of Suffolk. I wanted to challenge myself to do a solo endeavour, take on my single longest distance swim and to train to be able to do it without a wetsuit. It was advertised as 7 miles but ended up being about 9 miles! I signed up in December 2024, giving myself an 8-month training period. And what have I learnt? For something like sport, which I find intimidating, having a long lead time was good for me. I got comfortable with a Personal Trainer, I pushed myself to attend SwimDoctor sessions (still not always loving them), I went on a long-distance swimming week to build confidence and found a group to train with in Dover. Having the time to get into a new scary routine was helpful. It also meant that I had the time to flex training around busy and less busy work periods. I am more resilient than I give myself credit for. In areas of my life where I feel more confident, I recognise my strengths, but sport has felt like a big weakness at school and through my 20s. It has taken me a long time to celebrate what I bring to the swimming. I have learnt that I am quite happy in cold water and that when I set myself a swimming goal, I push myself to do it, despite the fear and discomfort. In fact, I think it’s because of the fear and discomfort, that I am driven to push through! I also know that I enjoy long distance more than trying to sprint so I shouldn’t worry as people whizz past me in a class. My swim was postponed twice and those postponements taught me not to wish away a key milestone. So often we want to tick something off and move on to the next thing, but this was too special to wish it away. I was so nervous the day before my original swim date that I think I got some of the nerves out of my system! By the time my date was finally confirmed, I was more excited than nervous and that felt magical! I thought about coping mechanisms for when things might get tough. I chose a butterfly swimming costume because one mantra that has helped me through training is ‘Let your butterflies fly in formation.’ I channel my nerves to spur me on to do more and accept them as a sign that I care. I learnt to accept what was thrown my way. After 14.5km I was disappointed to learn that I was being swept out and that I would need to get on the boat to be dropped further up the coast to finish the swim (a result of hanging out with too many channel swimmers where this would not be allowed!!) However, I soon made peace with this – there were no rules on this swim to say that this couldn’t happen, and there was so much positivity to celebrate rather than focussing on this. My community has never felt stronger – during the last 8 months, I been supported by swimmers in London, Croatia, Dover and Felixstowe. Friends, family and colleagues have cheered me on endlessly. And the outpouring of love and support (as well as the financial support to charities I am swam for) on the day was truly incredible and overwhelming. It has reminded me that I don’t have to do things on my own. I can share my hopes and fears and the right people will support this. I learnt to enjoy the journey – during my swim, I looked up at the looming Sealand platform, I admired container ships whizzing past, I smiled and joked with my crew, I thought about my Mum, I tried to improve my stroke, and I had a fabulous time. This was a huge difference from previous swims where I have felt amazing afterwards but found the actual swim very challenging and stressful. When things feel hard, we want them to be over, so it was refreshing to lean into it and enjoy every minute of it. I didn’t even realise when I wasn’t moving due to the currents! “Despite choppy waters, I found my way and my stride, and I loved it!” This was me describing a practice swim to my coaching supervisor and she replied saying she thought it was a great metaphor for life! This swim has taught me to be kinder to myself, to believe in myself, to push myself to do things I never thought would be possible, to find the joy in the journey and to shine brighter. It’s not a bad way to start my 50s and I’m looking forward to whatever comes next.

Is this one moment in time?

by Rosanna Machado • 26 August 2025

Last week, I was hoping to complete my big sea swim that I have been training for, for the last 8 months. Unfortunately, the weather gods had other ideas, and my swim has been postponed. This has been an intense focus for me this year with all my training and healthy eating geared to this date so to have it postponed was strange. I am a quick decision maker and knew it was the right thing, but it still felt a little numb and disappointing. Reflecting on it over the last week, I realise that I don’t want to wish it away in that one moment. This is a journey that I am enjoying hugely. It started off as a way to celebrate entering a new decade and to push myself on my swimming journey – my birthday present to myself! Throughout the year, I have expanded my swimming community with incredible new connections, I have put myself in swim classes where I feel very daunted, I have lifted weights I never thought were possible and I feel fitter than ever before. What’s more, I am thriving on the exercise and feel more resilient and joyful about life. I’m embracing a happier, fitter, more resilient, me, one that even 10 years ago, I would not have thought was ever a possibility. With this comes growth and expanding possibilities – who knows what’s around the corner! The arbitrary date of the swim is useful to give me a focus, and I am buzzing to do it, but I don’t want it to be the end, I want it to be a milestone in a continuing journey. So, whilst it is a little frustrating to have to wait, I am going to continue to enjoy the journey, knowing that force 3 winds would have been tough. I am going to embrace uncertainty and know that this week has been so productive and exciting in other ways because I didn’t swim. I’m going to know that it will happen when the time is right. And most of all, I am going to try and enjoy it and not wish it away. So much of our lives are busy rushing and ticking things off so we can move on to the next big thing. This is too important to me and who I am becoming to rush it and see it as another tick box exercise. This postponement has shown me that I need to enjoy this phase of the journey for a little longer and know that in every moment there is growth. So next time you are wishing away a milestone, take a moment to enjoy the journey, celebrate the wins, recognise how it has transformed you and hold on to what you will take forward in the next exciting chapter of your story. (And in case you are wondering, I am hoping to complete my swim in the next 3 weeks, weather permitting, so I will keep you posted 😊)

SOS

by Rosanna Machado • 29 July 2025

When I worked on the Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant in 2012, I was bombarded with jargon…SAG, LOSPG, C3. The job was a step up for me and trying to navigate the acronyms didn’t help with my imposter syndrome. A few weeks in, I realised that lots of people were struggling with the same thing. We’d all sit in meetings, and no-one wanted to look silly. It took one brave person to ask for an explanation and you would see the relief fill the room. I even changed the LOSPG acronym in one meeting to see what would happen and no one batted an eyelid or had any idea what the acronym was supposed to be! Over the years, I have got braver about asking when I don’t understand something. I think this also comes with confidence. Yet I did experience the same feeling when I started swimming training sessions this year. It took me a long time to sign up to classes because I was worried that I wouldn’t understand the jargon around swimming drills. And as expected, I didn’t but the more I talked about it, the more I realised that I wasn’t alone. I also realised that people are only too happy to explain it to ensure that I understand what to do. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of wanting to understand fully, in order to do your best. The fear of asking is often tied up with how we perceive we will be judged. When I think about when people ask me things, I don’t have that judgement so why should they have it about me? We are often wrapped up in our own thoughts and our perception of what people think of us, is simply not true. I know that acronyms and jargon are supposed to make our lives easier but sometimes it feels like it’s being done to look good. Often a simpler way of communicating can be far more powerful and effective. We don’t need big words or jargon to prove we can do our jobs. By complicating things, we often exclude people. So have a think about whether your language is serving you and your community and whether there is a more effective way to communicate. We are all responsible for creating an inclusive, open and welcoming environment and we can do this by communicating clearly and being prepared to be vulnerable when we don’t understand.

MENTOR

Rosanna is energised by contributing to the community. She is currently a volunteer at WeSwim disabled swimming club, trustee at the Thames Festival Trust, speaker for Founder4Schools and offers pro bono coaching to charities and individuals.

She is inspired by giving back even if it is just a random act of kindness to brighten up someone’s day.

Swimmer

For 30 years, the story Rosanna told herself was that she was rubbish at sport after attending a sporty school. She had a 20-year fear of putting her head under water. She took up her swimming in her 30s as it was solitary so she didn’t have to compete with anyone and soon found the mental health and physical benefits were fantastic.

Swimming has been an integral part of her own journey of self-awareness and she is passionate about encouraging everyone to deepen their own self-awareness and to also find whatever self-care works for them.

Read about her swimming journey below.