The Eternal Optimists

Ollie Phillips
Ex-England Rugby Captain and once voted the Best 7’s Player in the World, Ollie is a Director at PwC and Founder of Optimist Performance. Since retiring from professional rugby, Ollie has been involved in a number of life-changing challenges and has notched up 4 Guinness World Records to date. Ollie brings over 20 years of experience in sports and business to help leaders overcome change and transform their teams to achieve new levels of success.

Charlotte Wathan
Charlotte has a twenty-year career history as an academic and strategist, leading cultural change most recently as Head of the Women’s game at the Welsh Rugby Union, where she instigated the inaugural professional contracts for senior women’s rugby. Charlotte has a wealth of experience working across public, private and third-sector organisations. Charlotte is a self-confessed insight geek who supports companies in measuring the impact of strategic and cultural change.

Russell Earnshaw
Having graduated from Cambridge with a Maths and Economics degree, Rusty played rugby for several teams, including Bath (winning the European Cup in 1998) and England 7’s, before moving into coaching and working with England U18’s, U20’s and 7’s, coaching and mentoring some of the brightest young players and coaches in the country. He now works across business and sport, helping the likes of Google, Abbott, NZ Rugby and GB Hockey responding to their needs, including creativity, coaching skills, leadership and high-performing teams.

Ryan Jones, MBE
Ryan is a three-time Grand Slam-winning former Wales Rugby Captain & British and Irish Lion. Ryan is the Ex-Director of Performance at the Welsh Rugby Union and a previous Board Member of Disability Sport Wales. Ryan was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours in 2021 for his services to rugby and charity, raising thousands of pounds for the NHS during the first lockdown period in 2020, with events such as a solo garden marathon and a 100-mile kitchen treadmill endeavour.
Learn more about our Optimistic Talks!
Optimistic Insights
10 Ways to optimise performance reviews – By Charlotte Wathan
Having been on both ends of performance reviews, I admit I’m not a huge fan of them to date or at least, not of “one-off” annual performance reviews. However, executed well, with a long-term vision for all parties, I think they can be a really useful tool for growth...
Simple Ways To Recharge Effectively as a Busy Person – by Optimist Performance
It’s too easy to neglect self-care when you’re at the top of your game running a business or managing a team. You put your work before everything else, including your health, personal life, and all-around well-being. However, taking time off to recharge is vital to...
Breaking bad habits: The driving factors you need to master – By Ruari Fairbairns
Do you sometimes feel like you have control of every area of your life except your drinking habits? Or maybe you feel like alcohol is getting in the way of reaching your full potential? You’re not alone. In the UK, it’s estimated that alcohol-related lost productivity...