Meet the team: Sinéad Walsh
At Ariosi, our people are one of our strengths, and we’re excited to introduce one of our new members as part of the Meet the Team series: Sinéad Walsh. With a background in psychology, higher education and mental health, she brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for helping others thrive, making her an essential part of our training team.
The path that led her to Ariosi is anything but typical. Originally from Ireland, she first came to the UK to pursue her master’s in clinical psychology at University of Warwick. A brief return to Ireland before realising London is where she wanted to kickstart her career; and boy did it! Sinéad started out as a home care assistant, experiencing the joy of connecting with people one-to-one. She then became an assistant psychologist at an NHS Major Trauma Centre. During this time, she specialised in cognitive and behavioural assessments, providing tailored support to patients with neurodevelopmental disorders and helping them successfully navigate and overcome their challenges.
She then moved onto a project which involved her playing a lead role for 1 of the 10 universities taking part. The project was a mental health initiative aimed at increasing resilience amongst students and staff. She managed the project from start to finish and when speaking about it, it’s evident that it had a special place in her heart.
When Sinéad managed a dementia service in London, a key aspect of her role was delivering impactful training to a diverse range of stakeholders, including patients, their families, care staff, and health care professionals. Prior to joining Ariosi, Sinéad excelled in staff engagement and development in the higher education sector, where facilitating and creating training programmes were central to her role.
For Sinéad, joining Ariosi was the perfect combination of her bringing her skillset and ambition to learning and development. ‘Building something from the ground up’ is what excites her the most – an opportunity that she believes will help shape Ariosi’s training programmes and see individuals flourish and progress in their careers. Her dedication to learning, along with her warmth and empathy, is truly felt by the team and the learners.
Outside of her role, she is an adventurer with a zest for life.
A five-week backpacking trip in Colombia introduced her to some adventures that the team loved hearing about from whale watching, paragliding, and some hilariously humbling salsa lessons (where her instructor insisted that her hips can lie). Beyond travel, she likes to frequently try new things, her most recent dabbles included a fencing and woodworking course. She is even training to become a Humanist Celebrant – (an absolute busy body!).
She admires the filmmaker, Greta Gerwig, whose fearless leadership in a male-dominated industry has resonated with Sinéad, she also said her mum is a big influence in her life as she is the coolest, calmest and most collected person she knows – now we know where she gets it from! But when asked what her work tip is, it’s simple and effective: start every day with a good breakfast to fuel you.
What excites her the most about Ariosi and the future? She effortlessly replied saying that seeing our training programmes grow and watching people thrive. We can’t wait to see that too Sinéad!
