Meet the Team

The Founders

James and Kristy Thomas founded Feel the Magic in 2013, driven by their personal experiences with grief and a mission to make sure no Australian child goes through grief alone.

Both James and Kristy know first-hand how hard it is to heal after a loved one dies- James having experienced the death of both his father and mother, and Kristy the death of her brother.

Working with mental health experts to develop the evidence-based camps, strategies and resources that Feel the Magic delivers, James and Kristy are dedicated to helping grieving kids heal – no matter where they live in Australia, from the city to the most isolated rural towns.

The Board

John Brennan

Director

John Brennan

Director

John brings a wealth of leadership, financial and commercial expertise gained over 30 years in senior financial roles in large multinationals in Australia, USA, Europe and Asia. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and Ireland and trained with KPMG. He is also a member of the Institute of Company Directors. John enjoys the opportunity to give back and has previously trekked to over 5,000 metres in north west India to raise money for Save the Children Fund. When not using his expertise to help others, John enjoys his passion for sailing, golf, family and friends.

Tahnee Schulz

Director

Tahnee Schulz

Director

Tahnee is an experienced speaker, psychologist and life performance coach. She is the director of several organisations including her own joint business. Tahnee specialises in mental health, substance use, trauma, high performance executive coaching and organisational psychology. She has experience working in a wide range of settings including educational, forensic, correctional, community, mining and corporate.

Tahnee has strong business experience and a lengthy management history. Tahnee built a ground up mental health and wellbeing business and developed and implemented world class real-time wellbeing response technology. Tahnee has also managed a 24/7 trauma-response team and numerous associates and contractors responding to critical incidents on a global scale including terrorism and natural disasters.

Tahnee has worked with many large national and international organisations including executive level management at Optus, Cricket Australia, the big 4 banks, Ambulance, Police, Special Operations, AFP and Defence. Her work includes providing clinical governance, risk mitigation, change management, workplace culture, high performance and life coaching, counselling, treatment plans and management support.

Tahnee has worked with various people involved in and affected by incidents such as the tragic passing of cricketer Phillip Hughes and subsequent inquest, the Sydney Lindt Café siege and subsequent inquest, several Royal Commissions and the Nepal Earthquakes Rescue Mission. Tahnee is proficient at clinical assessment, diagnosis, case formulation and treatment, and is well regarded for her skills assessing, treating and reporting on Acute Stress Disorder and PTSD.

Andrew Hedges

Chairman

Andrew Hedges

Chairman

Andy Hedges is a visionary, innovative business leader who has an ability to anticipate emerging trends and identify business opportunities. He has a proven ability to engage large and diverse groups of individuals to build high performance teams. Also known as a lateral thinker, he likes to be at the focal point of cultural change in a business. Described by colleagues as a humanistic leader best captured in this quote that he has framed above his desk; “I don’t want to be better than other people. I just want to help others be better people.”

Our Team

Isabella Simantov

Research Associate

Isabella Simantov

Research Associate

Lauren Galbraith

Program Intake Lead

Lauren Galbraith

Program Intake Lead

Lauren is the Intake Lead at Feel the Magic. She speaks with all our new families and volunteers about our services and helps them find the right program for their family. Her qualifications include a Bachelor Degree in Psychology and Social Science, and a Diploma of Human Resources. Lauren started with Feel the Magic as a volunteer mentor and talk-time facilitator at Camp Magic, and Administration Assistant to the National Program Coordinator prior to role as Program Intake Lead. She is mother to two daughters, a son, and a stepson, and loved ballet when she was growing up.

Michelle Wright

Marketing and Communications Manager

Michelle Wright

Marketing and Communications Manager

Michelle is the Marketing and Communications Manager at Feel the Magic. She has diverse experience in the development and delivery of marketing, communications, and business development strategies. Michelle has worked in not-for-profit, charities, community services and corporate business to business. She has a Master of Management and a passion for working for charities to use her interests and experience to make a difference and benefit the community.

Lucy Archinal-Hudson

Clinical Director

Lucy Archinal-Hudson

Clinical Director

Lucy is the Clinical Director at Feel The Magic. She is a Registered Psychologist and has worked with children and families in many contexts including home and school, youth justice facilities, and out-of-home care settings. Her qualifications include a Bachelor degree in Psychological Science and a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology. Prior to joining the Feel The Magic team, Lucy volunteered as a mentor and talk-time facilitator on Camp Magic. She is passionate about tailoring evidence-based practice to the meet the unique needs of individuals. In her private practice, Lucy also sees adults and families and works with a variety of mental health presentations.

Adam Blatch

Chief Executive Officer

Adam Blatch

Chief Executive Officer

With over 25 years’ experience, Adam has led organisational transformation, strategy development, governance performance & development, change and people / culture initiatives in some of Australia’s best-known for purpose organisations. With a passion for helping people and organisations succeed, he is an executive leader with extensive experience in connecting people performance to organisational goals through performance alignment, coaching/mentoring and ensuring that people use their strengths and perform at their best. Adam specialises in organisational strategic planning and execution, organisational /people performance alignment, change management and cultural transformation utilising both vision and systems thinking to create value for the organisations he has worked for. Adam holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) along with other tertiary qualifications and volunteers as an executive mentor & coach in the sector as well as other volunteer roles. Adam is passionate about making a difference to the lives of others and enjoy the challenges and rewards of working in the for-purpose sector.

Nicole Suffling

National Program Coordinator

Nicole Suffling

National Program Coordinator

Nicole joins our team having worked in the Early Childhood and Primary School settings for the last 10 years. Nicole has studied and has completed specialised training in the area of special needs and interventions. She has completed her certificate IV in Business Management, along with holding a current First Aid and CPR Certificate. Nicole has a strong passion for dancing where she has taught and choreographed for the last 9 years. Nicole has been a part of the Feel the Magic family for the last four years as a dedicated volunteer, mentor and talk time assistant. After experiencing loss herself, Nicole brings a wealth of experience dealing with grieving children.

Peter Maloney

National Learning & Development

Peter Maloney

National Learning & Development

Peter has been a coach, counsellor, and educator for the last 10 years.

He holds a Dip. Counselling, Dip. Community Service & Case Management and Cert IV TAE. Peter is also currently studying a Bachelor of Social Science/Psychology.

His life and work are about aligning people with their hearts, dreams and creating a powerful, passionate and fulfilling life.

He started his journey of self-discovery when he arrived back from the UK in 2004, where he started seeing a counsellor to help him with big changes such as grief and the myriad of feelings that come with permanent change and loss.

After years of growth and education, Peter has a thriving counselling, coaching and education business and is now the head facilitator and educator of our Camp Magic program.

“My aim is to support and empower you to unlock your natural potential and purpose in life as a powerful human being. I do this via mental fitness, emotional resilience and educating you in new skills to heal, grow and thrive.”

Kristy Thomas

Co-Founder & National Virtual Camp Lead

Kristy Thomas

Co-Founder & National Virtual Camp Lead

Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher and Business Woman are just some of the talents she brings to her work in the world. Kirsty has a Bachelor of Dance Education majoring in Dance and minoring in Personal Development, Health and Physical Education. She has taught hundreds of children in both the NSW Department of Education and her private dance studio over the last 12 years. Kristy is the creator and owner of Bust-A-Move School of Modern Dance. She uses dance as an expressive metaphor and taps into each child’s desires and dreams. She raises them to this vision with her students absolutely knowing that they are powerful beyond measure. A continual student of human and personal development herself, she has trained in a kaleidoscope of modalities, philosophies and creative spiritual arts.