The Team Behind SEAS THE MIND
Emma Ross
Co- Founder & Director
After completing her Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Emma pursued a 15-year career in super-yachting. Starting in 2005 on motor yachts Galaxy, Romanza and Elysian, Emma has also run sailing yachts, including Saudade, Mystery and Indio.
Seeing and experiencing a vacuum in the industry around mental health awareness and unchallenged bullying and harassment, Emma sought to find an industry-accessible solution and resource. Having completed a two-day Mental Health First Aid course, Emma found what she believes to be the most progressive resource available for anyone in the maritime industry – the opportunity to educate and empower crew on personal and collective wellbeing. Upskilling during COVID-19 to become an MHFA Instructor and adapting the MHFAider® course for the yachting industry, she co-founded SEAS THE MIND, a global resource and training program for seafarers to tackle, recognise and fortify individuals to understand their own and others’ mental health onboard.
For Emma yachting has been a wonderful career and opportunity, she also knows nothing is perfect and there is always room for improvement and wants to leave yachting even better for the next generation, and that’s what she believes we are doing with SEAS THE MIND.
Contact her at emma@seasthemind.co.uk
Melanie White
Co- Founder & Head of Development
Meet Mel! She worked as a chef on busy charter sailing yachts throughout her twenties & noticed the lack of support to counteract isolation and harassment for yacht crew.
After meeting Emma, their mission to address the mental health challenges faced by seafarers led to Seas the Mind's inception. Mel is a MHFAider® and has worked as a policy advisor for the UK Chamber of Shipping and in 2022 published 'Behind Ocean Lines - The Invisible Price of Accommodating Luxury' to raise awareness surrounding the pitfalls but also the magic of being yacht crew.
She is currently working to develop Seas The Mind training to cast a wider net of support across all seafaring sectors. Her goal is to support crew wholeheartedly and give them the tools to access a fulfilling, long-lasting career at sea. She also works as Head of Communications for Kelly's Cause a mental health charity, and in 2022 gave birth to her son, Alfred.
Contact her at melanie@seasthemind.co.uk
Rachel Boughton
Head of Communications
Rachel joined yachting after completing her degree in English Literature, backpacking around the world and completing a ski season in the French Alps. Her ‘travel bug’ showed no signs of abating and she spent the next 15 years as a Stewardess, the last decade of which was as a Chief Stewardess, on a variety of Motor Yachts; Charter and Private. She was mainly based in the Mediterranean and Antigua, with a brief spell in the Middle East. Having worked on vessels ranging in size from 95m down to 33m she got a great overview of the yachting industry and its highs and lows. She left yachting in 2017 while expecting the first of her two daughters. Her partner still works in the industry and in recent years she has written freelance articles for a range of publications on issues relating to crew welfare including All at Sea, Onboard Online and Superyacht Content.
During her time on yachts and especially as a Head of Department Rachel became very interested in the mental health challenges presented by the particular features of life as crew. Having completed her MHFA training with Seas the Mind as a is a MHFAider®, Rachel now hopes to be part of the solution to some of these challenges in her role as Head of Communications at Seas The Mind.
Contact her at rachel@seasthemind.co.uk
Liezl Mason
Liezl started her yachting career at the age of 18 and quickly discovered her passion for the maritime industry. Having worked on both charter and private yachts she became Chief Stew at age 24 and have been working as Chief ever since. Her passion for the industry expanded when she became an Accredited Life Coach to be able to better support her crew and team and realised how much the maritime industry needs extra mental health support and awareness.
After completing her MHFA Instructor member training, as well as her purser training, Liezl is committed to build and create strong connections with those also in the maritime industry to help create a positive movement.
An intergeral and important supporter of SEAS THE MIND involved in helping to improve our incredible industry and to take care of the people in it, together. We want to bring MHFA training to the yachting industry to create awareness and to equip crew with the tools to be able to be more supportive and more knowledgable regarding our own mental health as well as those around us.
Capitalising on Emma’s 20+ years in yachting and sustained interest in psychology, we intend to bring MHFA to seafarers, offering expert guidance and training to support better mental health in the industry.
