ROW CEO/Founder

Sarah McGuinness

BCS, BSc(Hons), GradDipPsych, DipProCoaching, Cert IV Training & Assessment, Cert III Fitness  |  CEO/Founder – Revolutionaries of Wellbeing

As the CEO/Founder of Revolutionaries of Wellbeing (formally My Health Revolution), Sarah advises senior leaders on how to build happy and healthy workplaces. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in corporate wellbeing and behaviour change and has supported well-known New Zealand brands to improve the wellbeing of their people. Sarah is the founder of the ROW Network (formally the Wellness Champions Network) and ROW Gold – which connects wellbeing professionals around the globe.

She draws on her honours degree in psychology and degree in communication, training in health behaviour, fitness and facilitation, plus a 15+ year career in the corporate sector specialising in leadership and organisational development. 

She is a passionate mental fitness and wellbeing champion and is determined to reduce stigma and improve conversations around mental health. Her tips on taking care in the modern world have featured in the media including on Stuff, Newshub/TV3, MiNDFOOD, Newstalk ZB and RNZ.

ROW Executive Assistant

Jane Johnston

BCom in Marketing

Jane has a marketing and administration background with roles at Immigration NZ, The Court Theatre, and the Recreation & Sport Unit at Christchurch City Council.

She has mentored a young teen through the Big Brothers Big Sisters programme for four years. Jane is passionate about championing wellbeing having had lived experience of mental health challenges and has a newfound respect for working parents and the challenges of balancing their own wellbeing, after becoming a mum.

Jane also manages a successful online retailer with her husband.

ROW Commercial Partnerships Manager

Chris Hewitt

BA/BCom Politics and International Business

Chris brings almost 15 years of experience in the professional development and events fields, with the last 7 spent managing a commercial portfolio of publications and events in the health, safety and wellbeing industry. He brings a wealth of programme management and commercial partnership experience, and has strong networks across the health, safety and wellbeing sectors both in New Zealand and overseas.

He cares deeply about workplace wellbeing and is passionate about helping businesses lift their wellbeing performance.

ROW Research Crew Lead

Dr Mark Wallace-Bell

RN, BSc (Hons)(Psych)PhD

Mark is an internationally recognised health behaviour change specialist. He has facilitated health behaviour change programmes for numerous organisations in New Zealand and Australia.

Mark brings scientific rigour to our research process, balanced with an understanding of the pressures and realities of business life.

He is at the University of Canterbury where he teaches post graduate papers on health behaviour change. Mark is also a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).

ROW HR Crew Lead & Consultant - BestfitHR

Anne-Marie Dolan

Anne-Marie jointly leads the ROW HR Crew at ROW with Matt Dolan.

Anne-Marie worked with the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) leading research, competency and curriculum projects in Australia and globally.  As well as writing and presenting on people matters, Anne-Marie also played a generalist HR role at AHRI as it grew from a small to medium sized organisation, facing and addressing the challenges and opportunities which come with a growing workforce.

More recently, since starting a family, Anne-Marie has worked remotely to deliver all manner of content, curriculum and capability projects for clients both within AHRI and in Australian State Government agencies. She also works alongside Matt at their consulting company, bestfitHR  (one of our ROW Partners).

ROW HR Crew Lead & Consultant - BestfitHR

Matt Dolan

Matt jointly leads the ROW HR Crew at ROW with Anne-Marie Dolan.

Matt’s experience spans human resources management, transformation and change leadership within multinationals, the likes of BHP Billiton and Veolia, as well as other organisations across the transport and logistics, natural resources and environmental services sectors.

Matt has worked in global, regional and locally focussed roles and projects in a generalist and specialist capacity making him a true ‘allrounder’ when it comes to people at work.

Matt and Anne-Marie’s consulting company, bestfitHR  (one of ROW’s Partners) offers diagnosis and implementation of people solutions, from HR leadership through change and transformation.

ROW Copywriter

Sharon Stephenson

BA (English Lit), Diploma in Journalism (AUT)

Sharon has spent more years than she cares to remember rearranging words on a page – as a journalist, copywriter and PR consultant. That includes five years in London working for the BBC, two years in Bristol editing magazines and a year in Auckland with TVNZ before she drifted home  to Wellington.

There’s not much Sharon won’t do for a story – from getting married in Las Vegas to swinging from a trapeze! A decade ago, she fell into travel writing, which has gifted her some of the most sublime moments of her life.

Sharon currently writes for some of New Zealand’s best magazines, newspapers and online outlets, from North & South and Kia Ora Magazines to NZ House & Garden and Business Desk. When she’s not doing that, she makes clients’ hardcopy and digital communications sound good (including ROW, Antipodes Nature, Xero and TradeMe). And ensures all the apostrophes are in the right places.

Sharon loves a good story so hit her up with any leads about leaders we love, well-being heroes or workplace wellness trends.

Wellbeing & Safety Specialist - CoachWell

Andy Hearn

Andy is an experienced Wellbeing & Safety Specialist – currently working as a Wellbeing Coach, Facilitator and Workplace Wellbeing & Safety Consultant.

After initially working as a physiotherapist in the UK and NZ, Andy worked for 10 years as a Senior Academic Staff Member and Head of Science at CPIT (now Ara Institute of Canterbury). He then moved to the Canterbury DHB in 2012 to lead the DHB’s staff wellbeing response following the Canterbury earthquakes. After four years at the CDHB Andy moved to Emerge Aotearoa as their National Health, Safety and Wellbeing Manager. In 2018 he returned to Ara on a two-year contract as Manager – Health & Wellbeing. The purpose of this role was to develop and embed an evidence based, system wide focus on staff wellbeing – a challenging time as it coincided with the Christchurch mosque attacks and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to his work experience, Andy draws on his own ‘lived’ experiences of depression and significant physical injury (broken neck). This mix of academic, practical and lived experience allows him to bring a pragmatic evidence-based approach to his work. An approach that has previously been recognised nationally (Winner NZ Workplace Wellbeing Award, 2013; Finalist NZ Workplace H&S Awards, 2015, 2016). Andy holds a Master’s Degree in Physiotherapy, a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health & Safety, and is a ICF Certified Coach.

ROW Communication Specialist - Korimako Communications

Cathie Bell

Cathie is ROW’s Communication Specialist.

Cathie  is an award-winning journalist and  an experienced communications professional, with a 30 year-long career in journalism and public sector communications.  She was a press secretary for successive ministers of agriculture in the Labour-Progressive coalition government headed by Helen Clark, as well as in several government agencies, and has an appreciation for politics, public service, primary industry, and life in the regions. 

A long-time Wellingtonian, Cathie now lives in sunny Marlborough and enjoys the vastly-better climate and Marlborough’s abundant food and drink scene.

She loves to write, whether it’s a good story, a report, or a media statement. She’d love to help you with your wellbeing-writing needs.