Meet Elaine Chief Banana Officer

… the one who peeled POWER off the vision board in 2019, when she stepped into her power and discovered a feeling of freedom too important not to share.

Born into a vegetarian family, in 1982, Elaine’s first food was bananas (the ultimate qualification for a Chief Banana Officer).
Lover of languages; Elaine chaired a European conference tackling xenophobia, age 12, and took a gap year – as Chief Adventurer – age 33.
Elaine has an all-natural white streak in her hair, and a banana tattooed on her right wrist.

Elaine has a gift for making people feel seen, heard and valued.
She has an energy that is both vulnerable, strong, and beautifully contagious.
Elaine brings a banana-truckload of life experience to POWER, fused with an exceptional ability to create transformational experiences that move, connect and shift.

Life before bananas

Elaine created extraordinary client experience and high-profile events for luxury brands – from Champagne Taittinger to Rolls-Royce Motor Cars – and motorsport, for 14 years. Before that, she enabled people with Down’s syndrome to live their best lives, by writing bids for charities. And before that, she was top performer on one of the big bank’s graduate programmes.

The thing is, Elaine was never a graduate; and that’s where the story of POWER begins. Beyond her resume, it’s Elaine’s vulnerability and willingness to share her story, and the tools she uses to overcome life’s challenges – the original bananachat – that really sets POWER apart. Hospitalised in her late teens, with anorexia; it was movement (beyond fitness), a sense of belonging (connection), as well as tools for the mind, that were key contributors to her recovery.

Her Dad – the originator of ‘Keep Pedaling’, now tattooed on Elaine’s left arm, died after a short illness in 2021 – said to her, there’s power in your experience, and you have the opportunity to help someone else, if and when you can.

That idea never left Elaine, and it was only in 2019 – 20 years post-recovery – that she named her anorexia for the first time; a defining moment in her history and the day she turned POWER – a years old vision – into a brave decision. Elaine had discovered a new-found level of freedom, respect for self, and connection to others that felt too important not to share.

Now in her forties, Elaine’s ever-growing kit bag of tools for the mind is as varied and powerful, as it is authentic and relatable. When she shares this toolkit, over her brilliantly-curated, legendary playlists, and combines it with the play of bananas, and the power of connection; it creates something truly transformational, inimitable, and something her Dad would be truly proud of.

Becky Banana master of yin

Becky’s day’s not begun until she’s had her first cup of Earl Grey.
She’s a lover of both green and blue nature – happiest up-high on a mountain or rolling over the waves.
She’s a big fan of dragon breathing (ask her how and why).

Qualified?

Becky has the holy banana trinity of qualifications. Her deep, knowing experience of being Mum to Eve (affectionately and inspiringly, a unicorn) her lived and loved experience of POWER and her brilliant science brain.

Becky is a proud Mum to three wild and wonderful children. Eve, her eldest, was born in 2014 with a rare chromosome disorder. Through big joy and big challenges, Becky channels her inner Eve; living bravely and boldly, in the moment.
The story of Becky’s lived and loved experience of POWER started with ‘Admit to Meeting’ – Elaine and Becky met through a POWER Online screen during lockdown – Becky was a runner, and one of the original POWER Online bunch.

When Elaine announced a POWER Online fundraiser in aid of The Sussex Snowdrop Trust, Becky told Elaine her story about Eve, and the support they’d received from the charity. Beautiful, curious, vulnerable moments are how all POWER stories, and incredible friendships begin.
Fast forward to early 2022; Elaine asked Becky if she would be an extra pair of hands at a POWER experience, for people with Down’s syndrome.
This experience took Becky’s passion for properly inclusive, extraordinary movement experiences to a whole new level. Which, in turn, took POWER to a whole new level, and POWER Yin was born.

The science bit…

Becky trained at St George’s Medical School, London, and qualified as a Physio’ in 2008. She has nearly two decades experience as a Specialist Physiotherapist; she worked for the NHS in London and the UK’s largest private hospital providing specialist complex care for people following stroke, brain injury, spinal injury; The Wellington Hospital. Becky’s Masters in life after stroke, looked in-depth at the importance of connection to enable holistic recovery. This led to the development of innovative psychological support groups for people with brain and spinal injury, providing a safe space to share stories, enabling emotional and physical healing. Becky is also trained in Adapted Tai Chi, the movement element of POWER Yin. POWER Yin truly embodies Becky’s passion for movement and connection – for people with and without disability – and her intricate understanding of the brain, mind, and body’s ability to adapt, re-learn, and evolve.