Pioneering Creative Life Solutions Through Wellness Consulting – Interview With Carol A Cumberbatch

Carol A Cumberbatch is an artist & an award winning short filmmaker, influencing communities in the UK & internationally with bespoke interpersonal & intrapersonal projects & experiences that explore & stimulate the many shapes of wellbeing, awareness, life solutions & reflection through creative mediums. A self confessed social media hermit, Carol is passionate about the natural learning environment, with an innate apetite for personal development, which she has enjoyed cultivating over many years after being deemed not equipped for higher learning as a young person. Regardless of the pessimism of this early narrative, Carol created her path, resulting in decades of experience designing, supporting & facilitating innova.

Carol A Cumberbatch, Creative Life Solutions Consultant

Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.

Carol Aleatha Cumberbatch is a senior & seasoned Dramatherapist, qualified since 1998 with an enthusiastic & empathic passion for assisting others to explore & engage with their unique emotional ecology through culturally aligned creative mediums.

Carol is also an artist & award winning filmmaker, whose first aspiration during school was to become an artist. Unfortunately, this was not deemed a ‘real job’ by her Caribbean parents so she embarked reluctantly on a nursing degree for individuals with learning & physical disabilities.

Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.

The creation of Jahzoom as a single neurodivergent parent to maintain earning potential & the exploration of an abundance of creative ideas…

Jahzoom, is more than a company to Carol, but a platform that houses her diverse creative skillset, accrued over 34 years of work, where film, art — paintings, sculptures, mosaics, clothes & accessories — & bespoke culturally aligned creative projects are featured. Carol advocates that creativity has the power to heal, inspire & connect with people of all ages from all walks of life & has demonstrated this throughout her career personally through her art & professionally through a variety of projects, designed & managed, with a range of different stake holders; Universities, Social Services, School communities — staff & students & parents, NHS leaders, charities, community organisations, private organisations.

Carol aims to continue to manage the multiple initiatives she prioritises in wellness, educating, research, facilitating & consultancy nationally & globally while further developing her art into more products on larger scales for exhibitions.

What are the main products or services that JahZoom offers, and what sets them apart from competitors?

Carol is an optimist who enjoys the process of creativity, therefore prefers a hands on approach, making small production runs, so that she can ensure that product & commission feature her unique artistic style in collaboration with local businesses to reduce carbon footprint & support local economy. When it comes to Dramatherapy, Creative Clinical Supervisor & Wellness, Cultural & Diversity Consultancy & film projects (Time Line Jewels since 2004), Carol is self motivated, detailed & organised with a desire to contribute to positive change within organisations, managing multiple projects & priorities simultaneously through service, research techniques & strategy development to improve standards to champion customer experience.

Who is your target audience, and how do you reach and engage with them?

Carol is committed to contributing to collaborative leadership & harmonious partnerships through her holistic, solutions focused approach; to explore & develop the relationship individuals have with themselves & with others/ within communities/organisations. This includes all ages & walks of life, locally, nationally & globally in person or online, as required. Carol has an eclectic approach to

work, which has resulted in supporting individuals aged 4 years to 90 years of age, groups of multicultural communities, individuals & groups with various language & access requirements, school leaders, youth clubs, community organisations & charities, social services & various NHS departments & professionals.

Carol loves working with others regardless of the industry, because she believes that everyone deserves opportunities to learn how to cultivate their personal wellness & has decades of experience to illustrate the healing benefits of creativity. She continues to expand her established & distinctive practice within the Creative Industries, providing bespoke Wellness, Cultural & Diversity Consultancy/Support to Fable Productions on Mr Loverman TV show, Talawa Theatre company, Shakespeares Globe, 20 Stories High theatre company, Royal Court Theatre, Regents Park Open Air Theatre as well as private Dramatherapy & Creative Clinical Supervision clients.

Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.

Reluctantly, because it was not the RGN course that she applied for with the necessary qualifications to do so, but a lower qualification course as a result of interviewers assumptions that she would not be able to complete the course. Nevertheless, shortly after starting the course, the same interviewers/course leaders informed Carol that she could swap to the higher course at the end of the lower training & attain the RGN qualification, which meant that she would have to study for 4 years in total to complete a course that originally spanned 3 years.

The pain experienced by this discrimination, mirrored previous experiences in the family home & schools in Britain, where Carol was born & raised, which inspired her to travel & contribute to community projects where discrimination of different forms was identified as a common denominator. Within these international communities Carol leveraged her optimism & interpersonal skills to provide creative activities that added value to others life experiences through dance classes, arts & crafts, cooking classes, saturday schools, co-producing opportunities of creativity & connection for communities to engage with, outside of school, home, families & work to actively nourish wellbeing.

As an innately creative neurodivergent person, Carol enjoys the flexibility that comes with her eclectic career profile that transitioned organically into the limited company of Jahzoom in 2000. An organic yet pivotal time, as the company was born out of a determination to stay employed after her marriage ended abruptly & she was left to raise their baby alone. Jahzoom also enabled Carol to continue working with a chronic back condition, the result of a car crash in 1995 which ended her professional dance career.

Carol can be contacted for work enquiries via her website or email address; jahzoom.com.

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