Anwen Cooper: Redefining Workplace Wellbeing Through Proactive Mental Fitness
Part of the series: 30 Founders Shaping the Future of Mental Health in 2025
When Anwen Cooper and Dan Corpe launched Thrivall during the pandemic’s peak, they recognized a radical truth: traditional workplace wellbeing programs were treating mental health as damage control rather than human potential. Their vision? A paradigm shift—from reactive "mental health first aid" to proactive mental fitness training that equips leaders with the same psychological tools therapists use, transforming workplaces into ecosystems of resilience.
Three years in, Thrivall’s evidence-based approach has proven that psychological safety isn’t just an HR buzzword—it’s the bedrock of performance. By adapting person-centered counseling techniques for the workplace, their year-long Leader Development & Support Programme helps organizations reduce absenteeism while boosting engagement, productivity, and retention. The key differentiator? Sustainable change through ongoing support, not one-off workshops.
Here, Anwen shares how a chance conversation about "proactive counseling" sparked a movement, why reframing mental health as trainable "fitness" changes outcomes, and the moment a participant called the program "life-changing"—validating their mission to make thriving, not just surviving, the new workplace standard.
What inspired the creation of Thrivall, and how has your approach to workplace wellbeing evolved since its launch?
Thrivall evolved out of a desire to get everyone thriving at work, and in turn to sustain more organisations to thrive. The original spark of an idea came from my Co-founder Dan Corpe, with whom I had a long-standing collaboration, having first met through our consulting work back in 2015. Having found a kinship in the way we worked, the values we held, and the change that we wanted to make in the world, we realised that we were aligned in our approach to business in many ways. During the Covid lockdown period, Dan completed the Foundation Certificate in Person-Centred Counselling, where he discovered the concept of ‘proactive counselling’. He shared this with me, and we could both see how the skills, tools, and techniques that counsellors have could be used more widely in the workplace to give individuals support to develop better self-awareness and empathy and to promote more positive working relationships and culture.We realised there was huge potential to add value for business - both in terms of cost reduction and risk mitigation (e.g. by reducing absence rates, presenteeism, impact of poor mental health on performance) and to increase engagement and productivity levels. This is where our vision of getting everyone thriving at work and beyond was born. Thrivall is now in its third year of business and we have evolved our offering into a Leader-focused Development & Support Programme as this is where we see the greatest opportunity for impact.
How does Thrivall’s work with performance psychology and mental fitness translate into real, lasting change for the teams you support?
Thrivall is built around long-term sustained training and support, which is why we deliver through year-round ongoing programmes rather than more ad hoc training and one-off initiatives. The programme applies tools and techniques from performance psychology to give people frameworks and help build their own strategies that help them be better for themselves and their teams and therefore ultimately their organisations. A core belief at Thrivall is that mental health should be viewed in the same way as physical health, and we all sit somewhere on a spectrum, so how we can feel can change over time. We like to talk about mental fitness, to encourage people to view their mental health as a potential asset that can be optimised – not just looking at it as a potential negative and something to be concerned about in times of struggle or crisis. This is one of the reasons why the programme has a focus on expanding mental capacity and building resilience. When people see leaders prioritising their own wellbeing and developing their self-awareness and human skills, it contributes to better psychological safety, deeper connection, and wellbeing across the team.
What’s one story or breakthrough moment that captures the kind of impact Thrivall aims to create in the world?
One comment that stands out from one of our programme participants is how the Thrivall programme has been truly life-changing for them. Others have reported how it has helped them through challenges relating to changes at work and in their personal lives. We know that some people have been a little unsure about taking part in the programme at the start, and have been delighted to realise that after a couple of sessions, they have found the experience invaluable. We have designed it to be as accessible as possible to support those who may not otherwise have chosen to seek out this kind of support for themselves. Our very first Client Partner Organisation is still with us and now in their third continuous year of the programme, so that has also been very validating and shows that they are getting great value from the development and support we deliver. We are proud to say that we are partnering with some really forward-thinking, people-focused companies – helping them to better deliver on their vision and values. As a B Corp Pending company, we are all about making a positive impact for all, and we believe that we are pioneering a new approach to workplace wellbeing and mental health through our innovative programme of Leader Development and Support.
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