Our Trainers: Monika Chauhan-Stok

Monika is an internationally recognised expert in cross-cultural collaboration, global leadership development, and inclusive team building. With a wealth of experience that spans over 60 countries and an extensive portfolio working with more than 150 nationalities, Monika brings a truly global perspective to her work. She has lived in 9 countries, which has enabled her to develop a profound understanding of diverse cultural landscapes and their impact on professional and organisational success.

Her expertise lies in optimising performance in multicultural teams and developing leaders equipped to thrive in the future of work. Monika’s ability to bridge cultural gaps and create an understanding between diverse groups is a testament to her deep intercultural competence.Monika has worked extensively with a diverse range of organisations, including top public sector institutions, global corporations across pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, FMCG, and other leading industries.

As a sought-after consultant and speaker, Monika is known for her compelling workshops and seminars that address the importance of intercultural understanding, inclusion, and the development of global leadership skills. Her approach is deeply insightful and inspiring, resonating with audiences worldwide. Monika has also contributed to leading publications on global leadership and cross-cultural management, further cementing her authority in the field.

In addition to her consulting and speaking roles, Monika is an academic lecturer at prestigious institutions such as London Business School and INSEAD, where she teaches cultural competencies to the next generation of leaders. Her work in academia complements her real-world experience, enabling her to bring practical, research-backed insights into the classroom.

Monika’s academic credentials include an MBA in Marketing and a degree in Economics. Fluent in Dutch, English, Hindi, and Punjabi, with conversational knowledge of French and German. Based in London, Monika operates globally, partnering with organisations around the world to facilitate transformational change in how businesses manage diversity and lead across cultures.

Our Trainers: Ben Myers

Ben Myers is an award-winning independent filmmaker and a published playwright whose work has been studied on the UK curriculum. While his filmmaking achievements include winning ‘Best Sci-Fi/Horror Film’ at the London Independent Film Festival in 2010 for Nuryan and ‘Best Editing of a Feature Film’ at the London International Feature Film Festival in 2013 for The Sweet Shop, it is his passion for effective communication that sets him apart in the world of presentation skills.

Ben has worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and TEDx speakers, helping them craft and deliver compelling, impactful presentations. With his deep expertise in storytelling, performance, and audience engagement, Ben empowers individuals to communicate their message with confidence and clarity. Whether in a sales pitch, team presentation, or managing remote workers, Ben provides practical, actionable advice on voice tone, body language, and audience connection to ensure that messages are delivered with impact.

In a world where virtual meetings are increasingly common, Ben focuses on helping professionals navigate the challenges of online communication, offering tools and techniques specifically designed for video presentations in multicultural environments. His approach helps individuals engage their audience and avoid the pitfalls of nervousness, so they can feel confident and make a lasting impression.

Our Trainers: Richard Doust

Richard Doust is a multilingual business coach and leadership facilitator with over a decade of experience across Europe and the USA. Fluent in English, French, and German, he helps international professionals refine their communication styles, focusing on both language precision and non-verbal cues. Drawing from his background as a coach-actor in business training, Richard uses real-life scenarios and tailored simulations to challenge clients and develop their body language, voice, and emotional expression.

Richard’s expertise includes leadership development, having worked with BTS to deliver programmes on leadership, storytelling, innovation, conflict resolution, and trust-building for middle managers. His coaching fosters creativity and trust, enabling professionals to lead effectively and navigate interpersonal dynamics with confidence.

With a PhD in storytelling, Richard incorporates techniques like curiosity, surprise, and suspense into his coaching to enhance leaders’ communication impact. He helps multilingual professionals overcome public speaking fears, offering practical tools to inspire their audiences. Now based in France, Richard continues to coach leaders across various industries, bridging cultural gaps and driving growth.

Our Trainers: Vafa Taleban

Vafa is a passionate advocate for personal development, specialising in leadership and emotional intelligence. She has extensive experience guiding senior leaders through complex organisational challenges, helping them build trust, foster collaboration, and strengthen relationships. Vafa’s people-centred approach focuses on empowering leaders to make intentional decisions, develop empathy, and embrace change in a rapidly evolving workplace. By cultivating emotional intelligence, she ensures leaders can effectively navigate difficult conversations and manage workplace stress, creating sustainable growth and improved team performance.

Vafa is equally committed to developing junior teams, recognising the importance of nurturing young talent to ensure long-term success. Her work helps organisations attract and retain top performers, reduce turnover, and strengthen succession planning by aligning team values with company goals. Vafa’s ability to connect teams to their core values fosters a culture of trust, transparency, and collaboration, driving both personal and organisational growth.

Outside of work, Vafa enjoys building meaningful connections and spending quality time with her family, especially her teenage son. She also has a passion for skiing, reading, and exploring new places.

Our Trainers: Pradip Gajjar

Pradip is enthusiastic about talent, leadership and management development and brings 15 years of full cycle learning and development experience of design (including elearning) and delivery specialising in global leadership and management development. He has delivered people and organisational change programs, virtual team development, off shoring support and culture programmes to a host of global players including BP, HP, ArcelorMittal, and UBS and Deutsche Bank across sites in Europe, USA and the Far East. Pradip also brings insight in mindfulness and wellbeing solutions.

He has contributed to developing an analytical tool for decision making and supporting individuals in values-led leadership to enhance performance, improve lifestyle and increase wellbeing.

Pradip is highly motivated and has a passion for working with the human challenges of globalisation. He is very engaging and
motivational with his audiences. He has impeccable clarity in communication with an analytical and strategic mind-set. In a voluntary capacity he has set up a values-led school for 420 children managing the £5m project. He is also Chair of a £2m community project situated at the heart of England, where he lives with his wife and two children.