Woman sitting on steps in front of an ornate wooden door, wearing a black and white dress and black sandals, smiling outdoors.

Meet
the
Founder

HEY, I’M JESS DONALDSON

I help boutique hotels, spas & wellness studios understand what makes their wellness offering unique, then turn that into experiences, spaces and operations that people want to choose, experience and return to.

Person swimming in an outdoor pool surrounded by lush green tropical plants and trees.

Expertise

My work sits at the intersection of two worlds most people keep separate - with 10+ years of hands-on therapeutic support, working with people, and roles designing and leading services built around holistic health and human transformation.
That combination is what makes Sea & Soul Consulting different. I don't just understand wellness or strategy, I understand people.

    • Wellness in Travel & Tourism (WITT) Accredited Professional

    • BSc Social Work

    • Certificate in Trauma Informed Care

    • Holistic Life Coaching

    • Project Management Certificate

    My training brings together social work, therapeutic practice, holistic wellbeing and project management, giving me a broad foundation for the work I now do in wellness tourism and hospitality.

  • I bring 10+ years of hands-on experience supporting people and creating services that improve wellbeing. My career has included therapeutic work with individuals, families and communities, alongside designing, building and leading holistic services and programmes. I have worked across social work, wellbeing-focused services, programme development, operations, sustainability, customer journeys, teams and leadership, taking ideas from early development through to delivery. My broader experience includes project management, workshops, AI and automation, sustainability, cultural perspectives and locally led approaches, giving me a wide view of the people, services and systems that shape an experience.

  • My expertise brings together evidence-based wellness, nervous system regulation, trauma-informed care, sensory design and holistic wellbeing, alongside the practical knowledge that comes from developing and delivering services. I understand how wellness can be translated into programmes, experiences and practical systems, and how different elements can work together to support the people experiencing them.

  • As a Wellness Tourism Consultant, I work with boutique hotels, spas and wellness spaces on wellness strategy and implementation. I help businesses understand their wellness opportunity, clarify what is relevant to their space, identity and guests, and develop how that direction can be expressed through wellness programming, offers, the guest journey, sensory design, sustainability and operations.

  • I bring a practical, collaborative and evidence-led approach to each project. I start by understanding the space, the people, the existing offer and the opportunity, then work with the client to develop a clear direction and determine what needs to happen to implement it well. My work considers both the experience being created for guests and the reality of delivering it within the business.

A woman in a black dress sitting on a dock with her feet dipped in a pool of water, smiling and looking to her left. There are green plants and outdoor furniture in the background.

Values

  • Every strategy, every experience I help you build is designed to genuinely move people and leave your space, your guests and the planet better than we found them.

  • Every property has something that makes it unmistakably itself. My job is to help you find it, articulate it and build every experience around it, not someone else's version of what wellness should look like.

  • True wellness goes way beyond a treatment menu. I bring a deep understanding of holistic health, psychology, and neuroscience to everything I do, because that's what your guests are really seeking.

  • The best wellness experiences are built on real human connection. That's how I work with you, and what I help you create for your guests.

  • The evidence and science behind wellness in tourism and hospitality is always evolving. I stay ahead of it, so your strategy is never built on outdated thinking.

  • Protecting the planet (especially the ocean) is woven into every recommendation we make.

The Story

01

Group of six women practicing yoga outdoors on patio in tropical setting, with modern house and lush greenery in background.

Wellness

My love of health and wellness started early, through time in nature, self-development books and restorative activities. That developed over time into a love for pilates, spas and wellness practices into my every day.

A person with sunglasses and a necklace lying on a towel by the rocks and water.

03

02

Two hands touching the surface of a sparkling water pool, creating ripples and reflections of light.

Inspired by close female role models in my teens, I developed a love of exploring new places that has stayed with me ever since. 7 continents in, it evolved to a love of wellness and ocean-based travel.

Travel

Water

Growing up in Ireland, mountains drew me more than the cold Irish Sea. That shifted after a waterfall accident, when swimming and being around became key to my recovery. From there came a move towards life near beaches, daily ocean dips and snorkelling. And the more time I spent in the water, the more I wanted to protect it.