Ex-Everton head of medicine launches Embodyism

DANNY Donachie has always worked with high performing people – it’s what makes him tick.

More specifically though, the 42-year-old is driven to understand the mystery of the mind in relation to the body.

As son of former Manchester City and Scotland defender Willie Donachie, a young Danny was on course to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a footballer himself.

But two ankle breaks put an end to a budding professional football career.

Since then he has racked up a long list of qualifications – including a physiotherapy degree at Manchester University and a graduate certificate in organisational change and coaching – and also trained as a yoga teacher in India.

Before his business Embodyism got off the ground in January, Donachie spent 15 years at Premier League side Everton, helping both players and management staff to achieve their full potential.

The Manchester born 42-year-old, who lives in Sale with his wife and three children, is now using multiple skills picked up during the past two decades to boost people’s wellbeing and performance in the business world.

He is currently working closely with tennis star Ana Ivanovic, the girlfriend of Manchester United and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, a high profile American TV sports presenter, as well as some of his old friends at Everton including Tim Howard and England defenders Leighton Baines and John Stones.

“The underlying message behind what I do is about presence. Being fully in the moment and harnessing the full capacity of each life,” said Donachie.

“Your body picks up so much information that we miss, because we are in our heads, and tapping into this resource creates a fundamental shift in behaviour.

“The idea for Embodyism came to me towards the end of my time at Everton and it is working out well so far, due to the good variety of clients I have.”  

Donachie  knows a thing or two about the pressures people in high profile positions face.

He was there when David Moyes started out as Everton’s manger – and there when the Scot left to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013.

“People in senior leadership positions often experience a sense of isolation,” said Donachie. “While at Everton I had a number of different roles, starting as a physio in 2000 when Walter Smith was manager, and finishing as head of medicine, which included managing a team of 15 people.”

He added: “I worked with David Moyes on a one-to-one basis for three years during my time at Everton and developed a close coaching relationship with him.

“I supported him in his role as a leader and also challenged him to grow and expand in a number of ways. David is a consummate professional and will accept any opportunity to develop.

“We also worked together around team cohesion and created a number of innovative developments around the club.”

Donachie said: “David had a big impact on me and he created a high performing culture at the club. His strongest quality is his integrity and this comes shining through in every aspect of the clubs he works with.

“When he first arrived at Everton he quickly realised that he needed to change the culture if he had any chance of succeeding. He quickly communicated his expectations and engendered a feeling of hard work and respect within a group of established players.

“In the end the club, under him, was like a family, because you are there so much and so heavily involved. I have bonds with so many people from that time that will last a lifetime.”

Based in Manchester, in an office on Deansgate, Donachie is hoping to grow the Embodyism brand over the next 12 months and says his focus is also now on helping people in business.

He added: “Working with people in the business world and applying my experience from sport has been particularly interesting to me.

“In Manchester for instance, because of the amazing growth of the city during the past decade, there are probably more high performing people working in the region than ever before. It’s an exciting time with many up and coming business people rising through the ranks.”

Donachie, who also studied with Buddhist monks when he was 16, said the work he does ‘has to be practical’.

“It’s not about going off and living in a cave,” he said. “Getting to a place of contentment and calmness within a high performing life isn’t easy, but it is completely possible. This is the aim of my work. To help people achieve great feats from this place of calm contentedness.

“What I find is that people who have achieved a lot in life, do start to eventually ask questions like ‘what is life about?’, because despite achieving so much, there is still a hole there that is unfulfilled, a question unanswered.”

He added: “One of the most common things that comes up with people I have worked with, is self-doubt or self-hijack.

“You might expect people at the top of their profession to have this Utopian lifestyle free of doubts. But they have them, just like anyone else. In fact, they can be even greater doubts because of the increased intensity and scrutiny.

 “Getting to know yourself better can have a big impact on your life and those around you.

“When I look back on working in the Premier League for so long, I have fond memories of the bonds that were created. The opportunity to connect deeply with so many people and to help them make the most of their ability in some way was very rewarding.

“A high performing career is naturally filled with many challenges. My own experience of being a professional footballer showed me head on how these challenges can feel.

“All I wanted to do was play football when I was growing up. There came a point when I realised this would not be possible, because of serious injury, and I broke down in tears. It took me a while to recover from this and eventually find a different life path that suited my capacities.”