Sometimes you just need a little wisdom or advice from someone who has been through it all. Consider A Listening Ear. Lynne Edwards has worn many hats in her 40 years in the industry. Her latest endeavor is launching A Listening Ear, a new mentorship service. Lynne started as yacht crew in 1982, working aboard various motor and sailing vessels until she left to get married and start a family in 1996. While she may have stepped ashore, she stayed in yachting and began creating and training interior crew courses in 2002. She went back to crewing from 2017 until 2021, working as a seasonal chief stew aboard a 50-meter motor yacht before she returned to teaching full-time. She primarily trains crew in technical courses at all levels, like Service and Housekeeping. A Listening Ear Founder Lynne Edwards “[Going back to sea again] gave me new insights into today’s superyacht world from a crewmember’s perspective, and this helped enormously in my teaching practices and methodology,” Lynne said. Her new endeavor, A Listening Ear, grew from her own experiences and the innumerable times she found herself mentoring people. “This, coupled with my awareness of the increasing need for safeguarding the emotional wellness of today’s superyacht crew, motivated me to create A Listening Ear,” Lynne said. “The name explains exactly what it is — a service where I listen to my clients and offer advice and guidance in accordance [with] their individual needs. The aim is to help people to realign their thinking, see different perspectives, and guide them towards finding a healthier state of wellbeing,” Lynne said. She offers three services: Mentoring and Advice sessions address a person’s current well-being and how this can be improved by helping them rediscover happiness and purpose. Realignment sessions offer an opportunity to examine a person’s current perspectives, what experiences may have brought them there, and how to realign their thought processes to create positive outcomes. Team Building and Resilience workshops are designed to be a fun, informative way of providing practical strategies and techniques to navigate stressful situations effectively by examining self-awareness, acceptance of others, values and purpose, and more. Most services can be online or in person, depending on location, but the teambuilding workshops are created to be held on board or in a shore-based training facility. Lynne stresses that any mentoring or advice sessions are confidential. “My services are rooted in decades of personal development studies and a deep understanding of the superyacht industry, allowing me to offer tailored support for individuals and teams seeking holistic emotional wellness and balance,” Lynne said. “I truly believe that in an industry whose foremost asset is people, working with me will automatically translate into more fulfilling crew engagement and thus into a better owner and guest experience.” The initial introductory call is complimentary so Edwards can establish the client’s needs and craft effective sessions, but Mentoring and Realignment sessions are €65 per one-hour session or five sessions for €300. A one-day Team Building or Resilience workshop is €225 per person. “I created the tagline ‘Keeping your eye on the horizon’ as I feel it epitomizes the stormy waters we all find ourselves in at various times in our lives, and I want my mentoring, advice, and team-building sessions to provide a sense of stability and calm: a new perspective, an eye on the bigger picture of whatever is happening, and the knowledge that there is always a solution to every challenge, even though it sometimes appears unseen — it is always there!” Want to learn more about crew mentorship? Read Superyacht References Adds Mental Health Support to Crew Services.