Ali McDowall
Co-founder and creator of the Positive Planner Brand, life coach and creative mentor.
Instagram: @ali_bado_mcdowall
Instagram: @the_positive_planner
Biography
Ali McDowall is a designer, life coach, and creative mentor, best known as the co-creator, co-author, and illustrator of The Positive Planner range. What began as a single self-care journal has grown into a collection of four published titles created alongside Finn Prevett: The Positive Planner, The Positive Wellness Journal, The Positive Student Planner, and The Positive Doodle Diary, with a fifth edition due to launch in 2026.
A graduate of Central Saint Martins in Design for Performance, Ali began her career in the theatre, working across a range of creative disciplines before moving into entrepreneurship. After becoming a mother in 2013 and navigating her own mental health challenges, she was inspired to combine her creative background with a new focus on wellbeing. This led to the founding of The Positive Planner and, later, training as a life coach, paving the way for her to support others on their own journeys of reflection and growth.
Today, Ali works with individuals and groups through 1:1 coaching and mentoring, Vision Board workshops, creative wellbeing sessions, and community events. Her practice is rooted in fostering open, honest conversations about the challenges and rewards of being a founder and a creative. Ali continues to champion the power of creativity, connection, and self-care as tools for navigating modern life.
She lives in Bath with her husband and two children.
Books
Transworld will be releasing new editions of the first four bestselling Positive Planner books in Autumn 2025:
The Positive Planner
The Positive Wellness Journal
The Positive Student Planner
The Doodle Diary
…with more planned for 2026 and beyond.
The Positive Planners is a range of journals that has carved out its own niche with distinctive brightly coloured livery, creative internal designs and a focus on a range of acclaimed self-reflective practices. As more consumers reject hustle culture and complex wellness trends, they are turning towards simpler, more meaningful rituals. The Positive Planner range offers beautifully designed yet highly functional tools that make mental wellbeing accessible, practical, and sustainable.
