WEBVTT 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:04.126 Hello, everyone. My name is Joanne Lockwood, and I'm your host for 00:00:04.148 --> 00:00:07.886 the Inclusion Bytes podcast. In this series, I 00:00:07.908 --> 00:00:11.642 have interviewed a number of amazing people and simply had a conversation 00:00:11.706 --> 00:00:15.102 about the subject of inclusion, belonging, and 00:00:15.156 --> 00:00:18.778 generally making the world a better place for everyone to thrive. 00:00:18.954 --> 00:00:22.078 If you'd like to join me in the future, then please do drop me a 00:00:22.084 --> 00:00:22.574 line to 00:00:22.612 --> 00:00:26.950 jo.lockwood@sechangehappan.co.uk, 00:00:27.020 --> 00:00:28.920 that's S-E-E 00:00:29.370 --> 00:00:32.390 Change Hapen dot Co dot Uk. You can 00:00:33.930 --> 00:00:37.534 catch up with all the previous shows on iTunes, Spotify and the 00:00:37.682 --> 00:00:41.222 usual places. So plug in your headphones, 00:00:41.366 --> 00:00:44.220 grab a decaf, and let's get going. 00:00:44.910 --> 00:00:48.666 Today is episode 97 with 00:00:48.688 --> 00:00:51.502 the title turning setbacks into 00:00:51.556 --> 00:00:55.294 comebacks. And I have the absolute honour and privilege to 00:00:55.332 --> 00:00:58.702 welcome Elsa Caleb. Elsa is a business 00:00:58.756 --> 00:01:02.602 strategist who assists women to develop a robust business plan 00:01:02.676 --> 00:01:06.306 for the future. And when I asked Elsa to describe her 00:01:06.328 --> 00:01:09.762 superpower, she said she can get individuals to think 00:01:09.816 --> 00:01:13.060 differently about their circumstances, especially 00:01:13.510 --> 00:01:16.482 in the world of business. And she was recently 00:01:16.546 --> 00:01:19.510 labelled everyone needs an Elsa. 00:01:20.170 --> 00:01:24.006 Hello, Elsa. Welcome to the show. Hello, Joanne. And 00:01:24.028 --> 00:01:27.814 thanks very much for the invitation. Really pleased to be 00:01:27.852 --> 00:01:31.558 here. I'm really pleased. We've been talking about this for several 00:01:31.574 --> 00:01:35.318 months, and I'm finally pleased. We got here at the tail 00:01:35.334 --> 00:01:38.486 end of 2023, just before the new year. So absolutely fantastic. 00:01:38.598 --> 00:01:42.014 Elsa, turning setbacks into 00:01:42.052 --> 00:01:45.822 comebacks. Tell me about that. Yeah, it's interesting. And 00:01:45.876 --> 00:01:49.230 also the timing of today's show, because we all remember 00:01:49.300 --> 00:01:52.906 Brexit. Yeah, we also remember Covid, and now we're 00:01:52.938 --> 00:01:56.562 currently going through the cost of living crisis. And the 00:01:56.616 --> 00:02:00.418 change of the year was roughly when Brexit kicked in because we 00:02:00.424 --> 00:02:04.034 came out of Europe, Covid kicked in in the march. So the 00:02:04.072 --> 00:02:07.810 timing now is, I think it's just right for people to begin 00:02:07.880 --> 00:02:11.318 to start thinking about what they want to do going forward. 00:02:11.484 --> 00:02:15.234 Okay, let's take some of the setbacks. For example, most of the clients 00:02:15.282 --> 00:02:19.082 that I meet at the moment, as soon as they meet with me, they always 00:02:19.136 --> 00:02:22.714 say before COVID And I'm thinking, if I hear that 00:02:22.752 --> 00:02:26.566 again, not that I'll scream, I'll 00:02:26.598 --> 00:02:29.962 do something, I don't know, differently, but 00:02:30.016 --> 00:02:33.822 once they start with that sentence, I now think, 00:02:33.876 --> 00:02:37.646 okay, there's been some setbacks. There's something that's held them back. 00:02:37.748 --> 00:02:41.182 They're not as progressive as they were prior to, say, 00:02:41.236 --> 00:02:44.590 Covid or even Brexit. It's the changes that have happened 00:02:44.660 --> 00:02:47.634 worldwide that have really made an impact on a lot of 00:02:47.672 --> 00:02:51.454 individuals'lives, as we all know. And some people just cannot 00:02:51.502 --> 00:02:55.118 seem to shake it off. Yeah. So let's take Covid, for 00:02:55.144 --> 00:02:58.280 example. A lot of women, for example, had to, 00:02:58.730 --> 00:03:02.454 in some cases, give up their livelihood, even if 00:03:02.492 --> 00:03:06.326 it means being at home to school children, to do the 00:03:06.348 --> 00:03:09.986 schooling for the children. And in some cases, some of them were not equipped. 00:03:10.098 --> 00:03:13.866 And also with children, you know, you need space, you need to be 00:03:13.888 --> 00:03:16.874 out and about, you need to have the energy to be able to deal with 00:03:16.912 --> 00:03:20.618 them. Whereas overnight, people's lives 00:03:20.704 --> 00:03:24.446 changed. The way that they had to do things changed. And 00:03:24.468 --> 00:03:26.030 it wasn't that they had a choice. 00:03:29.090 --> 00:03:32.794 They actually just had to make the changes there and then. And in some cases, 00:03:32.842 --> 00:03:36.538 they adapted because they had to. But a bit of them, I felt, 00:03:36.634 --> 00:03:40.466 in some cases, have been left behind. So now that the doors have been 00:03:40.488 --> 00:03:44.242 opened up and we're actually moving forward, and some people are now saying, oh, 00:03:44.296 --> 00:03:47.346 I can't go back to the job that I used to do. I now want 00:03:47.368 --> 00:03:50.694 to do something more creative. I'm speaking to 00:03:50.732 --> 00:03:54.274 individuals who are saying, look, all I know is to cook, 00:03:54.322 --> 00:03:57.746 or all I know is to clean. And I'm saying, well, you know something, let's 00:03:57.778 --> 00:04:01.194 work with that. And when you look at all the skills and 00:04:01.232 --> 00:04:04.810 experiences that people acquire over the years, and it's things like 00:04:04.880 --> 00:04:08.474 being organised, it's things like making cups of tea, 00:04:08.592 --> 00:04:12.378 having routines, planning, et cetera, these are some 00:04:12.384 --> 00:04:15.694 of the important areas that we need in business. 00:04:15.892 --> 00:04:19.614 So once we've had a long conversation, I can start telling them 00:04:19.652 --> 00:04:23.200 what they can do with what they have. They begin to 00:04:23.570 --> 00:04:27.154 turn their ideas around, they begin to change their mindset, and they 00:04:27.192 --> 00:04:30.130 begin to have that tiny 00:04:31.030 --> 00:04:34.834 shining light in front of them. In other words, they begin to hope 00:04:34.872 --> 00:04:38.518 that there's definitely going to be a positive future. So that's where I always 00:04:38.604 --> 00:04:42.054 start. But, yes, of late, it's either 00:04:42.172 --> 00:04:45.926 before Brexit, before COVID and now, as I say, 00:04:45.948 --> 00:04:49.706 we're going through the crisis. So, yeah, I always feel that if I get them 00:04:49.728 --> 00:04:52.460 at that stage and we work together, 00:04:53.550 --> 00:04:56.742 put some kind of plan together, they're able to move forward in a positive 00:04:56.806 --> 00:05:00.654 way. That's really interesting. Yeah, I never 00:05:00.692 --> 00:05:03.982 thought about it, because Covid is a 00:05:04.036 --> 00:05:07.870 global bookmark, isn't it? 00:05:07.940 --> 00:05:11.646 It's an event that everybody has been aware of, from the 00:05:11.668 --> 00:05:15.186 tip of Africa to the top tip of Alaska, if you 00:05:15.208 --> 00:05:18.866 like. It's affected the entire world. So I suppose it's not 00:05:18.888 --> 00:05:22.178 surprising that we use it as an before and after 00:05:22.344 --> 00:05:26.094 event. You're right. It created life 00:05:26.152 --> 00:05:29.894 changing moments or situations for many people. 00:05:29.932 --> 00:05:33.270 As you say, women largely 00:05:34.490 --> 00:05:38.046 suffered greater inequity because of their responsibility 00:05:38.178 --> 00:05:41.254 for home management. For one of them, home admin, 00:05:41.382 --> 00:05:45.126 children, education, or fitting 00:05:45.158 --> 00:05:48.746 into the. This is a derogatory term, the 00:05:48.768 --> 00:05:52.558 wife mode, if you like, looking after everybody. Often 00:05:52.644 --> 00:05:56.366 seen as the lower paid out 00:05:56.388 --> 00:05:59.934 of the couple, maybe. So they ended up 00:05:59.972 --> 00:06:03.806 taking the kitchen table as opposed to the office table 00:06:03.838 --> 00:06:07.586 or something. The lesser facilities. Yeah. Putting 00:06:07.608 --> 00:06:11.294 their career on hold, definitely. They had to be more creative, 00:06:11.342 --> 00:06:15.058 but like you said, just changing the kitchen table into an 00:06:15.064 --> 00:06:18.866 office table, some of them in some of the works and the jobs 00:06:18.898 --> 00:06:21.000 that they did, didn't bring work home. 00:06:22.330 --> 00:06:25.240 Suddenly, to have to manage all of that in one space, 00:06:26.330 --> 00:06:29.786 it's bound to affect you in some way. And especially when you reach out to 00:06:29.808 --> 00:06:33.578 people and sometimes just to go out of a home to have a 00:06:33.584 --> 00:06:37.114 coffee with a friend really changes a lot of things. 00:06:37.232 --> 00:06:41.018 But to not have that opportunity and then to all 00:06:41.024 --> 00:06:44.000 of a sudden become very technical because you had to get online, 00:06:44.770 --> 00:06:48.000 a lot of people had to actually develop a lot of skills very quickly. 00:06:50.050 --> 00:06:53.774 Do you think women also, I hate to 00:06:53.812 --> 00:06:57.438 generalise the stereotype here, but statistically, 00:06:57.614 --> 00:07:01.042 women were often in lower paid roles in the 00:07:01.096 --> 00:07:04.834 hospitality or entertainment business, in hourly paid roles, which 00:07:04.872 --> 00:07:08.566 were some of the most affected at that time. And 00:07:08.588 --> 00:07:12.246 therefore they lost income, lost purpose, if you like, as well they 00:07:12.268 --> 00:07:15.350 did. And if you really think about it, Joanne, 00:07:16.250 --> 00:07:19.826 you've built your career all your life. In other words, you've sat down and you've 00:07:19.858 --> 00:07:23.594 mapped it out, you've got it planned. You want to then 00:07:23.632 --> 00:07:27.238 go for that next promotion, then all of a sudden, bam, it's 00:07:27.254 --> 00:07:30.714 shut. What do you do then? Where do you go? 00:07:30.912 --> 00:07:34.346 How do you then take yourself out of that situation to say, you know 00:07:34.368 --> 00:07:38.126 something, I've still got to continue, I've still got to provide, I've still 00:07:38.148 --> 00:07:40.798 got to think of myself, but at the same time, I've still got to be 00:07:40.804 --> 00:07:44.626 there for my children and my family. So I can 00:07:44.648 --> 00:07:48.194 see how some of them has really affect them, even down to their 00:07:48.232 --> 00:07:52.066 confidence. I spent more time now helping women to 00:07:52.088 --> 00:07:55.826 build their confidence and believing in themselves. And 00:07:55.848 --> 00:07:59.574 people think, oh, it's about the skills and everything. Yes, it is. That's important. 00:07:59.692 --> 00:08:03.334 But if the person isn't focused and thinking 00:08:03.452 --> 00:08:07.126 in an entrepreneurial way, which way are you going to go? 00:08:07.308 --> 00:08:10.658 It's just going to end up being a hobby as opposed to a business. So 00:08:10.684 --> 00:08:14.362 there's a lot of changing of the mindset and actual 00:08:14.416 --> 00:08:18.186 attitude to a lot of things that actually have to come into play and in 00:08:18.208 --> 00:08:21.926 a short space of time, so moving 00:08:21.968 --> 00:08:25.594 off from. COVID because you said about the beginning, you don't want to anchor 00:08:25.642 --> 00:08:28.560 everything as before COVID after Covid. So let's think about this 00:08:28.930 --> 00:08:32.606 broadly. More broadly, you talk about 00:08:32.628 --> 00:08:35.410 transferable skills, you talk about returning 00:08:35.910 --> 00:08:39.618 midpoint in your life, career pivots post family, 00:08:39.704 --> 00:08:43.474 if you like, or post care and responsibilities, or 00:08:43.512 --> 00:08:46.658 just waking up one day and going, why did I pick this subject when I 00:08:46.664 --> 00:08:50.382 left school? I really don't enjoy this. Be able to 00:08:50.456 --> 00:08:53.826 press the stop button and say, actually, I don't want to be a lawyer 00:08:53.858 --> 00:08:57.174 anymore, I want to be a personal trainer. And I use that example because my 00:08:57.212 --> 00:09:00.918 personal trainer qualified. She's LLB, she worked at a 00:09:00.924 --> 00:09:04.746 practise as a solicitor and she went, I don't want to be doing 00:09:04.768 --> 00:09:07.946 this every day, I want to be a personal trainer. And she gave all that 00:09:07.968 --> 00:09:11.546 up. But that takes a huge amount of bravery or confidence or 00:09:11.648 --> 00:09:15.466 resilience to just chuck it all in. It does. But it's 00:09:15.498 --> 00:09:19.134 also knowing. And I know in the back of the mind, although she's gone 00:09:19.172 --> 00:09:22.846 forward to become a personal trainer, she's also got that safety net to 00:09:22.868 --> 00:09:26.606 fall back on, determining should it not have work. And not only that, 00:09:26.628 --> 00:09:29.710 with those skills of being a lawyer, oh, my goodness, you can work in businesses 00:09:29.790 --> 00:09:33.634 just doing the legal side of things. You don't have to go back into 00:09:33.672 --> 00:09:36.706 a practise the way that you do. But the fact that she woke up one 00:09:36.728 --> 00:09:40.246 morning and had that dream and that burning desire, that is where I 00:09:40.268 --> 00:09:43.926 usually start with individuals, because I'll say to them, what's your 00:09:43.948 --> 00:09:47.718 dream? What is your passion? What is it that you really want to do? 00:09:47.884 --> 00:09:51.514 Because if you've just checked, if you've suddenly had the door shut in one 00:09:51.552 --> 00:09:55.366 area, why not take this opportunity to say, you know something, I'll 00:09:55.398 --> 00:09:59.162 start again. And you can start again, but you're never 00:09:59.216 --> 00:10:02.826 starting at zero because of all those years. And as I said, the 00:10:02.848 --> 00:10:06.510 experience and skills that you've acquired, you can use them, but people 00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:09.840 feel they have to start at zero. And I'm thinking, no, 00:10:10.210 --> 00:10:13.770 we can use x from what you did before. We can use y from 00:10:13.860 --> 00:10:17.586 another area that you've worked in and put it all together along with 00:10:17.608 --> 00:10:21.410 your personality and your passion. It can open up doors. 00:10:22.710 --> 00:10:26.280 You mentioned the cost of living, cris as well. And 00:10:27.130 --> 00:10:30.520 where we are now with mortgage rates, with cost of living, 00:10:31.610 --> 00:10:35.270 we're in a situation where most households need 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:37.960 two incomes in order to 00:10:38.270 --> 00:10:41.450 survive. Not saying thrive, survive. 00:10:41.790 --> 00:10:45.258 Budgets are really tight. It must be a tough act 00:10:45.424 --> 00:10:49.114 to risk one person's income. If you like to 00:10:49.152 --> 00:10:52.618 start again, it. Is, but then it's going back. 00:10:52.784 --> 00:10:56.426 As I said, if you come to a point in your life where you haven't 00:10:56.458 --> 00:10:59.598 got a job to go to, then, as I said, it's looking at some of 00:10:59.604 --> 00:11:03.170 the soft skills, like, for example, painting and decorating, making 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:06.674 cakes, doing things that people want and need. 00:11:06.872 --> 00:11:09.700 So you've got to find that gap, you've got to find where 00:11:11.110 --> 00:11:14.482 the demand is. Once you've identified that, 00:11:14.616 --> 00:11:18.174 things can be very, I won't say very easy, but a lot easier. 00:11:18.302 --> 00:11:22.006 For example, take a painting and decorating. I'm not a painter or a decorator, in 00:11:22.028 --> 00:11:25.446 no way, shape or form, but if somebody knocked on my door because I know 00:11:25.468 --> 00:11:28.598 that I need walls painting and stuff, I'll say to them, yeah, let's have a 00:11:28.604 --> 00:11:31.880 conversation. Or if somebody's referred to me, most probably 00:11:32.250 --> 00:11:35.258 that's a better way for me to go. And they sat down with me and 00:11:35.264 --> 00:11:38.842 they said, well, actually, you want your walls painting, tell me the colour, 00:11:38.896 --> 00:11:42.634 I'll show you, get you some examples, et cetera, et cetera. They go away, do 00:11:42.672 --> 00:11:46.446 all the research, bring the colours in, sit down with me, I start matching it 00:11:46.468 --> 00:11:49.086 up at the wall and I say, okay, that's what I want. They can ask 00:11:49.108 --> 00:11:52.894 me for a deposit there and then that deposit can buy all the 00:11:52.932 --> 00:11:56.626 materials. They go buy the materials, they come paint my wall, I 00:11:56.648 --> 00:11:59.874 pay them the balance. To me, that's a win 00:11:59.912 --> 00:12:03.762 win. You don't have to keep running to the bank to get money. 00:12:03.816 --> 00:12:07.346 You start with what you have, but then you also enter in a 00:12:07.368 --> 00:12:11.206 contractual agreement that's realistic, because people do expect to pay 00:12:11.228 --> 00:12:14.486 a deposit for what they do and then pay the balance at the end. So 00:12:14.508 --> 00:12:17.590 why not start small and then build it up gradually? 00:12:18.490 --> 00:12:21.946 It's interesting, you use that example of a painter decorator, a good friend of 00:12:21.968 --> 00:12:25.674 mine who I met maybe eight or nine 00:12:25.712 --> 00:12:28.842 years ago, she was a special speaker. She used to work in money 00:12:28.896 --> 00:12:32.666 management and we're really good friends. And then 00:12:32.688 --> 00:12:36.142 one day I noticed on LinkedIn, she changed her profile, changed everything 00:12:36.196 --> 00:12:39.854 else. She left her husband, got divorced, set up in her own 00:12:39.892 --> 00:12:43.694 house. She'd retrained as a painter and decorator, and now 00:12:43.812 --> 00:12:47.210 she specialises in being a female painter and 00:12:47.220 --> 00:12:49.940 decorator in her 50s who 00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:53.860 targets specifically women who want 00:12:54.230 --> 00:12:57.790 another woman to come and do their painted decorator. Because that trust element 00:12:57.870 --> 00:13:01.446 about coming into someone's house and we think about the number of women who live 00:13:01.468 --> 00:13:05.238 on their own who've, at the age of 40 or 50, they've left their 00:13:05.244 --> 00:13:08.918 husband. They've had enough of that. Maybe they're widowed early 00:13:09.084 --> 00:13:12.682 or maybe they've never got married and they want 00:13:12.736 --> 00:13:16.250 somebody who they can trust in their home. Correct. 00:13:16.400 --> 00:13:19.962 And she's ideally placed for that? Yeah, definitely. I've got a client that I'm working 00:13:20.016 --> 00:13:23.606 on. Well, she does painting, decorating. She's a carpenter as well, and 00:13:23.648 --> 00:13:27.406 electrician. So I think it's exciting that there 00:13:27.428 --> 00:13:30.970 are women coming up with those skills because, as you said, from the safety element 00:13:31.050 --> 00:13:34.546 and also the confidence, having somebody in your home and you know they're going to 00:13:34.568 --> 00:13:37.970 tell you the truth, they're not going to just say, 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:41.522 oh, you have this knowing that it's more expensive than something 00:13:41.576 --> 00:13:44.260 else. You know what I mean? 00:13:46.870 --> 00:13:50.294 I've never used her services as a patient decorator. I 00:13:50.332 --> 00:13:54.002 felt no problem at all recommending her to my mum 00:13:54.066 --> 00:13:57.814 and my mum had her in to redecorate her bedroom and there was no 00:13:57.852 --> 00:14:01.698 qualms at all. It was a kind of me. Anne. Anne is fabulous. I've 00:14:01.714 --> 00:14:04.906 known her for years. She will do a superb job and she did. And my 00:14:04.928 --> 00:14:08.614 mum is so happy with it and she's like, my mum paid her a deposit. 00:14:08.742 --> 00:14:12.202 There's no risk about someone doing a runner with the money 00:14:12.336 --> 00:14:15.440 or asking for more money later that you sometimes get. 00:14:18.290 --> 00:14:22.126 I like those kind of business ideas because, how can 00:14:22.148 --> 00:14:25.966 I say? Women understand women. But that's just how we 00:14:25.988 --> 00:14:29.506 are. We understand that sometimes things can be tight, we understand 00:14:29.608 --> 00:14:33.330 that things can be difficult and we will make allowances for that. 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:36.786 Do you know what I mean? Not only that, even when the person's working, you 00:14:36.808 --> 00:14:40.534 know, we're going to sit down and have a conversation. It's not just 00:14:40.572 --> 00:14:43.926 about the job and off you go. It's about building that relationship as 00:14:43.948 --> 00:14:47.386 well. So that's what I like doing what I do, because at the end of 00:14:47.388 --> 00:14:49.980 the day, I have all these friends I never had before. 00:14:52.350 --> 00:14:55.900 You're so right. My mum, she knows more about Anne than I do now 00:14:56.670 --> 00:15:00.346 for two weeks. I mean, I know Anne really well. She's had conversations and 00:15:00.448 --> 00:15:03.914 she can't wait to get Anne back to paint her other bedroom and the hallway 00:15:03.962 --> 00:15:07.454 in the lounge at some point. So it becomes a 00:15:07.492 --> 00:15:10.640 friend. It's more than just a 00:15:11.250 --> 00:15:14.814 trusted. But one of the areas, though, 00:15:14.852 --> 00:15:17.780 people can actually forget, is that they're running a business. 00:15:18.470 --> 00:15:22.226 So you may get somebody who's going to try and push you to say, well, 00:15:22.248 --> 00:15:26.018 actually, can you do it a bit cheaper? Yeah, you can. But it's whether or 00:15:26.024 --> 00:15:29.606 not you've done the math. And you've got to understand finance, be able to 00:15:29.628 --> 00:15:33.446 know how much leeway, you've got to be able to make a discount in 00:15:33.468 --> 00:15:36.982 what you're doing, because you could quite easily forget and 00:15:37.036 --> 00:15:40.646 lose that focus that it's a business and not that you're helping 00:15:40.678 --> 00:15:43.878 somebody out or you're doing them a favour. Do you know what I mean? You're 00:15:43.894 --> 00:15:47.610 so right. Yeah. Maintain them. There's a big difference when you've worked for somebody 00:15:47.680 --> 00:15:51.086 else for many, many years, or you've never had to be 00:15:51.108 --> 00:15:54.826 responsible for your own sales, marketing, profit and loss, advertising, 00:15:54.858 --> 00:15:58.254 everything else. People feed you, work, you get 00:15:58.292 --> 00:16:01.850 paid, you come in. It's a completely different mindset 00:16:01.930 --> 00:16:04.766 being a solopreneur or a small business 00:16:04.948 --> 00:16:08.734 generating revenue which needs to be 00:16:08.772 --> 00:16:12.322 profit, which means to pay your bills, doesn't it? Yeah, and I think, 00:16:12.376 --> 00:16:14.658 again, that's where I come in, if you know what I mean. Because at the 00:16:14.664 --> 00:16:17.478 end of the day, my job is to ensure that I equip them with the 00:16:17.484 --> 00:16:21.206 business side, that they understand it. So I put together an 00:16:21.228 --> 00:16:24.966 eight week business startup course and also an eight week 00:16:25.068 --> 00:16:28.834 business course to enable women to understand the basics 00:16:28.882 --> 00:16:32.694 of business. And even if you're running a business for a few years 00:16:32.812 --> 00:16:36.586 and you've got to make that change sometimes it's knowing how to make that change, 00:16:36.688 --> 00:16:39.686 but staying within the law, making sure that you don't 00:16:39.798 --> 00:16:43.498 drop anything that's important, but that you're still building at the 00:16:43.504 --> 00:16:47.278 same time. So me either working alongside you on a one 00:16:47.284 --> 00:16:50.858 to one basis or one to many in a course, I always feel that it's 00:16:50.874 --> 00:16:54.638 important that you at least go through it so you understand even some of 00:16:54.644 --> 00:16:58.258 the changes that have happened in legislation, because at the end of the day, 00:16:58.344 --> 00:17:02.050 once I've left you, and even if you start up like a limited company, 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:05.982 don't forget, you've got to make sure that you're up to date with your confirmation 00:17:06.046 --> 00:17:09.814 statement, that you pay your taxes, that HMRC is your friend, 00:17:09.852 --> 00:17:13.490 you're paying your corporation tax as well. So we can't neglect 00:17:13.570 --> 00:17:17.080 any of that just because you enjoy doing what you. 00:17:18.970 --> 00:17:22.566 Yeah, you've got your public liability, you've got your professional 00:17:22.598 --> 00:17:26.346 indemnity, you've got your health and safety requirements. If 00:17:26.368 --> 00:17:29.994 you're climbing ladders, working at height safety, if 00:17:30.032 --> 00:17:33.854 you're in someone else's property, you've got to be careful there of trip hazards and 00:17:33.892 --> 00:17:37.502 all those various things. Yeah, exactly. It's your business 00:17:37.556 --> 00:17:41.006 compliance and also your financial compliance, your tax, everything else, isn't it? 00:17:41.028 --> 00:17:44.878 Yeah. And it's also known the difference that once that money comes in, 00:17:44.964 --> 00:17:48.674 it's business money. It's for the business. You can take out that 00:17:48.712 --> 00:17:52.338 proportion to live on, but you've got to make sure that you do a 00:17:52.344 --> 00:17:56.178 robust cash flow, because when you think money is not going to come in, and 00:17:56.184 --> 00:17:58.886 it does come in, that's great. But when money doesn't come in, when you think 00:17:58.908 --> 00:18:02.726 it's going to come in, you've got to have a contingency plan in 00:18:02.748 --> 00:18:06.518 place. Yeah. I've met a 00:18:06.524 --> 00:18:10.246 number of people who are probably not confident on the 00:18:10.268 --> 00:18:14.026 process of taking credit cards, and it sounds complicated, but with 00:18:14.048 --> 00:18:17.594 a bit of basic knowledge of setting up a stripe account, or even most 00:18:17.632 --> 00:18:21.386 banks offer merchant accounts these days, knowing that you're going to have a 00:18:21.408 --> 00:18:25.086 credit card transaction fee, that you've got to build into your profit margins as 00:18:25.108 --> 00:18:28.382 well. And those considerations, and you don't always get paid 00:18:28.436 --> 00:18:32.206 out the same day. Sometimes there's a two week lead time and things like 00:18:32.228 --> 00:18:35.934 this. So it's all those little things you don't know about until you get 00:18:35.972 --> 00:18:39.506 into it and start running the business, is it? Yeah. And also it can be 00:18:39.528 --> 00:18:42.386 a bit overwhelming to suddenly say, oh, my goodness, I've got to pay extra on 00:18:42.408 --> 00:18:46.114 this. Why? But if you're in a group 00:18:46.152 --> 00:18:49.906 of, a group of women, we're going to discuss it. Somebody 00:18:50.008 --> 00:18:53.206 would have hopefully have gone through that experience. If not, I would be able to 00:18:53.228 --> 00:18:56.998 tell them. And it actually makes people a lot more relaxed to know, you 00:18:57.004 --> 00:19:00.826 know something, it's doable, I can do this, but it's all about the 00:19:00.848 --> 00:19:04.394 planning. You've got to be able to plan. Not 00:19:04.432 --> 00:19:08.106 everybody's an administrator, and I get that, but if you can take the 00:19:08.128 --> 00:19:11.722 time out, say, every quarter, to just assess and reassess everything 00:19:11.776 --> 00:19:15.374 you've done previously and then set yourself up for the coming three 00:19:15.412 --> 00:19:19.198 months, you'll find that you won't go so badly wrong. Do you 00:19:19.204 --> 00:19:22.558 know what I mean? You will stay on track. And not only that, being a 00:19:22.564 --> 00:19:26.226 part of a group for at least eight weeks, it's like being accountable to 00:19:26.248 --> 00:19:29.060 someone. Yeah. 00:19:29.830 --> 00:19:33.586 One thing I found since setting up this business in 00:19:33.688 --> 00:19:36.680 this part of my life is that I found 00:19:37.370 --> 00:19:41.206 my female network is far more supportive than I ever had 00:19:41.228 --> 00:19:45.026 in the past. And I find my female 00:19:45.138 --> 00:19:48.738 network are more collaborative, they're less competitive, 00:19:48.914 --> 00:19:52.602 they're more willing to share, they're more willing to be open. And there's a general 00:19:52.656 --> 00:19:56.362 sense that you want each other to succeed. Yeah, maybe 00:19:56.416 --> 00:20:00.154 in my previous life it was a bit more competitive and dog 00:20:00.192 --> 00:20:03.926 eat dog. Now, I'm a member of many female entrepreneurs 00:20:03.958 --> 00:20:07.326 networks, and it's caring and sharing. That's it, 00:20:07.508 --> 00:20:11.246 definitely. And I think also, like I said, 00:20:11.348 --> 00:20:15.166 we like to share. We can always go for coffee, always go 00:20:15.188 --> 00:20:18.786 for lunch. That's what we've always done. But you'll actually have a 00:20:18.808 --> 00:20:22.580 tight network to be able to share. And also, if you're not in the same, 00:20:23.510 --> 00:20:27.010 actually, it could actually work even if you're in the same area 00:20:27.080 --> 00:20:30.326 sector. Do you know what I mean? Working together, you've got a problem. 00:20:30.428 --> 00:20:34.120 Somebody's always there to help you. Because we like solving problems 00:20:35.210 --> 00:20:38.774 as a woman, that's what we do. Because I remember 00:20:38.812 --> 00:20:42.522 raising my son, we always solve problems. And also, 00:20:42.576 --> 00:20:45.674 one thing that a lot of people don't do, and I have always tried to 00:20:45.712 --> 00:20:49.466 encourage this, is get their children involved. Get their 00:20:49.488 --> 00:20:53.006 children involved in what they do, especially from a creative side, because they still have 00:20:53.028 --> 00:20:56.730 that creativity approach to life. They get excited. 00:20:56.810 --> 00:20:59.934 They love to do things in a different way. So why not listen to your 00:20:59.972 --> 00:21:03.818 children? When my son was ten, I actually taught 00:21:03.834 --> 00:21:06.706 him how to do my bookkeeping. A lot of people know that. I always talk 00:21:06.728 --> 00:21:10.226 about this story. Now he's 28 and he's quite 00:21:10.248 --> 00:21:13.634 mature. Finance is not a problem for him. He deals with 00:21:13.672 --> 00:21:17.486 finance like we most probably go and buy shoes, do you know what I mean? 00:21:17.528 --> 00:21:21.314 But he's done the calculations. He feels confident with figures. 00:21:21.442 --> 00:21:24.534 But if you can imagine having children around there trying to design your 00:21:24.572 --> 00:21:28.326 logo and saying, oh, mom, that doesn't look white, why didn't 00:21:28.348 --> 00:21:30.890 you do this? Why didn't you do that? Et cetera. 00:21:32.670 --> 00:21:36.362 Not only that, children have got their own network. And, you know, when children 00:21:36.416 --> 00:21:40.266 got their network, the mothers become part of that network as well. A 00:21:40.288 --> 00:21:43.020 great, ideal way to actually market your business. 00:21:44.590 --> 00:21:47.806 I find I've got to be careful. My daughter sometimes, I mean, my daughter's what, 00:21:47.828 --> 00:21:51.406 31 now? And she works in early years 00:21:51.508 --> 00:21:55.346 nursery, sort of preschool. She's a deputy manager at 00:21:55.368 --> 00:21:59.138 a preschool nursery in West Sussex. And I've got to 00:21:59.144 --> 00:22:02.638 be careful because I keep trying to persuade her to become entrepreneurial 00:22:02.734 --> 00:22:06.286 and get out of the corporate life and start her own 00:22:06.408 --> 00:22:09.560 early years training business. Or I can help you. 00:22:10.410 --> 00:22:13.234 And I've got to be really careful sometimes that I'm not overly 00:22:13.282 --> 00:22:17.010 entrepreneurial and pushing someone out their comfort zone. 00:22:17.170 --> 00:22:20.906 I want to be kind of a magnet if they're interested, but 00:22:20.928 --> 00:22:24.438 not a push or a pull. I think it's 00:22:24.534 --> 00:22:28.330 to allow her to have to, say, run her race, 00:22:29.550 --> 00:22:33.178 do her career at her pace. And what she wants to 00:22:33.184 --> 00:22:36.942 do, but at the same time keep planting the seeds every now and again 00:22:36.996 --> 00:22:40.240 to say there's also an alternative, because one day 00:22:40.930 --> 00:22:43.806 she may just get fed up and she says, I need to do something different. 00:22:43.908 --> 00:22:47.634 But knowing that you're behind and you're watching that you can then 00:22:47.672 --> 00:22:51.106 make the possession to maybe ready then. Her husband's an 00:22:51.128 --> 00:22:54.530 accountant in practise. He works for a firm 00:22:55.590 --> 00:22:58.886 adjusted accountant practise. So she's got kind 00:22:58.908 --> 00:23:02.646 of a good solid financial footing as well as a kind of 00:23:02.668 --> 00:23:05.560 an entrepreneurial footing. Yeah, she's got the. 00:23:07.450 --> 00:23:11.260 My wife worked for a company for a long time and 00:23:12.430 --> 00:23:16.218 it was one of those companies where it was an engineering, even though 00:23:16.224 --> 00:23:20.026 it was a small. They were part of Itachi, but 00:23:20.048 --> 00:23:23.886 they were a small subsidiary that was kind of independent. Just 00:23:23.908 --> 00:23:27.600 the ownership was there and it was engineering. It was very 00:23:28.370 --> 00:23:32.094 male orientated. So the people that had value were 00:23:32.132 --> 00:23:35.806 men. The women tend to be the admin or the less important, and they got 00:23:35.828 --> 00:23:38.738 a box of chocolates at Christmas. The men went to the racing or went to 00:23:38.744 --> 00:23:42.546 see cricket or something. In a typical kind of male female divide the 00:23:42.568 --> 00:23:45.010 value and the worst. And she found herself 00:23:46.790 --> 00:23:50.486 not. I don't want to be too cruel, but she found herself being 00:23:50.508 --> 00:23:54.280 treated badly. Lack of respect, lack of value, 00:23:55.770 --> 00:23:59.094 just pushed down and I kept saying to her, look, come and work with me, 00:23:59.132 --> 00:24:02.938 come and work with me, we can figure this out, we figure this out. But 00:24:03.104 --> 00:24:06.714 she wanted her independence, that was her money, that was 00:24:06.752 --> 00:24:10.598 her role. And again, whilst she had a fear 00:24:10.614 --> 00:24:14.302 of getting it going wrong, but she also wanted that independent life where 00:24:14.356 --> 00:24:17.646 it was her job, her role, and that was nothing. I was very 00:24:17.668 --> 00:24:21.386 cautious. Creating the gravitational pull without pushing 00:24:21.418 --> 00:24:25.134 and being overly. Kind of fine 00:24:25.172 --> 00:24:28.818 line, isn't it? Between. It is very fine, but occasionally you 00:24:28.824 --> 00:24:32.626 could pass something her way for her to do that. She 00:24:32.648 --> 00:24:36.306 could actually see, well, actually I could do this independently and 00:24:36.328 --> 00:24:39.538