WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:10.975 Welcome to Inclusion Bites, your 2 00:00:10.975 --> 00:00:14.495 sanctuary for bold conversations that spark change. I'm 3 00:00:14.495 --> 00:00:18.170 Joanne Lockwood, your guide on this journey of exploration into 4 00:00:18.170 --> 00:00:21.870 the heart of inclusion, belonging, and societal 5 00:00:22.170 --> 00:00:25.935 transformation. Ever wondered what it truly takes to create a 6 00:00:25.935 --> 00:00:29.715 world where everyone not only belongs but thrives? 7 00:00:30.015 --> 00:00:33.855 You're not alone. Join me as we uncover the 8 00:00:33.855 --> 00:00:37.470 unseen, challenge the status quo, and share 9 00:00:37.470 --> 00:00:41.230 stories that resonate deep within. Ready to dive 10 00:00:41.230 --> 00:00:44.844 in. Whether you're sipping your morning coffee or winding 11 00:00:44.844 --> 00:00:48.144 down after a long day, let's connect, reflect, 12 00:00:48.524 --> 00:00:52.060 and inspire action together. Don't forget, 13 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:55.560 you can be part of the conversation too. Reach out to 14 00:00:55.620 --> 00:00:58.635 jo.Lockwood@seechangehappen.co.uk 15 00:00:59.415 --> 00:01:02.955 to share your insights or to join me on the show. 16 00:01:03.735 --> 00:01:07.450 So adjust your earbuds and settle in. It's time to 17 00:01:07.450 --> 00:01:10.990 ignite the spark of inclusion with Inclusion Bites. 18 00:01:15.165 --> 00:01:18.685 And today is episode 120 with the 19 00:01:18.685 --> 00:01:22.340 title valuing your health in 20 00:01:22.340 --> 00:01:26.040 business. And I have the absolute honor and privilege to welcome 21 00:01:26.820 --> 00:01:30.500 Heather McLennan. And when I asked Heather to describe her superb 22 00:01:30.660 --> 00:01:34.265 she said that she has now experienced challenges of 23 00:01:34.265 --> 00:01:38.105 work and health from both sides of the fence, both as 24 00:01:38.105 --> 00:01:41.620 a professional and also her own personal 25 00:01:41.620 --> 00:01:45.300 experiences. Hello, Heather. Welcome to the show. Hello, 26 00:01:45.300 --> 00:01:48.180 Joanne. Thank you so much for having me. It's very exciting to be here with 27 00:01:48.180 --> 00:01:51.784 you today. Brilliant. Well, we we met a few months ago at 28 00:01:51.784 --> 00:01:55.625 a networking speaking event, and, yeah, we got chatting. So, yeah, 29 00:01:55.625 --> 00:01:59.450 I've been looking forward to this since we met. So valuing your healthy 30 00:01:59.450 --> 00:02:01.869 business, and as you say, in your superpower, you've experienced, 31 00:02:03.130 --> 00:02:06.270 should we say, poor health or or health that's impacted you 32 00:02:06.935 --> 00:02:10.315 in your own life, but also you you advise small business owners 33 00:02:10.935 --> 00:02:14.535 and help them recognize how important their health is in their business. So tell us 34 00:02:14.535 --> 00:02:18.360 a bit more. Yeah. So it's probably best to to take you back to 35 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:21.980 the beginning of my career. So I'm a health care professional 36 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:25.845 by training, and I worked from very early stages 37 00:02:26.065 --> 00:02:29.505 in what's known to many people as occupational health. So 38 00:02:29.505 --> 00:02:32.945 working for large organizations initially at the beginning of my 39 00:02:32.945 --> 00:02:36.390 career as part of an occupational health team supporting 40 00:02:36.690 --> 00:02:40.290 employees who were injured and supporting their managers to help 41 00:02:40.290 --> 00:02:43.944 support them to return to or remain in work. And something we 42 00:02:43.944 --> 00:02:47.305 call vocational rehabilitation is the fancy terminology, but 43 00:02:47.305 --> 00:02:51.110 really enabling people to stay in work. Because most 44 00:02:51.110 --> 00:02:54.490 people do want to work, and it's come it's 45 00:02:54.710 --> 00:02:58.550 actually very good for us, which I'm sure we'll get into. So I've been doing 46 00:02:58.550 --> 00:03:02.385 that for almost 30 years. But 5 years ago, I also 47 00:03:02.385 --> 00:03:06.064 have my own experience of of ill health and some interesting 48 00:03:06.064 --> 00:03:09.790 diagnosis. And I've had to really put 49 00:03:09.790 --> 00:03:13.629 all my professional knowledge into play for myself and reach out to many 50 00:03:13.629 --> 00:03:17.325 of my colleagues to help me and support me in the same process of 51 00:03:17.325 --> 00:03:20.644 of remaining in work. And I was running a small business at the time, so 52 00:03:20.644 --> 00:03:24.210 it was especially interesting. Yeah. I mean, I've 53 00:03:24.210 --> 00:03:28.050 I've worked for myself. I've been a solopreneur for, like, 54 00:03:28.050 --> 00:03:31.585 1998 is when I first went out into the proper wide world, but I 55 00:03:31.585 --> 00:03:35.265 was freelancing probably 3 or 4 years before that. So I 56 00:03:35.265 --> 00:03:38.785 haven't had a full time paid job Mhmm. For an employer 57 00:03:38.785 --> 00:03:41.960 since 1994. I think that's that's 58 00:03:43.140 --> 00:03:46.820 that's 30 years, isn't it? 30 years. Wow. Yep. Blimey. 59 00:03:46.820 --> 00:03:50.205 No wonder I'm, well, I'm not turning great, but no wonder no wonder 60 00:03:50.585 --> 00:03:54.345 I'm stressy sometimes. Yeah. So I was always conscious very, 61 00:03:54.345 --> 00:03:57.565 very hyper aware that if I wasn't working, I wasn't earning. 62 00:03:57.930 --> 00:04:01.070 Yes. And I'm I'm not one of these people that stands up there and says, 63 00:04:01.210 --> 00:04:04.590 I've never had a day off sick in my life. I I value 64 00:04:04.915 --> 00:04:07.555 the time when I can't work and I need to take some time off. I'm 65 00:04:07.555 --> 00:04:10.835 not stoic and say, I'm gonna soldier through this for the sake of it. But 66 00:04:10.835 --> 00:04:13.920 it is a worry, isn't it? Not having that safety net. Yeah. So I think 67 00:04:13.920 --> 00:04:17.600 what's really interesting for us as small business owners is that there's several 68 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:21.120 layers to that. In that, if you're not able to work for a 69 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:24.675 period of time, if you are the main person who 70 00:04:24.675 --> 00:04:28.435 delivers your business services, if you really are a solopreneur, you are not 71 00:04:28.435 --> 00:04:31.980 generating an income. You are not keeping your your funnel 72 00:04:31.980 --> 00:04:35.340 full of potential new leads, then that's going to 73 00:04:35.340 --> 00:04:39.100 potentially reduce your personal income if you don't have the right reserves in 74 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:42.865 place. And then, of course, if anyone listening to this has 75 00:04:42.865 --> 00:04:46.625 had any significant period of time off, we're talking maybe anything longer than 3 or 76 00:04:46.625 --> 00:04:50.320 4 weeks. Very quickly, that can have a very negative impact on your 77 00:04:50.320 --> 00:04:54.080 self confidence, your esteem. And, actually, you can go into a 78 00:04:54.080 --> 00:04:57.735 bit of a downward spiral, which in itself becomes harder and 79 00:04:57.735 --> 00:05:01.015 harder to pull yourself out of and and believe you can get back to where 80 00:05:01.015 --> 00:05:04.810 you were before. So the there's a financial cost, but 81 00:05:04.810 --> 00:05:08.490 there's also a heavy personal cost if things don't go well. Yeah. I 82 00:05:08.490 --> 00:05:12.090 I've had a I suppose over the last 10 or 83 00:05:12.090 --> 00:05:15.905 so years, I've had couple of things that have gone wrong. So 84 00:05:15.905 --> 00:05:19.665 I've had I had a strangulated hernia in my belly button, which went a 85 00:05:19.665 --> 00:05:23.180 bit which I had to have emergency surgery on, and that took about 6 weeks 86 00:05:23.180 --> 00:05:26.940 to recover. Yep. I had double pneumonia 1 Christmas, and that took about 87 00:05:26.940 --> 00:05:30.400 6 to 8 weeks to fully get back on back on track again. 88 00:05:30.845 --> 00:05:34.685 And and recently, I've had hair transplants and those in in their own right to 89 00:05:34.685 --> 00:05:38.525 take some doubt. And I've had my gallbladder removed. And Yep. Those sort of 90 00:05:38.525 --> 00:05:42.300 things. When you've had that kind of surgery that takes 91 00:05:42.300 --> 00:05:45.980 anesthetic, those kind of invasive procedures, they are 92 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:49.575 6 feet recovery, aren't they? And it's, Yeah. So it's really interesting when you kinda 93 00:05:49.575 --> 00:05:52.775 look at the the big picture and, you know, some statistics and stuff out there 94 00:05:52.775 --> 00:05:56.535 that actually most periods of absence. And and, obviously, a lot of the statistics are 95 00:05:56.535 --> 00:06:00.120 based on people who are employed. So there is there is a difference, I believe, 96 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:03.960 which you we'll come back to, I'm sure. In that the average kind of 97 00:06:03.960 --> 00:06:07.685 time off sick is less than 4 weeks. But if you are having 98 00:06:07.685 --> 00:06:11.365 surgery, you're right. You know, it's normally gonna be 6 weeks or more. And that 99 00:06:11.365 --> 00:06:14.940 can be a really interesting time because you know that you need to take the 100 00:06:14.940 --> 00:06:18.720 time to recover to ensure you get the best recovery and the best result 101 00:06:19.020 --> 00:06:22.585 from what you've had done. And depending on what's going on, depends on how many 102 00:06:22.585 --> 00:06:26.264 other appointments you've got to attend, what rehabilitation you might need. And it's 103 00:06:26.264 --> 00:06:29.705 it's it is all consuming, and that's important to say that if we're off 104 00:06:29.705 --> 00:06:33.240 sick for a period of time, actually, that's 105 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:37.080 about our full time job becomes us looking after ourselves and our recovery. 106 00:06:37.080 --> 00:06:40.925 That should be our main focus. But that's quite hard if you're also running a 107 00:06:40.925 --> 00:06:44.765 business at the same time and trying to keep the wheels turning on that as 108 00:06:44.765 --> 00:06:48.530 well as family life potentially in the mix. You know? There's a lot there's a 109 00:06:48.530 --> 00:06:51.910 lot going on. Yeah. One thing I noticed, 110 00:06:52.450 --> 00:06:55.889 and this is my anecdote on this, is that when I was in the 111 00:06:55.889 --> 00:06:59.475 midst of the the procedure, the the lead 112 00:06:59.475 --> 00:07:03.235 up, the, oh oh my word. I'm feeling poorly. 113 00:07:03.235 --> 00:07:05.955 I'm feeling really rough. I need to get this sorted. In that in that sort 114 00:07:05.955 --> 00:07:09.220 of traumatic element of that those instance, 115 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:13.920 I found that I was completely focused on what was going 116 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:17.675 on with me, not with other things. And it was 117 00:07:17.675 --> 00:07:21.354 one of the ways I sort of said to people that, I knew I was 118 00:07:21.354 --> 00:07:24.940 getting better because I was getting bored. Yes. And it was 119 00:07:24.940 --> 00:07:28.780 almost like before when I was in this trauma zone, I wasn't getting 120 00:07:28.780 --> 00:07:32.264 bored. My brain was saying fixed self, and it just 121 00:07:32.264 --> 00:07:35.785 wasn't capable. You know? I wanted to sleep. I wanted to relax. I couldn't do 122 00:07:35.785 --> 00:07:39.555 anything, couldn't focus, couldn't concentrate, couldn't even watch telly. And then all of a 123 00:07:39.555 --> 00:07:43.010 sudden, ah, I'm bored. I wanna watch telly. I wanna do stuff when I get 124 00:07:43.010 --> 00:07:46.690 up. Isn't it interesting? Told me when I was ready. Yeah. That's right. And I 125 00:07:46.690 --> 00:07:50.264 think that's very true. You know, we we have that inherent wisdom that we know 126 00:07:50.264 --> 00:07:53.945 that we need rest. We know that we need recovery. And now it 127 00:07:53.945 --> 00:07:57.544 is all consuming, and we can't really process and deal with other things, which also 128 00:07:57.544 --> 00:08:01.229 makes us, you know, potentially quite difficult to live with in these phases. 129 00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:05.949 Yeah. It's and I think that's the challenge for small business owners is that 130 00:08:06.205 --> 00:08:09.885 if you can feel the pull of your client customer base, any 131 00:08:09.885 --> 00:08:13.645 financial concerns, but you know that you need to spend time 132 00:08:13.645 --> 00:08:17.230 on yourself, you find yourself conflicted in that 133 00:08:17.230 --> 00:08:20.510 period. And it becomes more and more difficult to do a good Jo, and at 134 00:08:20.510 --> 00:08:24.155 the same time, you're not looking after yourself adequately either. And if 135 00:08:24.155 --> 00:08:27.755 anything, I'll say the big difference between working with people who are employed 136 00:08:27.755 --> 00:08:31.595 versus self employed is that self employed people will probably hang on 137 00:08:31.595 --> 00:08:35.080 and keep working too long, and then try and get back to work too 138 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:38.620 soon, and not allow themselves sufficient recovery or 139 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:42.885 sufficient time to make a graduated 140 00:08:43.184 --> 00:08:46.865 return. We tend to think we wanna jump in. So as soon as you have 141 00:08:46.865 --> 00:08:50.710 that feeling of onboard, you'd wanna jump in completely and utterly back into 142 00:08:50.710 --> 00:08:54.330 work rather than giving yourself a a nice 143 00:08:55.350 --> 00:08:59.005 planned fate, what we call phased return to work. It's 144 00:08:59.085 --> 00:09:02.925 well, I mean, we're talking here about, I mean, I the examples I use were 145 00:09:02.925 --> 00:09:06.700 physical. We've also got to consider other dimension as well, the 146 00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:10.540 the the mental health needs and other things that can 147 00:09:10.540 --> 00:09:14.335 also disrupt us and our well-being. Yeah. And those are often unseen, aren't 148 00:09:14.335 --> 00:09:18.035 they? They are. And I think it is really important to think about, 149 00:09:18.415 --> 00:09:22.260 yeah, physical health and mental health. Huge crossover. 150 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.520 You know, hopefully, gone are the days where we think these things are separate. They 151 00:09:25.520 --> 00:09:28.420 are definitely not. 1 impacts the other significantly. 152 00:09:29.355 --> 00:09:32.735 But also the unseen and often unacknowledged 153 00:09:33.115 --> 00:09:36.635 things like adverse life events. So if you had a 154 00:09:36.635 --> 00:09:40.320 significant life events, that makes it much harder to cope 155 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:44.079 with day to day living. And then if you also have a 156 00:09:44.079 --> 00:09:47.595 mental and or physical health condition on top of that, again, it's even harder. So 157 00:09:47.595 --> 00:09:51.215 those are the things that we hear about all the time that are considered trauma. 158 00:09:51.675 --> 00:09:54.655 They they are normal life, bereavements, 159 00:09:55.310 --> 00:09:59.069 marriages, moving house, births, all those things that are part of 160 00:09:59.069 --> 00:10:02.910 normal human living. But they are events that 161 00:10:02.910 --> 00:10:06.735 can impact our capacity to cope and even more so if our capacity 162 00:10:06.735 --> 00:10:10.575 is already limited by other factors in our health. So what can we do 163 00:10:10.575 --> 00:10:14.250 to plan for this? I mean, obviously, some things you 164 00:10:14.250 --> 00:10:18.090 can plan for because you know they're gonna happen or because you're you're they're either 165 00:10:18.090 --> 00:10:21.850 elective or they're Yeah. You've been waiting for 8 months on the on the 166 00:10:21.850 --> 00:10:25.425 waiting list to get something done about it. Yeah. But many many times we don't 167 00:10:25.425 --> 00:10:29.265 have the luxury of of knowing what's what's around the corner. And that 168 00:10:29.265 --> 00:10:32.565 that is one of the stresses as a small business owner myself, solopreneur, 169 00:10:33.509 --> 00:10:37.209 that there's always in the back of your mind, what if I can't? Yeah. 170 00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:40.389 Yeah. What if I can't pay my rent, my mortgage, whatever it is, or be 171 00:10:40.470 --> 00:10:44.165 put food on the table because I can't earn. Yeah. That so 172 00:10:44.165 --> 00:10:47.205 that's one of the things that I've really been pulling together over the last few 173 00:10:47.205 --> 00:10:50.725 years from my, say, pulling together professional experience and personal 174 00:10:50.725 --> 00:10:54.569 experience. Because now you can't plan, particularly. You can't predict. You 175 00:10:54.569 --> 00:10:57.690 know, you may have some risk factors that mean you're more at risk of certain 176 00:10:57.690 --> 00:11:01.505 illnesses or injuries than somebody else, in terms of, you 177 00:11:01.505 --> 00:11:05.345 know, genetic factors and predisposing factors. And also what 178 00:11:05.345 --> 00:11:09.149 we've just saying about adverse events in life or a 179 00:11:09.149 --> 00:11:12.930 huge volume of extreme life events happening 180 00:11:13.790 --> 00:11:17.575 does make you a little more susceptible to things happening, 181 00:11:17.575 --> 00:11:21.415 but you can't plan for it. And, of course, what could happen could 182 00:11:21.415 --> 00:11:25.139 be vastly different. You could have a broken ankle, which has a 183 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:28.579 very clear treatment plan, surgical plan, and 184 00:11:28.579 --> 00:11:32.180 recovery time frame, or you could have something much more 185 00:11:32.180 --> 00:11:35.995 nuanced, maybe a mental health condition or a neurological condition, 186 00:11:36.055 --> 00:11:39.655 which is gonna be much harder to manage and predict and and need a 187 00:11:39.655 --> 00:11:43.500 totally different approach. But what I actually help small 188 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:47.040 business owners do is is try and create an overarching plan 189 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:50.940 around, this kind of three parts. So it keeping a business and 190 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:54.535 life flowing. So looking at your financial position in 191 00:11:54.535 --> 00:11:58.375 general, your legal position in general, setting that up as best 192 00:11:58.375 --> 00:12:02.190 you can for life's eventualities. And then also 193 00:12:02.190 --> 00:12:05.950 considering so if you became ill or injured, how would you 194 00:12:05.950 --> 00:12:08.995 handle that? How would you handle it in your business, and how would you handle 195 00:12:08.995 --> 00:12:12.375 it in your personal life? And, of course, the outcome is different for everybody. 196 00:12:12.754 --> 00:12:16.579 But then you've created your own I had 197 00:12:16.579 --> 00:12:19.540 a conversation with somebody the other week. And we all like, you're basically creating your 198 00:12:19.540 --> 00:12:23.060 own insurance plan. It's insurance, but not as you know it. It's not the type 199 00:12:23.060 --> 00:12:26.375 that you get off the shelf. That might be part, you know, financial shelf. That 200 00:12:26.375 --> 00:12:29.995 might be part of your plan to have some financial 201 00:12:30.135 --> 00:12:33.580 security, to have some legal security, but actually to have an overarching 202 00:12:33.900 --> 00:12:37.740 plan that says, right, if something happens, this is the 203 00:12:37.740 --> 00:12:41.420 broad brush of how I'm gonna handle it. At 204 00:12:41.420 --> 00:12:44.865 least Joanne give you some reassurance and can give your 205 00:12:45.165 --> 00:12:49.005 family or colleagues reassurance that there is a plan if 206 00:12:49.005 --> 00:12:52.620 things go wrong. Yeah. That that's that's the challenge, isn't it? It it 207 00:12:52.700 --> 00:12:55.980 it's the risk management, isn't it? Risk management, I don't know what you're saying. Management. 208 00:12:55.980 --> 00:12:59.824 Yeah. And there's always vulnerabilities. And I say this, you know, when I speak in 209 00:12:59.824 --> 00:13:02.324 front of small business owners that if you are a solopreneur, 210 00:13:03.745 --> 00:13:07.425 there's obvious vulnerabilities. You can't account for every possibility, and and 211 00:13:07.425 --> 00:13:11.220 you can't actually necessarily pull somebody else into your business if you get 212 00:13:11.220 --> 00:13:14.899 ill. But planning for those vulnerabilities and saying, well, I 213 00:13:14.899 --> 00:13:18.425 can't actually do anything about that. I can't do anything about it right now. Might 214 00:13:18.425 --> 00:13:22.264 be something you plan to implement in the future. Or it might be, 215 00:13:22.264 --> 00:13:25.464 well, I have to accept that if I can't work, there'll be no income coming 216 00:13:25.464 --> 00:13:29.010 into the business. There'll be no income coming into my home. Therefore, 217 00:13:29.550 --> 00:13:32.990 I need to have these sorts of reserves. Right? My plan is I need to 218 00:13:32.990 --> 00:13:36.575 sort out some reserves. Same with things like health insurance or 219 00:13:37.355 --> 00:13:40.795 cash plans for health cover and things like that. He's been looking at that and 220 00:13:40.795 --> 00:13:44.370 going well. Okay. What have I got? What what would I 221 00:13:44.370 --> 00:13:47.890 need? What would my priority be now? And and think about it. I mean, I'm 222 00:13:47.890 --> 00:13:51.655 a solopreneur, and I I've also been the principal and owner 223 00:13:51.655 --> 00:13:55.435 of of a small business. So Mhmm. You have 20 people, 224 00:13:55.975 --> 00:13:59.070 million, 2,000,000 turnover, clients, 225 00:13:59.770 --> 00:14:03.130 cash flow, VAT returns, all of the stuff you end up doing as a small 226 00:14:03.130 --> 00:14:06.430 business. Yes. So it's not just my inability to 227 00:14:06.665 --> 00:14:10.505 to function or be be present, but it's also what I have 228 00:14:10.505 --> 00:14:14.205 to do. So authorize the payroll. May often 229 00:14:14.265 --> 00:14:18.029 principles are involved in sales or in production or 230 00:14:18.029 --> 00:14:21.570 some element of the business that is dependent on them, and it's not just 231 00:14:21.950 --> 00:14:25.714 their livelihood they're worried about. It's also the livelihood of the people who work 232 00:14:25.714 --> 00:14:29.555 in the business as well. Yes. Yes. That's right. And I think one of the 233 00:14:29.555 --> 00:14:33.095 things that we also talk about is looking at the operations of the business 234 00:14:33.315 --> 00:14:36.949 in terms of, actually, I think and this is quite common, isn't it? Small 235 00:14:36.949 --> 00:14:40.709 business owners. Even as a business grows, there's maybe certain tasks that we hang on 236 00:14:40.709 --> 00:14:44.125 to that still only are done by the business owner or the 237 00:14:44.125 --> 00:14:47.485 principal, as you call them. And that is one of the 238 00:14:47.485 --> 00:14:51.230 vulnerabilities because it just carries on like that because it's been like that 239 00:14:51.230 --> 00:14:54.750 from the beginning. So I think it's important to have some intentional plans 240 00:14:54.750 --> 00:14:58.590 around creating, you know, what would be called from a business point to 241 00:14:58.590 --> 00:15:02.055 use some kind of contingency plans ensuring and this is one of the most 242 00:15:02.055 --> 00:15:05.575 common examples that I use is, can anyone else access the bill the bank 243 00:15:05.575 --> 00:15:09.350 accounts? The business bank accounts? So that if you were incapacitated in a 244 00:15:09.350 --> 00:15:12.950 way that meant you couldn't run the payroll, you couldn't pay the associates that you 245 00:15:12.950 --> 00:15:16.330 have, you couldn't pay suppliers, that somebody else could do that 246 00:15:17.005 --> 00:15:20.125 for a period of time. And even if it was restricted, it could be done. 247 00:15:20.125 --> 00:15:23.700 And I think that's about finding this the 248 00:15:23.780 --> 00:15:27.400 the stage, isn't it, as a small business owner at which you can start delegating 249 00:15:27.540 --> 00:15:31.380 even if it's outsourcing some of those things. Mhmm. Or if you've got 250 00:15:31.380 --> 00:15:35.045 trusted members of the family that you would appoint to do those things if you 251 00:15:35.045 --> 00:15:38.404 were incapacitated. It's it's taking the opportunity to think about 252 00:15:38.404 --> 00:15:40.665 that when things are good 253 00:15:42.060 --> 00:15:45.740 rather than waiting until it's all gone belly up and other people are left worrying 254 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:49.555 about it when you're in the hospital. Not probably not caring at that 255 00:15:49.555 --> 00:15:53.315 point. No. Because there are many situations where 256 00:15:53.315 --> 00:15:56.480 you have no forward notice Exactly. 257 00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:00.019 Joanne accident or a very 258 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:03.055 rapidly developing health care Yes. Development. 259 00:16:04.075 --> 00:16:07.835 During COVID, we saw people go from relatively healthy 260 00:16:07.835 --> 00:16:11.570 to ventilators in a few days. And it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, actually, one of 261 00:16:11.570 --> 00:16:15.170 the reasons that I've created these services is that I was running a national 262 00:16:15.170 --> 00:16:18.825 rehabilitation company at the at the time I was diagnosed, which 263 00:16:18.825 --> 00:16:22.665 was in 2019. And I was diagnosed as having had a rare type of 264 00:16:22.665 --> 00:16:26.505 stroke swiftly followed by being told I'd got a rare type of blood 265 00:16:26.505 --> 00:16:29.930 cancer. And I was kind of using all my 266 00:16:29.930 --> 00:16:33.370 professional knowledge to try and manage my own hours and 267 00:16:33.370 --> 00:16:37.195 tasks, and and we have done some preparatory delegation 268 00:16:37.415 --> 00:16:40.955 work because the business was growing. So I was looking to start 269 00:16:41.735 --> 00:16:45.579 to enable some of my team to take on more duties simply because 270 00:16:45.579 --> 00:16:49.339 the business was growing and it made sense. But it didn't have it 271 00:16:49.339 --> 00:16:52.800 all in place. And it was actually in COVID 272 00:16:52.945 --> 00:16:56.705 in 2020 that we'd been going through an audit process 273 00:16:56.705 --> 00:17:00.305 for making sure that we were putting all our governance structures in 274 00:17:00.305 --> 00:17:04.000 place. And that it started before COVID. It ended up 275 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.520 taking longer than it should have done because of COVID. And one of the people 276 00:17:07.520 --> 00:17:10.419 in that said, so, Heather, have you got a written business contingency 277 00:17:12.144 --> 00:17:15.904 plan? I'm like, no. I'm living it. I am just I'm living it. 278 00:17:15.904 --> 00:17:19.744 You know, here I am. I've had some serious diagnoses which have 279 00:17:19.744 --> 00:17:23.440 led to all sorts of challenges. And 280 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:26.900 then we've gone into a global pandemic. And at the time, we provided 281 00:17:27.605 --> 00:17:31.445 rehabilitation to people in their homes. People who've been seriously injured with 282 00:17:31.445 --> 00:17:35.205 multiple multiple injuries from car accidents and workplace accidents and 283 00:17:35.205 --> 00:17:38.809 things like that. Suddenly, of course, we weren't supposed to go into anyone's homes. 284 00:17:39.590 --> 00:17:43.269 So I'm like, no. Of course. No. Well, I wasn't a big enough business to 285 00:17:43.269 --> 00:17:47.015 have thought about having a contingency plan because you're so busy building the business and 286 00:17:47.015 --> 00:17:50.775 trying to keep it running and just trying to keep up with yourself that we 287 00:17:50.775 --> 00:17:54.480 often haven't thought about these things. And the the saving grace really was that 288 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:58.160 we had started doing a little bit from a business growth point of 289 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:01.945 view. And I was able to delegate 290 00:18:01.945 --> 00:18:05.725 things over, but I was also 291 00:18:05.865 --> 00:18:09.705 able to delegate. I was still conscious. I was able to communicate. I was 292 00:18:09.705 --> 00:18:13.549 able to do those things. So, yeah, it's very interesting. 293 00:18:13.690 --> 00:18:17.450 Yeah. I I've my wife now works with me in the business, 294 00:18:17.450 --> 00:18:21.235 Marie. Mhmm. And very early on when I set 295 00:18:21.235 --> 00:18:24.995 up a limited company and with the accountant, they suggested that 296 00:18:25.155 --> 00:18:28.435 I mean, there's there's there's 2 sides. 1 is 1 is their sort of business 297 00:18:28.435 --> 00:18:31.830 protection suggestion was that they make her a share I make her a shareholder and 298 00:18:31.830 --> 00:18:34.950 an authorized at the bank and, you know, could speak on behalf of the business. 299 00:18:34.950 --> 00:18:38.445 So that that was before she joined the business. And then, 300 00:18:38.445 --> 00:18:42.205 obviously, now she's within the business. She has access to all the all the business 301 00:18:42.205 --> 00:18:45.585 side. Yep. And it it's it's it is reassuring to know 302 00:18:46.110 --> 00:18:49.870 that you haven't got to do everything in I'm not saying Marie 303 00:18:49.870 --> 00:18:53.715 could just deal with everything immediately, but at least she 304 00:18:53.715 --> 00:18:56.675 can speak to the accountant. She can speak to the bank. She can have these 305 00:18:56.675 --> 00:19:00.435 conversations with us before. There's no power of attorney in place at 306 00:19:00.435 --> 00:19:04.200 the moment. You know, we keep talking about setting a power of attorney. Yeah. But 307 00:19:04.740 --> 00:19:08.200 being able to have that contingency I remember when I think it was my gallbladder. 308 00:19:08.580 --> 00:19:10.820 I was I was working on my own at that point, but I had a 309 00:19:10.820 --> 00:19:14.365 VA. Yeah. I was able to messenger on WhatsApp and just said, 310 00:19:14.365 --> 00:19:18.205 look. Going to hospital, having an operation, need to clear 311 00:19:18.205 --> 00:19:21.990 my diary for at least the next week, and then I'll I'll we can 312 00:19:21.990 --> 00:19:25.430 chat once I've come out of surgery and things are happening. So Mhmm. It was 313 00:19:25.430 --> 00:19:28.995 just it's it's the now and next, isn't it? You gotta try and think 314 00:19:28.995 --> 00:19:32.515 about. Yeah. And I think it's very interesting as well when you've got a couple 315 00:19:32.515 --> 00:19:35.820 who are working together in a business. In in some ways, it's good because it's 316 00:19:35.980 --> 00:19:39.740 easier if you like to to have somebody else as a shareholder and 317 00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:43.120 or give them permissions, you know, with the bank and things like that. 318 00:19:43.659 --> 00:19:47.275 And I, especially, because if one of you is taken ill, the other 319 00:19:47.275 --> 00:19:50.795 one's also dealing with your family life and your home life, not just the 320 00:19:50.795 --> 00:19:54.420 business. Jo, actually, if you've thought about it and you've discussed it and 321 00:19:54.420 --> 00:19:58.180 you've got something written down that if if this happens, x should 322 00:19:58.180 --> 00:20:01.845 happen. If this happens, y needs to happen. That means that 323 00:20:01.845 --> 00:20:05.579 person could go and get that document or from the computer or having Jo, 324 00:20:05.605 --> 00:20:09.410 okay. I know we spoke about this. We've got a plan. But the other side 325 00:20:09.410 --> 00:20:12.790 of it is that you're also still quite vulnerable because it's still 326 00:20:12.930 --> 00:20:16.610 contained with within a household. How about you just mentioned about 327 00:20:16.610 --> 00:20:19.555 power of attorneys? I do need to I'm not a financial adviser. I'm not a 328 00:20:19.555 --> 00:20:23.395 legal adviser. But having gone through all this process that I've learned quite a lot 329 00:20:23.395 --> 00:20:26.375 about some of these things and that you can have a personal 330 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.360 power of attorney for your health and for your finances, but you can also have 331 00:20:30.360 --> 00:20:34.120 one for your business. Because that, again, is important because 332 00:20:34.120 --> 00:20:37.065 that accounts for if you were taken ill to the point where you weren't able 333 00:20:37.065 --> 00:20:40.745 to communicate. Jo you were unconscious for a period, and that gives somebody 334 00:20:40.745 --> 00:20:44.130 else the ability to deal with your work, your business. 335 00:20:44.510 --> 00:20:48.190 Because the other interesting thing I discovered was that unless 336 00:20:48.190 --> 00:20:51.330 you have made alternative arrangements, if you actually died, 337 00:20:52.095 --> 00:20:55.075 your business would pass to your next of kin automatically, 338 00:20:56.255 --> 00:20:59.770 not to a business partner if you had one who wasn't a next of kin. 339 00:21:00.170 --> 00:21:02.730 And now that might be okay if your next of kin is the person who's 340 00:21:02.730 --> 00:21:05.130 in the business with you, but if they're not, that might be the last thing 341 00:21:05.130 --> 00:21:08.750 they want, is to suddenly find themselves responsible for your business 342 00:21:09.325 --> 00:21:12.945 and dealing with its affairs as well as having lost you. 343 00:21:13.485 --> 00:21:16.925 So there's there are many things that are worth having 344 00:21:16.925 --> 00:21:20.670 conversations with the right financial people and the right 345 00:21:20.670 --> 00:21:24.290 legal people to set things up in the way you would want them 346 00:21:24.910 --> 00:21:28.404 to be processed in the event that you were incapacitated 347 00:21:29.024 --> 00:21:32.865 mentally and cognitively and where you actually died. That reminds me 348 00:21:32.865 --> 00:21:36.350 of a story of a long standing friend of 349 00:21:36.350 --> 00:21:40.190 mine. His wife sadly passed away from cancer 10, 11 years 350 00:21:40.190 --> 00:21:43.955 ago, and they hadn't 351 00:21:44.415 --> 00:21:48.015 even even there's plenty of time to prepare, it wasn't a an 352 00:21:48.015 --> 00:21:50.915 overnight thing. It was a couple of years of 353 00:21:52.050 --> 00:21:55.730 of going through treatment. They still didn't 354 00:21:55.730 --> 00:21:59.445 identify the fact that who was going to inherit his 355 00:21:59.445 --> 00:22:03.285 wife's shares. And Yes. Those shares in the business passed 356 00:22:03.285 --> 00:22:07.045 to their children, not to him. They thought because she 357 00:22:07.045 --> 00:22:10.710 held them independently in her name. Her children inherited them, not 358 00:22:10.710 --> 00:22:14.170 him. So suddenly, he's got 2 children owning 359 00:22:14.390 --> 00:22:18.230 a considerable chunk of of a multi multi million 360 00:22:18.230 --> 00:22:21.735 pound business with other shareholders that 361 00:22:21.735 --> 00:22:25.435 suddenly had new significant shareholders 362 00:22:25.495 --> 00:22:29.000 in the business who had no experience in that business or no willing to be 363 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:32.600 part of it. So he he had to get his business to buy them 364 00:22:32.600 --> 00:22:35.855 out, They should have So there is also a thing called, 365 00:22:36.175 --> 00:22:39.955 shareholder insurance, which means you can insure the business 366 00:22:41.110 --> 00:22:44.230 so that in the event that that happens, the business kind of the other shareholders 367 00:22:44.230 --> 00:22:47.610 can afford to buy out the people who've inherited. 368 00:22:48.575 --> 00:22:52.335 Mhmm. Because that's ultimately probably what you want and probably what they want. 369 00:22:52.335 --> 00:22:56.174 But if nobody has discussed the value of it or how that process 370 00:22:56.174 --> 00:22:59.790 happens beforehand. Again, it's just an extra complication that somebody who's 371 00:22:59.790 --> 00:23:03.410 already bereaved and traumatized is having to to deal with. 372 00:23:03.550 --> 00:23:07.025 Yeah. And and it's all these things are, with 373 00:23:07.025 --> 00:23:10.565 hindsight, obvious. But in in this 374 00:23:10.865 --> 00:23:14.625 emotional turmoil where people, they 375 00:23:14.625 --> 00:23:18.470 tend to avoid conversations that are painful or awkward or 376 00:23:18.610 --> 00:23:22.290 I don't wanna talk about death or really interesting because, you know, much of 377 00:23:22.290 --> 00:23:26.095 this is things that I've learned through through my process in hindsight. 378 00:23:26.154 --> 00:23:29.215 I'm fortunate enough to be here to be able to do that. 379 00:23:30.475 --> 00:23:33.195 And some of these things Jo, we'll get on in a moment. You know, some 380 00:23:33.195 --> 00:23:36.019 of the medical aspects of it and returning to work and all that sort of 381 00:23:36.019 --> 00:23:39.779 thing is that's my bread and butter and and helping people actually do the things 382 00:23:39.779 --> 00:23:43.240 they need to do again. But you discover all this along the way. 383 00:23:43.945 --> 00:23:47.225 And that the conversations I've had with people over the last 12 months or so 384 00:23:47.225 --> 00:23:49.865 as I've been developing this, a lot of people, I don't really want to think 385 00:23:49.865 --> 00:23:53.560 about it. And there is a little bit of a mentality, well, it's not gonna 386 00:23:53.560 --> 00:23:56.840 happen to me. A lot of us think it's not gonna happen to us. But 387 00:23:56.840 --> 00:23:59.924 just to share some interesting numbers. So 388 00:24:00.544 --> 00:24:04.245 the UK workforce, over 36% of the workforce 389 00:24:04.385 --> 00:24:08.000 at the moment have a long term condition that at some point in their 390 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:11.440 life will affect their ability to work. So that's the third of 391 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:15.105 everybody of working age that you meet. We now know the 392 00:24:15.105 --> 00:24:18.865 incidence of things like cancer is rising, has been rising for a long time. 393 00:24:18.865 --> 00:24:22.565 It's now 1 in 2 people will get cancer at some point in their lives. 394 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.440 So we have to acknowledge now. We have to get our heads out of the 395 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:28.880 sand and say, this is likely to happen to you or a loved 396 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:32.665 one or somebody in your business if you have another business partner. 397 00:24:32.885 --> 00:24:36.245 Something is likely to happen. And rather than ignoring 398 00:24:36.245 --> 00:24:40.090 it, we start thinking about it and talking about it when we are calm 399 00:24:40.790 --> 00:24:44.330 and not in that phase of of trauma and stress. 400 00:24:44.555 --> 00:24:48.155 It's gonna be a lot easier to make some sensible plans as best you can. 401 00:24:48.155 --> 00:24:51.835