Perfect Imbalance Podcast

On this episode I share my interview with Chris Lovett; life coach, speaker and career mentor who most recently has channelled his energy towards making a different choice. Chris does a few things. There's a theme developing where Chris finds himself supporting others through a passion. He's currently a leadership coach having arrived there via music, DJ'ing, radio host and podcast host; developing others along the way. He's also a minimalist. On work-life balance; It feels like I've been talking about this for a while. I used to strive for whatever the work-life balance was. But I don't think that aiming for balance should be the goal. We may have intermittent moments of balance but life is too chaotic. Like a modern relationship, balance as changed and we have to do more than the perceived 50/50 split. It's a constant fluid approach, changing as we go.               Minimalism When I found minimalism I had to make some choices about what added value to my life. I'd started to fall out of love w

On this episode I share my interview with Nina Grunfeld, founder and creator of Life Clubs and a woman of many other talents who's been helping people with 'living happier lives' for over 15 years. Nina founded Life Clubs in 2004 and they host workshops that help people really feel as positive as they can and get more fun out of life. On work-life balance; I'm a bit of an obsessive worker and absolutely love it. I don't think I see it as work-life balance, I see it as life balance. It's not just work and life as that sounds to me like they have equal weight on the scales. Within Life Clubs and the work we do, we have a wheel which encompasses 10 areas including work, relationships, family etc. This allows for lots of different things in our lives and it's alright to want to have a balance of only work sometimes. Balance is important for all of us. But maybe it's the balance that 'you want' rather than what you think you ought to have.           Where it all began I read an article in 2002/3 about 30

On this episode I share my interview with Bronwen Thornton, Chief Executive Officer of Walk21 an international charity dedicated to ensuring the right to walk...everybody does it, nobody thinks about it. Bronwen and Jim (as you'll hear on this podcast) often smile when asked what it is they do. In short the answer is they promote walking. People want to work with Bronwen and Walk21 because they fundamentally believe in it and people pick up on her passion. On work-life balance; We (Jim and I) work from one list. We don't have separate lists for work and life. We work together and we work from home. We juggle it together. Sometimes you might work hard for a couple of weeks and then you have to re-balance that.           Where it all began It sounds a little cheesy, but I can only tell it how it was. I had an epiphany. I was in Australia, working in the transport sector and a friend of mine mentioned the Walk21 conference that was coming to Perth in 2001. Bronwen was initially surprised that there was a

On this episode I share my interview with Gavin Bell, Facebook Advertising Consultant, Vlogger and Speaker. Gavin talks passionately about 'what do you want your life to look like'. Gavin works with brands across the world and helps them with their Facebook Advertising. When he's not doing that or speaking he can often be found doing some creative videos, like going down the street in Edinburgh in his boxers! On work-life balance; You've got the Yin and the Yang. The Yin is that I love what I do. It's a hobby to me. The hard part is switching off. There isn't a balance perse. Your work and your life become this harmonious thing that work together.           Where it all began Gavin came into the social media world 5-6 years ago having worked with Personal Trainers; who in his words were pretty poor at marketing. Whilst it didn't work out as planned, he was able to learn from this and was approached by a company to look at their Facebook Advertising. By his own admission; Gavin literally didn't know a

On this episode I share my interview with Michel Falcon, entrepreneur, keynote speaker and author of People First Culture. To date, Michel has built his career off 3 topics; company culture, employee engagement and customer experience. On work-life balance; The first thing that I plan for each week is related to my health. The second things are the personal things I need to do. Then comes the work stuff. This helps me to find a balance immediately.               By his own admission Michel is not a great academic learner. He did however, want to learn how to be success in business and this led him to 1-800 Got Junk. It was during his 5 years here that he learned the importance of company culture, employee engagement and customer experience. In his own words; These things aren't just nice to haves. They are absolutely imperative if you want to grow a very genuine business. As a result of the experience Michel left to set up an advisory firm focused on company culture, employee engagement and cust

On this episode I share my interview with Aimee Bateman, Founder and CEO of Career Cake; a company pioneering the way we learn and enabling others to be seen, heard and valued. Winner of several awards since 2010, Aimee was recently awarded by Wales online the Entrepreneur of the Year. On work-life balance; It changes depending what time of month it is or year or what's going on in my life. Work-life balance is such a personal thing. Firstly do you like your work. If you like your work, then work work-life balance isn't really an issue. Background Doing what you love and enjoy is the reason why I started my company. Everybody deserves 8 hours a day to go somewhere where they feel seen, heard and valued so that it impacts the rest of their lives. Aimee started off as a commercial recruiter. In 2010 there were an extreme amount of talented people who found themselves out of work in South Wales. The focus of the recruiter (at the time) was on placing people in roles for companies; not necessarily focusing on

On this episode I share my interview with Jordan Gross; executive coach at Cloud Nine Living whose purpose is to light people up. A 2 time author, 3 time company founder and also a tedx speaker. Jordan is currently on a mission to appear on 90 shows in 90 days which includes this one! On work-life balance; I've thought about it a lot and I actually hate that word. It's work-life integration and it's a feedback loop. Work should flow into life and vice versa. Background Jordan seemed set for a great career having obtained a management role in a prestigious restaurant. However, 4 months in he took a step back and realised he wasn't having the impact that he wanted to have. He left that job and decided to write his first book (which he self published) titled; 'Getting Comfy' - your morning guide to daily happiness. It focuses on optimism and positivity. Cloud Nine Living Jordan has recently set up Cloud Nine Living (a business) where he works with people and walks them through a process that truly 'light peo

On this episode I share my interview with Clare Moore (Head of Marketing) and Mark Williams (Chief Product Officer) at People First; a company revolutionising the way we work. On work-life balance; We are all individuals and all learn, develop, grow and think differently. As leaders we should respect that. Balance means something psychologically different for every person. The way we work People know that there is a problem with work and as a result that's why people are gravitating to what People First are doing. We are at our most unproductive at work right now. This leads to disengagement. There has been a lot of research into this area and their mission is to help people find more meaning at work. More tech isn't going to be the answer. Tech becomes the enabler to change the dynamics of the relationship between employee and employer. No job for life anymore The way we work suggests that there isn't going to be a job for life anymore. People First have developed a platform to enable adult conversation

On this episode I share my interview with Cody Royle; author and host of Where Others Won’t, challenging the norms and going where others won't. Cody is also the managing editor of Inner Voice with the goal of utilising the power of endurance sports to inspire change. When he's not writing or speaking, Cody is working with Australian Football League Team Canada as their Head Coach. Background The first part of Cody's career was in the corporate world. He was an account executive in sales and recruitment. He was a 'job title' and this never really sat well with him. The point of discovery for him was having the confidence to flip over. He walked into his boss's office one day and quit. He'd been writing and blogging for a while. It quickly became apparent to Cody that he could do this all day long and he absolutely loved it. The book became Cody's exit from the corporate world. Built on 10-12 years of frustration with the way teams were built in the corporate space; married with the conversations he'd be

On this episode I share my interview with Jeremy Snape; Managing Director of Sporting Edge - a company helping leaders in sport and business to succeed. He's also a former England cricketer, MSc sport psychology, conference speaker and coach. On work-life balance Jeremy says; One of the hottest topics in performance. Everyone is debating it because it's so illusive. Trying to find balance is becoming harder and harder. I love doing what I'm doing and wouldn't change it. Partly it's about energy balance rather than time management. Background Jeremy spent 19 years as a professional cricketer. He played with some very talented people and was privileged to have represented his country. On his debut tour of India at Eden Park in front of 120, 000 people the pressure got to him. In his words, he failed in front of that huge crowd. Not being beaten by India, not being beaten by a particular difficult delivery to hit; it was the voice in his head. After years of practice and playing, no one had told him what to

On this episode I share my interview with Karen Spenley, a champion for women in STEM with over 20 years in engineering solving problems and coming up with solutions for employees. STEM focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. On work-life balance Karen says; I think it's one of those things that's banded around but I'm not sure anyone understands what it is. I liken it to the Harry Potter partonus spell, that's different for everyone. Background Karen has been working in engineering for over 20 years and more recently in human resources. Her focus centres on improving different areas of peoples lives. Working part time for the last 7 years, Karen has been juggling her own work-life balance with commitments and home and work. Her husband describes her as 'brutally efficient'. Passionate about changing a number of things, including the climate Karen was startled when she did some initial research into the number of women involved with STEM. Homeward Bound Karen is a member of Homewa

On this episode I share my interview with Ian Braid, Founder and Managing Director of DOCIAsport and we talk about the lessons learned through his own journey with mental health and why 'take and give care is important to him and all of us. On work-life balance Ian says; I suppose the headline is; it's very difficult. It's more difficult if what you do is your passion. It's very difficult to realise that you do need to switch off in order for you to able to fulfil what it is that you're trying to do. Background Ian has significant experience in sports leadership having held senior positions in executive and non-executive roles. As CEO of the British Athletes Commission he gained considerable knowledge of the infrastructure of sport and its governance. He made important contributions to the development of sport – for example informing the DCMS report into “Duty of Care” in sport; the selection policies and processes for the Commonwealth Games 2018 and ensuring sport took more responsibility for “adults at

On this episode I share my interview with Greg Searle, Bronze medal winner in London 2012 twenty years after winning a Gold medal in Barcelona 1992 and we talk about the lessons learned through enthusiasm and wisdom. On work-life balance Greg says; I've managed to get myself at the age of 46 where I've been passionate about sporting goals, passionate about business goals and through experience I've got perspective. I've got a reasonable balance in my life. Background At 20 he won an Olympic Gold medal and 4 years later he won an Olympic Bronze medal. By the time the next Olympics came round Greg was newly married, with his wife expecting their first child. A home owner with work responsibilities as well; Greg's focus and energy towards rowing had shifted as result. Because of these competing things got in the way and he finished in fourth position at his 3rd Olympics. Similarly at 28 he believed he was capable of better and probably at the peak of his physical powers. Peak performance Greg is the found

On this episode I share my interview with Garry Turner, Founder of the Listening Organisation  and the newly created 'Wellbeingchat' community, focused on courage and vulnerability. On work-life balance Garry says; Until about 18 months ago I would have believed that it was statement. I'm finding progressively that we try and keep them separate, when they're not. I see the term being out of date now. I prefer the term life-work quality. Background Garry talks very passionately and openly about mental health and his own challenges with this. His personal view is we've learned to be the man. Marketing plays a big part in this and even our partners at times encourage us to 'man up'. He's an international sales manager on the one hand and on the other hand he has this deep rooted passionate to humanise things. As Garry puts it; his formal job, versus the passion with the Learning Organisation. However, he was looking to leave his work organisation about 4-5 years ago. He had the realisation that he wasn't g

On this episode I share my interview with Leanne Davies, Founder of Run Mummy Run, the online community with 60,000 Facebook members focused on happier and healthier lives. On work-life balance Leanne says; It used to be the scales with the work on one side and life on the other. My work creeps into my life and my life creeps into my work. It's very different now. Background Leanne initially founded a Facebook group called Run Mummy Run. This was set up with 2 friends because they wanted to motivate each other if and when they couldn't always get to their running club. Further more, it was designed to fit around their lives as being mothers. This has slowly grown from a few people. Today (6 years later) they are now up to 60,000 runners! The group motivates people and as a result they meet up regularly. Similarly they do Park run and run races together. In Leanne's words; They provide the platform for women to lead happier and healthier lives. The community is built on togetherness and bonding. Consequ

On this episode I share my interview with Mark Whittle, host of the Take Fl1ght Podcast & Founder of Take Fl1ght and we explore how Mark came to put contribution at the forefront of what he was doing. On work-life balance Mark says; Everybody is very very different. Before we have an opinion on it, we have to define what work is and what life is. It's difficult to find balance and I don't think it exists. Background Mark created Take Fl1ght on the back of a real low point in his life. Stressed and anxious to close a big sales deal, he had a 'moment' on his walk from the tube station that day. Passing a number of homeless people he began to question his own life. As a result he decided that he was going to put contribution at the forefront of what he was doing. The podcast is focused on drawing out the secrets to success that his guests have discovered along their own personal journey's. Whether that be professional athletes, entrepreneurs, business founders or lifestyle specialists. The main goal of the

On this episode I share my interview with Sarah Williams, host of the Tough Girl Podcast & Founder of Tough Girl Challenges and we explore how Sarah came to create something that is 'tough and feminine'. Recognised by the Guardian in 2018 as one of the top 10 most inspiring contemporary female adventurers, Sarah epitomises everything that Tough Girl is all about. On work-life balance Sarah says; Work-life balance is this wonderful dream and these fabulous words which get banded about and is something that I massively struggle with as I don't really have it. Sometimes I like to think I have it but generally I go from one extreme to the other. Background Sarah has an on-line brand called Tough Girl Challenges which is all about motivating and inspiring women and girls. Encouraging them to dream big, to live their life to the fullest as well as to travel, to explore, to get fit and to go on adventures. She does this through a number of ways including; having a blog, a podcast, writing books and part of her

On this episode I interview with Phil White, co-author of several brilliant books including Unplugged with Andy Galpin & Brian McKenzie, Game Changer with Fergus Connolly, 17 hour fast with Dr Frank Merritt - challenging some of our assumptions. Background Phil was a guest on the show in Series 1 (episode 5) and we pick up where we left off last time; talking about technology and social media and the impact that it's having on our mental health. Having taken a 30 day sabbatical from all social media as an experiment whilst working alongside Kenny Kane, Phil has found it hard to pick up social media again and re-adjust to having that back as part of his life. During the 30 day period he found himself challenging some assumptions and questioning the value and purpose of posting stuff on social media at all. Discovery One of the things that Phil has been able to rediscover is the art of what he calls; long form conversation. Conversation whereby you are looking the other person in the eye, gauging response

On this episode I interview with Simon Austin, sports journalist and Founder of the Training Ground Guru - shining a light on the work going on behind the scenes in professional football. On work-life balance Simon says; I think it differs for each person and I'm not sure I've got in right. I love what I do and spend a lot of time engrossed in it. Background Simon set up the Training Ground Guru in 2017 having previously worked for the BBC for over 10 years and as a freelancer for several national newspapers. He didn't think there was enough information being shared and in order to understand what's going on, on match day you need to understand what's happening on the training ground during the week. And so the Training Ground Guru was created; shining a light on what's going on behind the scenes in football. Very much breaking away from the traditional pattern of how things have also been done in the industry. It's taken a while for Simon to build up that trust and respect with the clubs but the respo

On this episode I interview Amanda Bate, Copywriter, Social Media Marketer and champion for putting your health first. As you listen more you'll understand why this is the case. On work-life balance Amanda says; It's doing what you want in your work life and doing what you want in your time away from your work. For some people their life is their work. It's so personal. Background Putting your health first has taken Amanda a lot of time and a lot of planning and ultimately culminated in her taking the leap of faith and leaving behind the comfort of the corporate world. In her words; it was to achieve the best health, the best me; the best way I could present myself to the rest of the world. Amanda was first diagnosed with Crohn's when she was pregnant. It knocked her sideways and she was referred to see a counsellor, which at the time Amanda thought was a little over the top! However, it was incredible to talk to somebody. What resonated most was hearing the counsellor saying; without your health, you