Life Beyond The Numbers

#62 Acceptance - Sarah Wells

"And I think acceptance, real acceptance, for me is like: today, where am I? In a week or a month it may be better or worse, but today, how am I am?" Sarah Wells.
 
Sarah Wells became a master at putting her head down, getting on with things and assuming everything would be ok. This worked until it didn't. After her first child was born Sarah received a diagnosis of a rare and chronic condition. On her return to work her coping mechanisms no longer served her. She left work, had another child and applied her old coping mechanisms to this new situation. After the birth of her third child Sarah was diagnosed with another rare and chronic condition. A medical appointment for her daughter was a turning point for Sarah as she realised she needed to step up and advocate for her children and show them how to live their lives well. This began with acceptance. Sarah talks openly about the impact of chronic conditions on people's lives - at home, at work, with family and friends - and that to be able to live life well it is really important to manage conditions really, really well. 
 
Sarah Wells has always had helping people at the core of her work, from long summers working with disabled kids while studying at university, to her early career as a teacher. With a lifetime’s experience living with chronic illness and a first degree in biology, her newest role supporting women with chronic illness feels like coming home for her. Trained in coaching and NLP she gives women the tools they need to feel supported and in control, to be seen, to be heard… sometimes for the first time. She specialises in supporting them through and after their diagnosis, to hang up their superwoman cloak, to rediscover who they are and to become chronically empowered.  
 
Connect with Sarah:
On instagram
Through her website
 
Conditions Mentioned:
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)
Charcot Marie Tooth Disease (CMT)
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome
 
 
Thank you for listening.
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#61 Imagination - Lisa LLoyd

"So when we use our imagination well the possibilities are endless." Lisa LLoyd
 
Lisa LLoyd believes our imagination is our most misused resource, an innate resource that is so important for us. We delve into all things imagination and Lisa explains how our imagination can help to inform thinking or can be a barrier to that thinking depending on the state of our emotional arousal. Lisa talks us through what goes on in our brains when we enter a state of high emotional arousal and introduces us to some practical approaches to managing our emotional state, including recognising early warning signs and giving our amygdala a name, like Bob! We take our discussion into the workplace and Lisa explains how we operate based on patterns. She talks us through the power of visualisation as the key to imagining different outcomes and changing patterns. And we talk about how to harness our imagination at work in order to be creative and innovative. 
 
Lisa LLoyd is a Chartered Psychologist & Psychotherapist. Alongside her private psychotherapy practice she founded It’s Time for Change based on the belief that if we all started to do things a little bit differently, we’d achieve huge results. She is an advocate for putting the human factor back into business and her mantra is: when we get people right, we get business right. She works collaboratively with organisations, using psychological principles and evidence-based practices to improve leadership, employee engagement and resilience and to create workplace cultures where employees excel, where teams are dynamic and where people are happy.
 
Connect with Lisa:
On LinkedIn
Through her Website: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/ 
 
Resources Mentioned:
Check out episode #30, Leading Change with Lisa LLoyd

#60 Leadership - Caroline Mabon

"...it's that balance of being really clear with your purpose and having this people centric style that actually brings out the best in the people around you." Caroline Mabon
 
Caroline Mabon and I talk about leadership. Caroline has been inspired by Bob Chapman who describes leadership "as the stewardship of lives entrusted to you." And we probe this a little covering how we need to have the skills and self-understanding to know that leadership isn't just something that you fall into because you're functionally amazing at what you do. It is a huge responsibility and we need to become more conscious about the way that we're leading. And of course there is huge financial reward for a business when we tap into what truly engages people. We also talk about fear-based workplaces and we explore what having a compassionate culture means.  
 
Connect with Caroline
Compassionate Cultures website and on instagram
On LinkedIn
 
Resources Mentioned:
Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman
Time to Think by Nancy Kline
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
First Follower: Dancing Lessons from Leadership Guy
 
 
 
 

#59 Weird & Wonderful - Lisa Milnor

"I love uncertainty. But most people don't. There's this kind of innate thing about humans that we want to be in control. We like to think we're in control. We like certainty. And if nothing else the pandemic has shown us that life is totally unpredictable and uncertain. And it is moment by moment." Lisa Milnor 
 
Lisa Milnor began her career immersed in numbers. She talks about how at age 40 she began to wonder what else was out there. She left her FD role and ran a ski chalet for three years at the same time as setting up her business, Shaping Clarity. Lisa shares her stories about yoga, mindfulness, TRE, herbal medicine and more. We take a deep dive into awareness, what it is and how do you know if you have it. We apply it to the workplace. And we talk about emotions and the intelligence of our bodies including why we have tear ducts! Lisa shares plenty of stories and insights from her work-life, including one about donuts and nettles.
 
Lisa Milnor has a business background in Finance and Accountancy. She undertook three years of yoga teacher training and qualified as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher in 2012. Through her own practice and teaching she came to realise and experience the transformational healing power of yoga and in 2012 had a total career change and undertook training as an integrated Yoga Therapist and then as a Mindfulness Teacher. She has also completed training in TRE (Tension and Trauma releasing exercise).  
 
Connect with Lisa:
Her website is Shaping Clarity
 
Resources Mentioned:
Heather Church website
Cathy Mae Karelse Clear Mind International
Sarah Beck website
Set Free: A Life-Changing Journey from Banking to Buddhism in Bhutan by Emma Slade 
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Eckhart Tolle https://eckharttolle.com
Steve Haines, episode #10 and #47 of Life Beyond the Numbers and TRE The Body College
Andi Lonnen, episode #29 Life Beyond the Numbers
 
 
 
 

#58 Making Connections - Alison Jones

"So yeah, that sense of making connections, which your brain does all the time. And writing enables you to capture that." Alison Jones
 
Alison Jones and I talk about writing as a way to think. Thinking might seem like a luxury that many of us don't have time to do but Alison makes a case for lightweight, affordable and accessible writing as a thinking tool - all you need is six minutes and a big scruffy A4 pad. Alison shares some techniques such as free-writing and mind-mapping and we chat about the hand-brain connection, the power of visual, storytelling, reading and using writing for communication. We also cover reflective practice, self-coaching metaphors and creativity. 
 
Alison Jones is founder of Practical Inspiration Publishing, a pioneering publishing partner for businesses, and host of The Extraordinary Business Book Club, a podcast and community for writers and readers of extraordinary business books. A veteran of the publishing industry, she worked for 25 years with leading companies such as Oxford University Press and Macmillan. She regularly speaks and blogs on the publishing industry, is on the board of the Independent Publishers Guild and Head Judge of the Business Book Awards. She has written and edited several books, most recently This Book Means Business (2018). 
 
Connect with Alison
Through her website
and her WriteBrained (28-day exploratory writing adventure) wait list
and Practical Inspiration Publishing
or tune into her Extraordinary Business Book Club Podcast
 
Resources Mentioned
Reflective Practice Writing and Professional Development by Gillie Bolton
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist is by Kate Raworth
The Art of Enough: 7 ways to build a balanced life and a flourishing world by Becky Hall
 

#57 Beyond the Numbers - Susan Ni Chriodain

"And my vision is that that 80 percent number can reduce and more people are engaged in the workplace and enjoy what they do." Susan Ni Chriodain
 
Life Beyond the Numbers was launched in Sept 2020. And for my 1st anniversary someone special, my Dad, interviewed me! I spent a week in Dingle, my home town in Ireland, in late August 2021 and we talked lots about my work, past and present as well as my future vision - so we thought, why not record an episode! Here it is. I hope you enjoy it. 
Curious to know more
Please visit my website
Connect with me on LinkedIn 
and on Instagram or Twitter
or send me an email on susan@beyond-thenumbers.com 
 
Susan Ni Chriodain founded Beyond the Numbers to work with organisations who recognise that putting people first generates the greatest return. Her experience and business acumen stem from a wide variety of commercial and non-profit operational, project and financial roles. For over 20 years she led and managed a wide variety of teams in Europe, Africa, Asia, in-person and remotely. A Finance Director at 33 she learnt that to have an impact required you to be brave, bold and to build strong working relationships. It wasn’t enough to be technically excellent; putting people first was key. She has a practical, no-nonsense approach to understanding and resolving other people’s problems no matterhow intractable they might seem.
 

#56 Gut Health - Caroline Peyton

"Many of us are beginning to learn today just how important it is to know what is going on in our gut. And that gut health is important to our overall health." Caroline Peyton
 
Caroline Peyton has an holistic approach to health and wellbeing. In this episode we start out chatting about how our gut is invisible and we tend to ignore it unless there is a problem. However, making sure that what goes into our gut, how it survives and thrives in there or doesn't and the impact of that on our lives - from moods to stress to ill health is fascinating. Caroline's enthusiasm helps us visualise what is going on and she broadens it out to cover so many areas, including:
If you are a tea and/or coffee drinker are you aware of the impact on your body?
How much hydrating fluid do you consume daily? 
If you have a desk based job how much do you move around and exercise? 
How many pieces of fruit and vegetables do you consume daily?
How do you know if you have an intolerance or an allergy?
And we keep returning to the fact that our bodies are amazing - how it does its best to cope, but sometimes if we push it a little bit too far, it will start to try and tell us that it's not so happy. We have to tune in and listen to our bodies. 
 
Caroline Peyton spent 20 years in corporate management roles and then took the decision to retrain; firstly in Nutritional Therapy in 2009 and then in Naturopathy in 2014. She also holds diplomas in Iridology and Wellbeing Coaching. Caroline helped establish the Naturopathic Nutrition Association and was Chair for seven years. She also became Principal of the Natural Healthcare College in 2013 and supervised final year students’ Clinical Practice training until 2018. Caroline runs her own private practice and specialises in digestive gut health.
 
Connect with Caroline
Through her website Peyton Principles
Her email address is caroline@peytonprinciples.com
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
 
Resources Mentioned:
More Salt Less Herbs blog post
Gut: the inside story of our body's most under-rated organ, Giulia Enders
 

#55 Focus on Play - Pauline McNulty

"as adults we've put play and work in opposition and that's another myth." Pauline McNulty
 
Pauline McNulty prioritised career progression above everything else in her life until about 18 months into a role as Chief Risk Officer. The role was meaningful and important but something wasn't working for her. She got really curious about what was motivating for her and came across an article about three primary intrinsic motivators - potential, purpose and play. And she says the way they talked about play is enjoying the act of the work itself. Pauline and I talk about how play shows up our workplaces and in the act of the work itself. We talk about the benefits of play - using play can unlock hidden potential and get more creativity from people. People make better decisions. And generally, you'll be more resilient for whatever challenges are coming down the track. Pauline is not saying this play is a silver bullet. It's an activity, it's also an experience, and it can also be a mindset. How do we design work in a way that feels like play because we're going to get better results?
 
Pauline McNulty has executive-level leadership experience that spans transformational change, risk and assurance. After graduating with a 1st class degree in Computer Science, Pauline trained as an accountant with KPMG. Her ambition led to Head of Internal Audit by her early 30s and Chief Risk Officer of a $3bn organisation by 35. Since the beginning of 2020, in conjunction with co-founding Playfilled, Pauline has built a portfolio focused on enabling sustainable success for people and organisations as a coach, advisor/NED, and advocate. Passionate about inclusion and mental well-being, Pauline was recognised for her work as LSM Executive Sponsor for D&I when she was featured on inaugural 2019 InsideOut Leaderboard.
 
Connect with Pauline
On LinkedIn
Playfilled website and on LinkedIn
 
Resources Mentioned
HBR Article How company culture shapes employee motivation
Dr. Stuart Brown TED Talk
Design Your Life 
Primed to Perform Vega Factor
Nine Lies About Work (Lie #8) makes reference to Mayo Clinic Study
Playful Work Design
Design Good Work, CIPD

#54 You're Not Alone - Louise McMilan

"If someone can take one thing away from what I've said that's going to help them then I'm happy whether that's the mental health side or cancer side." Louise McMilan.
 
Louise McMilan took a career break to beat cancer. Her story is raw and she shares it openly and honestly. But there is more. As she says her cancer is the thing that really changed her own viewpoint on herself. For many years she thought she was wired wrong. She didn't want anybody else to feel what she felt about herself - the anxiety, the depression. She didn't want anybody else to experience that but she found it so reassuring to learn that she was not alone. Louise worked in HR and used to hear the comments. She says HR professionals don't always talk about mental health themselves because they've got to be so robust, they've got to be there for everybody else in an organisation. We've got to remember that they're humans too.
 
Louise McMilan is an inspirational Speaker on Mental Health and Breast Cancer and Life Coach reigniting self belief. She loves to make a difference to people something that has always been a feature of her professional life during her HR career. Now she specialises in: building self-confidence, overcoming limiting beliefs; anxiety/depression; managing stress; managing work-life balance; supporting those living with cancer; life after cancer, midlife reboot.
 
Connect with Louise
Visit her website
Connect with her on LinkedIn
And on Instagram
 
Resources Mentioned
Finish the damn book club
Michael Neil, The Inside-Out Revolution: The Only Thing You Need to Know to Change Your Life Forever
Nick Elston
Yoga with Adriene

#53 Start With You - Nikki Hill

"There's only one person who's truly, truly in control of our lives and it's ourselves and it's okay to spend some time focusing on what's important to us." Nikki Hill.
 
This episode is full of ways to enhance self-awareness. We talk about discovering our boundaries, the things that matter to us, as a way to give ourselves a sense of calm, peace, enabling us to enjoy our life and have the energy we need. When we communicate our boundaries they don't have to be explained or justified. We also explore how we might react when our boundaries are pushed too far and of course we take that to the workplace. Nikki talks about setting up a recruitment business with a partner and the valuable lesson they learnt of bringing their vulnerability and inexperience to the table, not to the point that employees didn't feel safe or secure, but that they actually felt communicated with and understood. We also cover making mistakes, being playful, understanding our strengths and capabilities and being creative in our thinking. 
 
Nikki Hill is passionate about people and creating positive change. She is a certified Mindset & Business Coach and works with individuals who want to create sustainable change in their lives and is creating massive (and profitable) change for creative entrepreneurs one subtle shift at a time. Nikki Hill started her career in recruitment and set up Alexander Hill because of a belief that the individual matters. 
 
Connect with Nikki
Visit her website 
Follow her on Instagram
On LinkedIn