Michelle Molyneux

I work with lots of neurodiverse creatives, individuals that suffer with anxiety, depression and other chronic conditions that make showing up for work and business harder than most Did you know that there is government support available for business owners just like us that find showing up and being consistent difficult due to the conditions and/or disabilities that we are living with. Lots of people don’t realise the financial support that is available to them to support with business, time management and other areas that will help them get through the challenges that they face in business, including the cash flow coaching and business coaching that I offer. Lots of our clients have been successful in the claims they have made recently and I think it’s important to share this information with you all. Not only for yourself but also this is something that you may want to share with your employees that could benefit with extra support show up as their best selves each day. I have mentioned this before but I just wanted to remind everyone and employers of the access for support to work funding that is available. Everyone that I have shared this with so far has been successful in their claims and I am supporting team members at present to see what resources, software or items could make their work life a little more rewarding even on the bad days. Did you know about this? What items could make your work day a little more manageable? Personally a few items that could help me with my own ADHD and anxiety include but not limited to the below; - transcribe software such as otter.ai - remarkable notepad - larger screen - suitable desk or chair - assistant to screen emails and manage diary - chaperone for events and travelling I have shared a link in the comments that may be helpful as a reminder and for anybody who wants to discuss this further please do reach out, not only am I a practice owner recently diagnosed with ADHD, but I am a family support worker with a focus on families with SEN children and a parent to a wonderful autistic young man, adhd teen and dyslexic hubby and younger son so I know the challenges that are out there all too well aswell as the positives that come with neurodiversity. #neurodiverse #adhd #accesstosupportforwork #businessowner #employer

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Neurodivergent worker - *Asks lots of questions because they don't understand something and attempting to understand the process or reason* Manager - "Why are you arguing/being difficult/defiant/just do the work." The above was taken from a Facebook post and I reworded it to fit the work environment because it really struck me. As an openly neurodivergent worker, I have often been described by past managers as "highly motivated/self starter" but also "abrasive/difficult". I realize that some of the times I have gotten the feedback that I was being difficult was after I had lots of questions regarding whatever it was I was tasked to do. A lot of times I don't ask questions to be difficult, I ask to try an understand why I'm doing what I'm tasked with doing. Sometimes it doesn't "click" until I can see or understand all the parts that effect the task, and it's this understanding that helps retain the process into long term memory. I don't want to ask multiple times "how do I do this again?", it's embarrassing, so I ask questions to try and understand. So for all the managers current and past that have experienced what feels like a game of 20 Questions regarding a task/process, please know I was not trying to challenge you or undermine you. Just trying to get things to click inside this little brain of mine.

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I don't know about anyone else, but I watch lots of doggie-related programmes (even though I don't have one..............yet) and I was really grabbing for tissues following the story of guide-dog puppies from birth to being paired with their new owner. So it really does touch me when I see headlines like this. But ........ they are not the exception to what I have seen across the #charity sector over the last year. Many charities are experiencing the perfect storm of events: 🖋 income generation impacted supporter's being under pressure during the cost of living crisis 🖋 local authorities reducing contracts / grants to charities for services they used to deliver, but expecting increased deliverables from outsourced services 🖋 an increase in demand for many charities services 🖋 an increase in costs to deliver both services and maintain charities infrastructure I don't have a magic wand - i wish i did - but yesterday I engaged in an excellent discussion with other #charitysector freelancers about what charities could/should do to weather this storm. Key points that resonated with all were around inter-charity #collaboration, a reduction in the annualisation (not sure that that is actually a word) of projects because project benefits are rarely realised by the project closure and a refocus on core deliverables. What would you add to this (or remove)? Nicholas Bills #thirdsectorleadership #charityleadership

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In my A-Z of top tips T stands for Technology. Not always the favourite subject for some business owners but one you need to get to grips with. Technology covers so many areas from physical devices to social media to apps to processing systems to CRMs and it is easy to get overwhelmed with all the different solutions. There are tons of things to consider when selecting software but here are 3 key questions to get you started: • What outcome do you want from the software? It is great asking for recommendations but make sure the solution does what you need and not loads you don’t. • How does your software fit together? Is there lots of overlap or lots of manual intervention? • Stats say that most users only use a tiny percentage of any software package so have you familiarised yourself with the features and made sure you are using the package to its best ability? #businessowners #success #businessdevelopment

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There are a few myths and misconceptions I hear about working with a #VA, so I've had a stab at debunking them. Take a look at my blog! 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eSQpJzY5 #VirtualAssistant #VirtualPA #SmallBusinessSupport #AdminSupport #Delegation #Outsourcing

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Do you find yourself writing the same thing over and over again, or are you still copy and pasting responses from a word doc❓ Have you written a particular good email when onboarding a client or responding to an enquiry❓ Then why not create a template so that you can use it again and again⁉ There’s nothing stopping you from tweaking the template to individual clients but it saves you time ⏲ from creating it from the beginning each time. If you’d like to find out how to do this, we’d be happy to show you. buff.ly/3R9Wxjj #tips #emailtemplates #sosBristol

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Do you find yourself writing the same thing over and over again, or are you still copy and pasting responses from a word doc❓ Have you written a particular good email when onboarding a client or responding to an enquiry❓ Then why not create a template so that you can use it again and again⁉ There’s nothing stopping you from tweaking the template to individual clients but it saves you time ⏲ from creating it from the beginning each time. If you’d like to find out how to do this, we’d be happy to show you. buff.ly/3R9Wxjj #tips #emailtemplates #sosBristol

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Do you find yourself writing the same thing over and over again, or are you still copy and pasting responses from a word doc❓ Have you written a particular good email when onboarding a client or responding to an enquiry❓ Then why not create a template so that you can use it again and again⁉ There’s nothing stopping you from tweaking the template to individual clients but it saves you time ⏲ from creating it from the beginning each time. If you’d like to find out how to do this, we’d be happy to show you. buff.ly/3R9Wxjj #tips #emailtemplates #sosBristol

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Time wasters! 🤔 Yes, those tasks we all have to do that you just think “Why am I wasting my time doing this when I could be doing something more productive within my business.” Top 5 time wasters my clients tell me about; 🟠Checking emails 🟠Updating CRMs 🟠Updating their socials 🟠Research work 🟠Chasing invoices If you would rather be spending your time on those income-generating tasks instead of those listed above, you know where I am. Just send me a DM. What is your No. 1 time-wasting task? -------- 📎 Hi, I’m Emma, Your friendly second pair of hands, here to help you work on your business instead of in it. 🚀 🕰 If you want to get organised and free up some time send me a DM and we can have a chat about how easy it is to outsource your admin and marketing tasks. #time #freelancer #smallbusiness

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Being disabled can look like this.. The most common sentence when I tell people I’m profoundly deaf.. especially when I wear my hair down and have my hearing aids are covered is.. I had no idea you were deaf! 🧏🏼‍♀️ One of the main reasons I love partnering with publications like Mensa International is to disrupt not only what being a woman in maths looks like 💻 But I also love disrupting what having a disability "looks" like Being profoundly deaf impacts every single area of my life and it's so, so hard to advocate for my own needs 🦻🏼 I thought I’d share my top communication tips to engage with a deaf or hard of hearing (HoH) person in the best way possible ✨ 1) find out how they like to communicate. Every deaf or HoH person will have a preferred way of communicating, so find out if they use speech, British Sign Language (BSL) or a mixture of both. 2) get their attention. To get a deaf persons attention you can wave or tap their shoulder lightly. 3) speak clearly. Speak as you normally would. Speaking slowly or too loudly makes lip-reading much more difficult. Group conversations can be difficult for a deaf person to follow. Make it easier by asking everyone to take their turn talking and to make a sign if they want to speak next. 4) face the person. Make sure that they can see your face clearly when you're talking. Don’t move around while you’re talking as this will make it impossible to hear your voice and lip-read. Covering your mouth with your hands, eating, chewing gum or smoking can make lip-reading very difficult. It will also muffle any sound you’re making. 5) reduce background noise. Hearing aids and cochlear implants help to amplify sounds. This means the person wearing them has to concentrate very hard on your voice to hear it over everything else. Background noises such as traffic or the radio can make it difficult for them to listen. Block out unnecessary noise by closing windows, doors and turning machines off. 6) use gestures. Point to what you’re talking about, and don’t be shy about using gestures to support your communication. For example, if you want to ask someone if they’d like a drink, you can point to your mug or make a drinking motion. Let me know if you learnt something new in the comments ⬇️⬇️ #deaf #deafawareness #businessowner

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🤯 If you're keen to dip your foot into the world of Virtual Assistance but you've been umming and ahhing for the past 6 months and not got further than idly scrawling business names on a post-it note and consigning them to the bin....this is for you. 🤯 If you've whiled away hours delving into forums and Facebook groups reading questions and comments from those who are doing what you WANT to do, but still feel that you can't...this is for you. 🤯 And if you know this is the path you want to take but have absolutely zero idea where to even begin...yep, you guessed it...this is for you. My brand new FREE masterclass - The VA Business Bootcamp - is TOMORROW at 8pm BST. It will outline the path you need to take to build your very own VA business, (using skills you already have), in just 7 steps. 1 hour, my experience, your questions - and zero cost. What have you got to lose? Save your seat using the link in the comments, bring your bevvy of choice and get ready to take the first steps on your path to VA superstardom 👇

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Many think email filters and folders are all they need to stay organised, but the truth is, filters alone can't replace the effectiveness of a well-managed inbox. Having a professional categorise and prioritising your emails not only ensures important messages aren’t missed, but also helps streamline communication and increase efficiency. Why settle for automated filters when a dedicated service can bring real clarity and peace of mind? Let’s transform your inbox together Contact us today ✉️ [email protected] #InboxManagement #ProductivityBoost #VAServices #emailefficiency #emailorganisation #emailmanagementservices #inboxmanagement #emailmanagementhelp #virtualassistantservices #virtualsupport #inboxservices #mythsvsfacts #virtualassistantmeme #virtualassistantuk #ukbusinesswoman #ukbusinesses

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Losing Bookings During October - January? 😫 I want to show you exactly where you're agency is losing bookings during this quiet period. This will all be revealed during my FREE webinar created specifically for education agents. It will be taking place on Wednesday 2nd October. But that's not all, there will also be a few surprises! Come along and learn more about what you can to during these quiet periods. https://lnkd.in/etaf7nxE #salestraining #admissions #educationagents #studentrecruitment #webinar

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2 of my clients are going through a really hard time because of external factors they can't control. Following our session yesterday one of them emailed me and I felt my eyes filling up as I read the message... I can't share the name for confidentiality reasons but here is what the client wrote: "𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘫𝘰. 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦..... 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸" Entrepreneurship is a lonely road with lots of ups and downs. Some of them can take you to a very dark place if you will let them. Mentoring is not just about teaching the skills. A mentor is also there to pick you up on those dark days and pull you through. If you have had enough of troding that journey on your own, let's have a virtual coffee. I am told a session with me is as good as a shot of caffeine! Message me "COFFEE" #entrepreneurship #businessowners #hardship #help

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How to scale your freelance business Thought I'd do a blog on this topic as I have lots (and lots!) of calls, messages, coaching sessions and workshops on this topic. You CAN scale your freelance business (if you want to!) If you follow me you'll know I hate hustle and this blog is not about promising you 10k months or any other c**p, but just some simple things to think about. Finally, scaling can mean anything from having a little support in your business and scaling your time, right through to running a full-blown multi-million enterprise If you plan to scale it's important to define what that means for you and what your goals are. Anyway, here's the link! https://lnkd.in/ejC7K4eZ

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Why do testing in the workplace? This video (that I did years ago! 😬) explains why. It's as relevant today as it was then. #workplacesafety #workplacesubstancemisusetesting #drugtesting #linkedintips #firstcohortincorporatedltd

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Bums in seats OR quality work? Yesterday I hit the wall at 2pm. I was exhausted. My week was jam packed with meetings, focused work that required my full mental capacity and the usual stress that comes with running a business and managing clients. Using myself as an example, if you had an employee who had the same week as me and you are paying them 40 hours a week, would you expect them to finish their day yesterday or come in today? What is more important to you, that you have a bum in a seat for those exact 40 hours or that you get quality work out of someone? Here's how this can play out. 👉🏻You force them to stay to put in their full 40 hours because that's what you're paying them for. 👉🏻The employee is cranky and tired. 👉🏻The employee sits at their desk and stares at their screen and runs down the hours. 👉🏻The employee does work but makes mistakes they wouldn't normally make and either upsets a client or has to redo the work. 👉🏻The employee starts to become resentful because they are always tired and burnt out. Their personal life is starting to be affected because they are too exhausted to enjoy their evenings, weekends or even their holidays. They do only exactly what is asked of them, they start watching the clock and making sure that they get every break, every minute of their lunch hour and when the clock hits 5pm they are out the door without a second thought. Or it can play out like this. 👉🏻You recognize how hard the employee worked this week and how much quality work they produced. 👉🏻You acknowledge how exhausted they must be. 👉🏻You tell them to go home at 2pm on Thursday and take the rest of the day off. 👉🏻If you know they have nothing pressing on their plate you tell them to take Friday off too. 👉🏻You tell them to take the time to get rested up and come back on Monday feeling better. 👉🏻The employee is so grateful. They go home happy and feeling appreciated. They go home to a busy household on Thursday night but get a chance to really rest on Friday and Saturday. By Sunday they feel like themselves again and jump on line to clean up the emails from Friday. They show up at work on Monday feeling grateful, rested and ready to tackle their week. As leaders we have a choice - what matters more to you, bums in seats for 40 hours per week or happy employees turning out quality work? You can't have both. We are working with human beings not machines.

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🚨 Please read this! 🚨 Your Will is the ONLY legal document specifying who gets what when you die! The FREE Will Challenge is perfect for you if: 🤔 You don't know where to start 📝 You don't have a Will 🔄 Your Will is out of date 🌪️ You've experienced a big life change 👥 You have complicated family dynamics 🤷‍♀️ You're unsure about trustees, executors, or guardians 🙈 You're avoiding thinking about it What you'll get: 🎥 Daily Zoom lives with me 👥 Access to a private Facebook group 🔁 Recorded sessions for flexibility ✅ Quick daily tasks for progress ❓ Q&A session for all your burning questions 🆓 FREE Will Power Will Planner checklist Don't miss out! This challenge only runs once or twice a year... so this is the last one until Spring 2025! 🗓️ Deadline to join: Monday morning, 4 November 2024! 👉 Action Time: Sign up now here: https://lnkd.in/e_WwruYe ⚠️ This could be the most useful thing you've done for your loved ones this year! 👉 More Action: Share this post to help others get their Wills sorted too! #WillChallenge #RainbowHunting

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