PUSH February Newsletter
Cate Murden
Founder & CEO at PUSH, Coach trained at the NeuroLeadership Institute, Transpersonal Psychotherapist in training at the Psychosynthesis Trust and Public Speaker
If you haven’t already, please give yourself a massive pat on the back because we’ve all made it through January. Woop!
We’re also halfway through February (don’t worry if you didn’t get a Valentine’s card yesterday - it’s all about self-love these days anyway) and it won’t be long before the March sun comes along to give us a much-needed dose of vitamin D.
In the meantime, here’s another newsletter to enjoy, and it’s a cracker. We’re talking responsibility in the workplace in our Point of View long-read, and I lured Lewis Kemp, the CEO of brilliantly bullshit-free marketing company Lightbulb Media, into my Safe Spaces lair to chat about working 18-hour days (eek) and taking chances.
We’ve also got an incredible don’t-miss documentary recommendation, as well as some alternative - and rather unusual – ways to blow off steam this weekend if you’ve had a tough work week.
Drop me a line with any comments. At the risk of sounding a bit Love Island, I’m here for them!
Love Cate x
PUSH Point of View
Employee Wellbeing: Whose Role Is It Anyway?
Whichever way you look at it, collectively we’ve been through a huge trauma over the past few years. It’s all well and good trying to crack on now we can all go back to bars and buy overpriced wine, but how often do you take a step back and reflect on the real impact COVID has had on you and those around you?
Even if you're not completely aware of it, there's a high chance that at some point the underlying trauma you've been suppressing will sneak out and demand to be dealt with at the most inconvenient moment. So when it comes to the workplace, whose job is it to make sure that we’re actually doing okay?
At the risk of sounding dramatic (me?), COVID was f*cking terrifying. Yes, we’ve managed to bury a lot of the memories of missing family members or having to accept yet more banana bread from a kindly neighbour, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone away.
Maybe you’re the opposite and you wear the upheaval, fear and isolation like a TFL Baby on Board badge every day, finding it impossible to hide your wavering resistance to a changed world.
So who is responsible for making sure that we’re all as alright as we can be?
PUSH The Spotlight On...
Work friendships
In our new regular feature, we’re bringing you warming tales of work friendships. This month, we chatted to Milly Chick, Principal Partner of Agency Solutions at Samba TV, and Izzy Jenkins, Sales Director at audience platform company Permutive.
We would love to include your work friendship stories in our future newsletters, so please send them in by emailing [email protected].
Where and when did you first meet?
Milly: We first met at Captify around seven years ago. It was a really exciting time to join such a fast-paced and ambitious company.
How did you support each other?
Milly: It was great having another strong female in the workplace that's going through the pains and changes of a scale-up business. We learned from each other because we were in different parts of the commercial team, whilst also supporting one another’s ideas.
Izzy: Milly has supported me through so much - personally and professionally - more than she will ever know. It’s been the best eight years knowing Milly and I am eternally grateful we met when we did.
How did you boost each other’s confidence at work?
Milly: Izzy always made me feel like I was doing a great job and could achieve anything, which is often exactly what you need to hear!
Izzy: Milly has allowed me to learn how to be the best salesperson. She’s got such positive energy and we would often brainstorm ideas so we could bring new, creative energy to work situations.
How is your relationship away from the office?
Milly: Working with someone day in and day out brings you very close, and we are just as close now we've both moved on to new roles. I can't imagine a better person to have by my side throughout my work and personal life. I can tell Izzy absolutely anything as she is the best listener I know.
Izzy: I went through some difficult situations which Milly had also experienced and she is always there to listen, support and advise me on what to do next. She makes time and never judges, which is invaluable. If we weren’t friends, I would have a huge gap in my personal life and it wouldn’t be as fun. She’s always up for a boogie!
PUSH Safe Spaces
This month I’m talking to dynamic Lightbulb Media CEO Lewis Kemp who once, quite rightly, made Manchester’s esteemed 30 Under 30 list. We discussed everything from flexible working hours and comparison-itis to hustle porn (it’s not what you think).
PUSH Ups
Had a hard week and feel like you really need to decompress this weekend? Yeah, you could go to the pub or for dinner, but why not ramp things up a bit and try one of these dynamic days out?
Lock it down on a prison visit
Don’t worry, there are no actual prisoners there, but you’ll get a taste of what it would have been like if you’d been busted for nicking that white chocolate rabbit sweet when you were three.
Get spooked in a cemetery
Okay, so it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but Highgate cemetery is bizarrely beautiful. You can even visit the German philosopher Karl Marx's grave, should you want to!
Buy some brains
We can honestly say we have never been to another shop that sells organ marmalade and a chocolate human heart. Hoxton Street Monster Supplies is packed full of mysterious merriment and stocks everything a wannabe vampire or werewolf could possibly need.
Take flight with some fairies
The Fairy Pools near Carbost, Scotland are one of the most magical places you could wish to go to. You’ll need to hike through Glen Brittle Forest to reach them, but the gentle supernatural atmosphere makes it worth it.
Nobble like a nobleman
Tintagel Castle in North Cornwall is rumoured to be the birthplace of the legendary king Arthur. Pop into Merlin’s Cave and check out an eight-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a ghostly man known as Gallos.
PUSH Pause For Thought
Every now and again, a TV show comes along that gets everyone talking. And there’s always something cool about it being one of those programmes that sneaks onto Netflix and becomes a huge unexpected word-of-mouth hit.
If you haven’t seen it yet, we can't recommend Stutz enough.
The premise is pretty simple; Hollywood star Jonah Hill turns the tables on his long-term therapist Phil Stutz (who is also a listening ear to many other unnamed A-listers) and gives him a bit of a grilling.
Jonah also opens up about his anxiety attacks while Stutz opens up about some of the tools he uses during his top-secret counselling sessions. We guarantee you’ll learn something new, and will probably want to go in for a second watch.
PUSH People
Coach of the month: Abigail Ireland
The phrase ‘all rounder’ could have been created for Abigail. She is (wait for it) a Peak Performance Strategist and Executive Coach as well as a Qualified Chartered Banker, and an NLP and DISC practitioner. She has worked with too many top-level clients to mention, from the worlds of pharmaceuticals, banking, healthcare and beyond. Does anyone else feel like they need a lie-down?
Thanks for reading. See you next month!