This is the first episode of Starts at the Top, a new podcast from Zoe Amar and Paul Thomas. It’s about how leaders from all sectors are using digital to navigate uncertainty and forge a path to the future.

This week Zoe and Paul are joined by Simon Blake, CEO of Mental Health First Aid England who they spoke to at the beginning of May at the height of the Lockdown from his partner’s dental surgery!

The conversation covers Simon’s take on the shift that all of us have experienced under lockdown - the new ways that he and his team have had to approach work and the new digital skills he has had to develop as a leader. Simon also talks passionately about mental health and how this pandemic is affecting us all now and into the future. 

Notes and links - 

Simon’s blog post - https://mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/ceo-blog/ten-things-coronavirus-lockdown-simon-blake/

If ‘Black Lives Matter’ to brands, where are your black board members https://www.marketingweek.com/mark-ritson-black-lives-matter-brands/

(Please bear with us - the shift to online recording means that there are some variations in sound quality on this episode)

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Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes [email protected] 

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing by Paul Thomas and production from Alexey Sibikin

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music