Rob Butler, 31, born and bred Solihull, is the Founder & Director of Tri Wellness in Solihull, a personal trainer and successful business owner. His flourishing 4-year-old business is the first multidisciplinary wellness centre in Solihull. He says: “My purpose is to use my experiences and education to help as many individuals as possible live happier and healthier lives.”

In 2017, Rob graduated with a first-class degree in Sports Therapy from University College Birmingham, then 2 years later founded Tri Wellness. But during his early years growing up, Rob faced challenges at home. He suffered anxiety, depression and self-esteem issues growing up. He felt “crippled inside”, he says. He was diagnosed with anxiety and a year ago was also diagnosed with ADHD.

Rob believes that a lot of personal trainers do the job because they have personal issues and want to look good. He’s used his own knowledge and experience, gained through overcoming his own personal obstacles, to grow his business, which now employs 12-15 people, e.g. personal trainers, sports therapist, psychotherapist, yoga instructors, Pilates instructor, breathwork practitioner, meditation practitioner, remedial massage therapist & nutritionist. Business growth and success are very important to him and he’d like to build a nationwide franchise with more Tri Wellness branches. First and foremost, he genuinely wants to help people.

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Dr Lalitaa Suglani is an award-winning psychologist, leadership empowerment expert, international speaker and author. She’s just published her first book, ‘High-Functioning Anxiety’, about high-performing businesspeople who suffer from anxiety in a stage she describes as “just before burnout”. She supports clients in the areas of health and wealth, so feels great synergy with podcast 'Health Versus Wealth With Dr Ben'. 

Born in Birmingham as a member of “a second-generation ethnic minority”, her Dad “lived in a field in a hut in India” and came to the UK when he was 17. Both parents had big work ethic & traditional Indian values, so Lalitaa was brought up strictly. “As a female, that meant you were primed to get the right skillset to look after your husband and the family you were going to be married into. You weren’t allowed to cut your hair, wear makeup or paint your nails until you got married. That's when you got freedom. But I was the cycle-breaker, the rebel in the family, the only one in my family who went down a very different route and did not get married.” The pressures she felt brought her own taste of anxiety, this partly inspiring her book. In her late 20s, was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. \

Her name ‘Dr Lalitaa’ is the name of her business, which launched 11 years ago in 2013. Her clients are business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals who are outwardly very successful, but inwardly very stressed and worried. Lalitaa says they hide their stress, which often comes from not having set boundaries and saying “yes” all the time. "Highly sensitive and empathetic, they feel responsible for everyone else and carry people's emotions. I help them understand these patterns and to pick up the pieces, otherwise they remain on the treadmill of “go, go, go” until they hit burnout."

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Mitesh and Minal Parmar have been called “a Power Couple”. They set up their business, Wellspace Architects, in 2020 and won Architects Firm of the Year at the 2023 Midlands Property Investment Awards. Their mantra and guiding principle for their business is “Design Well, Live Better” and their focus when creating buildings is very people-focused. Their clients include not only homeowners, but many others in the education, health and care sectors, and their consultancy work also helps the corporate sector better to support the people in their work buildings, which improves their performance. 

In this episode, Mitesh and Minal share a fascinating conversation with Dr Ben about how people's choice of (1) colours can have a major impact on a building's occupants; (2) how the positioning of walls and windows can create shadows in corners, which can adversely affect people with dementia; (3) how ventilation, if poor, can create “Sick Building Syndrome” and migraines. Wellspace Architects’ clients include homeowners (who may have a family member suffering from a health condition), organisations in the education, health and care sectors, and the office / corporate client, keen to support employees in their buildings. Says Mitesh: "We thought, ‘What can we do to give back and make a difference? What could we do together to use our skills and knowledge of how the built environment, the buildings we are in make an impact on people?’. That’s where we came up with the name Wellspace Architects. Our philosophy is designing around health and wellbeing."

Minal (who keeps herself fit as a keen Hoola-Hooper) adds: "The company came from our own personal situations and experiences. There is research by scientist, doctors and psychologist on how buildings impact people. A lot of the time, architecture is about bricks and walls and the hard elements of a building. People often forget to acknowledge that we are designing and creating places and spaces for people.”

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Narinder Sheena, a solicitor and mother-of-two from Bromsgrove, has been on a deeply transformative personal and professional journey in the past few years. Having worked in the legal sector for 15 years, she suffered a severe right disc prolapse and was advised by a neurosurgeon that she needed surgery. However, despite encountering chronic pain – she couldn’t even stand up to brush her teeth and could hardly walk – she decided to explore another route. She connected with some authors, experts and health and wellness coaches in America and felt determined she would tackle her medical problems without medical intervention. She became a coach herself, placing her legal career on hold, and has instead written a moving story about her experiences. The book, her first, is titled ‘From Pain To Power’, and has just been published. She describes it as “a toolkit to help people get through pain barriers”.

Narinder’s business is MAP Coaching (MAP stands for Mind Action Progress). She says she is aware that, as a business owner now, she is coaching and writing her book for profit as well as for a wider purpose. She is also interested to pursue opportunities for public speaking. Keen to strike a healthier balance in life, she still works hard to build up her coaching business and raise her professional profile.

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Jim Thorp, 49, who was born in Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital, recalls: “As a child, all I ever wanted to do was fly planes and play rugby for England. I did neither, though I came relatively close to doing both!” Rory Underwood, England's record international try scorer, who was also an RAF pilot for 18 years, was Jim's childhood hero. Jim spent 9 years in the Air Force but never flew. He made the England Under-21 rugby squad, turned professional in 2000 and as a loosehead prop, lining up on the left of the scrum next to the hooker, he suffered many injuries over the years. 

Forced to retire from rugby after “4 shoulder reconstructions, 1 neck surgery, countless back injuries, numerous shoulder dislocations, broken bones and a barrel-shaped body that topped over 19 stone, Jim has, for past 21 years, run ‘JT Ethos’, the Midlands’ leading corrective exercise and holistic health company”. Based in Sutton Coldfield, Jim helps clients find long-term solutions to back, neck & health problems and specialises in scoliosis, sciatica and long-term & repetitive back and neck issues. He also helps 35–60-year-olds overhaul their health. 

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GP Dr Neera Jaitly and her son Jay, 13, who’s had Long Covid for past two years and is in a wheelchair, are Dr Ben's guest as we highlight the struggles of Britain's 70,000 children who have Long Covid. Despite her medical experience (Dr Neera has been a GP for nearly 25 years), her son’s illness raised issues she couldn’t understand. Some specialists “gas-lit him”, she says, didn’t believe his symptoms, which was “frustrating”. And Jay was keen to appear on the podcast because he wants everyone to better understand Long Covid and he hopes that his own experience may help other children.

Dr Neera speaks highly on the episode about the tremendous support she and her family have received from Long Covid Kids, the charity that represents and supports children and young people living with Long Covid and related illnesses and the parents and caregivers that look after them.

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Dr Qian Xu, a specialist in rejuvenation and health optimisation, is Medical Director at Clinicity in central London, where our podcast host Dr Ben Sinclair's award-winning medical business, Dr Finlay’s Private Practice, is based. 

Dr Qian was born in China and came to UK when she was aged 10. Her mother was a doctor specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology, her father a medical research scientist. After graduating at Southampton Uni, Dr Qian worked at Southampton General Hospital, and later in A&E at St George’s Hospital, London, a major trauma centre.

At Clinicity, she is building up a team of practitioners, “all experts at the top of their field”. She declares: “The human body and mind are amazing. The links between mind and body, and how they affect physical symptoms, are something Western medicine takes a different view on. I feel it is very much focused on disease processes, what medications we can use to treat symptoms, making them better in the short-term – rather than delving into the root causes of diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, the naturopathic specialities are more holistic. Western medicine’s ‘quick-fix approach’ is relatively recent and I'm not sure is very good or healthy for the general population.” 

Dr Qian also enthusiastically recommends rejuvenating red-light therapy, available at Clinicity, and the NovoTHOR machine, of which Hollywood star Tom Cruise is also a big fan.

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Dean Billington, a telecoms company owner, stands 6ft 5ins tall and completed 7 years in the British Army, (as a radio operator in the Royal Engineers), joining when he was aged 17. After leaving the Armed Forces, he worked in the telecoms sector. Then In 2011, he left to start Triton Telecom, his own company. Employing 4 people, they are a “one-stop-shop for all B2B telephony requirements, with partners in technology, IT, marketing, telemarketing and SEO”.

Dean has lived a full, extraordinary life and crammed a lot into his 55 years. He has saved lives (in his role as a qualified rescue diver) and nearly lost his own, in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. In 2010, he was knocked off his bike and broke his shoulder blade in half, broke 6 ribs, suffered head injuries, has pins & plates in his knee, has had surgery 3 times and spent 6 months in hospital. Despite this setback, his approach to life today is upbeat and full of optimism and positivity.

Once asked by a journalist what he felt was his biggest opportunity in life, he replied: “Getting up in the morning! Every day is an opportunity to do better than you did the day before. Every day is a new start. Y

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Jas Rohel is the Founder of the annual Education Awards, which she launched 8 years ago after she noticed many people leaving the sector without the recognition they deserved. They began small, only in the Midlands, with 200-250 people attending each year. Now the awards are staged nationally, held at 5 venues, Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Midlands, each attracting 500-600 people and held throughout the year. The awards' headline sponsor is the international bank HSBC.

Jas has also recently become CEO of the education charity the Titan Partnership, which has been going for 35 years and has established a fine record for making an impact in schools. It began with a group of head teachers coming together to discuss teacher training, but now involves much more. They target youngers from primary schools to Higher Education. “As CEO I aim to grow the network as every school needs to be part of Titan. We want to grow the charity on a national basis," says Jas. "More needs to be done to support the young generation due to the landscape of the world today. Youngsters have it 100% tougher today than it used to be in my day as a youngster. I don't remember walking around worried about knife and gun crime. There is the influence of social media and the impact it has on youngsters today. There is so much negative information about.” 

In her other roles, Jas Rohel is also a Council member at Solihull Chamber of Commerce and is Station Controller at Solihull Radio.

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