You Care, I Care

Today's guest on You Care, I Care is Rob Curtis, Founder of The Pursuit Agency who joins me to discuss his journey with ADHD.

We talk about how he was as a child, into his teenage years, how he found out that ADHD was a possibility for him and how he uses it as his 'superpower' in his business!

Rob shares that it's thanks to a friend of his that he even looked into ADHD as a reason for him being the way he was - constantly active, constantly on the ball and unable to switch his mind off! This conversation with his friend made him realise that he hyperfocuses on things which is a symptom of ADHD and then he fell down the rabbit hole of essentially self diagnosing himself before he was able to go down the official route.

He also shares how as a student he was never the naughty child at school but he didn't have the focus that a lot of his classmates had. He couldn't sit still and his parents enrolled him into every club they could to use up his energy including swimming, football, karate and more!

One of the things we talk about is the process to getting a diagnosis. Rob started the process through the NHS but dye to Covid-19 the wait list meant that it would be a couple of years before he could get a diagnosis.

Rob then decided to start and focus on The Pursuit Agency that he decided to choose to take the private route to diagnosis so that he could improve life for his family. He shares how the platform he chose to use has recently had some bad press but when he started his process with them he found that they were very professional and explained how he got a call with someone that was only supposed to be for one hour and he was talking with the professional for two and a half hours.

Rob talks about how getting the diagnosis has made him feel, how he's felt since then and his journey with getting his medication just right!

On today's episode of You Care, I Care I'm delighted to be talking to David Smallacombe who is the CEO of Care and Support West.

David has had a variety of experiences and careers, starting of as a farmers son in Devon. In 1968 he became a police officer in London's Metropolitan Police and this is where he first met vulnerable people and because of this will tell you that he entered the care industry because he was in the police force.

David had experiences over the over the UK including Wandsworth and Lewisham. Fast forward and David uses his previous career experience in his position as CEO of Care and Support West.

Listen on to find out more about David and his wonderful career!

My guest today is James Hilton of James Hilton Fitness and Jim’s Gym. We met a year ago and since then I have worked with James and his family to find the best support for his grandmother. 

Today James shares with me about his business and his background into the industry and how that helped him to set up Jim’s Gym. 

James is based in Stroud and decided to become a personal trainer about four and a half years ago after he burnt out when working in London. The realisation for James came quickly afterwards that he didn’t enjoy working in the Big City and didn’t have a passion for what he does so made some changes.

Those changes involved leaving London and travelling around Asia and New Zealand for six months with his wife and son before coming back to England and becoming a personal trainer. James shared the different qualifications that you need to become a personal trainer and since then has heavily invested in his education and personal development to ensure that he is always up to date with any courses and qualifications that he may need.

James explains the two sides to his business. James Hilton Fitness which is one to one training in his own gym or online and the second side is Jim’s Gym – an online subscription that allows the over 55’s to stay healthy and mobile.

You can find out more about James and Jim’s Gym by heading to www.jameshilton.fitness 

On today’s episode of ‘You Care, I Care’ Janet is joined by Olwen Shaw of Olwen Shaw Style. Olwen and Janet have been friends for nearly 20 years and with Olwen’s interesting career journey it was a no brainer to have her as today’s guest!

Olwen started off as a physiotherapist who worked mainly in the respiratory sector moving onto other areas including palliative care which she absolutely loved. She then changed career paths leaving physiotherapy to do personal style. 

It might seem like quite the change of career but it’s actually still a form of care because when we look good, we feel good! Personal styling is caring about people and supporting them with their self esteem and increasing their confidence to feel better about themselves.

Throughout the episode Olwen explains what it is that made her change careers, what her friends thought when she started incorporating some different colour into her wardrobe and about some of her interesting client experiences.

Olwen also works with a wonderful charity called ‘Look Good, Feel Better’ which has been set up for ladies who are having treatment for cancer and want to be able to feel good in the way they dress and in the way they feel about themselves.

On this episode of You Care, I Care with Janet Shreeve, I sit down with Elaine Hollerhead, owner of DESIGNATE – an inclusive interior design consultancy. Elaine is also an occupational therapist so has seen behind the scenes of the care industry through different roles.

Elaine set up DESIGNATE to combine both her love of interior design and her knowledge as an occupational therapy so that people can have fabulous, functional rooms as opposed to boring, functional rooms.

We discuss some of her many wonderful plans including the study bed – a bed that looked as though it was a desk. The first question Elaine asks her clients is “what are you hoping that I can do for you?” and most of the time their response will be “I don’t want my home to look like a clinic.”

Elaine has worked with a whole host of people including children as young as five, people who are neurologically impaired as well as those with dementia. She works closely with her client, using a programme on her computer, to make sure that the room is designed exactly how they want it to look.

Another factor that Elaine finds important is colour. Not everyone wants a magnolia home so she helps them to pick colours for their rooms that make them happy and turns their room into something that they’re going to love.

Elaine sources all of the furniture for the room herself, showing clients pictures as she finds it, and keeps going until it’s exactly what her client is picturing. She also works on finding the pictures and accessories. 

More often than not, Elaine will go into a beautiful home and then find her clients bedroom to be plain and boring because they haven’t been given a choice, have low self esteem and there is a huge transformation within them, the moment the finishing touches are completed.

Listen now to find out more about Elaine and the work that she does!

This episode I’m joined by Yusuf Abubaker, the Managing Director of Bosun Care. Yusuf was my very first client and is still a client today.

Yusuf started out working in marketing and shares his journey into the world of care and what has kept him in the industry almost 15 years later. After wanting to join the army, and his wife not liking the idea, Yusuf thought about working in the industry supporting those with mental health concerns.

Throughout the episode Yusuf shares his experiences within different sections of the care industry including mental health support, people with disabilities like cerebral palsy, colleges, child services and agencies for nursing and elderly care. 

Yusuf has literally worked from the ground up starting as a care working, becoming a team leader, a senior team leader and then owning his own company all in the space of seven years.

This conversation is open and honest as Yusuf shares how the industry is 24/7 – Yusuf once went out at 11pm at night to fix someone’s ramp, the levels of paperwork that needs to be completed for each individual, how he supports everyone that his company supports to have a goal and then to reach it by creating a plan with them.

And this is only the beginning. There is so much more to Yusuf’s story that we didn’t get to touch on in this episode that I’m hoping to have him back again soon!

Today my guest is Joey Williams-Pears from Outstanding Compliance and the new support group called Pssst.

With all of the new rules and regulations being brought in by the CQC it’s important to have someone like Joey in your corner! She started working in healthcare in 2000 in operating theatres and then spent almost 15 years as an operating department practitioner – a job role that not many people know about but is often described at the SAS of the NHS!

Joey has had a fascinating career supporting companies to gain their registrations with CQC for roles including the registered care manager and more. Joey is the one who comes into your company when you need support ensuring that your policies, procedures, and paperwork are up to scratch for any CQC inspection that may happen!

From there Joey went on to start Pssst with friends that she met on a course. Whilst they’re mostly based in Cornwall, the networking groups will run all over to share the highs and lows of being self-employed and to support those business owners who may be struggling. This is the group you want to be in if you want an open and honest networking group!

For more information on Joey, Outstanding Compliance or Psst, you can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolene-williams-pears-ba555744/

For more about how Shreeve Care Services can help you, visit https://www.shreevecareservices.co.uk/ 

Today my guest is Vanessa White who is a breakup and divorce coach. After going through her own divorce, Vanessa found that divorce and breakups are known the be the second most traumatic life event after the death of a loved one.

Everyday is different for Vanessa as she supports people in all different situations. They could include infidelity, joint finances, co-parenting children, people who feel isolated and more.

Whilst this role is emotionally demanding, Vanessa is fully invested into each of her clients and promotes self-care as a way of ensuring that she can focus everything that she needs to on all of her clients.

Find out more about Vanessa by visiting https://www.vanessawhite.co.uk/ 

On today’s show I am joined by my friend and colleague Paul Watson. Paul and I have worked with each other for many years and I’m so happy that he agreed to come and talk to me about his time working within the care industry.

Paul first interviewed me in 2014 for a job and our friendship has grown from there. In this episode he shares about his journey into the care industry via university as a mature student and the individuals he has learned from along the way.

For Paul everything is a learning experience that he can then take forward with him both personally and professionally. Paul remembers a particular home manager that he had to shadow and how she was a people person who was experienced, effervescent and great with everyone from the people they supported through to their families and the colleagues she worked with.

Paul and I then discuss two specific books that he remembers reading that made a huge impact on him at that time and how we joined forces to create our live-in care company.

Join me today as we talk about our learning experiences whilst setting up the live-in care company, the people we looked after and more.

Find me at www.shreevecareservices.co.uk or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/shreevecareservices 

In this episode, I talk with Emma Doney from Adorno Care and we talk about her journey to working in the care industry. 

Emma’s journey didn’t have the typical start for a care manager as she went to university and studied environmental science and meteorology before becoming a weather forecaster! Emma ended up looking after her grandmother who was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s which led to her career change and starting her own business within the care industry.

To date Adorno Care has helped over 120 people and provided over 600 hours of companionship every month! They support everyone including those who have had an injury, Dementia, Parkinson’s, memory loss or more who might need a bit of support at home with housekeeping, shopping or quite simply just want some company.

When you listen to this episode you can clearly hear the love that Emma has for her business. If you’d like to know more about Emma’s company you can visit their website here https://adornocompanions.co.uk/