Loving yourself, but not too much.

After a rather hot fell run, shower, dinner my mind wandered again as to People in the Media, Marketing, Advertising Industry and the handling of anxiety, stress, and bluntly low self esteem.

Sunbathing by the Trig Point on Kerridge Hill.

I really don’t want to waffle as I am notorious at times for that. Nor lecture, or proverbially ask people to suck eggs. Ahem.

Based on my own experience from March 2020 to this point I must confess to having suffered from anxiety, worry, stress, and low self esteem. Some of this naturally comes from running your own business as a sole trader, where you do everything. But I think Covid (and interestingly enough Brexit as well) added a whole new dimension to “doing business” for all People who work.

As we grew deeper into lockdown business dried up, people could not be seen etc. etc. etc. As a precaution I furloughed myself, having been a good boy and paid all my taxes and kept accounts up to date. I happily took calls from contacts old and new as they sought advice. But with one eye on market conditions. Which deteriorated to be honest.

The interesting Stuff

What I did notice was anxiety at times, or worry, and interestingly some low self esteem. A lot of this was grounded in Sales, Revenue, and business comms’, i.e. phone and e-mail traffic had decreased.

I started to have “stinky thinking”.

• Was I running my business incorrectly?

• Was I incapable?

• Was I losing my touch?

• And so it went on….

As a Person what did I learn?

What I learnt was that it is okay to worry. It is actually quite natural, just as anxiety is, and low self esteem. It is part of the human condition. And what I discovered was not to be frightened by it and recognise it as natural and sit in the emotion rather than act spontaneously, or fall to pieces. Which I appreciate is easier said than done. Sitting in the emotion (of worry, anxiety, low self esteem) allows you to recognise it, to know it won’t last, and I discovered such feelings normally turn themselves on and off, or come in waves. Avoidance of such emotions can be counter productive as you lose an ability to recognise them and sit in them.

A useful ACRONYM I discovered is RADAR when you suffering.

• Recognise that there is a problem or situation.

• Accept the problem or situation.

• Detach from the problem or situation.

• Ask for help and advice if needed to the problem or solution.

• Respond to the problem or situation if necessary.

It has helped me before now and the crucial ones for me are remembering to detach and ask for help if necessary. We People can be very insular at time, especially people in Media, Marketing, and Advertising.

Reflecting on People

Today I have been mulling over People in the advertising, marketing, and media industry I work in, as well as people generally.

White Nancy overlooking Bollington and Kerridge, near Macclesfield.

The weather has been marvellous this week, especially in Cheshire. And I feel this could be a sign of change, of positive things to come as the country comes out of the terrible Covid period.

Some businesses have thrived in lockdown, a lot have not. But importantly, for me anyway, are People. Businesses are effectively People, and this is a business blog. Sometimes I think we cannot see the “wood for the trees” and this can be the case with the faceless organisations that Capitalism creates. By the way I am not criticising Capitalism, after all I run a Limited Company! I am merely trying to point out that people occupy businesses.

And people like businesses have either thrived or suffered during lockdown. I suspect a number of people, of which I have no idea, have really struggled mentally, financially, physically.

Over the months I took a large number of calls from contacts both old and new suffering the effects of redundancy, furlough, or just plain worried. One of the main concerns for people was the sheer uncertainty facing them, especially those with dependents.

I also noticed a dynamic change in my LinkedIn advertising where I had chosen to promote a role. Traditionally, for example, a Manchester based role would garnish candidates from Manchester and its surrounding areas. But I seen a shift to applicants from all over the country, especially the Southern region. People are genuinely facing employment hardship across the country, and with that financial and mental pressure.

I was happy to help, provide free advice, reach out, or just plain comfort people in the best way I could. Can I just point out that I am not a Saint, and flawed like all and sundry. Sometimes there was pleasure in this effort, sometimes sorrow and desperation for people due to the gravity of their situation, or simply mental health and wellbeing.

I’ve always tried to build found us around people, and will continue to do so, even if I don’t earn, make a fortune, as that is what “floats my boat”. And always has done.

The Point I Make

Where you can in the current climate try to remember “others”, and not just work colleagues. That person you work with, deal with, or know may have their World collapsing about them. I think this is common.

Don’t forget to help people where you can. 5 minutes of your time could literally “sort someone out”. Maybe a referral, a contact name, a reference, or a simple 5 minute call to perk someone up.

I’m ready and waiting for business as things improve, and yet there is still uncertainty. Don’t hesitate to contact me for any advice, or just a plain old natter. I like natters.

April 2021 - 7+ years On

Hi all,

Yes I mean all of those people that this blog post reaches and also choose to read it. But I do appreciate that there is so, so much content flying around in this day and age. If not personal, then certainly business. The breadth of posts I now see on Social Media is astounding (this included), and do wonder if all is read. In fact will this slip into the gutter? And this is meant as an honest and not snotty question. Anyway, if you choose to read this blog post, great and hope that you get something from it.

So, a recap. Where are we? Well, Found Us as a business is fine and we have re-launched the website and tweaked the logo. Why?

• It is nice to refresh the website after 7 years of business.

• It is nice to refresh the logo and style after 7 years of business.

• I have time to do it; funnily enough due to a little something called Covid.

I could go on, but a key reason is to be reflective of the development of the business and of how our business has morphed over time to meet needs; well actually to reflect what we are happy doing. Sounds selfish, but not really as we do genuinely try and give our best to the people we deal with and we enjoy this.

Found Us was always about senior Head Hunting in the Advertising and Marketing arenas.

• But it was always about Consultancy, Director, Sales, and Mentoring work; which we kept hidden away.

• Now is the time to use the re-launch of the website to better reflect what we do, in fact what we love doing, and do well.

• Gone for example is the list of candidates and jobs, as we are not a recruiter and this positioned us as one. And we like to think that we certainly offer services over and above “CV harvesting and spraying”.

• Have a look at the new website to get an idea of what we do, and what we do well – we are passionate about it.

7 Years On…

It has been a tough time for a lot of people and businesses as of late. To think 7 years ago we would be 7 years old is an oddity, in what can be a ruthless, cramped, and Machiavellian marketplace. But here we are. We do genuinely think it is about our caring about what we do, and caring for the many, many people we have dealt with. And tenacity, luck, help, and maybe some Pixie Dust.

And as of late it has been tough, what with Brexit and Covid it is coming up to two years of hard trading I suspect for a lot of companies and people in this area of business; not everyone I hasten to add. All I can say is hang on in there as it will get better, and sometimes the size of the fight in a person is not always about picking yourself up after a fall, but just stoically plodding on. Change is universal, it is in fact life, and something to embrace. And whether we welcome or despise this depends on us.

The Universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make it.”

- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

(A genuine thanks to all those people who helped us along the way. You know who you are.)