November 4, 2024 • 42 mins
Are you a risk taker?
There is no greater risk than to go out on your own to start a business, but the rewards are huge. And when you find that passion nothing will stop you.
For my guest in this episode, Steve Ware, risk taking was never easy. Coming from a risk averse family his mindset was one of corporate safety. Then a long career at IBM was ended by burnout and the Covid pandemic.
Discovering the power of mindfulness ignited something in Steve. He transformed himself by regaining control over his mental health, which led to training others in the practice with rave reviews.
It wasn’t until he risked everything by investing all his earnings back into his business that things really took off.
Get ready to find out the impact mindfulness can have on your life, and the challenges and rewards of transitioning into entrepreneurship.
“It feels like I'm swimming with the tide now”– Steve
You’ll hear about:
00:00 – Steve on finding his passion
00:35 - An introduction to Steve Ware
03:29 - Steve's experience with burnout
07:09 - Going from burnout to mindfulness
11:26 - The benefits of a quiet mind
13:06 - Steve's path to training mindfulness
18:08 - Is Steve more of a risk taker now?
23:54 - The turning point in Steve's business
28:04 - How Steve's life has changed working for himself
32:02 - Keeping the passion and business growing
37:43 - The importance of word-of-mouth referrals
Connect with Steve:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-ware-mindfulness/
Website - https://www.stevewaremindfulness.com/
Connect with me:
The HoLT - https://www.the-holt.com/
My website - https://leaturner.co.uk/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lea-turner/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/leaturnerholt
Join The Holt waiting list - https://www.the-holt.com/waitlist
This podcast is sponsored bySafe Space From The Workplace. You can check out their podcast here - https://shorturl.at/IASSn
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Steve Ware (00:00):
I got knocked
(00:00):
back after knock back and
brick wall off the brick
wall and to take time off
and go back to Oxford
white kind of stuff. But
there was just something
really driving me. I felt
like I found a passion
the normal knockbacks
that would have made me
shut down and give up,
didn't this is like the
first time ever. It's
really weird experience.
And then the next twist
of the tale is I lost my
job in covid in 2020 and
for 28 years service,
that gave me 12k so I was
(00:22):
bit knackered. Yeah, and
it's covid.
Lea Turner (00:36):
Steve Ware,
welcome to the HoLT
Survival Guide for small
businesses. Thank you.
Thank you so much for
coming all the way up to
Manchester to film it.
And before we get
started, why don't you
just introduce yourself
and tell us a little bit
about you and your
business. So
Steve Ware (00:50):
I'm Steve,
and I would say I've
changed the way I
answered the question on
kind of what I do. I used
to say I'm a mindfulness
teacher, and I do this
and I do that. I've kind
of scrapped saying that,
because people didn't
really get it. Super
clear, no, and people
don't really want it.
Actually,
Lea Turner (01:04):
there's a lot
of misunderstanding
around mindfulness,
exactly.
Steve Ware (01:07):
So I would
say something now more
like, I save businesses a
lot of money, I make
businesses a lot of money
by making sure their
staff are happier,
healthier and high
performing, and whether
that means their staff
are sleeping better,
dealing with their
anxiety better, have
quieter, calmer minds are
flourishing. There's a
lot around flourishing.
So people get tapping
(01:28):
back into a real
creative, innovative side
that they lost because
they were stressed or
sort of burning out. Can
relate, yeah, and the way
I do that is by using the
most amazing stress
reduction techniques.
They're mindfulness based
ones, yeah, and it all
comes from Oxford
University, which is,
which is where I trained.
Wow.
Unknown (01:48):
And how long ago
was that? So I've, I've
been doing
Steve Ware (01:51):
this about 14
years. So I was at IBM
when I first started
doing it. My stories are
burned out there. So I
joined IBM as a kid, 1992
Oh, my goodness. I never
planned to get into it,
actually. So the story
is, I was in a I was in a
rainy day in South Sea,
where I was in school,
and went into the careers
office, and there's this
little piece of paper,
and it said, if you've
got an aptitude for or an
(02:12):
interest in, I can
remember the exact
wording, computing will
pay you 7440 pounds, and
you can come and do a
degree with us. So
basically, IBM, whose
headquarters were in
Portsmouth, Denton, yeah,
they were taking like
1820 people a year. You
do your degree with them.
It was, it was part time
hours at IBM, and then it
was compressed hours at
uni. So it's a hard
course. It was, you
(02:32):
weren't want, like a
normal student life. So
we're three and a half
days at IBM, one half
days compressed at uni.
No time off, any time
off. We had, we go back
to IBM, right? So I
joined IBM, and, yeah, I
just kind of stumbled in
there. It was never my
passion. I never, really
wasn't that into it, but
I thought it sounds good,
and I won't get into
(02:53):
great opportunity at that
age. A great opportunity,
yeah, and it's a big safe
company, and I kind of
grew up in a household
that kind of was about
big, safe places, no
risk. My dad was in
insurance, right? I've
kind of figured this out
since, right? So my dad
being insurance isn't is
important, because he's
looking back, he must
have spent his entire
time with things coming
across his desk saying,
(03:13):
This car's been stolen.
This business has burned
down. This business has
flooded this everything's
insurance is
Lea Turner (03:18):
all about
mitigating risk isn't
right. So, so he,
Steve Ware (03:20):
I think he,
he, I picked up that kind
of risk aversion from
him. Everything had to be
Christ. There's a lot of
bad stuff happening. How
can we make everything
else in our world safe?
So I joined this big safe
company. Burned out about
how long I've been there,
probably 1415, years I've
been there, yeah. And I
burned out. And that
sucked, yeah. So that
(03:42):
meant I went from being a
really good sleeper to a
horrendous sleeper, like
dreading bedtimes. My
anxiety levels went just
from normal ish to kind
of high all the time. And
Lea Turner (03:52):
it's so hard
to imagine you as an
anxious, like restless
person, because I've only
known Yeah. Zen, Steve,
it's weird, though,
because I
Steve Ware (04:02):
I'm a wounded
healer, for sure. Yeah.
So I think what makes me
a good teacher is that I
can relate to people. I
can relate to people's
cynicism around
mindfulness. I can relate
to people not wanting to
do it. I can relate to
people losing sleep
because I've been there
done it. Got the t shirt
I wasn't born. I have to
work really hard for the
calm I have in my life.
Yeah, and I can show
other people kind of the
(04:23):
same way to do that and
invite a bit more
calming.
Lea Turner (04:26):
I think, in
general, though, the best
teachers are the people
that have a relatable
experience that brought
them to that. Because you
become passionate from
your own you that passion
was ignited because you
realized how much it had
changed your life. And
you're much more
authentic as some that I
would want. I remember
reading a story on
LinkedIn about an
accountant who admitted
that she'd got herself
(04:46):
into masses of debt. And
I was like, that's such a
weird thing to admit as
an accountant, but
because she'd sorted
herself out, it humanized
her massively. And I was
like, actually, do you
know what? She's picked
herself up, fixed it all,
and got herself. Back in
a really strong place.
Yeah, I really admire the
vulnerability, but I also
feel like I'd be
comfortable talking to
(05:07):
her, because I wouldn't
feel judged. Yeah, and
that's that's a big part
of when you're picking
someone right,
psychological safety,
yeah, you don't feel like
I'm gonna say something
and he's gonna go, Well,
yeah, you know, I
Steve Ware (05:18):
was teaching
this guy the other week,
and I said to him, I said
to the whole group, has
anybody ever had trouble
sleeping like you either
can't fall asleep or you
wake up and can't go back
to sleep? One guy was was
shaking his head, and I
said, Oh, you sleep well.
He said. He said,
Honestly, I've never lost
a wink of sleep in my
life. This is a guy, I
can't say name of the
company, but he's, he's
high up. He leads sales
for Africa, so he's got a
big, big job, yeah, for a
(05:39):
big consumer goods
company. That's not
someone I would imagine
would sleep very well, I
know. And so I said to
him, tell us how you do
it. Then tell it, how do
you and he couldn't
answer that. That's the
that's the difference. He
just went, um, I don't
know, just get into bed
and just close my eyes
and sleep. Can't everyone
do it sort of thing. And
it made me think, you
can't go to people who
(05:59):
have never suffered
anything and learn from
them, probably because
they probably don't,
haven't developed the
tools
Lea Turner (06:04):
they have
analyzed what it is that
that got them to where
they are, if it's just a
natural talent, and
actually, that's
something that I struggle
with, because a lot of
people over the years,
because of my trajectory
with business and the
fact that I started on
LinkedIn, I found a
natural affinity for
marketing myself and then
helping other people to
find what and people say,
(06:25):
Well, how have you done
it? And it took me ages
and to sort of put ego
aside and go, What is it?
Because I don't know so
much of it has been quite
instinctive that trying
to analyze what it is to
teach others. I could
never teach marketing
because I don't know what
it is that I do,
necessarily, that that
has I can't pinpoint it.
Yeah, and people say
(06:45):
same, like copywriting,
oh, you really good
copyright, I can't give
you the terminology. Oh,
I do this, and I use this
structure in this
writing. I don't know it.
I don't know those
things. It's just how I
write exactly. And that's
a perfect sort of
analogy, isn't it? If you
haven't, if you're just
good at something, trying
to asking a bird how it
flies, I just flap my
wings and go exactly.
It's not it's not easy.
(07:06):
So your experience made
you really credible in
that. So what, when was
it that you went from
this sort of burnout
phase with IBM? How did
you go from that to where
you are now, or making
that decision to give it
a go?
Steve Ware (07:20):
So I was
really reluctant to give
it a go, because I was
this macho guy in a
competitive, macho world.
In IBM, there was no real
mindfulness there. And
someone said, Someone
suggested me, someone
looked up some of the
science, or they read
something which even 14
years ago was quite
compelling even then, and
they said, Oh, if you
thought about
mindfulness. And I told
them to piss off, because
I thought, like, I'm just
(07:41):
not a meditator. It
Lea Turner (07:43):
sounds Woo.
Woo doesn't I can't
imagine 14 years ago,
Steve Ware (07:47):
yeah, and I
didn't know what it was,
but I thought I knew what
it was, which is, why
don't like the words? Now
I'll wait till week
three, when I'm teaching
people, before we even
start to think about
defining it, because it's
something you experience.
There's two types of
knowing, right,
conceptual and
experiential. We can talk
all day about concepts
and but the analogy I use
is Nobody ever got fit by
listening to a talk on
fitness. No, I can watch
(08:09):
fitness videos all day in
McDonald's. I don't get
fit. Same with
mindfulness, we can talk
about two were blue in
the face, unless you feel
it here, unless you try
it for long enough to
know and go, Okay, that's
what it is. Then you move
to the next base. But the
interesting thing is,
everybody's doing
mindfulness every day,
and they just don't
realize it, and they
don't call it
(08:29):
mindfulness, right?
Stroking Bronson now,
100% mindful. There's a
mini meditation for you.
Yeah? He's my look at
him. He's beautifully
chilled there.
Lea Turner (08:39):
He's such
emotional support. Yeah.
And,
Steve Ware (08:41):
and that is a
mini moment of
mindfulness, because he
stops your mind if you,
if you're really with
him, if you really just
as you as we're sitting
here now, if you just put
all your attention in
your hands and just feel,
just feel the warmth of
his body and just feel
the beautiful fur. You
don't need to, you don't
need to think to do that,
no. And in fact, thinking
(09:03):
detracts from that being
a beautiful experience.
So that is the mini
moment of mindfulness. So
everybody's doing it all
throughout their day, and
if people have kind of
got enough moments like
that in their day, then
they're probably okay. I
didn't have enough
moments of quiet, and
then come in my mind,
yeah. And so my mind went
crazy. So this guy said
to me, have you tried it,
and I said no. And 99% of
(09:23):
my brain was saying, it's
BS. It won't do anything.
It's like crap. 1% of my
brain said, you know
what's been around two
and a half 1000 years?
Maybe you don't know
everything. You go aside.
I'm gonna Yeah, I managed
to get on my way just
enough. So I went home, I
downloaded an app called
Headspace. In fact,
somebody in our extended
family was working with a
guy called Andy Piper,
(09:43):
the guy behind headspace.
He was in London back
then, and he was so this
guy was was doing
acupuncture, and he had,
like, a nutritionist and
all the other kind of
different holistic
approaches. And one of
them was Andy doing the
mindfulness stuff. And he
just released this, and
someone said to me, why
don't you just download
headspace and try for 10
days? Is what we got to
lose, nothing to lose. 10
minutes a day, seven
days. I downloaded it and
(10:04):
tried it. Now,
unfortunately, the end of
that story isn't my
lifespan or unicorns and
mabos since, and I'm like
the most chilled person,
but there was something
tiny in it, and almost,
almost couldn't put my
finger on it. I was a
little bit less anxious.
I was a little bit less
stressed. I was a little
bit less overwhelmed by
my work. Fast forward, a
long story. People at
work started noting it.
Got interested in two
(10:25):
months later when people
said to me, what are you
doing? Wow, that was
interesting to see it
reflected because I was
starting to think, Oh, my
kid and myself, is this
Lea Turner (10:33):
placebo? So
gradually, didn't even
really notice, yeah, and
Steve Ware (10:36):
I didn't tell
anybody, literally didn't
tell anybody. And so when
they said to me, what
have you what have you?
What are you doing
differently? And I told
them, they begged me to
teach them. They said,
We're as stressed as you
are, we're as losing as
much sleep as you are.
And I said to them, then
I can't teach you,
because I don't I don't
know what I'm doing
myself yet. But I did go
home one night from work,
and I opened the laptop
and I Googled best place
to learn how to teach
(10:57):
mindfulness in business.
I was only interested in
business because I
thought, This is the
greatest thing I give my
colleagues. It's the
greatest thing I could
help with Oxford
University came up, and I
used to catch the train
up, and I went there and
studied and bought an
eight week program back
into IBM, which
eventually did really,
really well, and was the
first corporate proof
program, which is a tough
thing to get, and company
like IBM, yeah. And
Lea Turner (11:18):
I mean, it's
tough enough selling
LinkedIn training to
corporates, and that's
got, you know, a direct
ROI on it, if they
actually implement it to
sell something that is
still it's not like, if
you do this, you're going
to make this much money,
right? There's no
tangible it's hard, yeah,
that you can't say,
because of this, he did
(11:39):
this much more work and
made this much extra
money, it's hard to
quantify, yeah, but they
will quantify it to you
and say, Well, I was able
to do this because I was
sleeping better, and that
meant I had the space to
have this idea. I'm
guilty of it as much as
anybody. If I'm not
sleeping well, and I am
booking too much into my
day on a daily basis, and
not giving myself
breathing space, I lose
(12:01):
my creativity. Yeah, it
dies a death, yeah. And I
get to the point where
I'm like, oh my god, I
haven't had an idea for a
piece of content, or a
new business idea, or any
kind of an innovation.
I've got no space to
think it stifles it
massively stifles it,
yeah? And I think that's,
that's good advice for
any business owner, if
you right from the very
beginning is making sure
that you're not just
(12:21):
scheduling time in your
week to work on the
business and do your
admin, and not just be a
slave to your client
work, but actually time
to just think, yeah,
where you're not having
to rush around and do
anything. And I don't
even call it thinking
time. It's, it's time
when, like, I'm in the
car and I'm driving, if
I'm driving to a job and
(12:42):
it's a long drive, that's
when my ideas come Yeah,
or I'm lying in Bath, or
I'm out walking this one
with music in my ears and
I don't have the thoughts
of all the things that I
have to do running around
my head all the time.
That's
Steve Ware (12:54):
that's the
science behind it. That's
what people don't
realize. Yeah, it's as
simple as true
creativity, true
innovation comes through
a pretty quiet mind
normally,
Lea Turner (13:03):
yeah, and you
can't do that when you're
burned out, right? So you
trained a load of people
at IBM, and it was really
successful. It was crazy
successful. So why did
you why did you not
continue doing that? I
Steve Ware (13:14):
wanted to,
you did? I really wanted
to. So, so I bought this
program in from Oxford,
his eight week program,
and asked people if they
want to sign up. And I've
got loads of emails, so I
ran a pilot, and the
pilot results were
insane. And they don't
take personal credit for
that, because people did
the work, right? Yeah,
but you can take some of
the credit. Take some of
it. So one lady wrote,
this is one of the most
(13:34):
incredible I remember,
that I can literally
remember sitting in IBM
reading this, these
emails, and the hair back
of my neck standing up
and thinking, this is,
this is something I
really care about. Like
I've done, I've done
quite good stuff at IBM.
I got outstanding
technical achievement
awards and been ranked as
top talent, all this kind
of stuff. But, but you're
helping people, right?
(13:55):
And
Lea Turner (13:56):
you're
actually in service to
make their lives better.
And that comes with and
we're very similar in
that. And actually,
probably everybody we've
spoken to on this podcast
is, and that's why we
are. We are all friends.
The way we are is we all
find purpose in serving
others, yes, in an in an
impactful way that makes
their lives better. And
(14:18):
you know, you can do all
the work you want in IBM,
but when you're actually
got people messaging you
going, I literally had my
first good night's sleep,
and then I came up with
this amazing idea. And
that feels like something
else, isn't it,
Steve Ware (14:30):
right? So the
three, the three big ones
I got in a class of
they're all great
feedback. But the three
that I remember because I
used them on my website,
and I'm knocked up a
website years later, one
lady was saying, I've
been off work SEC for
months, and I've come
back early as a direct
result of this course,
was what she put Wow, so
there's your ROI straight
away, right? Yeah,
there's a manager on, I
don't know what she's
earning, 60, 7080, grand,
(14:52):
maybe more, yeah. And
she's come back to work
early as a result of
something I've done. So
the investment you've
done in the course,
you've gained, you've
you've got to save that
business loads of money.
One other guy said, I've
had hypertension for a
decade. It's come back to
normal after eight weeks.
And then he said, and my
doctor's confounded by
this? Wow, that is
incredible. So I
incredible, but I spent
(15:12):
more time dwelling on
fact. I was thinking, why
is your doctor confounded
by this? Like, surely
doctors in this day and
age can appreciate it's
not just tablets that can
bring blood
Lea Turner (15:23):
pressure.
Mine's a powerful thing,
isn't it hugely powerful?
And we don't, you don't
even really understand
how powerful is it. So
you then went out and
started teaching this. So
I was
Steve Ware (15:33):
doing it all
for free. I was doing it
in my own time. I paid
for my own studies at
IBM. I had a really,
really supportive manager
there, but in terms they
didn't see the value in
it. The real senior
management in IBM at that
time, at least, didn't
see the value in it. And
even though I was saying
to them, Google are doing
this, Google have been
doing this since 2008
they've monetized this.
Google's program is
called Search Inside
(15:53):
Yourself, quite clever
riff on they still didn't
really see the value in
it. So I was doing it all
for free, and I was so
passionate about it. I
got knocked back after
knock back and brick wall
off the brick wall and to
take time off and go back
to Oxford white kind of
stuff. But there was just
something really driving
me. I felt like I found a
passion. And so the
normal knockbacks that
would have made me shut
down and give up, didn't
(16:14):
this is like the first
time ever. It's really
weird experience, yeah.
And so I kept going with
it, but I did teach
people IBM. And then the
next twist of the tale is
I lost my job in covid in
2020 and at that point, I
was literally trying to
cling to the wreckage and
go look at all this
evidence I've got for
saving loads of money and
helping loads of people.
Just let me teach it full
time. We're going to
change the world. This is
(16:34):
going to be brilliant.
We're going to be known
globally as a brilliant
provider for mindfulness,
and I'll talk about it in
the press and blah. And
if I was like, Yeah,
sounds good, sounds good,
sounds good. But when it
got to a certain level,
there were basically
global redundancies
happening. Everything got
shut down, all the all
the open seats, as they
called them, the new jobs
they couldn't raise. So I
ended up leaving. I got,
I lost my job in
September 2020, and for
(16:56):
28 years service, they
gave me 12k so I was bit
knackered, yeah, and it's
covid so,
Lea Turner (17:05):
and I'm not a
whole lot to answer for
we, there's so many
people and people that
we've spoken to on this
podcast that that was
such a key turning point
in they lost a job, they
were on furlough. They it
changed a lot of people's
worlds. Yeah, you know,
some of us made the best
of it, thankfully, and
other people not so much,
but you definitely did.
(17:25):
It's
Steve Ware (17:25):
weird looking
back, though, because I'm
I still don't think of
myself as a business
person. I remember when I
was in, when I was in
IBM, and I was getting
all these great results.
I was chatting to my mate
in a WhatsApp group, and
he used to be at IBM.
He'd left and gone to
another company, and he
wrote to me. I can
remember standing where I
was in my house, reading
this message, and what's
happened. He said, Steve,
you've got to leave IBM
and go and do this.
(17:46):
You've got to this. He
said, I can feel your
passion, and how many
people you're helping.
This is it? This is it
for you've got to leave
and do it. And I can
remember the thought that
went through my head was,
I would love to but I
haven't got the guts,
basically. And that's for
other people,
Lea Turner (18:00):
that's your
family sort of impact.
Yeah,
Steve Ware (18:03):
it was
everything about my
social, about my
upbringing, about
everything I've done up
to that point. Has it
Lea Turner (18:08):
changed now?
Are you more of a risk
taken now because you
trust yourself, because
you did take that risk,
and it did work out for
you a bit.
Steve Ware (18:16):
I'm still,
I'm still some risk
averse,
Lea Turner (18:18):
yeah, and
that's, I mean, that's a
hard one to come away
from when it's been, like
your entire life leading
up to how long have you
been out of IBM now? So
four years before years?
Yeah, four years and so
what's happened for you
since then? So
Steve Ware (18:32):
first year, I
kind of laugh when I look
back on my first year,
because I kind of thought
this, this is quite easy,
this business thing. So I
kind of created my
company as I was, I was
just a sole trader star
with but I went out to my
existing network, which
was reasonably big after
20 years at IBM,
especially the people
that left IBM in
different companies, and
said, Hey, I'm doing
(18:52):
this. These are results.
I've got any chance we
could do at your company.
And enough people said,
Yes, I also did a bit of
work with the University
of Oxford, teaching IBM
as ironically, because we
created a partnership. So
I was teaching IBM as but
for Oxford uni. So my
first year, I did, I did
all right? I earned
enough money to get by. I
didn't go into loads of
debt. And I thought,
piece of piss this
(19:13):
business. What did your
family think
Lea Turner (19:16):
your risk
averse family? Do you
know what that
Steve Ware (19:18):
was? That's
probably the biggest
person I got my risk
aversion from, and he was
surprisingly supportive.
It shocked me, actually,
yeah, I don't know,
because of my age,
because I'm that much
older, he was, I think he
was a little bit worried
about me. And he would
say to me, he's not,
yeah, he's not rich by
any means. But he would
say, Are you doing okay?
You know, do you need me
to help out? And then,
(19:39):
because he knew I didn't
get much money from my VM
and stuff, but he was
actually quite
supportive. He could see,
he could see something in
me, probably that he
hadn't seen, and that was
it was this passion as
the thing that was
driving me
Lea Turner (19:52):
so and for a
man of your age, so you
would have been what,
4546 when you left so to
only really. And. Not
saying that you don't
have passion in other
areas to your of your
life, but to find passion
for your career. Yeah, at
46 Yeah, some would say
that's quite late, yeah,
and that. And as a
parent, to look at your
child and say, you know,
(20:12):
and he probably wasn't,
maybe particularly
passionate about his
career, and to see
suddenly this light
inside you, yeah, glow
and burn. Yeah. Like, I
know that my I think it
would be fair to say that
my mum never witnessed me
being passionate about
what I do until four
years ago, myself, right
when, you know,
everything changed when
we first met and I
(20:32):
suddenly became excited
on a daily basis. Now,
I'm not saying it's still
the same every single
day. We all have our
days. We all have our
days where we go. Just
want to chuck it all in,
throw the laptop out of
the window. I can't do
this anymore, but more
often than not, I have a
fire inside me to see how
far I can go. I'm more
risk averse than you are
because, no, you can't
(20:53):
be. No, no, I'm more I'm
more of a risk taker than
you are. I think that. I
don't know where that
comes from. I'm just
maybe somewhat reckless,
and I think I've always
been somewhat reckless.
In general,
Steve Ware (21:06):
you take
calculated ratio, don't
you? Sometimes,
Lea Turner (21:09):
sometimes I'm
just like, fuck it. Let's
see what happens. 100%
Yeah, but I back myself
to always be able to fix
a problem, because I
always have, like,
there's lots of things
that have gone wrong in
my life where I have
taken a risk and it maybe
hasn't gone to hasn't
gone to plan, but I've
always picked myself up
and gone. Let's get on
with it. Let's what's
next.
Steve Ware (21:28):
Do you know
how good you are?
Unknown (21:30):
What you mean,
Steve Ware (21:32):
what you do,
what you turn your hand
to? Oh,
Lea Turner (21:36):
now I'm being
interviewed. Um, I No,
probably I don't know. I
don't. I don't I don't
dwell on it very much. To
be honest. I'm just
always thinking about
what's what's coming
Steve Ware (21:44):
up, kind of
going back to earlier,
what you said about, if
you're good at something
like what, what drew me
to you, and what, what
the reason I wanted to
work with you is because
you seemed like someone
who was kind of like me
in in the way they wanted
to run their business and
do things, but just kind
of way further down the
line and you're getting
your content was, I think
the biggest compliment
you can pay somebody on
(22:04):
LinkedIn is for them to
see is for you to see
their name come up and
think, I'm going to read
that post. And you were
the first person that did
that for me. I thought it
doesn't matter whether
she's talking about her
washing machine flooding
or or a great tip about
LinkedIn, I want to read
what she's going to say,
because either going to
educate me or inspire me
or make me laugh all
three maybe, yeah, and
that's, that's an
(22:24):
incredible hook, like,
that's the hook before
you've even written hook
before your post, right?
I'm, I'm already going to
read it, because I'm
invested, no matter how
great your hook is. And I
thought, I want to try
and be like that. I want
to try and emulate that.
Lea Turner (22:36):
But you are
now. You are now. I stop
when I see your name, and
I know loads of people
do, and it's strange, but
because I know, I mean,
I've met in person so
many people off LinkedIn,
through the networking
events and through the
community now, and God
knows how many like
events that I've been to,
and I've met a lot of
people in person, and you
come up in conversation a
surprising amount, really
(22:56):
surprising to you, not to
me, but you do come up in
conversation a surprising
amount. And people always
say, I love his voice.
Everyone says that to
you. I mean, you need
your own headspace
meditation, but people
notice you. They find
your videos calming, and
they love your content.
And these are probably
people that don't even
engage with you, that are
appreciating what you're
doing and recognize you
(23:18):
sorry for the
interruption, but I've
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(23:38):
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Netflix for business
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see for yourself. Now
back to our conversation.
That was a big turning
point in the business,
wasn't it? So you'd start
this business. You had a
(23:58):
bit of business that came
through from your
existing contacts, but
then you knew you needed
to keep marketing. Yeah?
Steve Ware (24:04):
So I have
four really dry months,
and it's a really scary
thing, right? Because
Lea Turner (24:07):
you hadn't
had to ever market
yourself to didn't know
what it was,
Steve Ware (24:11):
never, never
marketed, never. So I'd
done techie jobs in IBM,
so I'd solved computer
system problems. I put in
systems and supported
them. It was everybody
else that's doing
marketing, selling and
all those kinds of clever
stuff. So yeah, I had a
great first year, or an,
all right, first year at
least, and then the start
of year two, from January
to April and 1900 quid.
And that's because I was
(24:32):
doing no prospecting, no
marketing, no nothing.
And my existing network,
I naively thought that if
that, I would get enough
referrals just from doing
one year of kind of
finding my mates that it
would just explode and go
crazy. So yeah, I got to
that April, and I
thought, I really need to
market myself better. How
am I gonna do it? And who
do I want to model myself
(24:53):
on? I had a conversation
with Jerry Williams,
actually, and I said to
her, I haven't got much
money. I'm thinking of
working. Leah, what do
you reckon? And without,
like, straight away, she
just DM me about and
said, Do it? Just do it.
Jerry, yeah. And I
thought, I come around my
shaven page a bit. It's
probably most of that
(25:13):
1900 quid. And I thought
bit more than that, I
think was it? Yeah, okay.
Unknown (25:19):
Well, that
therapist got rid of that
much. That was a gamble,
Steve Ware (25:23):
but it was a
calculated risk. And I
knew you well enough, and
I'd seen, you know, I'd
asked around. Yeah, I
Lea Turner (25:30):
think of
every client I've ever
had, you did the most due
diligence, because I had
a few messages from
people say, Oh, Steve
Ware's just because they
always tell me, and they
say, Oh, don't worry. I
told him to work with
you. And you know people
we have that I have that
relationship with people.
And I'm sure you, I think
we've had conversations
where you've said, I've
just had a conversation
with someone, and it's
lovely to have that, but
(25:50):
forget that it was me.
Investing in yourself and
your own business is
scary. And I I'm the
same, like I've wanted to
work with people and
gone. That's a lot that's
scary. And I remember at
first investing in my
first landing page, and
it was several 1000
pounds, and I was like, I
could knock it up myself,
but it's not going to be
as good, and it's not
going to make as much
money as me investing
(26:12):
that money in it to do
it. And I'll learn from
that person, what that
person does. I'll learn
from that, and maybe I
will be able to build my
own in future, because
I'll get a new skill from
seeing what how they've
done it, and sort of
analyzing it and learning
from it. And that's what
I did with Alex Thompson.
When I started working
with him as a copywriter,
I learned, I paid him to
(26:32):
do my first launch, and
learned from what my
first launch, my my last
digital course, learned
from what he did, and
started implementing what
I learned from him to the
point was a little bit
pissed off, I think
because he was like, hold
on a minute. She's she's
learned all of my
techniques. I should have
charged him off for this,
but then, once I got the
hang of it, I now have
hired him, and he's doing
(26:53):
doing it again for me,
but it is really scary,
and especially if you're
not making money at that
time, you were making
significant money, you
were then investing a
large
Steve Ware (27:02):
amount into
felt like a big deal. It
was a big deal, but it
changed everything,
Lea Turner (27:07):
right? And
this is not a podcast
trying to big up my
LinkedIn training,
because by the time this
goes out, I don't think
I'm even doing it
anymore, but it learning
to market yourself is a
key skill for any
business owner, and it's
something that's come up
a lot, is we, we know the
thing that we do for
money, but we don't know
all the other skills. And
that is why I've got the
community that I run, and
now we've got the whole
(27:27):
and the vault to teach
small businesses how to
do all the skills that
they don't come into
business with, not just
the fee earning thing,
and you needed to learn
that from the ground, but
you've created your set
and I'm not, I'm not
going to take full credit
for this, because you've
done the work, but what
we talked about, you took
(27:48):
it and made it your own,
and now where's your
business at? And not
entirely because of that,
but you've built up a
great reputation. You've
built up a lot of great
connections, you've made
friendships, you've
created and attracted so
many opportunities. But
what do you what would
you say? Because it's
been four years now and
(28:08):
you've you personally
have changed your life,
your lifestyle has
changed because you're in
control of your life and
the hours that you work
and you I imagine you
work a lot less hours now
than well ever before, or
or ever in IBM maybe,
Steve Ware (28:22):
no, I would
probably say work more
hours is a really weird
dynamic. Yeah, because I
work more hours. But I
think what, what's
happened is, what was my
passion, stroke, hobby
before, which I was doing
out of hours is now my
work. Yeah? So this one
feels so hot, doesn't
feel like doesn't know.
It feels like I'm
swimming with the tide
now, and
Lea Turner (28:42):
that's,
that's an incredible
thing to say to because
that's how I felt. And
whenever I get to a point
in my business where I
don't feel like that, I
go, Okay, what needs to
change? Yes, and that's
where I start. I decided,
and it was actually in
the Seychelles when I was
delivering workshops. I
know hard life, but I was
(29:03):
in there in March, and I
was delivering workshop,
and we were all talking
around all of our
business issues, and I
realized that the
LinkedIn training that I
was doing was holding me
back from the thing that
felt like swimming with
the tide, which was the
membership community. And
so I started building
myself up and building
and getting the halt
ready to be the thing
that takes over, yeah?
(29:23):
And I'm right now at the
end of the LinkedIn
training, and that is
going to stop. And it's
really scary, is it?
Yeah, it is really scary,
but it feels right, yeah.
And you know, this
podcast was a key part of
that plan is that I want
more people to be able to
be helped, yeah, and
while the LinkedIn
training, I love, it's
(29:44):
very much limited with
how many people I can
impact. And like with you
at IBM, you had this urge
to be able to help people
on a much bigger scale,
and that's where I'm at.
I want to be able to help
more people on a bigger
scale. That feels like
swimming with the tide
for me. So. Anything
that's leading towards
that end goal, yes, is
the direction I need to
(30:04):
go, and anything that's
holding me back from
that, yes, I need to let
go of that and trust
Steve Ware (30:09):
in your guts.
So important. It'd be so
easy for me to come on a
podcast like this and
give everyone the
impression that, you
know, I burned out IBM,
and I found this
incredible thing ox and I
bought it into IBM, and
it went viral, and I was,
you know, really great at
it, and then I make sure
done, and off I go, and I
create this other great
business, and I still
work with great clients,
and it's a piece of cake,
and it isn't. It's not.
And if there's one thing
(30:29):
I want people to take
from this is that the
people that you think
have got all their shit
together, haven't,
they've got the same
struggles you have,
they've got the same
worries as you have,
they've got the same
reticence as you have,
but if you've got that
passion, I think that's a
test for me, and it's all
talking about swim with
the tide and passion. If
you've got something
inside of you, that's
(30:49):
just whether it's a great
service or a product. If
you've got something
you're really passionate
about and you're great at
it, I think the rest you
can learn. And if you
trust your gut, if you go
with when I left IBM and
decided to set a business
up. That was the first
time I'd ever gone with
my heart over my head,
ever and my head was
screaming, my head
screaming, safe job. Safe
(31:11):
job. You know, I could
counter that with going,
well, it wasn't a safe
job. Was it because you
lost after 28 years?
Lea Turner (31:15):
I mean,
that's safe. We've talked
about that. You do think
there is this sort of
idea that employment is
the safe option, but when
you can literally be put
on two weeks, four weeks
notice, and your entire
salary is gone, and not
everybody gets a
redundancy payout, right?
And you're like, Huh?
Yeah, that's really
scary. You could be
fired. Something bad
could happen. You could
get into a dispute with
(31:36):
somebody at work, get
bullied, you get pushed
out. Yes, your role could
become redundant. You
just don't know. And
covid really shook a lot
of people's foundations.
In that respect, being
put on furlough or
suddenly losing their job
because of, you know,
cutbacks. And they went,
Oh, employment isn't
safe. Yeah, I need to do
something different. And
(31:57):
we saw on LinkedIn, we
saw a surge in people
turning to self
employment. But Steve,
what is it for you, if
you look inside yourself,
and obviously mindfulness
as an umbrella term, has
played a key role in your
ability to succeed. But
is it that passion? What
is it that's made you
continue to be a success
(32:18):
and to keep the business
growing? What would you
say is has been, maybe
the key lesson you've
learned that has meant
that you have got to this
stage, because obviously,
you're you're not earning
1900 pound every four
months now, you're doing
you're doing considerably
better. Life is
comfortable. You've got
an incredible reputation.
You get some unreal
clients. What has it been
(32:40):
that's kept you going.
What like trait Do you
think you have now as a
business owner that you
can credit that with? I
think people
Steve Ware (32:47):
can just
relate to me, simple as
that. Yeah, I think I
spend a lot of time
making sure that I work
with the right people.
Trust my gut massively if
I'm working once, I do
one to one with with a
few senior leaders each
year. I just started that
last year. And I do
corporate groups, if it's
gonna be one to one, I
really want to get to
know the person a bit
before we're gonna know
and trust and like each
(33:08):
other. Yeah, that's so
important. But even even
groups like sometimes
IBM, people would ring me
up and say, Oh, my team
are really stressed. I
want to send them on your
course. Can you teach me
your course? And say,
well, now let me speak to
them first. Yeah, because
they may not want to do
it like you. You don't
find fitness coaches
bursting into pubs and
rounding those people up
and going, we're going
running tomorrow. Guys,
yeah, some people would
be like, yes, I've been
(33:28):
waiting for this. And
some people like, I want
to sit here and drink
beer. So it's the same.
It's the same for any
personal development,
especially the stuff I
do. Because, you know,
you can take a horse to
water and all that you've
so I'm
Lea Turner (33:40):
going to be
wasting more money that's
a you've got a lot of
integrity to handle it
like that, though,
because that could lead
to you saying, Actually,
I'm not going to work
with them, yeah, and
turning down, yeah,
Steve Ware (33:48):
but I have
to, because, for two
reasons, I'm only as good
as my last review in some
ways. And honestly, I
honestly, honestly care.
It bothers It bothers me
that people get something
from this. And it lights
me up when people do so I
want to spend time
filtering people, and
I've got really good ways
of doing that now, so we
don't just jump straight
into an eight week
(34:08):
mindfulness course, yeah,
we've got ways. In fact,
I nicked some, some of it
from Joe wicks. No, Joe
wicks did that 15
minutes. So I was
watching 15 minutes with
Joe, and I thought I
could Nick that and do
like, a mindfulness
sprint. So I created a
mindfulness sprint. And I
do these in companies
now, and they're great
way of either, either
kind of keeping people's
practice going if they've
already got a practice,
or introducing a newbie
to it. Because people can
(34:29):
come along, they can dial
in from anywhere in the
world. We do 15 minutes
of practice together.
It's super easy, and I'll
give them something to do
in the rest of their day
that doesn't take any
time. So it's not about
doing something
different. It's about
doing something
differently, which is
what people want. I'll be
like when you're in the
shower, washing your
hair, do this when you're
drinking your coffee.
Drink this. Try this when
you're walking your dog.
Do this however it fits
your life. Yeah, you can
(34:50):
still sprinkle kind of
mindfulness confetti
throughout your day.
That's what's confetti?
That's what's going to
make the difference,
right? Yeah, the
cumulative effect, if I
smoke one cigarette now,
the. Do anything else,
smoke one every hour for
the next six months or a
year. Maybe it does
something to me so but to
come back to your
question, I think it's
been relatable. It's
(35:10):
encouraging skeptic,
healthy skepticism and
cynicism. Yeah, and I
think probably the people
that can relate to me,
maybe arguably the most
are Men of a Certain Age
or macho men who just
previously wouldn't touch
this, who wouldn't sign
up to a mainstream
mindfulness course, who
wouldn't want to look at
it on YouTube, or
(35:31):
anything else you make
it. Yeah, I can. I can
say. I can show them that
it's the most normal,
natural thing in the
world that changes across
generations. If I'm 50.
So 50 and 50 and above,
people kind of screw
their face up. Men,
typically, people in
their 20s are much more
open to it. Yeah. I mean,
they're like, why
wouldn't we do
Lea Turner (35:50):
that? But you
think of the social media
generation that they've
grown up with, like, I'm
I'm of the generation
where I the internet was
becoming mainstream just
as I was becoming a
teenager. So MSN,
MySpace, Facebook was
just coming in as I was
in my sort of late teens.
So I remember, like, all
the AOL chat rooms, the
Yahoo chat rooms, like we
(36:10):
were talking and
interacting with people
far beyond our own circle
on a regular basis at
that point. And then
obviously that's become
more and more the
Instagram generation,
people have access to so
much more information at
their fingertips, so many
more influences. And it,
you know, there's a lot
of bad things to be said
about social media, and
it has been very
destructive in some ways,
but it's also opened up a
(36:32):
world of possibility to
so many people. And
people are seeing people
like you, and you know,
you are one of the
LinkedIn creators that I
reference regularly to my
clients and to people
within my membership and
say, This is someone
who's created content
consistently for years,
and he does it in a very
simple way, but it works
(36:54):
because he doesn't
overcomplicate it. Yeah,
your videos are simple.
They're direct, they're
fairly unedited apart
from captions. And you
just chat to people on
your morning walk with
your gorgeous dog, and
you create a little post
that goes with it. And
those come out multiple
times a week, and people
(37:14):
know it's you. And you
know, I would imagine
that you get a lot of
people that are clients
that probably don't
engage publicly, and they
just pop into your DMS
and say, you know, oh,
Steve, I always watch
your videos. I absolutely
love it. You've
completely changed how I
feel about mindfulness
and for you, yes, not
everyone's paying you,
but your bigger goal is
to spread that word and
(37:36):
make it accessible for
more and more people, so
that they can heal and
they can change and they
can make their lives
better, and you're doing
that on a massive scale.
Yeah, thank you. And I
can imagine the word of
mouth referrals that you
get off the back of that
are probably a lot as
well, really
Steve Ware (37:49):
important.
And I that kind of, it's
funny how the whole kind
of walking with Daisy
videoing came about. So I
do walk every day, and
often go out into a
Country Park, which is
normally where I was
walking around there, you
sounded about you having
the best ideas in the
shower, out walking
Bronson. I was out one
day walking Daisy, and I
thought that would make a
great LinkedIn post.
Whatever the idea was
(38:09):
came into my head, and I
thought, I'll write it
when I get back back
home. Of course, it's
completely gone. It's
like trying to remember a
dream 10 minutes after
you were gone forever. So
the next time, when I was
out and had an idea, I
thought I make an open my
phone. So I started
putting in a draft email,
and I just saved just
saved it, and I thought,
Do I really want to be
walking around the
country, typing on my
phone? Not really. So the
next idea I had, I
literally just pressed
(38:29):
record on my video, and
thought, I'll do it
properly when I get back,
and I'll sit and I'll get
the camera, not but when
I got home, I just
thought I saw it. I'll
just post it. It was,
it's kind of it's all
right, it's not amazing,
and people kind of liked
it. I think they like us
a little bit rough. It's
unrehearsed. When
Lea Turner (38:47):
someone like
you said, right? You meet
with clients, and when
you meet with clients,
you want to test that
their vibe is there for
you, yeah? Now, when a
client reaches out to you
and they've already seen
you on video, they know
the vibes there for them.
Yeah, there's no
question, because they've
already heard your voice.
They've already seen you
move, they've seen your
facial expressions, yes,
your accent. And so often
(39:08):
I find that I meet people
in person, they go, I
feel like I've met you
before because I've seen
all your videos, and I've
already completely
catapulted. I've
leapfrogged over any
hurdle that I had,
because they already know
that they want to work
with me. Now it's just a
case of, do I want to
work to work with them?
Yes. And, you know, you
get power back with the
clients, and it's, it's
your choice. They've
(39:29):
already made up their
minds. They're pretty
convinced it's only
talking about, like,
money and time and things
like that. That's the
perfect scenario. Yeah,
you've done, you've done
incredibly well, and I'm
really happy to see how
far you've come. And
you've done, you've done
master classes within the
Holt community, which is
obviously now available
to people in the vault as
well. And they commented
on how relaxed and
(39:50):
beneficial it was, and it
really changed how they
thought about mindfulness
and how simple it can be.
And I think, you know,
I'm I love to see your
content, and I love to
see you thrive. And I.
You're one of the nicest
blokes I've met from
LinkedIn, and it's, you
know, it's always nice to
see good people doing
well. So I really
appreciate you coming on
today, and I will look
forward to the feedback
about your soothing
(40:11):
voice, because I think
it's going to be very,
very popular on
Steve Ware (40:14):
the podcast.
I got, I watched, I did a
podcast before, and I
watched my face. In fact,
it's when we worked
together. I watched our
video back. I thought, my
God, I've got such a
resting bitch face.
Lea Turner (40:23):
I posted a
video somewhere on
something, you said you
were really excited about
something, and I
commented saying, you
want to let your face
know, but
Steve Ware (40:33):
if I force a
smile, it looks like
trapped wind. So I'm kind
of kind of stuck between
rock and a hard place.
Lea Turner (40:38):
It's not that
you're not happy to be
here. You're just very
relaxed. Thank you so
much for traveling all
the way up here to be
here, Steve, it's been an
absolute pleasure. Before
you go, I just need to
tell you about our
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I got knocked
(00:00):
back after knock back and
brick wall off the brick
wall and to take time off
and go back to Oxford
white kind of stuff. But
there was just something
really driving me. I felt
like I found a passion
the normal knockbacks
that would have made me
shut down and give up,
didn't this is like the
first time ever. It's
really weird experience.
And then the next twist
of the tale is I lost my
job in covid in 2020 and
for 28 years service,
that gave me 12k so I was
(00:22):
bit knackered. Yeah, and
it's covid.
Lea Turner (00:36):
Steve Ware,
welcome to the HoLT
Survival Guide for small
businesses. Thank you.
Thank you so much for
coming all the way up to
Manchester to film it.
And before we get
started, why don't you
just introduce yourself
and tell us a little bit
about you and your
business. So
Steve Ware (00:50):
I'm Steve,
and I would say I've
changed the way I
answered the question on
kind of what I do. I used
to say I'm a mindfulness
teacher, and I do this
and I do that. I've kind
of scrapped saying that,
because people didn't
really get it. Super
clear, no, and people
don't really want it.
Actually,
Lea Turner (01:04):
there's a lot
of misunderstanding
around mindfulness,
exactly.
Steve Ware (01:07):
So I would
say something now more
like, I save businesses a
lot of money, I make
businesses a lot of money
by making sure their
staff are happier,
healthier and high
performing, and whether
that means their staff
are sleeping better,
dealing with their
anxiety better, have
quieter, calmer minds are
flourishing. There's a
lot around flourishing.
So people get tapping
(01:28):
back into a real
creative, innovative side
that they lost because
they were stressed or
sort of burning out. Can
relate, yeah, and the way
I do that is by using the
most amazing stress
reduction techniques.
They're mindfulness based
ones, yeah, and it all
comes from Oxford
University, which is,
which is where I trained.
Wow.
Unknown (01:48):
And how long ago
was that? So I've, I've
been doing
Steve Ware (01:51):
this about 14
years. So I was at IBM
when I first started
doing it. My stories are
burned out there. So I
joined IBM as a kid, 1992
Oh, my goodness. I never
planned to get into it,
actually. So the story
is, I was in a I was in a
rainy day in South Sea,
where I was in school,
and went into the careers
office, and there's this
little piece of paper,
and it said, if you've
got an aptitude for or an
(02:12):
interest in, I can
remember the exact
wording, computing will
pay you 7440 pounds, and
you can come and do a
degree with us. So
basically, IBM, whose
headquarters were in
Portsmouth, Denton, yeah,
they were taking like
1820 people a year. You
do your degree with them.
It was, it was part time
hours at IBM, and then it
was compressed hours at
uni. So it's a hard
course. It was, you
(02:32):
weren't want, like a
normal student life. So
we're three and a half
days at IBM, one half
days compressed at uni.
No time off, any time
off. We had, we go back
to IBM, right? So I
joined IBM, and, yeah, I
just kind of stumbled in
there. It was never my
passion. I never, really
wasn't that into it, but
I thought it sounds good,
and I won't get into
(02:53):
great opportunity at that
age. A great opportunity,
yeah, and it's a big safe
company, and I kind of
grew up in a household
that kind of was about
big, safe places, no
risk. My dad was in
insurance, right? I've
kind of figured this out
since, right? So my dad
being insurance isn't is
important, because he's
looking back, he must
have spent his entire
time with things coming
across his desk saying,
(03:13):
This car's been stolen.
This business has burned
down. This business has
flooded this everything's
insurance is
Lea Turner (03:18):
all about
mitigating risk isn't
right. So, so he,
Steve Ware (03:20):
I think he,
he, I picked up that kind
of risk aversion from
him. Everything had to be
Christ. There's a lot of
bad stuff happening. How
can we make everything
else in our world safe?
So I joined this big safe
company. Burned out about
how long I've been there,
probably 1415, years I've
been there, yeah. And I
burned out. And that
sucked, yeah. So that
(03:42):
meant I went from being a
really good sleeper to a
horrendous sleeper, like
dreading bedtimes. My
anxiety levels went just
from normal ish to kind
of high all the time. And
Lea Turner (03:52):
it's so hard
to imagine you as an
anxious, like restless
person, because I've only
known Yeah. Zen, Steve,
it's weird, though,
because I
Steve Ware (04:02):
I'm a wounded
healer, for sure. Yeah.
So I think what makes me
a good teacher is that I
can relate to people. I
can relate to people's
cynicism around
mindfulness. I can relate
to people not wanting to
do it. I can relate to
people losing sleep
because I've been there
done it. Got the t shirt
I wasn't born. I have to
work really hard for the
calm I have in my life.
Yeah, and I can show
other people kind of the
(04:23):
same way to do that and
invite a bit more
calming.
Lea Turner (04:26):
I think, in
general, though, the best
teachers are the people
that have a relatable
experience that brought
them to that. Because you
become passionate from
your own you that passion
was ignited because you
realized how much it had
changed your life. And
you're much more
authentic as some that I
would want. I remember
reading a story on
LinkedIn about an
accountant who admitted
that she'd got herself
(04:46):
into masses of debt. And
I was like, that's such a
weird thing to admit as
an accountant, but
because she'd sorted
herself out, it humanized
her massively. And I was
like, actually, do you
know what? She's picked
herself up, fixed it all,
and got herself. Back in
a really strong place.
Yeah, I really admire the
vulnerability, but I also
feel like I'd be
comfortable talking to
(05:07):
her, because I wouldn't
feel judged. Yeah, and
that's that's a big part
of when you're picking
someone right,
psychological safety,
yeah, you don't feel like
I'm gonna say something
and he's gonna go, Well,
yeah, you know, I
Steve Ware (05:18):
was teaching
this guy the other week,
and I said to him, I said
to the whole group, has
anybody ever had trouble
sleeping like you either
can't fall asleep or you
wake up and can't go back
to sleep? One guy was was
shaking his head, and I
said, Oh, you sleep well.
He said. He said,
Honestly, I've never lost
a wink of sleep in my
life. This is a guy, I
can't say name of the
company, but he's, he's
high up. He leads sales
for Africa, so he's got a
big, big job, yeah, for a
(05:39):
big consumer goods
company. That's not
someone I would imagine
would sleep very well, I
know. And so I said to
him, tell us how you do
it. Then tell it, how do
you and he couldn't
answer that. That's the
that's the difference. He
just went, um, I don't
know, just get into bed
and just close my eyes
and sleep. Can't everyone
do it sort of thing. And
it made me think, you
can't go to people who
(05:59):
have never suffered
anything and learn from
them, probably because
they probably don't,
haven't developed the
tools
Lea Turner (06:04):
they have
analyzed what it is that
that got them to where
they are, if it's just a
natural talent, and
actually, that's
something that I struggle
with, because a lot of
people over the years,
because of my trajectory
with business and the
fact that I started on
LinkedIn, I found a
natural affinity for
marketing myself and then
helping other people to
find what and people say,
(06:25):
Well, how have you done
it? And it took me ages
and to sort of put ego
aside and go, What is it?
Because I don't know so
much of it has been quite
instinctive that trying
to analyze what it is to
teach others. I could
never teach marketing
because I don't know what
it is that I do,
necessarily, that that
has I can't pinpoint it.
Yeah, and people say
(06:45):
same, like copywriting,
oh, you really good
copyright, I can't give
you the terminology. Oh,
I do this, and I use this
structure in this
writing. I don't know it.
I don't know those
things. It's just how I
write exactly. And that's
a perfect sort of
analogy, isn't it? If you
haven't, if you're just
good at something, trying
to asking a bird how it
flies, I just flap my
wings and go exactly.
It's not it's not easy.
(07:06):
So your experience made
you really credible in
that. So what, when was
it that you went from
this sort of burnout
phase with IBM? How did
you go from that to where
you are now, or making
that decision to give it
a go?
Steve Ware (07:20):
So I was
really reluctant to give
it a go, because I was
this macho guy in a
competitive, macho world.
In IBM, there was no real
mindfulness there. And
someone said, Someone
suggested me, someone
looked up some of the
science, or they read
something which even 14
years ago was quite
compelling even then, and
they said, Oh, if you
thought about
mindfulness. And I told
them to piss off, because
I thought, like, I'm just
(07:41):
not a meditator. It
Lea Turner (07:43):
sounds Woo.
Woo doesn't I can't
imagine 14 years ago,
Steve Ware (07:47):
yeah, and I
didn't know what it was,
but I thought I knew what
it was, which is, why
don't like the words? Now
I'll wait till week
three, when I'm teaching
people, before we even
start to think about
defining it, because it's
something you experience.
There's two types of
knowing, right,
conceptual and
experiential. We can talk
all day about concepts
and but the analogy I use
is Nobody ever got fit by
listening to a talk on
fitness. No, I can watch
(08:09):
fitness videos all day in
McDonald's. I don't get
fit. Same with
mindfulness, we can talk
about two were blue in
the face, unless you feel
it here, unless you try
it for long enough to
know and go, Okay, that's
what it is. Then you move
to the next base. But the
interesting thing is,
everybody's doing
mindfulness every day,
and they just don't
realize it, and they
don't call it
(08:29):
mindfulness, right?
Stroking Bronson now,
100% mindful. There's a
mini meditation for you.
Yeah? He's my look at
him. He's beautifully
chilled there.
Lea Turner (08:39):
He's such
emotional support. Yeah.
And,
Steve Ware (08:41):
and that is a
mini moment of
mindfulness, because he
stops your mind if you,
if you're really with
him, if you really just
as you as we're sitting
here now, if you just put
all your attention in
your hands and just feel,
just feel the warmth of
his body and just feel
the beautiful fur. You
don't need to, you don't
need to think to do that,
no. And in fact, thinking
(09:03):
detracts from that being
a beautiful experience.
So that is the mini
moment of mindfulness. So
everybody's doing it all
throughout their day, and
if people have kind of
got enough moments like
that in their day, then
they're probably okay. I
didn't have enough
moments of quiet, and
then come in my mind,
yeah. And so my mind went
crazy. So this guy said
to me, have you tried it,
and I said no. And 99% of
(09:23):
my brain was saying, it's
BS. It won't do anything.
It's like crap. 1% of my
brain said, you know
what's been around two
and a half 1000 years?
Maybe you don't know
everything. You go aside.
I'm gonna Yeah, I managed
to get on my way just
enough. So I went home, I
downloaded an app called
Headspace. In fact,
somebody in our extended
family was working with a
guy called Andy Piper,
(09:43):
the guy behind headspace.
He was in London back
then, and he was so this
guy was was doing
acupuncture, and he had,
like, a nutritionist and
all the other kind of
different holistic
approaches. And one of
them was Andy doing the
mindfulness stuff. And he
just released this, and
someone said to me, why
don't you just download
headspace and try for 10
days? Is what we got to
lose, nothing to lose. 10
minutes a day, seven
days. I downloaded it and
(10:04):
tried it. Now,
unfortunately, the end of
that story isn't my
lifespan or unicorns and
mabos since, and I'm like
the most chilled person,
but there was something
tiny in it, and almost,
almost couldn't put my
finger on it. I was a
little bit less anxious.
I was a little bit less
stressed. I was a little
bit less overwhelmed by
my work. Fast forward, a
long story. People at
work started noting it.
Got interested in two
(10:25):
months later when people
said to me, what are you
doing? Wow, that was
interesting to see it
reflected because I was
starting to think, Oh, my
kid and myself, is this
Lea Turner (10:33):
placebo? So
gradually, didn't even
really notice, yeah, and
Steve Ware (10:36):
I didn't tell
anybody, literally didn't
tell anybody. And so when
they said to me, what
have you what have you?
What are you doing
differently? And I told
them, they begged me to
teach them. They said,
We're as stressed as you
are, we're as losing as
much sleep as you are.
And I said to them, then
I can't teach you,
because I don't I don't
know what I'm doing
myself yet. But I did go
home one night from work,
and I opened the laptop
and I Googled best place
to learn how to teach
(10:57):
mindfulness in business.
I was only interested in
business because I
thought, This is the
greatest thing I give my
colleagues. It's the
greatest thing I could
help with Oxford
University came up, and I
used to catch the train
up, and I went there and
studied and bought an
eight week program back
into IBM, which
eventually did really,
really well, and was the
first corporate proof
program, which is a tough
thing to get, and company
like IBM, yeah. And
Lea Turner (11:18):
I mean, it's
tough enough selling
LinkedIn training to
corporates, and that's
got, you know, a direct
ROI on it, if they
actually implement it to
sell something that is
still it's not like, if
you do this, you're going
to make this much money,
right? There's no
tangible it's hard, yeah,
that you can't say,
because of this, he did
(11:39):
this much more work and
made this much extra
money, it's hard to
quantify, yeah, but they
will quantify it to you
and say, Well, I was able
to do this because I was
sleeping better, and that
meant I had the space to
have this idea. I'm
guilty of it as much as
anybody. If I'm not
sleeping well, and I am
booking too much into my
day on a daily basis, and
not giving myself
breathing space, I lose
(12:01):
my creativity. Yeah, it
dies a death, yeah. And I
get to the point where
I'm like, oh my god, I
haven't had an idea for a
piece of content, or a
new business idea, or any
kind of an innovation.
I've got no space to
think it stifles it
massively stifles it,
yeah? And I think that's,
that's good advice for
any business owner, if
you right from the very
beginning is making sure
that you're not just
(12:21):
scheduling time in your
week to work on the
business and do your
admin, and not just be a
slave to your client
work, but actually time
to just think, yeah,
where you're not having
to rush around and do
anything. And I don't
even call it thinking
time. It's, it's time
when, like, I'm in the
car and I'm driving, if
I'm driving to a job and
(12:42):
it's a long drive, that's
when my ideas come Yeah,
or I'm lying in Bath, or
I'm out walking this one
with music in my ears and
I don't have the thoughts
of all the things that I
have to do running around
my head all the time.
That's
Steve Ware (12:54):
that's the
science behind it. That's
what people don't
realize. Yeah, it's as
simple as true
creativity, true
innovation comes through
a pretty quiet mind
normally,
Lea Turner (13:03):
yeah, and you
can't do that when you're
burned out, right? So you
trained a load of people
at IBM, and it was really
successful. It was crazy
successful. So why did
you why did you not
continue doing that? I
Steve Ware (13:14):
wanted to,
you did? I really wanted
to. So, so I bought this
program in from Oxford,
his eight week program,
and asked people if they
want to sign up. And I've
got loads of emails, so I
ran a pilot, and the
pilot results were
insane. And they don't
take personal credit for
that, because people did
the work, right? Yeah,
but you can take some of
the credit. Take some of
it. So one lady wrote,
this is one of the most
(13:34):
incredible I remember,
that I can literally
remember sitting in IBM
reading this, these
emails, and the hair back
of my neck standing up
and thinking, this is,
this is something I
really care about. Like
I've done, I've done
quite good stuff at IBM.
I got outstanding
technical achievement
awards and been ranked as
top talent, all this kind
of stuff. But, but you're
helping people, right?
(13:55):
And
Lea Turner (13:56):
you're
actually in service to
make their lives better.
And that comes with and
we're very similar in
that. And actually,
probably everybody we've
spoken to on this podcast
is, and that's why we
are. We are all friends.
The way we are is we all
find purpose in serving
others, yes, in an in an
impactful way that makes
their lives better. And
(14:18):
you know, you can do all
the work you want in IBM,
but when you're actually
got people messaging you
going, I literally had my
first good night's sleep,
and then I came up with
this amazing idea. And
that feels like something
else, isn't it,
Steve Ware (14:30):
right? So the
three, the three big ones
I got in a class of
they're all great
feedback. But the three
that I remember because I
used them on my website,
and I'm knocked up a
website years later, one
lady was saying, I've
been off work SEC for
months, and I've come
back early as a direct
result of this course,
was what she put Wow, so
there's your ROI straight
away, right? Yeah,
there's a manager on, I
don't know what she's
earning, 60, 7080, grand,
(14:52):
maybe more, yeah. And
she's come back to work
early as a result of
something I've done. So
the investment you've
done in the course,
you've gained, you've
you've got to save that
business loads of money.
One other guy said, I've
had hypertension for a
decade. It's come back to
normal after eight weeks.
And then he said, and my
doctor's confounded by
this? Wow, that is
incredible. So I
incredible, but I spent
(15:12):
more time dwelling on
fact. I was thinking, why
is your doctor confounded
by this? Like, surely
doctors in this day and
age can appreciate it's
not just tablets that can
bring blood
Lea Turner (15:23):
pressure.
Mine's a powerful thing,
isn't it hugely powerful?
And we don't, you don't
even really understand
how powerful is it. So
you then went out and
started teaching this. So
I was
Steve Ware (15:33):
doing it all
for free. I was doing it
in my own time. I paid
for my own studies at
IBM. I had a really,
really supportive manager
there, but in terms they
didn't see the value in
it. The real senior
management in IBM at that
time, at least, didn't
see the value in it. And
even though I was saying
to them, Google are doing
this, Google have been
doing this since 2008
they've monetized this.
Google's program is
called Search Inside
(15:53):
Yourself, quite clever
riff on they still didn't
really see the value in
it. So I was doing it all
for free, and I was so
passionate about it. I
got knocked back after
knock back and brick wall
off the brick wall and to
take time off and go back
to Oxford white kind of
stuff. But there was just
something really driving
me. I felt like I found a
passion. And so the
normal knockbacks that
would have made me shut
down and give up, didn't
(16:14):
this is like the first
time ever. It's really
weird experience, yeah.
And so I kept going with
it, but I did teach
people IBM. And then the
next twist of the tale is
I lost my job in covid in
2020 and at that point, I
was literally trying to
cling to the wreckage and
go look at all this
evidence I've got for
saving loads of money and
helping loads of people.
Just let me teach it full
time. We're going to
change the world. This is
(16:34):
going to be brilliant.
We're going to be known
globally as a brilliant
provider for mindfulness,
and I'll talk about it in
the press and blah. And
if I was like, Yeah,
sounds good, sounds good,
sounds good. But when it
got to a certain level,
there were basically
global redundancies
happening. Everything got
shut down, all the all
the open seats, as they
called them, the new jobs
they couldn't raise. So I
ended up leaving. I got,
I lost my job in
September 2020, and for
(16:56):
28 years service, they
gave me 12k so I was bit
knackered, yeah, and it's
covid so,
Lea Turner (17:05):
and I'm not a
whole lot to answer for
we, there's so many
people and people that
we've spoken to on this
podcast that that was
such a key turning point
in they lost a job, they
were on furlough. They it
changed a lot of people's
worlds. Yeah, you know,
some of us made the best
of it, thankfully, and
other people not so much,
but you definitely did.
(17:25):
It's
Steve Ware (17:25):
weird looking
back, though, because I'm
I still don't think of
myself as a business
person. I remember when I
was in, when I was in
IBM, and I was getting
all these great results.
I was chatting to my mate
in a WhatsApp group, and
he used to be at IBM.
He'd left and gone to
another company, and he
wrote to me. I can
remember standing where I
was in my house, reading
this message, and what's
happened. He said, Steve,
you've got to leave IBM
and go and do this.
(17:46):
You've got to this. He
said, I can feel your
passion, and how many
people you're helping.
This is it? This is it
for you've got to leave
and do it. And I can
remember the thought that
went through my head was,
I would love to but I
haven't got the guts,
basically. And that's for
other people,
Lea Turner (18:00):
that's your
family sort of impact.
Yeah,
Steve Ware (18:03):
it was
everything about my
social, about my
upbringing, about
everything I've done up
to that point. Has it
Lea Turner (18:08):
changed now?
Are you more of a risk
taken now because you
trust yourself, because
you did take that risk,
and it did work out for
you a bit.
Steve Ware (18:16):
I'm still,
I'm still some risk
averse,
Lea Turner (18:18):
yeah, and
that's, I mean, that's a
hard one to come away
from when it's been, like
your entire life leading
up to how long have you
been out of IBM now? So
four years before years?
Yeah, four years and so
what's happened for you
since then? So
Steve Ware (18:32):
first year, I
kind of laugh when I look
back on my first year,
because I kind of thought
this, this is quite easy,
this business thing. So I
kind of created my
company as I was, I was
just a sole trader star
with but I went out to my
existing network, which
was reasonably big after
20 years at IBM,
especially the people
that left IBM in
different companies, and
said, Hey, I'm doing
(18:52):
this. These are results.
I've got any chance we
could do at your company.
And enough people said,
Yes, I also did a bit of
work with the University
of Oxford, teaching IBM
as ironically, because we
created a partnership. So
I was teaching IBM as but
for Oxford uni. So my
first year, I did, I did
all right? I earned
enough money to get by. I
didn't go into loads of
debt. And I thought,
piece of piss this
(19:13):
business. What did your
family think
Lea Turner (19:16):
your risk
averse family? Do you
know what that
Steve Ware (19:18):
was? That's
probably the biggest
person I got my risk
aversion from, and he was
surprisingly supportive.
It shocked me, actually,
yeah, I don't know,
because of my age,
because I'm that much
older, he was, I think he
was a little bit worried
about me. And he would
say to me, he's not,
yeah, he's not rich by
any means. But he would
say, Are you doing okay?
You know, do you need me
to help out? And then,
(19:39):
because he knew I didn't
get much money from my VM
and stuff, but he was
actually quite
supportive. He could see,
he could see something in
me, probably that he
hadn't seen, and that was
it was this passion as
the thing that was
driving me
Lea Turner (19:52):
so and for a
man of your age, so you
would have been what,
4546 when you left so to
only really. And. Not
saying that you don't
have passion in other
areas to your of your
life, but to find passion
for your career. Yeah, at
46 Yeah, some would say
that's quite late, yeah,
and that. And as a
parent, to look at your
child and say, you know,
(20:12):
and he probably wasn't,
maybe particularly
passionate about his
career, and to see
suddenly this light
inside you, yeah, glow
and burn. Yeah. Like, I
know that my I think it
would be fair to say that
my mum never witnessed me
being passionate about
what I do until four
years ago, myself, right
when, you know,
everything changed when
we first met and I
(20:32):
suddenly became excited
on a daily basis. Now,
I'm not saying it's still
the same every single
day. We all have our
days. We all have our
days where we go. Just
want to chuck it all in,
throw the laptop out of
the window. I can't do
this anymore, but more
often than not, I have a
fire inside me to see how
far I can go. I'm more
risk averse than you are
because, no, you can't
(20:53):
be. No, no, I'm more I'm
more of a risk taker than
you are. I think that. I
don't know where that
comes from. I'm just
maybe somewhat reckless,
and I think I've always
been somewhat reckless.
In general,
Steve Ware (21:06):
you take
calculated ratio, don't
you? Sometimes,
Lea Turner (21:09):
sometimes I'm
just like, fuck it. Let's
see what happens. 100%
Yeah, but I back myself
to always be able to fix
a problem, because I
always have, like,
there's lots of things
that have gone wrong in
my life where I have
taken a risk and it maybe
hasn't gone to hasn't
gone to plan, but I've
always picked myself up
and gone. Let's get on
with it. Let's what's
next.
Steve Ware (21:28):
Do you know
how good you are?
Unknown (21:30):
What you mean,
Steve Ware (21:32):
what you do,
what you turn your hand
to? Oh,
Lea Turner (21:36):
now I'm being
interviewed. Um, I No,
probably I don't know. I
don't. I don't I don't
dwell on it very much. To
be honest. I'm just
always thinking about
what's what's coming
Steve Ware (21:44):
up, kind of
going back to earlier,
what you said about, if
you're good at something
like what, what drew me
to you, and what, what
the reason I wanted to
work with you is because
you seemed like someone
who was kind of like me
in in the way they wanted
to run their business and
do things, but just kind
of way further down the
line and you're getting
your content was, I think
the biggest compliment
you can pay somebody on
(22:04):
LinkedIn is for them to
see is for you to see
their name come up and
think, I'm going to read
that post. And you were
the first person that did
that for me. I thought it
doesn't matter whether
she's talking about her
washing machine flooding
or or a great tip about
LinkedIn, I want to read
what she's going to say,
because either going to
educate me or inspire me
or make me laugh all
three maybe, yeah, and
that's, that's an
(22:24):
incredible hook, like,
that's the hook before
you've even written hook
before your post, right?
I'm, I'm already going to
read it, because I'm
invested, no matter how
great your hook is. And I
thought, I want to try
and be like that. I want
to try and emulate that.
Lea Turner (22:36):
But you are
now. You are now. I stop
when I see your name, and
I know loads of people
do, and it's strange, but
because I know, I mean,
I've met in person so
many people off LinkedIn,
through the networking
events and through the
community now, and God
knows how many like
events that I've been to,
and I've met a lot of
people in person, and you
come up in conversation a
surprising amount, really
(22:56):
surprising to you, not to
me, but you do come up in
conversation a surprising
amount. And people always
say, I love his voice.
Everyone says that to
you. I mean, you need
your own headspace
meditation, but people
notice you. They find
your videos calming, and
they love your content.
And these are probably
people that don't even
engage with you, that are
appreciating what you're
doing and recognize you
(23:18):
sorry for the
interruption, but I've
simply got to tell you
about the vault. The
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(23:38):
with quite literally 10s
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commitment. Some might
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Netflix for business
growth. You can sign up
at the-holt.com/vault and
see for yourself. Now
back to our conversation.
That was a big turning
point in the business,
wasn't it? So you'd start
this business. You had a
(23:58):
bit of business that came
through from your
existing contacts, but
then you knew you needed
to keep marketing. Yeah?
Steve Ware (24:04):
So I have
four really dry months,
and it's a really scary
thing, right? Because
Lea Turner (24:07):
you hadn't
had to ever market
yourself to didn't know
what it was,
Steve Ware (24:11):
never, never
marketed, never. So I'd
done techie jobs in IBM,
so I'd solved computer
system problems. I put in
systems and supported
them. It was everybody
else that's doing
marketing, selling and
all those kinds of clever
stuff. So yeah, I had a
great first year, or an,
all right, first year at
least, and then the start
of year two, from January
to April and 1900 quid.
And that's because I was
(24:32):
doing no prospecting, no
marketing, no nothing.
And my existing network,
I naively thought that if
that, I would get enough
referrals just from doing
one year of kind of
finding my mates that it
would just explode and go
crazy. So yeah, I got to
that April, and I
thought, I really need to
market myself better. How
am I gonna do it? And who
do I want to model myself
(24:53):
on? I had a conversation
with Jerry Williams,
actually, and I said to
her, I haven't got much
money. I'm thinking of
working. Leah, what do
you reckon? And without,
like, straight away, she
just DM me about and
said, Do it? Just do it.
Jerry, yeah. And I
thought, I come around my
shaven page a bit. It's
probably most of that
(25:13):
1900 quid. And I thought
bit more than that, I
think was it? Yeah, okay.
Unknown (25:19):
Well, that
therapist got rid of that
much. That was a gamble,
Steve Ware (25:23):
but it was a
calculated risk. And I
knew you well enough, and
I'd seen, you know, I'd
asked around. Yeah, I
Lea Turner (25:30):
think of
every client I've ever
had, you did the most due
diligence, because I had
a few messages from
people say, Oh, Steve
Ware's just because they
always tell me, and they
say, Oh, don't worry. I
told him to work with
you. And you know people
we have that I have that
relationship with people.
And I'm sure you, I think
we've had conversations
where you've said, I've
just had a conversation
with someone, and it's
lovely to have that, but
(25:50):
forget that it was me.
Investing in yourself and
your own business is
scary. And I I'm the
same, like I've wanted to
work with people and
gone. That's a lot that's
scary. And I remember at
first investing in my
first landing page, and
it was several 1000
pounds, and I was like, I
could knock it up myself,
but it's not going to be
as good, and it's not
going to make as much
money as me investing
(26:12):
that money in it to do
it. And I'll learn from
that person, what that
person does. I'll learn
from that, and maybe I
will be able to build my
own in future, because
I'll get a new skill from
seeing what how they've
done it, and sort of
analyzing it and learning
from it. And that's what
I did with Alex Thompson.
When I started working
with him as a copywriter,
I learned, I paid him to
(26:32):
do my first launch, and
learned from what my
first launch, my my last
digital course, learned
from what he did, and
started implementing what
I learned from him to the
point was a little bit
pissed off, I think
because he was like, hold
on a minute. She's she's
learned all of my
techniques. I should have
charged him off for this,
but then, once I got the
hang of it, I now have
hired him, and he's doing
(26:53):
doing it again for me,
but it is really scary,
and especially if you're
not making money at that
time, you were making
significant money, you
were then investing a
large
Steve Ware (27:02):
amount into
felt like a big deal. It
was a big deal, but it
changed everything,
Lea Turner (27:07):
right? And
this is not a podcast
trying to big up my
LinkedIn training,
because by the time this
goes out, I don't think
I'm even doing it
anymore, but it learning
to market yourself is a
key skill for any
business owner, and it's
something that's come up
a lot, is we, we know the
thing that we do for
money, but we don't know
all the other skills. And
that is why I've got the
community that I run, and
now we've got the whole
(27:27):
and the vault to teach
small businesses how to
do all the skills that
they don't come into
business with, not just
the fee earning thing,
and you needed to learn
that from the ground, but
you've created your set
and I'm not, I'm not
going to take full credit
for this, because you've
done the work, but what
we talked about, you took
(27:48):
it and made it your own,
and now where's your
business at? And not
entirely because of that,
but you've built up a
great reputation. You've
built up a lot of great
connections, you've made
friendships, you've
created and attracted so
many opportunities. But
what do you what would
you say? Because it's
been four years now and
(28:08):
you've you personally
have changed your life,
your lifestyle has
changed because you're in
control of your life and
the hours that you work
and you I imagine you
work a lot less hours now
than well ever before, or
or ever in IBM maybe,
Steve Ware (28:22):
no, I would
probably say work more
hours is a really weird
dynamic. Yeah, because I
work more hours. But I
think what, what's
happened is, what was my
passion, stroke, hobby
before, which I was doing
out of hours is now my
work. Yeah? So this one
feels so hot, doesn't
feel like doesn't know.
It feels like I'm
swimming with the tide
now, and
Lea Turner (28:42):
that's,
that's an incredible
thing to say to because
that's how I felt. And
whenever I get to a point
in my business where I
don't feel like that, I
go, Okay, what needs to
change? Yes, and that's
where I start. I decided,
and it was actually in
the Seychelles when I was
delivering workshops. I
know hard life, but I was
(29:03):
in there in March, and I
was delivering workshop,
and we were all talking
around all of our
business issues, and I
realized that the
LinkedIn training that I
was doing was holding me
back from the thing that
felt like swimming with
the tide, which was the
membership community. And
so I started building
myself up and building
and getting the halt
ready to be the thing
that takes over, yeah?
(29:23):
And I'm right now at the
end of the LinkedIn
training, and that is
going to stop. And it's
really scary, is it?
Yeah, it is really scary,
but it feels right, yeah.
And you know, this
podcast was a key part of
that plan is that I want
more people to be able to
be helped, yeah, and
while the LinkedIn
training, I love, it's
(29:44):
very much limited with
how many people I can
impact. And like with you
at IBM, you had this urge
to be able to help people
on a much bigger scale,
and that's where I'm at.
I want to be able to help
more people on a bigger
scale. That feels like
swimming with the tide
for me. So. Anything
that's leading towards
that end goal, yes, is
the direction I need to
(30:04):
go, and anything that's
holding me back from
that, yes, I need to let
go of that and trust
Steve Ware (30:09):
in your guts.
So important. It'd be so
easy for me to come on a
podcast like this and
give everyone the
impression that, you
know, I burned out IBM,
and I found this
incredible thing ox and I
bought it into IBM, and
it went viral, and I was,
you know, really great at
it, and then I make sure
done, and off I go, and I
create this other great
business, and I still
work with great clients,
and it's a piece of cake,
and it isn't. It's not.
And if there's one thing
(30:29):
I want people to take
from this is that the
people that you think
have got all their shit
together, haven't,
they've got the same
struggles you have,
they've got the same
worries as you have,
they've got the same
reticence as you have,
but if you've got that
passion, I think that's a
test for me, and it's all
talking about swim with
the tide and passion. If
you've got something
inside of you, that's
(30:49):
just whether it's a great
service or a product. If
you've got something
you're really passionate
about and you're great at
it, I think the rest you
can learn. And if you
trust your gut, if you go
with when I left IBM and
decided to set a business
up. That was the first
time I'd ever gone with
my heart over my head,
ever and my head was
screaming, my head
screaming, safe job. Safe
(31:11):
job. You know, I could
counter that with going,
well, it wasn't a safe
job. Was it because you
lost after 28 years?
Lea Turner (31:15):
I mean,
that's safe. We've talked
about that. You do think
there is this sort of
idea that employment is
the safe option, but when
you can literally be put
on two weeks, four weeks
notice, and your entire
salary is gone, and not
everybody gets a
redundancy payout, right?
And you're like, Huh?
Yeah, that's really
scary. You could be
fired. Something bad
could happen. You could
get into a dispute with
(31:36):
somebody at work, get
bullied, you get pushed
out. Yes, your role could
become redundant. You
just don't know. And
covid really shook a lot
of people's foundations.
In that respect, being
put on furlough or
suddenly losing their job
because of, you know,
cutbacks. And they went,
Oh, employment isn't
safe. Yeah, I need to do
something different. And
(31:57):
we saw on LinkedIn, we
saw a surge in people
turning to self
employment. But Steve,
what is it for you, if
you look inside yourself,
and obviously mindfulness
as an umbrella term, has
played a key role in your
ability to succeed. But
is it that passion? What
is it that's made you
continue to be a success
(32:18):
and to keep the business
growing? What would you
say is has been, maybe
the key lesson you've
learned that has meant
that you have got to this
stage, because obviously,
you're you're not earning
1900 pound every four
months now, you're doing
you're doing considerably
better. Life is
comfortable. You've got
an incredible reputation.
You get some unreal
clients. What has it been
(32:40):
that's kept you going.
What like trait Do you
think you have now as a
business owner that you
can credit that with? I
think people
Steve Ware (32:47):
can just
relate to me, simple as
that. Yeah, I think I
spend a lot of time
making sure that I work
with the right people.
Trust my gut massively if
I'm working once, I do
one to one with with a
few senior leaders each
year. I just started that
last year. And I do
corporate groups, if it's
gonna be one to one, I
really want to get to
know the person a bit
before we're gonna know
and trust and like each
(33:08):
other. Yeah, that's so
important. But even even
groups like sometimes
IBM, people would ring me
up and say, Oh, my team
are really stressed. I
want to send them on your
course. Can you teach me
your course? And say,
well, now let me speak to
them first. Yeah, because
they may not want to do
it like you. You don't
find fitness coaches
bursting into pubs and
rounding those people up
and going, we're going
running tomorrow. Guys,
yeah, some people would
be like, yes, I've been
(33:28):
waiting for this. And
some people like, I want
to sit here and drink
beer. So it's the same.
It's the same for any
personal development,
especially the stuff I
do. Because, you know,
you can take a horse to
water and all that you've
so I'm
Lea Turner (33:40):
going to be
wasting more money that's
a you've got a lot of
integrity to handle it
like that, though,
because that could lead
to you saying, Actually,
I'm not going to work
with them, yeah, and
turning down, yeah,
Steve Ware (33:48):
but I have
to, because, for two
reasons, I'm only as good
as my last review in some
ways. And honestly, I
honestly, honestly care.
It bothers It bothers me
that people get something
from this. And it lights
me up when people do so I
want to spend time
filtering people, and
I've got really good ways
of doing that now, so we
don't just jump straight
into an eight week
(34:08):
mindfulness course, yeah,
we've got ways. In fact,
I nicked some, some of it
from Joe wicks. No, Joe
wicks did that 15
minutes. So I was
watching 15 minutes with
Joe, and I thought I
could Nick that and do
like, a mindfulness
sprint. So I created a
mindfulness sprint. And I
do these in companies
now, and they're great
way of either, either
kind of keeping people's
practice going if they've
already got a practice,
or introducing a newbie
to it. Because people can
(34:29):
come along, they can dial
in from anywhere in the
world. We do 15 minutes
of practice together.
It's super easy, and I'll
give them something to do
in the rest of their day
that doesn't take any
time. So it's not about
doing something
different. It's about
doing something
differently, which is
what people want. I'll be
like when you're in the
shower, washing your
hair, do this when you're
drinking your coffee.
Drink this. Try this when
you're walking your dog.
Do this however it fits
your life. Yeah, you can
(34:50):
still sprinkle kind of
mindfulness confetti
throughout your day.
That's what's confetti?
That's what's going to
make the difference,
right? Yeah, the
cumulative effect, if I
smoke one cigarette now,
the. Do anything else,
smoke one every hour for
the next six months or a
year. Maybe it does
something to me so but to
come back to your
question, I think it's
been relatable. It's
(35:10):
encouraging skeptic,
healthy skepticism and
cynicism. Yeah, and I
think probably the people
that can relate to me,
maybe arguably the most
are Men of a Certain Age
or macho men who just
previously wouldn't touch
this, who wouldn't sign
up to a mainstream
mindfulness course, who
wouldn't want to look at
it on YouTube, or
(35:31):
anything else you make
it. Yeah, I can. I can
say. I can show them that
it's the most normal,
natural thing in the
world that changes across
generations. If I'm 50.
So 50 and 50 and above,
people kind of screw
their face up. Men,
typically, people in
their 20s are much more
open to it. Yeah. I mean,
they're like, why
wouldn't we do
Lea Turner (35:50):
that? But you
think of the social media
generation that they've
grown up with, like, I'm
I'm of the generation
where I the internet was
becoming mainstream just
as I was becoming a
teenager. So MSN,
MySpace, Facebook was
just coming in as I was
in my sort of late teens.
So I remember, like, all
the AOL chat rooms, the
Yahoo chat rooms, like we
(36:10):
were talking and
interacting with people
far beyond our own circle
on a regular basis at
that point. And then
obviously that's become
more and more the
Instagram generation,
people have access to so
much more information at
their fingertips, so many
more influences. And it,
you know, there's a lot
of bad things to be said
about social media, and
it has been very
destructive in some ways,
but it's also opened up a
(36:32):
world of possibility to
so many people. And
people are seeing people
like you, and you know,
you are one of the
LinkedIn creators that I
reference regularly to my
clients and to people
within my membership and
say, This is someone
who's created content
consistently for years,
and he does it in a very
simple way, but it works
(36:54):
because he doesn't
overcomplicate it. Yeah,
your videos are simple.
They're direct, they're
fairly unedited apart
from captions. And you
just chat to people on
your morning walk with
your gorgeous dog, and
you create a little post
that goes with it. And
those come out multiple
times a week, and people
(37:14):
know it's you. And you
know, I would imagine
that you get a lot of
people that are clients
that probably don't
engage publicly, and they
just pop into your DMS
and say, you know, oh,
Steve, I always watch
your videos. I absolutely
love it. You've
completely changed how I
feel about mindfulness
and for you, yes, not
everyone's paying you,
but your bigger goal is
to spread that word and
(37:36):
make it accessible for
more and more people, so
that they can heal and
they can change and they
can make their lives
better, and you're doing
that on a massive scale.
Yeah, thank you. And I
can imagine the word of
mouth referrals that you
get off the back of that
are probably a lot as
well, really
Steve Ware (37:49):
important.
And I that kind of, it's
funny how the whole kind
of walking with Daisy
videoing came about. So I
do walk every day, and
often go out into a
Country Park, which is
normally where I was
walking around there, you
sounded about you having
the best ideas in the
shower, out walking
Bronson. I was out one
day walking Daisy, and I
thought that would make a
great LinkedIn post.
Whatever the idea was
(38:09):
came into my head, and I
thought, I'll write it
when I get back back
home. Of course, it's
completely gone. It's
like trying to remember a
dream 10 minutes after
you were gone forever. So
the next time, when I was
out and had an idea, I
thought I make an open my
phone. So I started
putting in a draft email,
and I just saved just
saved it, and I thought,
Do I really want to be
walking around the
country, typing on my
phone? Not really. So the
next idea I had, I
literally just pressed
(38:29):
record on my video, and
thought, I'll do it
properly when I get back,
and I'll sit and I'll get
the camera, not but when
I got home, I just
thought I saw it. I'll
just post it. It was,
it's kind of it's all
right, it's not amazing,
and people kind of liked
it. I think they like us
a little bit rough. It's
unrehearsed. When
Lea Turner (38:47):
someone like
you said, right? You meet
with clients, and when
you meet with clients,
you want to test that
their vibe is there for
you, yeah? Now, when a
client reaches out to you
and they've already seen
you on video, they know
the vibes there for them.
Yeah, there's no
question, because they've
already heard your voice.
They've already seen you
move, they've seen your
facial expressions, yes,
your accent. And so often
(39:08):
I find that I meet people
in person, they go, I
feel like I've met you
before because I've seen
all your videos, and I've
already completely
catapulted. I've
leapfrogged over any
hurdle that I had,
because they already know
that they want to work
with me. Now it's just a
case of, do I want to
work to work with them?
Yes. And, you know, you
get power back with the
clients, and it's, it's
your choice. They've
(39:29):
already made up their
minds. They're pretty
convinced it's only
talking about, like,
money and time and things
like that. That's the
perfect scenario. Yeah,
you've done, you've done
incredibly well, and I'm
really happy to see how
far you've come. And
you've done, you've done
master classes within the
Holt community, which is
obviously now available
to people in the vault as
well. And they commented
on how relaxed and
(39:50):
beneficial it was, and it
really changed how they
thought about mindfulness
and how simple it can be.
And I think, you know,
I'm I love to see your
content, and I love to
see you thrive. And I.
You're one of the nicest
blokes I've met from
LinkedIn, and it's, you
know, it's always nice to
see good people doing
well. So I really
appreciate you coming on
today, and I will look
forward to the feedback
about your soothing
(40:11):
voice, because I think
it's going to be very,
very popular on
Steve Ware (40:14):
the podcast.
I got, I watched, I did a
podcast before, and I
watched my face. In fact,
it's when we worked
together. I watched our
video back. I thought, my
God, I've got such a
resting bitch face.
Lea Turner (40:23):
I posted a
video somewhere on
something, you said you
were really excited about
something, and I
commented saying, you
want to let your face
know, but
Steve Ware (40:33):
if I force a
smile, it looks like
trapped wind. So I'm kind
of kind of stuck between
rock and a hard place.
Lea Turner (40:38):
It's not that
you're not happy to be
here. You're just very
relaxed. Thank you so
much for traveling all
the way up here to be
here, Steve, it's been an
absolute pleasure. Before
you go, I just need to
tell you about our
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