October 8, 2023 • 28 mins
Are you ready to stretch your perspective on careers, entrepreneurship, and leadership? This week we're thrilled to bring you a conversation with Lee Chambers, founder of Essentialise and GB Entrepreneur of the Year 2021. Lee's diverse career journey is a lesson in adaptability.
Listen to Lee elaborate on his path, sharing the courage it takes to experiment and make bold transitions. Lee's journey is not only defined by his professional transitions but also his personal development. Through his work, he aims to challenge systems and societal norms, creating a ripple effect of positive change. Lee also reminds us that progress, rather than perfection, is key to making a meaningful impact.
Listen to Learn:
🎙️The vital role of self-reflection in forging your own path
🎙️Lee's experiences through his diverse career journey
🎙️The importance of listening to lived experiences
🎙️How to be an effective male advocate
Find out more about We Are PoWEr here. 💫
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
The Northern Power Women podcast for your career
and your life, no matter whatbusiness you're in.
Hello and welcome to theNorthern Power Women podcast.
This is our winner season,which is really, really excited
for us.
We always talk about the awardsnot being about one evening.
We want to talk about revisitthese fantastic winners and
(00:39):
commended individuals andorganisations who took home one
of our splendid, beautifullycrafted glass trophies back in
March this year at the 2023Northern Powering Awards.
We want to find out more aboutthose individuals, the story
behind the victories and whatthey have been up to since.
I know today's guest isconstantly just striving for
(01:01):
change, striving as atrailblazer and a changemaker.
I am really excited to properlyget 20 minutes all to myself
with the wonderfully chambers.
Who's the founder ofEssentialized, which is
workplace wellbeing?
He's GB entrepreneur of theyear 2021, start-up 100
exceptional founder and also thewinner of our Agent of Change
award this year, Lee, welcome tothe Northern Power Women
(01:24):
podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
It's great to be with you, Simon.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
It's brilliant.
I literally watch you withadmiration and pride, really
like everything that you do.
You do with 100% intention,don't you?
I think that's you've got sucha really interesting and diverse
career across a number ofdifferent sectors.
Was that easy for you totransition between those
(01:48):
different sectors?
You've done government, haven'tyou?
Political authority, corporatefinance, and you've also built a
video games business.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, so I think for me, simone, I've always been a
bit of an experimenter, I'm abit of a scientist by kind of
mindset.
But the truth is I'm actuallytrying to find on my journey
where I fit best.
I think that comes from notreally knowing what I wanted to
become when I was younger.
And I've been on a real journey, lots of ups, lots of downs,
lots of different places, reallytrying to find what worked for
(02:20):
me.
But suppose the one thing I'vealways been kind of fueled by is
actually wanting to changethings for the better, and there
are some places where it's moredifficult to enact that change
than others.
But I suppose I've kind of gonealong this journey and started
to find some of the strands ofmy own purpose and what's really
meaningful to me.
(02:40):
But now I'm almost 40 and Ithink I've started to find that.
So my kind of when I speak toyounger people I say look,
you're not going to have it allworked out, you're probably
never going to have it allworked out, but go and explore,
be like a scientist, go and havean adventure, find if it works,
and you know what.
You'll go down one pathway,mind over the pathway for you.
You just jump back onto themain one and go off exploring in
(03:02):
another direction Do you knowwhat?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I could agree more, and I think we always talk about
.
You know, no one has that oneset straight line trajectory, do
they in their careers?
Sometimes it's a bit squiggly.
Sometimes you can let you sayyou can hop off, hop back on
again, go full circle.
You know, no one is more rightthan another, are they?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Oh, and I think that it's.
Some people do have a veryclear vision about what they
want to become.
Some people, you know, reallystick to that along their
journey and there's nothingwrong with that.
If you find fulfillment on thatpathway, then you know that's
something that you'll have noregrets when you come towards
the end of your life.
But I think for most people,especially in such a dynamic
(03:41):
world we live in today, with somuch opportunity and so much
change, actually there's abenefit to thinking less about
the role that you have and moreabout the skills that you've
built, because you'll actuallybe able to, you know, apply
those skills in so manydifferent areas.
I mean, think for yourself,simone.
You know, whether you are acaptain of a ship or a captain
(04:03):
of a whole changemaking program.
You know very different placesbut fundamentally the same
skills that you've honed andbuilt over the years.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Do you know what is interesting, isn't it?
It's kind of I think they'reall the sub-other parts that
make me me, and it's the sameyou know you talked about along
your journey finding more aboutyourself and the fact that
everything you do has a realsense of purpose instilled in
that.
Has that purpose and valuesalways been at the heart of what
, when you've made those youknow sort of hop on and hop off
(04:33):
choices along your career?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I mean I'd say so but you don't always realise it at
the time.
I think that you don't reallyfind your purpose through
reading a book or listening tosomething or suddenly having a
light bulb moment.
You actually find, like thethreads of it, the underlying
threads, through the things yougo through.
You often find some of thosethreads when you change things.
(04:56):
You find some of those threadswhen you face really difficult
times and I've always, you know,been driven by kind of social
justice.
I always that kid who go andteach another kid a lesson
because they weren't for tosomeone else and it didn't seem
right, and you know that got meinto, that, got me into a little
bit of trouble when I wasyounger.
What I would say, see one isI've always been a good
(05:19):
troublemaker along these yearsand Fundamentally, when it comes
to what you just said aboutgetting to know yourself, you
are the biggest experiment youwill ever undertake and and
actually you know, never stopexperimenting with yourself.
Just keep testing things, tryingthe things.
You know nothing is a failure,everything is a lesson and you
(05:39):
know, every time you get into,you know a deep dark hole you
will climb back out again.
You know we're incrediblyresilient and adaptable.
As humans, we've all beenthrough difficult things, but
it's like during the pandemichow so many people took a step
back, stopped and thought what'smeaningful to me?
What difference can I make?
How can I get up in the morningand feel like I'm doing
(06:02):
something that's great?
And you know, so many peoplewent and started to do that,
whether it be a side hustle,whether it be a new hobby,
whether it be investing sometime in learning something new
or whether it was completelychanging career.
But you know, the world is notas fixed as we think and
actually, when we explore thefluid middle in between
everything, so much in there forus to understand, to kind of
(06:24):
learn and also sometimes tounlearn a few things as well.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
What do you?
Talked about learning thingsabout yourself along this
journey.
What do you think?
What have you learned mostabout yourself?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So I've always been very driven, I've always been
very kind of passionate and, youknow, want to make a difference
.
But that was actually channeledinto me proving people wrong
when I was younger because I wasdoubted quite a lot.
You know I was.
I was just that black kid offthe counsellor's table right and
you know, some teachers thoughtmy, he's never gonna make it,
(06:56):
you'll waste his talent.
He's got potential but neverapplies himself.
He's lazy, and so a point thatwas true.
I think probably the biggestthing I've learned about myself
is what I can potentiallyachieve if I have a vision and
there's a lot of talk about.
You know, you've got to havegoals, you've got to have these
kind of fixed destinations and Iused to think that as well.
(07:18):
You know, I'm a.
I'm a like a millennial, youknow, like almost 40, and I grew
up in that world where, youknow, firstly, my parents, you
know, grew up in Fatch's era ofwhen they had me, there were
teenagers and they wanted socialmobility.
They wanted me to have betteropportunities, they wanted me to
do better than them.
They wanted to, you know, moveto a better area.
(07:40):
They wanted to give me thatplatform.
But I grew up in thatgeneration where, fundamentally,
you still thought you get agood education, you get a good
job, get it through promotions,you know, get married, get a
nice house, leave.
Half a year after what Irealized is actually for me.
I didn't want that, but Ithought I did.
And I went off on that pathwayand actually Got there and
(08:04):
fought Hmm, I've not got there,this isn't my mountain that I've
climbed.
And then I built a business andRealized actually that wasn't
the mountain I wanted to climbeither, and I'm not the biggest
fan of mountain analogies.
It's a bit annoying.
Everyone's like well, you know,you've got, you've got to get
to base camp and then you've gota.
You know scale and, to be honest, you kind of realize that life
(08:27):
is a bit like a journey, andit's not necessarily mountains,
but you kind of just floatingalong.
In life.
You need these periods of whereyou're floating and then you
put a bit more energy in.
The biggest thing I've learnedis to not just keep going but to
stop, to stop and reflect whereyou want to take the next push,
because I didn't do that when Iwas younger.
(08:49):
I just pushed and pushed andpushed and pushed and pushed and
then got ill.
And then learn a valuablelesson.
So now it's about being reallyintentional in the direction
that you travel, because it'sreally nice to get progress in
life, but actually movement andprogress are different things,
and Progress in an intentionaldirection Creates momentum in
(09:11):
your life which really takes youforward to a place where you
can make an impact that you wantand you do feel that you are
actually, you know, doingsomething meaningful.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It's interesting.
You talk about sort of taking astop, you know, and taking that
time, I think anyone who is anobserver and a consumer, if you
like, of your social media.
I love your posts becausethey're so.
They are intentional andinsincere and I want to use my
voice for good.
But for people looking at yourfeed, it looks as though you're
(09:42):
not taking any time because youare constantly feeding people's
curiosities, feeding specialsoul by, like I say, using that
power for good.
Is that, is this, what's thesecret to that?
Because it does look as thoughI sometimes I worry if it.
Oh gosh, where's he off to now?
Oh god, is he alright?
Is it?
(10:02):
Who's looking after Lee?
You know, I, you know there'salways that we always have that
phrase.
Over the pandemic we talkedabout, it became obsessed with
checking in on the checkers,because you've got some amazing
people out there leading the wayand paving the way, but who's
checking in on them?
So I'm checking on a new league, are you okay?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, so I think there's two facets to that.
Firstly, the kind of theillusion of social media where
no one really posts.
And I try and post asauthentically as I can in terms
of the fact that Sundays I'm inthe office, I'm on my own in
here, plugged in recharging,doing little bits and pieces,
(10:38):
kind of nourishing the soul, andbut you're never gonna post
about that, but not very oftenand people don't see that.
People just see the events thatyou're at.
People see and think thatyou're everywhere and you know
what you kind of you kind of are.
But you know and it's aperception thing and I think
that you know, in this world ofsocial media Even though to a
(11:01):
very active it still justsnippets and as humans we fill
the gaps with what we think andpeople see I'm quite active on
the platform, so they think I'mpermanently active in life.
Actually, life is a lot tamerthan it looks on social media, I
think.
Secondly, there's an aspecttowards thinking about how
you're energized by what you do.
(11:21):
And if you are working in afield where you don't enjoy it,
you might be good at it, but itjust doesn't light you up.
You don't feel like you canmake any change, you just feel
like a cog in a machine, youdon't feel like your work has a
lot of meaning, you don't feellike you've got momentum in
progressing your life, thenthat's really de-energizing.
(11:43):
It really kind of takes it outof you, whereas I wake up in the
morning full of energy becauseI know that I'm going to do
something that's going to make adifference.
I know that I have a relativelevel of control and influence
over things that can make adifference.
I have the autonomy to structurethings in the way that I want
and block time out to spend withmy kids if I want to do that,
(12:06):
or block time out to go andindulge in a hobby or spend some
time on my own.
I'm incredibly lucky to havethat, but fundamentally I use
that very intentionally.
I have my non-negotiables andthat's what keeps me in a place
where I'm always got the energyto apply in the places where I
need to.
Because this kind of work youare pushing up against a lot of
(12:27):
barriers.
You are really trying todismantle systems that don't
want to be tinkered with and youare pushing back against people
who don't see it the same wayand don't understand why it's
important.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
And it's that we talk about progress, not perfection.
And I think what you've justsort of summed up there is
really interesting, because youactually present a radio show,
don't you call the Self AwareEntrepreneur Show, and that's
what you've just spoken to usabout, isn't it?
You are extremely self awareand you talk about you are a
self aware entrepreneur.
What does that mean to you?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Well, I suppose, like this is a big thing because 20
years ago I was a student, Iwasn't self aware and I really
struggled with that and it tookme years to become more self
aware and kind of understand theimpact of what I do on myself
and the impact of what I do onothers, and it's a real journey
to build that.
But being a self awareentrepreneur is just
(13:20):
understanding the power that youhave by being in the position
that you're in, understandingthat entrepreneurship is going
to be challenging and it's notglamorous like it's put out
there to the world.
It's not glorious, it's hardwork right Grit and graft.
And it's like kind of thisconcept around you have created
(13:41):
something that allows you tomake a difference and we have
and champion some greatentrepreneurs out there, but the
actual difference that theymake is quite varied.
Some get up on stage and saythings and you're like you've
kind of got your head in yourhands.
We've currently got two of theworld's most lauded
entrepreneurs wanting to jumpinto a ring and beat each other
(14:03):
up.
Like I kind of question wherethe self awareness is there?
Right, because like what's thepoint?
Like they have the ability tomake a difference to the world
and just want to get in a cageand punch each other in the head
a few times to prove a point.
I don't think I even need tokind of expand upon that to
showcase why, as an entrepreneur, you need to be self aware,
(14:25):
because the more that youprogress in that world and the
more influence that you have,the more damage you can cause or
the more beneficial change youcan make.
So self awareness is very muchthat first step, because any
leader, any entrepreneur, needsto be self aware of the impact
that you have.
Because leadership being in aposition of you know owning
(14:47):
something, whether it's anentity, whether it's an
institution, is a privilege, andyou've got to use that
privilege mindfully.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Absolutely, and it goes back to that intention
again.
Talk to me about essentialize.
You know you launched this backin 2020.
At what stage of?
Because we talked about thepandemic before or earlier in
the pod where we talked aboutthat time, that pandemic, whilst
you know, my reflections ofthat were, you know, enabled
stroke force to me to sort ofstop and go right.
(15:15):
I only want to do stuff thatmakes a difference.
I think I was always thatperson anyway.
But I want to be reallyintentional about now where we
take this organization and I wasfive years in at the time.
Where did essentialize come inin 2020?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah.
So we kind of had this idea tobring wellbeing that was
effective and help companiesunderstand how to apply it, how
to do it properly.
So it benefited employees andthe organization themselves.
But obviously, when thepandemic hit, just as we
launched, so everything that wekind of planned and structured
and created was suddenly, youknow, very much off the table.
(15:50):
The clients that we had toinitially test things were like
we're just busy, you know, we'retrying to get screens applied,
we're trying to get peopleworking from home like this
isn't our main focus right now.
So we kind of used that time toreally reflect on, you know,
what our clients would need inthe future.
We continued to talk aboutclients and see some of the
challenges that we were facing.
(16:11):
We started to build someservices around those specific
challenges and what that meantis we did have like spur
capacity and time to just helprefine what we were doing.
We also spent that time andstarted investing in community
projects.
So, because we weren't workingwith like 10 clients off the go,
we actually had space.
So what did we do?
(16:31):
We set up a radio show for ruralcommunities who were isolated,
giving them positive wellbeingnews, not just, you know, a
million people who died lastweek.
We worked on, you know,thinking about who needs support
out in the community.
We worked with a number ofdifferent charities, especially
in the area of carers and youngcarers, because they were
suddenly in a position where,you know, they didn't have the
(16:53):
typical support that they had.
So we worked with a number ofcharities in that space and we
just started to actually, youknow, do things.
We worked with two NHS trustsproviding support to frontline
staff free of charge.
We just started to work withinthe community and what that did
is it built us a reputation ofnot just being, you know, a good
business, but a business thatpeople could trust, a business
(17:15):
that, you know, even though itwas brand new, it was out there,
being visible, helping, ofmaking a difference in the
darkest of times for some people, and that's kind of really
created foundations where wehave that social purpose woven
into what we do.
And as things have graduallystarted to build out of the
pandemic you know, people stilltalk to us about those things we
(17:37):
still got that kind ofalignment and that's allowed us
to, you know, as we become moreprofitable and grown, create
even more impact in the areaswhere we can make a difference
and that has led to the numerousprojects that were involved in
and fundamentally now we'redoing a lot of work in that gap
between wellbeing and inclusion.
So, looking at wellbeing forthose who normally get
(17:58):
overlooked by all the typicalwellbeing stuff that's out there
and that's where stuff aroundyou know, gender equity around
neurodiversity, aroundculturally sensitive therapy,
that's the space where you knowwe're operating now and you know
we're doing a lot around thatInteresting developments come in
in the future and very muchexcited to continue to, you know
(18:19):
, really bring wellbeing tothose people who are so often
forgotten about.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
And you talk about one of your passions around
conscious leadership, and that'sjust sitting through everything
you're saying here.
What is conscious leadership?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
to you.
Yeah, so conscious leadershipis you're in a leadership
position Fundamentally, that isa privilege and leading in a
conscious way, understanding theimpact of the words that you
use, the way that you lead,thinking not just about bottom
line and profit and shareholders, but other stakeholders too,
thinking about how your actionsinfluence your employees, the
(18:55):
environment that you live within, the communities that your
business exists within.
It's about leading holisticallyand thinking about how you, as
a leader, can createpsychologically safe spaces for
everyone to be able to step into, to really bring their
potential, to feel like theybelong and to actually bring
their skills to the fore.
(19:15):
And as a conscious leader, youhave to look much wider.
Well-being, inclusion,sustainability are all really
important parts of that, andconscious leaders are aware that
business isn't just figures anddata and making profits for the
shareholders.
There's a whole other aspect ofmindful aspects of other
(19:39):
stakeholders that you need toput as just as important as
having a sustainable businessfrom a profit perspective 100%
and you talk about well-being,health, equity, this conscious
leadership, which is just so.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
It's like a.
I think if you put you openlike a sticker rock, it's right
in there, isn't it?
That purpose and consciousleadership is right in there,
and that comes down to your kindof self-awareness.
But one of the things that Isee you write about and talk
about and passions is aroundmetaphors.
Tell me and that's very, verypersonal to me right now and for
the last number of years andprobably going forward why, why
(20:14):
is this important to you?
And equally, the challengesaround menopause for global
majority, women as well, becausewe know that's not equal either
.
Why is menopause important toyou?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yeah, so I mean it's hard to make this quite succinct
, but the best way to describeit is I became a stay-at-home
dad after becoming ill in 2014.
Lost the ability to walk,learned to walk again and I had
two young children two and just,you know, like newborn and
decided that actually I wasn'tgoing to go back into my
business full-time, only to be astay-at-home dad.
(20:50):
That put me in female dominantenvironments, in parent and baby
, in parent and toddler groups.
I started to hear storiesreturn to discrimination from
many of the mothers and aboutsome of the challenges that the
grandmothers faced as the firstgeneration in the workplace, and
I just got planted in the seed.
I heard lots of things which Isimply wasn't part of.
I hadn't been through myself asa man and just made me think
(21:12):
why aren't people talking aboutthis as much?
Then, further along along thejourney, one of my friends.
She had to have a radicalhysterectomy due to cancer and
she just went into the menopauselike straight after surgery
with no support, noconsideration, and it took her
time to get that support and itjust fundamentally changed her.
(21:33):
She was younger than me, she'sin her mid-30s and that was
life-changing for her, but thelack of support.
I just couldn't understand it.
It didn't seem fair.
And then, obviously, startingto centralise, I ended up
speaking to a lot of seniorwomen about the challenges that
they faced, and for me it'sreally important to sit down and
(21:55):
listen to the lived experienceof people who have been through
different things than me so Ican understand how we share our
services, to be inclusive.
But actually the amount ofwomen who were saying, look,
I've just not had the supportthat I need and I don't want a
lot of support.
I'm not asking for a lot, butactually there's just nothing.
(22:15):
There's no support, noconsideration, no flexibility,
not even like a drop ofcompassion, and I'm struggling.
It's really hard and nothing inthe world is built around
hormonal cycles.
Everything's built around amale hormonal cycle, which is
not a cycle.
It's a long journey, a very,very long journey.
(22:38):
Nothing monthly and a graduallytailing off level over the
years.
But fundamentally, just hearingthese stories, some of these
stories, they bring you to tears.
Not that time to share them onthis, but anyone who wants to
chat happy to do so.
But it just compelled me torealize that I work in wellbeing
(22:58):
and the gender inequity inwellbeing is massive.
And you've got strategies forconditions that 0.01% of the
population might have.
We look at hormonal health 51%of global population is gonna go
through it.
It's like a guarantee, likewhere's the support?
And for the global majority,there's another set of health
(23:20):
inequity barriers a real lack ofunderstanding around how, for
example, being black increasesyour risk of fibroids
significantly, how a lot ofblack women are misdiagnosed
when they go seeking hormonalhealth support and actually how
it can be different.
But everything's built around avery kind of your or centric
(23:41):
medical model which just isn'tconsiderate.
There's been no funding therefor different ethnic groups.
And what does that mean?
Treatment's all based off onetype of person, and that's never
gonna work in a system whereeveryone's different.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
And this, to me, is why you are winner this year of
the Agent of Change Award.
We've always been really open,right from the start is that
Northern Power Women is allgenders.
It's always been reallyimportant and this year, as you
know, we've created a whole newcategory under a game changer
banner, which is our maleadvocates, because I know we've
spoken about this before, but Ithink and this is gonna be
(24:19):
really hard for it a quickanswer.
But how?
What's the one thing that ouradvocates can do out there to be
intentional, because we can.
There's so many passiveadvocates out there and passive
allies, but how can ouradvocates be true sort of agents
of change?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I mean, it's a journey, simone, like it took me
six years to get to a placewhere I can confidently speak
about it.
I suppose that the first thing,simone, is to just think, step
back and listen.
So my journey started throughlistening, through actually
(24:58):
listening to women and whattheir experiences were, and not
listening and thinking I can fixthis.
Not listening and thinking whatam I gonna say next?
And not listening and thinking,yeah, but it's not like that,
because it's not my livedexperience.
And by just listening andhearing the stories it just
(25:24):
starts to get you to think aboutthings you've not impacted you,
things you've not seen, thingsyou don't see because it's not
an everyday part of your life.
So that listening, as a firststage, just gives you the
ability to start to think aboutokay, so I've listened, accepted
and said thank you for sharingyour experience.
(25:47):
It gives you a consideration forgoing, exploring a bit more and
starting to think about thesmall actions you can take to
start to make that difference.
And those small actions in theworkplace it can be anything
Thinking about the things thathappen to women, often starting
to see those, recognise those,sometimes being able to step in
(26:08):
when a woman's been interruptedin a meeting and saying, well,
just let it finish.
When someone's had their ideawhich quite often happens to
women someone else is takingtheir idea and run off and got
credit for it, actually comingback and saying, no, it was her
idea, she said it in thatmeeting first.
Those little things when youstart to see them, you can't
(26:29):
unsee them, so you have to go onthat journey.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Absolutely.
I think that's what you talkedabout the June and I'm always a
big fan of.
You might think it's just asmall thing, but the sum of all
those parts, that's how we canmake a change and make a shift,
and I'm excited because I knowthere's plans afoot for you.
So please do stay connectedwith everything that Lee is
doing.
He's doing it with purpose,he's doing it with intention and
(26:53):
I'm delighted that you're ouragent of change when you just
exude the living story of it.
Also, Lee, I just want to thankyou.
I want to thank you foreverything that you do and
everything you continue to do,and I really appreciate you kind
of coming on a chat and to stay, because you absolutely kick
(27:13):
ass.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Oh, thank you, Simone .
And you know what it's allplatforms, it's all connected.
You can't be an ally on yourown.
You need to be part of acommunity to push things forward
.
So more power to the collective.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Oh, lee, thank you.
Thank you so much and, as I say, please stay connected with
everything that Lee's doing,have details about how you can
get in touch, find out moreabout Essential Eyes and
everything else that Lee's doingin our show notes and thank all
of you for listening.
Thank you, these are our weeklyepisodes.
We talk to amazing people.
This has been an amazingepisode and I've been excited
for this one for a wee while andreally bringing the story and
(27:48):
the real success that ourwinners are kind of trailblazing
and leading the trail.
So please subscribe, please dostay connected on all our
socials at North Power WomenNorthern Power Women not all the
others, the other channels andleave us a review.
We'd love that.
Even drop us an email Sometimeswe love going old school
podcast at northernpowerwomencom.
(28:08):
My name is Simone.
This is the Northern PowerWomen Podcast and what goes on
media production.
Thank you,
The Northern Power Women podcast for your career
and your life, no matter whatbusiness you're in.
Hello and welcome to theNorthern Power Women podcast.
This is our winner season,which is really, really excited
for us.
We always talk about the awardsnot being about one evening.
We want to talk about revisitthese fantastic winners and
(00:39):
commended individuals andorganisations who took home one
of our splendid, beautifullycrafted glass trophies back in
March this year at the 2023Northern Powering Awards.
We want to find out more aboutthose individuals, the story
behind the victories and whatthey have been up to since.
I know today's guest isconstantly just striving for
(01:01):
change, striving as atrailblazer and a changemaker.
I am really excited to properlyget 20 minutes all to myself
with the wonderfully chambers.
Who's the founder ofEssentialized, which is
workplace wellbeing?
He's GB entrepreneur of theyear 2021, start-up 100
exceptional founder and also thewinner of our Agent of Change
award this year, Lee, welcome tothe Northern Power Women
(01:24):
podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
It's great to be with you, Simon.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
It's brilliant.
I literally watch you withadmiration and pride, really
like everything that you do.
You do with 100% intention,don't you?
I think that's you've got sucha really interesting and diverse
career across a number ofdifferent sectors.
Was that easy for you totransition between those
(01:48):
different sectors?
You've done government, haven'tyou?
Political authority, corporatefinance, and you've also built a
video games business.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, so I think for me, simone, I've always been a
bit of an experimenter, I'm abit of a scientist by kind of
mindset.
But the truth is I'm actuallytrying to find on my journey
where I fit best.
I think that comes from notreally knowing what I wanted to
become when I was younger.
And I've been on a real journey, lots of ups, lots of downs,
lots of different places, reallytrying to find what worked for
(02:20):
me.
But suppose the one thing I'vealways been kind of fueled by is
actually wanting to changethings for the better, and there
are some places where it's moredifficult to enact that change
than others.
But I suppose I've kind of gonealong this journey and started
to find some of the strands ofmy own purpose and what's really
meaningful to me.
(02:40):
But now I'm almost 40 and Ithink I've started to find that.
So my kind of when I speak toyounger people I say look,
you're not going to have it allworked out, you're probably
never going to have it allworked out, but go and explore,
be like a scientist, go and havean adventure, find if it works,
and you know what.
You'll go down one pathway,mind over the pathway for you.
You just jump back onto themain one and go off exploring in
(03:02):
another direction Do you knowwhat?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I could agree more, and I think we always talk about
.
You know, no one has that oneset straight line trajectory, do
they in their careers?
Sometimes it's a bit squiggly.
Sometimes you can let you sayyou can hop off, hop back on
again, go full circle.
You know, no one is more rightthan another, are they?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Oh, and I think that it's.
Some people do have a veryclear vision about what they
want to become.
Some people, you know, reallystick to that along their
journey and there's nothingwrong with that.
If you find fulfillment on thatpathway, then you know that's
something that you'll have noregrets when you come towards
the end of your life.
But I think for most people,especially in such a dynamic
(03:41):
world we live in today, with somuch opportunity and so much
change, actually there's abenefit to thinking less about
the role that you have and moreabout the skills that you've
built, because you'll actuallybe able to, you know, apply
those skills in so manydifferent areas.
I mean, think for yourself,simone.
You know, whether you are acaptain of a ship or a captain
(04:03):
of a whole changemaking program.
You know very different placesbut fundamentally the same
skills that you've honed andbuilt over the years.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Do you know what is interesting, isn't it?
It's kind of I think they'reall the sub-other parts that
make me me, and it's the sameyou know you talked about along
your journey finding more aboutyourself and the fact that
everything you do has a realsense of purpose instilled in
that.
Has that purpose and valuesalways been at the heart of what
, when you've made those youknow sort of hop on and hop off
(04:33):
choices along your career?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I mean I'd say so but you don't always realise it at
the time.
I think that you don't reallyfind your purpose through
reading a book or listening tosomething or suddenly having a
light bulb moment.
You actually find, like thethreads of it, the underlying
threads, through the things yougo through.
You often find some of thosethreads when you change things.
(04:56):
You find some of those threadswhen you face really difficult
times and I've always, you know,been driven by kind of social
justice.
I always that kid who go andteach another kid a lesson
because they weren't for tosomeone else and it didn't seem
right, and you know that got meinto, that, got me into a little
bit of trouble when I wasyounger.
What I would say, see one isI've always been a good
(05:19):
troublemaker along these yearsand Fundamentally, when it comes
to what you just said aboutgetting to know yourself, you
are the biggest experiment youwill ever undertake and and
actually you know, never stopexperimenting with yourself.
Just keep testing things, tryingthe things.
You know nothing is a failure,everything is a lesson and you
(05:39):
know, every time you get into,you know a deep dark hole you
will climb back out again.
You know we're incrediblyresilient and adaptable.
As humans, we've all beenthrough difficult things, but
it's like during the pandemichow so many people took a step
back, stopped and thought what'smeaningful to me?
What difference can I make?
How can I get up in the morningand feel like I'm doing
(06:02):
something that's great?
And you know, so many peoplewent and started to do that,
whether it be a side hustle,whether it be a new hobby,
whether it be investing sometime in learning something new
or whether it was completelychanging career.
But you know, the world is notas fixed as we think and
actually, when we explore thefluid middle in between
everything, so much in there forus to understand, to kind of
(06:24):
learn and also sometimes tounlearn a few things as well.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
What do you?
Talked about learning thingsabout yourself along this
journey.
What do you think?
What have you learned mostabout yourself?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So I've always been very driven, I've always been
very kind of passionate and, youknow, want to make a difference
.
But that was actually channeledinto me proving people wrong
when I was younger because I wasdoubted quite a lot.
You know I was.
I was just that black kid offthe counsellor's table right and
you know, some teachers thoughtmy, he's never gonna make it,
(06:56):
you'll waste his talent.
He's got potential but neverapplies himself.
He's lazy, and so a point thatwas true.
I think probably the biggestthing I've learned about myself
is what I can potentiallyachieve if I have a vision and
there's a lot of talk about.
You know, you've got to havegoals, you've got to have these
kind of fixed destinations and Iused to think that as well.
(07:18):
You know, I'm a.
I'm a like a millennial, youknow, like almost 40, and I grew
up in that world where, youknow, firstly, my parents, you
know, grew up in Fatch's era ofwhen they had me, there were
teenagers and they wanted socialmobility.
They wanted me to have betteropportunities, they wanted me to
do better than them.
They wanted to, you know, moveto a better area.
(07:40):
They wanted to give me thatplatform.
But I grew up in thatgeneration where, fundamentally,
you still thought you get agood education, you get a good
job, get it through promotions,you know, get married, get a
nice house, leave.
Half a year after what Irealized is actually for me.
I didn't want that, but Ithought I did.
And I went off on that pathwayand actually Got there and
(08:04):
fought Hmm, I've not got there,this isn't my mountain that I've
climbed.
And then I built a business andRealized actually that wasn't
the mountain I wanted to climbeither, and I'm not the biggest
fan of mountain analogies.
It's a bit annoying.
Everyone's like well, you know,you've got, you've got to get
to base camp and then you've gota.
You know scale and, to be honest, you kind of realize that life
(08:27):
is a bit like a journey, andit's not necessarily mountains,
but you kind of just floatingalong.
In life.
You need these periods of whereyou're floating and then you
put a bit more energy in.
The biggest thing I've learnedis to not just keep going but to
stop, to stop and reflect whereyou want to take the next push,
because I didn't do that when Iwas younger.
(08:49):
I just pushed and pushed andpushed and pushed and pushed and
then got ill.
And then learn a valuablelesson.
So now it's about being reallyintentional in the direction
that you travel, because it'sreally nice to get progress in
life, but actually movement andprogress are different things,
and Progress in an intentionaldirection Creates momentum in
(09:11):
your life which really takes youforward to a place where you
can make an impact that you wantand you do feel that you are
actually, you know, doingsomething meaningful.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It's interesting.
You talk about sort of taking astop, you know, and taking that
time, I think anyone who is anobserver and a consumer, if you
like, of your social media.
I love your posts becausethey're so.
They are intentional andinsincere and I want to use my
voice for good.
But for people looking at yourfeed, it looks as though you're
(09:42):
not taking any time because youare constantly feeding people's
curiosities, feeding specialsoul by, like I say, using that
power for good.
Is that, is this, what's thesecret to that?
Because it does look as thoughI sometimes I worry if it.
Oh gosh, where's he off to now?
Oh god, is he alright?
Is it?
(10:02):
Who's looking after Lee?
You know, I, you know there'salways that we always have that
phrase.
Over the pandemic we talkedabout, it became obsessed with
checking in on the checkers,because you've got some amazing
people out there leading the wayand paving the way, but who's
checking in on them?
So I'm checking on a new league, are you okay?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Yeah, so I think there's two facets to that.
Firstly, the kind of theillusion of social media where
no one really posts.
And I try and post asauthentically as I can in terms
of the fact that Sundays I'm inthe office, I'm on my own in
here, plugged in recharging,doing little bits and pieces,
(10:38):
kind of nourishing the soul, andbut you're never gonna post
about that, but not very oftenand people don't see that.
People just see the events thatyou're at.
People see and think thatyou're everywhere and you know
what you kind of you kind of are.
But you know and it's aperception thing and I think
that you know, in this world ofsocial media Even though to a
(11:01):
very active it still justsnippets and as humans we fill
the gaps with what we think andpeople see I'm quite active on
the platform, so they think I'mpermanently active in life.
Actually, life is a lot tamerthan it looks on social media, I
think.
Secondly, there's an aspecttowards thinking about how
you're energized by what you do.
(11:21):
And if you are working in afield where you don't enjoy it,
you might be good at it, but itjust doesn't light you up.
You don't feel like you canmake any change, you just feel
like a cog in a machine, youdon't feel like your work has a
lot of meaning, you don't feellike you've got momentum in
progressing your life, thenthat's really de-energizing.
(11:43):
It really kind of takes it outof you, whereas I wake up in the
morning full of energy becauseI know that I'm going to do
something that's going to make adifference.
I know that I have a relativelevel of control and influence
over things that can make adifference.
I have the autonomy to structurethings in the way that I want
and block time out to spend withmy kids if I want to do that,
(12:06):
or block time out to go andindulge in a hobby or spend some
time on my own.
I'm incredibly lucky to havethat, but fundamentally I use
that very intentionally.
I have my non-negotiables andthat's what keeps me in a place
where I'm always got the energyto apply in the places where I
need to.
Because this kind of work youare pushing up against a lot of
(12:27):
barriers.
You are really trying todismantle systems that don't
want to be tinkered with and youare pushing back against people
who don't see it the same wayand don't understand why it's
important.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
And it's that we talk about progress, not perfection.
And I think what you've justsort of summed up there is
really interesting, because youactually present a radio show,
don't you call the Self AwareEntrepreneur Show, and that's
what you've just spoken to usabout, isn't it?
You are extremely self awareand you talk about you are a
self aware entrepreneur.
What does that mean to you?
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Well, I suppose, like this is a big thing because 20
years ago I was a student, Iwasn't self aware and I really
struggled with that and it tookme years to become more self
aware and kind of understand theimpact of what I do on myself
and the impact of what I do onothers, and it's a real journey
to build that.
But being a self awareentrepreneur is just
(13:20):
understanding the power that youhave by being in the position
that you're in, understandingthat entrepreneurship is going
to be challenging and it's notglamorous like it's put out
there to the world.
It's not glorious, it's hardwork right Grit and graft.
And it's like kind of thisconcept around you have created
(13:41):
something that allows you tomake a difference and we have
and champion some greatentrepreneurs out there, but the
actual difference that theymake is quite varied.
Some get up on stage and saythings and you're like you've
kind of got your head in yourhands.
We've currently got two of theworld's most lauded
entrepreneurs wanting to jumpinto a ring and beat each other
(14:03):
up.
Like I kind of question wherethe self awareness is there?
Right, because like what's thepoint?
Like they have the ability tomake a difference to the world
and just want to get in a cageand punch each other in the head
a few times to prove a point.
I don't think I even need tokind of expand upon that to
showcase why, as an entrepreneur, you need to be self aware,
(14:25):
because the more that youprogress in that world and the
more influence that you have,the more damage you can cause or
the more beneficial change youcan make.
So self awareness is very muchthat first step, because any
leader, any entrepreneur, needsto be self aware of the impact
that you have.
Because leadership being in aposition of you know owning
(14:47):
something, whether it's anentity, whether it's an
institution, is a privilege, andyou've got to use that
privilege mindfully.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Absolutely, and it goes back to that intention
again.
Talk to me about essentialize.
You know you launched this backin 2020.
At what stage of?
Because we talked about thepandemic before or earlier in
the pod where we talked aboutthat time, that pandemic, whilst
you know, my reflections ofthat were, you know, enabled
stroke force to me to sort ofstop and go right.
(15:15):
I only want to do stuff thatmakes a difference.
I think I was always thatperson anyway.
But I want to be reallyintentional about now where we
take this organization and I wasfive years in at the time.
Where did essentialize come inin 2020?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah.
So we kind of had this idea tobring wellbeing that was
effective and help companiesunderstand how to apply it, how
to do it properly.
So it benefited employees andthe organization themselves.
But obviously, when thepandemic hit, just as we
launched, so everything that wekind of planned and structured
and created was suddenly, youknow, very much off the table.
(15:50):
The clients that we had toinitially test things were like
we're just busy, you know, we'retrying to get screens applied,
we're trying to get peopleworking from home like this
isn't our main focus right now.
So we kind of used that time toreally reflect on, you know,
what our clients would need inthe future.
We continued to talk aboutclients and see some of the
challenges that we were facing.
(16:11):
We started to build someservices around those specific
challenges and what that meantis we did have like spur
capacity and time to just helprefine what we were doing.
We also spent that time andstarted investing in community
projects.
So, because we weren't workingwith like 10 clients off the go,
we actually had space.
So what did we do?
(16:31):
We set up a radio show for ruralcommunities who were isolated,
giving them positive wellbeingnews, not just, you know, a
million people who died lastweek.
We worked on, you know,thinking about who needs support
out in the community.
We worked with a number ofdifferent charities, especially
in the area of carers and youngcarers, because they were
suddenly in a position where,you know, they didn't have the
(16:53):
typical support that they had.
So we worked with a number ofcharities in that space and we
just started to actually, youknow, do things.
We worked with two NHS trustsproviding support to frontline
staff free of charge.
We just started to work withinthe community and what that did
is it built us a reputation ofnot just being, you know, a good
business, but a business thatpeople could trust, a business
(17:15):
that, you know, even though itwas brand new, it was out there,
being visible, helping, ofmaking a difference in the
darkest of times for some people, and that's kind of really
created foundations where wehave that social purpose woven
into what we do.
And as things have graduallystarted to build out of the
pandemic you know, people stilltalk to us about those things we
(17:37):
still got that kind ofalignment and that's allowed us
to, you know, as we become moreprofitable and grown, create
even more impact in the areaswhere we can make a difference
and that has led to the numerousprojects that were involved in
and fundamentally now we'redoing a lot of work in that gap
between wellbeing and inclusion.
So, looking at wellbeing forthose who normally get
(17:58):
overlooked by all the typicalwellbeing stuff that's out there
and that's where stuff aroundyou know, gender equity around
neurodiversity, aroundculturally sensitive therapy,
that's the space where you knowwe're operating now and you know
we're doing a lot around thatInteresting developments come in
in the future and very muchexcited to continue to, you know
(18:19):
, really bring wellbeing tothose people who are so often
forgotten about.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
And you talk about one of your passions around
conscious leadership, and that'sjust sitting through everything
you're saying here.
What is conscious leadership?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
to you.
Yeah, so conscious leadershipis you're in a leadership
position Fundamentally, that isa privilege and leading in a
conscious way, understanding theimpact of the words that you
use, the way that you lead,thinking not just about bottom
line and profit and shareholders, but other stakeholders too,
thinking about how your actionsinfluence your employees, the
(18:55):
environment that you live within, the communities that your
business exists within.
It's about leading holisticallyand thinking about how you, as
a leader, can createpsychologically safe spaces for
everyone to be able to step into, to really bring their
potential, to feel like theybelong and to actually bring
their skills to the fore.
(19:15):
And as a conscious leader, youhave to look much wider.
Well-being, inclusion,sustainability are all really
important parts of that, andconscious leaders are aware that
business isn't just figures anddata and making profits for the
shareholders.
There's a whole other aspect ofmindful aspects of other
(19:39):
stakeholders that you need toput as just as important as
having a sustainable businessfrom a profit perspective 100%
and you talk about well-being,health, equity, this conscious
leadership, which is just so.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
It's like a.
I think if you put you openlike a sticker rock, it's right
in there, isn't it?
That purpose and consciousleadership is right in there,
and that comes down to your kindof self-awareness.
But one of the things that Isee you write about and talk
about and passions is aroundmetaphors.
Tell me and that's very, verypersonal to me right now and for
the last number of years andprobably going forward why, why
(20:14):
is this important to you?
And equally, the challengesaround menopause for global
majority, women as well, becausewe know that's not equal either
.
Why is menopause important toyou?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yeah, so I mean it's hard to make this quite succinct
, but the best way to describeit is I became a stay-at-home
dad after becoming ill in 2014.
Lost the ability to walk,learned to walk again and I had
two young children two and just,you know, like newborn and
decided that actually I wasn'tgoing to go back into my
business full-time, only to be astay-at-home dad.
(20:50):
That put me in female dominantenvironments, in parent and baby
, in parent and toddler groups.
I started to hear storiesreturn to discrimination from
many of the mothers and aboutsome of the challenges that the
grandmothers faced as the firstgeneration in the workplace, and
I just got planted in the seed.
I heard lots of things which Isimply wasn't part of.
I hadn't been through myself asa man and just made me think
(21:12):
why aren't people talking aboutthis as much?
Then, further along along thejourney, one of my friends.
She had to have a radicalhysterectomy due to cancer and
she just went into the menopauselike straight after surgery
with no support, noconsideration, and it took her
time to get that support and itjust fundamentally changed her.
(21:33):
She was younger than me, she'sin her mid-30s and that was
life-changing for her, but thelack of support.
I just couldn't understand it.
It didn't seem fair.
And then, obviously, startingto centralise, I ended up
speaking to a lot of seniorwomen about the challenges that
they faced, and for me it'sreally important to sit down and
(21:55):
listen to the lived experienceof people who have been through
different things than me so Ican understand how we share our
services, to be inclusive.
But actually the amount ofwomen who were saying, look,
I've just not had the supportthat I need and I don't want a
lot of support.
I'm not asking for a lot, butactually there's just nothing.
(22:15):
There's no support, noconsideration, no flexibility,
not even like a drop ofcompassion, and I'm struggling.
It's really hard and nothing inthe world is built around
hormonal cycles.
Everything's built around amale hormonal cycle, which is
not a cycle.
It's a long journey, a very,very long journey.
(22:38):
Nothing monthly and a graduallytailing off level over the
years.
But fundamentally, just hearingthese stories, some of these
stories, they bring you to tears.
Not that time to share them onthis, but anyone who wants to
chat happy to do so.
But it just compelled me torealize that I work in wellbeing
(22:58):
and the gender inequity inwellbeing is massive.
And you've got strategies forconditions that 0.01% of the
population might have.
We look at hormonal health 51%of global population is gonna go
through it.
It's like a guarantee, likewhere's the support?
And for the global majority,there's another set of health
(23:20):
inequity barriers a real lack ofunderstanding around how, for
example, being black increasesyour risk of fibroids
significantly, how a lot ofblack women are misdiagnosed
when they go seeking hormonalhealth support and actually how
it can be different.
But everything's built around avery kind of your or centric
(23:41):
medical model which just isn'tconsiderate.
There's been no funding therefor different ethnic groups.
And what does that mean?
Treatment's all based off onetype of person, and that's never
gonna work in a system whereeveryone's different.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
And this, to me, is why you are winner this year of
the Agent of Change Award.
We've always been really open,right from the start is that
Northern Power Women is allgenders.
It's always been reallyimportant and this year, as you
know, we've created a whole newcategory under a game changer
banner, which is our maleadvocates, because I know we've
spoken about this before, but Ithink and this is gonna be
(24:19):
really hard for it a quickanswer.
But how?
What's the one thing that ouradvocates can do out there to be
intentional, because we can.
There's so many passiveadvocates out there and passive
allies, but how can ouradvocates be true sort of agents
of change?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I mean, it's a journey, simone, like it took me
six years to get to a placewhere I can confidently speak
about it.
I suppose that the first thing,simone, is to just think, step
back and listen.
So my journey started throughlistening, through actually
(24:58):
listening to women and whattheir experiences were, and not
listening and thinking I can fixthis.
Not listening and thinking whatam I gonna say next?
And not listening and thinking,yeah, but it's not like that,
because it's not my livedexperience.
And by just listening andhearing the stories it just
(25:24):
starts to get you to think aboutthings you've not impacted you,
things you've not seen, thingsyou don't see because it's not
an everyday part of your life.
So that listening, as a firststage, just gives you the
ability to start to think aboutokay, so I've listened, accepted
and said thank you for sharingyour experience.
(25:47):
It gives you a consideration forgoing, exploring a bit more and
starting to think about thesmall actions you can take to
start to make that difference.
And those small actions in theworkplace it can be anything
Thinking about the things thathappen to women, often starting
to see those, recognise those,sometimes being able to step in
(26:08):
when a woman's been interruptedin a meeting and saying, well,
just let it finish.
When someone's had their ideawhich quite often happens to
women someone else is takingtheir idea and run off and got
credit for it, actually comingback and saying, no, it was her
idea, she said it in thatmeeting first.
Those little things when youstart to see them, you can't
(26:29):
unsee them, so you have to go onthat journey.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Absolutely.
I think that's what you talkedabout the June and I'm always a
big fan of.
You might think it's just asmall thing, but the sum of all
those parts, that's how we canmake a change and make a shift,
and I'm excited because I knowthere's plans afoot for you.
So please do stay connectedwith everything that Lee is
doing.
He's doing it with purpose,he's doing it with intention and
(26:53):
I'm delighted that you're ouragent of change when you just
exude the living story of it.
Also, Lee, I just want to thankyou.
I want to thank you foreverything that you do and
everything you continue to do,and I really appreciate you kind
of coming on a chat and to stay, because you absolutely kick
(27:13):
ass.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Oh, thank you, Simone .
And you know what it's allplatforms, it's all connected.
You can't be an ally on yourown.
You need to be part of acommunity to push things forward
.
So more power to the collective.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Oh, lee, thank you.
Thank you so much and, as I say, please stay connected with
everything that Lee's doing,have details about how you can
get in touch, find out moreabout Essential Eyes and
everything else that Lee's doingin our show notes and thank all
of you for listening.
Thank you, these are our weeklyepisodes.
We talk to amazing people.
This has been an amazingepisode and I've been excited
for this one for a wee while andreally bringing the story and
(27:48):
the real success that ourwinners are kind of trailblazing
and leading the trail.
So please subscribe, please dostay connected on all our
socials at North Power WomenNorthern Power Women not all the
others, the other channels andleave us a review.
We'd love that.
Even drop us an email Sometimeswe love going old school
podcast at northernpowerwomencom.
(28:08):
My name is Simone.
This is the Northern PowerWomen Podcast and what goes on
media production.
Thank you,
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