In this episode of the We Are PoWEr Podcast, we are joined by Joe Dent, Chief People Officer at Princes, as he shares his inspiring journey in corporate leadership, mental health advocacy, and fostering inclusion within organisations. With 14 years of experience at Princes, Joe has risen through the ranks from HR Controller to Group HR Director and now Chief People Officer, shaping the company's People Excellence strategy.
Joe discusses his role in advocating for inclusion and the importance of creating mental health strategies in the workplace. He opens up about his own 20-year battle with anxiety and how sharing his personal story has helped others, highlighting the power of vulnerability and empathy in professional settings. Joe also explores why it’s vital for organisations to implement strategies that prioritise people and lead to sustainable success.
Join us for an insightful conversation about leadership, mental health, and the role of strategic thinking in shaping corporate culture. Joe's journey serves as a reminder of the impact one person can have when they champion inclusivity and advocate for well-being.
Find out more about We Are PoWEr here. 💫
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast.
If this is your first time here, the we Are Power podcast is
the podcast for you, your careerand your life.
We release an episode everysingle Monday with listeners in
over 60 countries worldwide,where you'll hear personal life
stories, top-notch industryadvice and key leadership
insight from amazing role models.
(00:21):
As we Are Power is the umbrellabrand to Northern Power Women
Awards, which celebrateshundreds of female role models
and advocates every year.
This is where you can hearstories from all of our awards
alumni and stay up to date witheverything.
Mpw Awards and we Are PowerNever imitated, never replicated
(00:42):
singularly wonderful,everybody's wonder girl.
Well, today I am joined by theChief People Officer.
Northern Power Women AwardsAdvocacy List 2024,.
Joe Dent, I had to get you on apodcast to track you down for a
chat.
Nice and welcome to the podcasttoday.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, thank you for having me, simone.
It's my pleasure to be here and, yeah, you know I haven't been
hiding.
I've just been, you know,extremely busy doing other stuff
.
But you know, I'm more thanhappy to help out and be on a
podcast today.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
It's quite an honour.
Created the Northern PowerWomen Awards Advocacy List in
2024 to recognize those amazingadvocates really flying the flag
for gender equality, and yoursubmission was pretty impressive
in front of our judges,including the esteemed Nazir
(01:38):
Absel OBE.
So welcome.
And now, to be honest, it'stime to get you to work right.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, well, listen, I have to say that being part of
the advocacy list was a hugehonour.
I was delighted.
It made my year, I think.
And yeah, a real honour and aprivilege to join that list.
I was delighted.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And why is advocacy so important?
It seems like a silly question.
You know we've always beenaround collecting the good guys,
but why is it something youtake quite seriously?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I think for me you know personally, in my role as
Chief People Officer andcertainly here at Prince's, you
know we've been quite a journeyof transformation ourselves over
the last few years.
Inclusion and diversity,probably more inclusion,
deliberately focused aroundinclusion so that diversity,
hopefully, is generatedorganically through having the
(02:32):
right sort of culture.
It's been really important andI think that being recognized as
part of that list, not just formyself but for the business, it
showed just the progress thatwe've made.
And as the person who is, Iguess, the sponsor of that in
(02:53):
our organization I hasten to add, there's lots of others that do
a lot of hard work but as asponsor for that, it was
fantastic for me to berecognized.
But I think, more importantly,fantastic for the business and I
think it showed our colleaguesas well, because we shared that
Obviously, I shouted about itquite a bit.
It showed our colleagues thatwe're on the right journey and
(03:15):
that we're doing the rightthings and that you know we're
on the right track.
So it was great and that's whyit was really important to me
and again, quite an honor.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
What piece of advice would you give out there,
because I think I have lots ofpeople who adopt and support um
organizations or employeeresource groups or communities
supporting women, but how, um,sometimes there's a fear about,
well, I'm not quite sure what todo.
So therefore I'll wear thelanyard or I'll wear the pin
(03:45):
badge.
But actually, how can I be moreof an advocate and how do I
turn that passivity into action?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I think, certainly for organisations who are
debating, that it's just make astart, just get on the journey,
however small, whatever the babysteps are first, you know.
But make a start and start,have a story and have a
narrative that you want to sharewith your colleagues.
But beyond that, it's put somereal deliberate intent behind it
(04:17):
.
You know, make it important.
And that's what we did.
You know we developed astrategy, so we had a plan.
I think that's another keything.
Don't just think these thingswill happen because you say
they're going to happen.
You know you need a plan, youneed a strategy and you need
really disciplined execution,because some days it's tough and
(04:38):
you feel like you're makingvery little progress, but other
days, you know, there's lightbulb moments, there's penny drop
moments for people, and you seepeople connect, um, and you
hear the language and the tonechange in the organization and
you realize that you really arestarting to to make a bit of a
difference.
Um, and for people who want toget involved, it is literally
(05:02):
that it is get involved, show aninterest, share your story, be
willing to put yourself outthere so that you can normalize
some of the conversations thatneed to take place in
organizations, but get stuck in,get involved, go and speak to
whoever it might be who'sresponsible for that, or come up
with some ideas, but, you know,don't again.
(05:24):
From a colleague perspective,our strategy has been really
built on colleague involvementand colleague engagement,
because without that you don'tgenerate that organic cultural
shift that you're looking for it.
Again, it feels like aninitiative that had been done
unto the organization by a loadof people, perhaps in HR.
You need people to engage in itand you need to get them
(05:48):
involved, and that's what we did.
We had well over 100 colleaguesget involved in our colleague
resource groups.
We had a strategy, we had aplan.
So we had an identity and we puta lot of effort into it.
We had an identity and we put alot of effort into it, but a
lot of it does rest, I have tosay, on colleagues going the
extra mile, doing the extrahours, putting the time in,
(06:13):
coming up without attendingevents, and you know, big sales,
pride events, guest speakers,there's a raft of things, but it
comes from ideas from yourcolleague group, um, more often
than not, and those are thethings that resound best.
So get involved, get stuck in,be willing to share.
Be willing to be open andauthentic and share your story
(06:33):
and I think that having the planis key.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
I see so many organizations and they'll set up
lots of groups, but there is noplan, and and often, if there's
no plan, you're only going toachieve what was on the plan,
right?
Nothing, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I totally agree.
But don't let the planconstrain you.
You know, have some ideas, havesome goals, have some
objectives, so that you can, sopeople feel like they're
actually achieving something.
Because I think, you know,people need to see the small
wins and the marginal gains tomake.
Feel like you know people needto see the small wins and the
marginal gains to make, feellike you know they're making
progress.
(07:06):
But don't let the planconstrain you, but at least have
a direction and some steps andsome actionable things that you
want to get stuck into.
Otherwise, the danger is we'veseen a little bit of it that it
just becomes a bit of a talkingshop, a bit of an echo chamber,
um, of some like-mindedindividuals, but actually, you
(07:26):
know, tangible progress isn'tmade.
So you've got, you've got tohave, uh, and the ideal
combination of both it's like arecipe, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
and I think you talked about sort of it is that
individual action and talkingabout that and that and those
people sort of sharing thosepersonal stories?
One of the things that you'vebeen very open about is your
battle with mental health andyour battle with anxiety and
your battle with and then tellus about that.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah.
So obviously, being the I guess, the sponsor of this cultural
program, you know that hadinclusion and diversity very
much at the heart of it.
I felt like I needed to takethe lead and to create the
environment that normalized someof those conversations and made
people understand that, youknow, everybody is impacted and
(08:18):
everybody's got a story andnever judge a book by its cover
and that it's okay to not beokay.
That was one of our strap linesat the start.
So I wanted to take the lead onthat and I wanted to share my
story with the entireorganization and externally I
think it went everywhere.
I had lots and lots of and thatwasn't the intention, but I had
(08:40):
lots and lots of messages frompeople hundreds in fact from
within the company and externalto the company saying how much
that had helped.
I shared my story about mymental health journey and my
sort of 20-year now battle withanxiety, and that I wanted
colleagues to know that, eventhough I may be perceived as
(09:03):
being in a senior position inthe business, I still had my own
trials and tribulations andthat it was okay for them to
have those too.
And through our CRGs, andparticularly our accessibility
CRG, of which I'm a member.
We wanted to open thoseconversations up and discuss
(09:25):
mental health, particularlycoming out of COVID.
We were getting a lot offeedback from colleagues around
the fact that they werestruggling with their mental
health following the pandemicand the whole uncertainty and
concerns and return to theoffice or not return to the
office.
So it was one of those thingswhere I shared my story and,
(09:51):
from the feedback that I've hadand from how it's progressed, I
think it's definitely helpedpeople.
It helped me because up untilthat time, you know, part of my
anxiety journey has been thefact that you know sometimes if
you're struggling, particularlywith that type of challenge, it
(10:13):
can feel like a dirty secret orsomething that you don't want to
share because it might be asign of weakness or something
like that.
But one of the things thatdebilitates anxiety is actually
people knowing about it and oncepeople knew about it, that made
the internal story that I wastelling myself less scary, and
(10:38):
the fact that people knew aboutit and were very supportive that
if I was struggling then itwouldn't be such a big deal.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And I feel like that's it's fueled you on.
It's a bit like if you talkabout it, it debilitates it,
right it's not as bad.
And it's not stopped you.
You know you've had guestspeaker Rikki Arundel, louise
Minchin love Louise Minchin,she's amazing.
You've done various Q&As andthen you've done an anti-racism
webinar with John Legend.
Now we did chat before.
(11:06):
I know you're a red, I'm a blue, it's okay, we can be friends,
but what was that like?
Was that one of your highlights?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah, the chat with John Barnes was a real.
I was a bit of a fanboy momentI'm not going to lie Having him
on the screen.
It wasn't face-to-face,unfortunately, it was on a Teams
chat like this, but I was a bitin awe and I have to say he was
an amazing speaker.
He's got a great story.
(11:34):
I think he was just about tolaunch a book that he was doing
on that topic and it wasfascinating to listen to.
It was just sit back and listento John and he spoke really
passionately, really eloquentlyand in such a knowledgeable way
about the topic.
It was a great moment and onethat I proudly shared with lots
(11:57):
of people.
I was on a call with JohnBarnes today, um, so you know
how many times?
Speaker 1 (12:02):
how many times did you tell someone?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
a lot, a lot, a lot, um.
So, yeah, that was it.
That was a really uh, that wasa proud moment.
But we've had lots of people um, we've had Gareth Thomas, the
ex-Wales Rugby International,talking about you know, from an
LGBT perspective.
We've had lots of people comein and do those and I referred
(12:26):
to them when we started this ascultural catalysts and they were
people that passionate peoplewho people could resonate with
from you know, not necessarilyall from a celebrity status, but
well-known people who come intothe organization, give a talk
like that and it really doesincite excitement, motivation,
(12:47):
passion around the topic and yousee a real buzz and a real
upsurge in activity and peoplewanting to get involved.
Upsurge in activity and peoplewanting to get involved so
powerful cultural catalysts, asI referred to them, as we used
them.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That's easy for you to say I know, but we're talking
.
Well-being is really importantas well.
I know one of the things foryou is your side hustles, or
something you're passionateabout is MMA what part has that
got to play in your well-being?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
um, I think for me, you know, sport, fitness, uh,
getting out doing stuff hasalways been um, a real passion
and um and something that reallyhelps.
You know, when you are um,you've got a lot of stresses in
life, family, work, all sorts ofstuff going on.
It's important to have sometime for yourself.
It's important to be able toswitch off punch things in my
(13:42):
case, and it's something that Ireally need, and if I don't get
the option to do that, I alwaystend to see my mood slightly dip
, I miss it, I feel quite angrythat I've not been able to do it
.
So, yeah, it's important to getthat balance.
(14:03):
So for me, with my mentalhealth, but also my general
health and well-being, you know,that is something that fitness,
getting out doing stuff,whether it's just for a walk
with the dog or whatever it'sdoing, it's.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Bobby, your dog Bobby .
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Bobby the Cavapoo.
He's a bit of a celebrity inPrince's because he appears on
calls lots, because he alwayswants to sit on my knee, but
he's not on our podcast.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
He's not in your sunflower field Next time.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Unfortunately, I'm in the office today and we don't
yet have a bring your dog towork policy, but that might be
next.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
You can bring him into.
We Are Power HQ anytime.
Joe, Now talk to us from fromMMA.
So we've talked about advocacy,we've talked about mental
health, well-being and the partMMA has to play.
What part is DJing?
As someone who is just about toembark on some DJ lessons, what
?
Speaker 2 (14:51):
part does I am.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
I know, don't judge me, don't judge, although you
know, like Andy Burnham andSteve Rotham have that kind of
DJ.
Maybe that's what we could domaybe that's what we can do.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Our challenge, oh, we are power challenge again.
You know, I love my music and Ilove house dance music and it
was something that I startedgetting into a few years ago
with my oldest son, and we bothwent and we were both having
lessons at this fantastic placein Manchester called Make Me A
(15:21):
DJ.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That's where I'm going.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Are you, are you really?
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I am.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
I think you need to look up, make sure your lessons
are with DJ Kyle Kennedy.
Kyle Kennedy is a fantastic guy.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I've got Holly because it's got to be girl
power right Good girl power guy.
I've got Holly because it's gotto be girl power right.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Good girl power.
I'm there next week becausethat is a very difficult and
never-ending journey of learning.
Anyway, I got into that with myson and actually probably I bit
the bug a little bit more thanhe did, and so I've been doing
that and it's one of thosethings that you feel like you
want to be able to master, but Ithink it could take me a while.
(16:01):
I don't think I'm the oldest DJin town, but probably one of
them.
But yeah, I've got someplaylists, I've done things.
I might even be on a radio showtomorrow night.
So yeah, it's coming along,simone.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So maybe, when you've had a few lessons, we can oh
know but now you've made me wary, because I feel like I'm
literally just going to turn upand be car cocks or, or you know
, the fat boy slim or somethinglike that.
That's what I feel.
So, please, don't don't put anillusion for me I'm sure you
will well, I will take yourchallenge and we, we can.
We can absolutely power print,powered by princes.
(16:36):
There you go absolutely myfinal question um is what is
your superpower?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
wow, that's a good question, um.
I'd like to think that mysuperpower in the job that I do
is is understanding people andum and having empathy for people
, because I think unless you'vegot that in my job, then it
becomes very, very difficult.
You need to understand allperspectives.
(17:07):
You need to never judge a bookby its cover and you need to be
very open-minded and empatheticto to whatever might cross your
door or inbox, um, and you knowwe get all sorts from a hr
people perspective, um, andyou've got to treat everyone you
know with that same empathy andunderstanding and kindness,
(17:30):
without um prejudging or ajudgment in any way, for that
matter.
So you know I think that is oneof the things that people have
said to me that I'm reallyunderstanding and empathetic and
a listener a good listener, Ithink, is another key trait,
although my wife might disagreewith that.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
We'll get her in the next podcast and we'll find out.
Joe, thank you so much forbeing a five-star advocate.
You're welcome.
Thank you so much foreverything that you purposefully
champion, and thank you forjoining me here today and look
forward to seeing you in the djoff it's been a pleasure and
thank you very much for havingme um.
(18:08):
I've enjoyed that, thank you oh,thank you so much, joe.
Thank you for joining me.
Subscribe on youtube, apple,amazon music, spotify or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Leave us a review or follow uson socials.
We are Power underscore net onInsta, tiktok and Twitter.
We are Power on LinkedIn,facebook and we are underscore
(18:28):
Power on YouTube.
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast.
If this is your first time here, the we Are Power podcast is
the podcast for you, your careerand your life.
We release an episode everysingle Monday with listeners in
over 60 countries worldwide,where you'll hear personal life
stories, top-notch industryadvice and key leadership
insight from amazing role models.
(00:21):
As we Are Power is the umbrellabrand to Northern Power Women
Awards, which celebrateshundreds of female role models
and advocates every year.
This is where you can hearstories from all of our awards
alumni and stay up to date witheverything.
Mpw Awards and we Are PowerNever imitated, never replicated
(00:42):
singularly wonderful,everybody's wonder girl.
Well, today I am joined by theChief People Officer.
Northern Power Women AwardsAdvocacy List 2024,.
Joe Dent, I had to get you on apodcast to track you down for a
chat.
Nice and welcome to the podcasttoday.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, thank you for having me, simone.
It's my pleasure to be here and, yeah, you know I haven't been
hiding.
I've just been, you know,extremely busy doing other stuff
.
But you know, I'm more thanhappy to help out and be on a
podcast today.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
It's quite an honour.
Created the Northern PowerWomen Awards Advocacy List in
2024 to recognize those amazingadvocates really flying the flag
for gender equality, and yoursubmission was pretty impressive
in front of our judges,including the esteemed Nazir
(01:38):
Absel OBE.
So welcome.
And now, to be honest, it'stime to get you to work right.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah, well, listen, I have to say that being part of
the advocacy list was a hugehonour.
I was delighted.
It made my year, I think.
And yeah, a real honour and aprivilege to join that list.
I was delighted.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
And why is advocacy so important?
It seems like a silly question.
You know we've always beenaround collecting the good guys,
but why is it something youtake quite seriously?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I think for me you know personally, in my role as
Chief People Officer andcertainly here at Prince's, you
know we've been quite a journeyof transformation ourselves over
the last few years.
Inclusion and diversity,probably more inclusion,
deliberately focused aroundinclusion so that diversity,
hopefully, is generatedorganically through having the
(02:32):
right sort of culture.
It's been really important andI think that being recognized as
part of that list, not just formyself but for the business, it
showed just the progress thatwe've made.
And as the person who is, Iguess, the sponsor of that in
(02:53):
our organization I hasten to add, there's lots of others that do
a lot of hard work but as asponsor for that, it was
fantastic for me to berecognized.
But I think, more importantly,fantastic for the business and I
think it showed our colleaguesas well, because we shared that
Obviously, I shouted about itquite a bit.
It showed our colleagues thatwe're on the right journey and
(03:15):
that we're doing the rightthings and that you know we're
on the right track.
So it was great and that's whyit was really important to me
and again, quite an honor.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
What piece of advice would you give out there,
because I think I have lots ofpeople who adopt and support um
organizations or employeeresource groups or communities
supporting women, but how, um,sometimes there's a fear about,
well, I'm not quite sure what todo.
So therefore I'll wear thelanyard or I'll wear the pin
(03:45):
badge.
But actually, how can I be moreof an advocate and how do I
turn that passivity into action?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I think, certainly for organisations who are
debating, that it's just make astart, just get on the journey,
however small, whatever the babysteps are first, you know.
But make a start and start,have a story and have a
narrative that you want to sharewith your colleagues.
But beyond that, it's put somereal deliberate intent behind it
(04:17):
.
You know, make it important.
And that's what we did.
You know we developed astrategy, so we had a plan.
I think that's another keything.
Don't just think these thingswill happen because you say
they're going to happen.
You know you need a plan, youneed a strategy and you need
really disciplined execution,because some days it's tough and
(04:38):
you feel like you're makingvery little progress, but other
days, you know, there's lightbulb moments, there's penny drop
moments for people, and you seepeople connect, um, and you
hear the language and the tonechange in the organization and
you realize that you really arestarting to to make a bit of a
difference.
Um, and for people who want toget involved, it is literally
(05:02):
that it is get involved, show aninterest, share your story, be
willing to put yourself outthere so that you can normalize
some of the conversations thatneed to take place in
organizations, but get stuck in,get involved, go and speak to
whoever it might be who'sresponsible for that, or come up
with some ideas, but, you know,don't again.
(05:24):
From a colleague perspective,our strategy has been really
built on colleague involvementand colleague engagement,
because without that you don'tgenerate that organic cultural
shift that you're looking for it.
Again, it feels like aninitiative that had been done
unto the organization by a loadof people, perhaps in HR.
You need people to engage in itand you need to get them
(05:48):
involved, and that's what we did.
We had well over 100 colleaguesget involved in our colleague
resource groups.
We had a strategy, we had aplan.
So we had an identity and we puta lot of effort into it.
We had an identity and we put alot of effort into it, but a
lot of it does rest, I have tosay, on colleagues going the
extra mile, doing the extrahours, putting the time in,
(06:13):
coming up without attendingevents, and you know, big sales,
pride events, guest speakers,there's a raft of things, but it
comes from ideas from yourcolleague group, um, more often
than not, and those are thethings that resound best.
So get involved, get stuck in,be willing to share.
Be willing to be open andauthentic and share your story
(06:33):
and I think that having the planis key.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
I see so many organizations and they'll set up
lots of groups, but there is noplan, and and often, if there's
no plan, you're only going toachieve what was on the plan,
right?
Nothing, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I totally agree.
But don't let the planconstrain you.
You know, have some ideas, havesome goals, have some
objectives, so that you can, sopeople feel like they're
actually achieving something.
Because I think, you know,people need to see the small
wins and the marginal gains tomake.
Feel like you know people needto see the small wins and the
marginal gains to make, feellike you know they're making
progress.
(07:06):
But don't let the planconstrain you, but at least have
a direction and some steps andsome actionable things that you
want to get stuck into.
Otherwise, the danger is we'veseen a little bit of it that it
just becomes a bit of a talkingshop, a bit of an echo chamber,
um, of some like-mindedindividuals, but actually, you
(07:26):
know, tangible progress isn'tmade.
So you've got, you've got tohave, uh, and the ideal
combination of both it's like arecipe, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
and I think you talked about sort of it is that
individual action and talkingabout that and that and those
people sort of sharing thosepersonal stories?
One of the things that you'vebeen very open about is your
battle with mental health andyour battle with anxiety and
your battle with and then tellus about that.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah.
So obviously, being the I guess, the sponsor of this cultural
program, you know that hadinclusion and diversity very
much at the heart of it.
I felt like I needed to takethe lead and to create the
environment that normalized someof those conversations and made
people understand that, youknow, everybody is impacted and
(08:18):
everybody's got a story andnever judge a book by its cover
and that it's okay to not beokay.
That was one of our strap linesat the start.
So I wanted to take the lead onthat and I wanted to share my
story with the entireorganization and externally I
think it went everywhere.
I had lots and lots of and thatwasn't the intention, but I had
(08:40):
lots and lots of messages frompeople hundreds in fact from
within the company and externalto the company saying how much
that had helped.
I shared my story about mymental health journey and my
sort of 20-year now battle withanxiety, and that I wanted
colleagues to know that, eventhough I may be perceived as
(09:03):
being in a senior position inthe business, I still had my own
trials and tribulations andthat it was okay for them to
have those too.
And through our CRGs, andparticularly our accessibility
CRG, of which I'm a member.
We wanted to open thoseconversations up and discuss
(09:25):
mental health, particularlycoming out of COVID.
We were getting a lot offeedback from colleagues around
the fact that they werestruggling with their mental
health following the pandemicand the whole uncertainty and
concerns and return to theoffice or not return to the
office.
So it was one of those thingswhere I shared my story and,
(09:51):
from the feedback that I've hadand from how it's progressed, I
think it's definitely helpedpeople.
It helped me because up untilthat time, you know, part of my
anxiety journey has been thefact that you know sometimes if
you're struggling, particularlywith that type of challenge, it
(10:13):
can feel like a dirty secret orsomething that you don't want to
share because it might be asign of weakness or something
like that.
But one of the things thatdebilitates anxiety is actually
people knowing about it and oncepeople knew about it, that made
the internal story that I wastelling myself less scary, and
(10:38):
the fact that people knew aboutit and were very supportive that
if I was struggling then itwouldn't be such a big deal.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And I feel like that's it's fueled you on.
It's a bit like if you talkabout it, it debilitates it,
right it's not as bad.
And it's not stopped you.
You know you've had guestspeaker Rikki Arundel, louise
Minchin love Louise Minchin,she's amazing.
You've done various Q&As andthen you've done an anti-racism
webinar with John Legend.
Now we did chat before.
(11:06):
I know you're a red, I'm a blue, it's okay, we can be friends,
but what was that like?
Was that one of your highlights?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah, the chat with John Barnes was a real.
I was a bit of a fanboy momentI'm not going to lie Having him
on the screen.
It wasn't face-to-face,unfortunately, it was on a Teams
chat like this, but I was a bitin awe and I have to say he was
an amazing speaker.
He's got a great story.
(11:34):
I think he was just about tolaunch a book that he was doing
on that topic and it wasfascinating to listen to.
It was just sit back and listento John and he spoke really
passionately, really eloquentlyand in such a knowledgeable way
about the topic.
It was a great moment and onethat I proudly shared with lots
(11:57):
of people.
I was on a call with JohnBarnes today, um, so you know
how many times?
Speaker 1 (12:02):
how many times did you tell someone?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
a lot, a lot, a lot, um.
So, yeah, that was it.
That was a really uh, that wasa proud moment.
But we've had lots of people um, we've had Gareth Thomas, the
ex-Wales Rugby International,talking about you know, from an
LGBT perspective.
We've had lots of people comein and do those and I referred
(12:26):
to them when we started this ascultural catalysts and they were
people that passionate peoplewho people could resonate with
from you know, not necessarilyall from a celebrity status, but
well-known people who come intothe organization, give a talk
like that and it really doesincite excitement, motivation,
(12:47):
passion around the topic and yousee a real buzz and a real
upsurge in activity and peoplewanting to get involved.
Upsurge in activity and peoplewanting to get involved so
powerful cultural catalysts, asI referred to them, as we used
them.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
That's easy for you to say I know, but we're talking
.
Well-being is really importantas well.
I know one of the things foryou is your side hustles, or
something you're passionateabout is MMA what part has that
got to play in your well-being?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
um, I think for me, you know, sport, fitness, uh,
getting out doing stuff hasalways been um, a real passion
and um and something that reallyhelps.
You know, when you are um,you've got a lot of stresses in
life, family, work, all sorts ofstuff going on.
It's important to have sometime for yourself.
It's important to be able toswitch off punch things in my
(13:42):
case, and it's something that Ireally need, and if I don't get
the option to do that, I alwaystend to see my mood slightly dip
, I miss it, I feel quite angrythat I've not been able to do it
.
So, yeah, it's important to getthat balance.
(14:03):
So for me, with my mentalhealth, but also my general
health and well-being, you know,that is something that fitness,
getting out doing stuff,whether it's just for a walk
with the dog or whatever it'sdoing, it's.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Bobby, your dog Bobby .
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Bobby the Cavapoo.
He's a bit of a celebrity inPrince's because he appears on
calls lots, because he alwayswants to sit on my knee, but
he's not on our podcast.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
He's not in your sunflower field Next time.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Unfortunately, I'm in the office today and we don't
yet have a bring your dog towork policy, but that might be
next.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
You can bring him into.
We Are Power HQ anytime.
Joe, Now talk to us from fromMMA.
So we've talked about advocacy,we've talked about mental
health, well-being and the partMMA has to play.
What part is DJing?
As someone who is just about toembark on some DJ lessons, what
?
Speaker 2 (14:51):
part does I am.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
I know, don't judge me, don't judge, although you
know, like Andy Burnham andSteve Rotham have that kind of
DJ.
Maybe that's what we could domaybe that's what we can do.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Our challenge, oh, we are power challenge again.
You know, I love my music and Ilove house dance music and it
was something that I startedgetting into a few years ago
with my oldest son, and we bothwent and we were both having
lessons at this fantastic placein Manchester called Make Me A
(15:21):
DJ.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
That's where I'm going.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Are you, are you really?
Speaker 1 (15:26):
I am.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
I think you need to look up, make sure your lessons
are with DJ Kyle Kennedy.
Kyle Kennedy is a fantastic guy.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
I've got Holly because it's got to be girl
power right Good girl power guy.
I've got Holly because it's gotto be girl power right.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Good girl power.
I'm there next week becausethat is a very difficult and
never-ending journey of learning.
Anyway, I got into that with myson and actually probably I bit
the bug a little bit more thanhe did, and so I've been doing
that and it's one of thosethings that you feel like you
want to be able to master, but Ithink it could take me a while.
(16:01):
I don't think I'm the oldest DJin town, but probably one of
them.
But yeah, I've got someplaylists, I've done things.
I might even be on a radio showtomorrow night.
So yeah, it's coming along,simone.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So maybe, when you've had a few lessons, we can oh
know but now you've made me wary, because I feel like I'm
literally just going to turn upand be car cocks or, or you know
, the fat boy slim or somethinglike that.
That's what I feel.
So, please, don't don't put anillusion for me I'm sure you
will well, I will take yourchallenge and we, we can.
We can absolutely power print,powered by princes.
(16:36):
There you go absolutely myfinal question um is what is
your superpower?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
wow, that's a good question, um.
I'd like to think that mysuperpower in the job that I do
is is understanding people andum and having empathy for people
, because I think unless you'vegot that in my job, then it
becomes very, very difficult.
You need to understand allperspectives.
(17:07):
You need to never judge a bookby its cover and you need to be
very open-minded and empatheticto to whatever might cross your
door or inbox, um, and you knowwe get all sorts from a hr
people perspective, um, andyou've got to treat everyone you
know with that same empathy andunderstanding and kindness,
(17:30):
without um prejudging or ajudgment in any way, for that
matter.
So you know I think that is oneof the things that people have
said to me that I'm reallyunderstanding and empathetic and
a listener a good listener, Ithink, is another key trait,
although my wife might disagreewith that.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
We'll get her in the next podcast and we'll find out.
Joe, thank you so much forbeing a five-star advocate.
You're welcome.
Thank you so much foreverything that you purposefully
champion, and thank you forjoining me here today and look
forward to seeing you in the djoff it's been a pleasure and
thank you very much for havingme um.
(18:08):
I've enjoyed that, thank you oh,thank you so much, joe.
Thank you for joining me.
Subscribe on youtube, apple,amazon music, spotify or
wherever you get your podcasts.
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We are Power underscore net onInsta, tiktok and Twitter.
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(18:28):
Power on YouTube.
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