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Matthew Knight is a freelance strategist and founder of Leapers, an initiative that supports the mental health of freelancers.

Matthew is a leader in this field and his award-winning work has supported more than 250,000 freelancers in the last decade, informing policymakers, communities and hirers.

Also a single working parent, Matthew somehow found time in his schedule to guest on the NABS Podcast and we're so glad that he did. This is a brilliantly practical and heartfelt chat, with no-nonsense yet empathetic and essential advice for freelancers and hirers of freelancers alike.

Key takeaways:

Taking care of yourself ensures that you can continue to work - it's a critical piece of your wellbeing

Practise the ABC of freelancing mental health: Active Awareness, Behaviours and Boundaries, and Community and Connection.

Increasingly, people are turning to freelancing through circumstance, for example redundancy: this makes seeking out support even more important.

Resources:

Freelance support for freelancers: https://www.freelancing.support/

Mental health support for freelancers: https://www.leapers.co/

Resources for organisations/hirers: https://www.workwellwith.us/

Freelance communities for parents: https://www.doingitforthekids.net/freelance-communities/

NABS Advice Line: https://nabs.org.uk/get-help/

Support the show

We are NABS. And we're here for you - for the great stuff, the tough stuff and everything in between. As an independent charity, we're set on advancing the mental wellness of our industry and helping everyone find their way forward - wherever they're starting from.

👋 Need a helping hand? We're right here.

🌻 Group workshops or in-house training? Sign up to our sessions.

🤝 Industry events or networking? Check out our calendar.

📞 Sounding board on promotions, redundancies, parental leave - life in general? Here's how we can help.

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Got a question for The NABS Podcast?

From crisis to coach: overcoming late ADHD diagnosis

t/w: suicide

Alan Stracey is an ICF-accredited ADHD coach who leads NABS workshops as well as running his own practice. Alan came to coaching after experiencing the darkest of times, following 20 years in a creative career. A late ADHD diagnosis empowered him to understand himself and drove him to help others in the same situation.

Alan brings wisdom and lived experience to this heartfelt chat, along with his fabulously relaxing voice.

Key takeaways:

• Knowing that you've survived the worst of times gives you the strength to handle future challenges
• ADHDers receive more criticism than most people - try to focus on what you do well to transform your self-esteem
• Getting a diagnosis as an adult can be affirming and help to remove any sense of shame felt by the individual

Resources mentioned in this episode:

NABS Advice Line
NABS ADHD coaching
Alan's LinkedIn post on ADHD and mental health
More about Alan
Manual of Me
Adult ADHD self-screening tool

Support the show

We are NABS. And we're here for you - for the great stuff, the tough stuff and everything in between. As an independent charity, we're set on advancing the mental wellness of our industry and helping everyone find their way forward - wherever they're starting from.

👋 Need a helping hand? We're right here.

🌻 Group workshops or in-house training? Sign up to our sessions.

🤝 Industry events or networking? Check out our calendar.

📞 Sounding board on promotions, redundancies, parental leave - life in general? Here's how we can help.

More

Find out how you can support NABS

Sign up to the NABS newsletter

Follow NABS on LinkedIn

Watch NABS Talks on YouTube

Got a question for The NABS Podcast?

Xavier Rees is AMV Group CEO and one of our industry’s most formidable leaders. His track record in speaking out about mental wellness is as strong as his outstanding career history, demonstrating clearly how senior leaders can be vocal role models for supporting mental wellness.

Xavier has spoken previously about supporting his family through challenging times. In this edition of the podcast, he takes a fresh look at how he supported himself while supported others, and vitally how he navigated a new role while assessing his work/life priorities.

Xavier also speaks at length about his experiencing overseeing the recent FCB and AMV BBDO merger. With M&A a hot topic in adland right now, Xavier offers brilliant insights into how and why to act quickly to ensure teams feel welcomed, informed and understood.

Key takeaways:

• The bigger the gap between the reality of your situation and the version you’re trying to portray, the greater the space for mental wellness issues to grow.
• Know the things that will help you to gain perspective, reduce anxiety and feel capable and make time for them to help you get through tough times.
• In times of change, for example M&A, what people want is transparency, clarity and an understanding of where things are heading.

Resources:

NABS Advice Line https://nabs.org.uk/get-help/

NABS' TUPE guide https://nabs.org.uk/advice/tupe-guide/

Support the show

We are NABS. And we're here for you - for the great stuff, the tough stuff and everything in between. As an independent charity, we're set on advancing the mental wellness of our industry and helping everyone find their way forward - wherever they're starting from.

👋 Need a helping hand? We're right here.

🌻 Group workshops or in-house training? Sign up to our sessions.

🤝 Industry events or networking? Check out our calendar.

📞 Sounding board on promotions, redundancies, parental leave - life in general? Here's how we can help.

More

Find out how you can support NABS

Sign up to the NABS newsletter

Follow NABS on LinkedIn

Watch NABS Talks on YouTube