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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.

More

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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

Got a question for The NABS Podcast?

Rob Beevers is chief effectiveness and analytics officer at MG OMD. He’s also an ADHDer and hugely insightful about AI, especially on how it affects neurodivergent people – and how we can best use AI to create inclusive teams.

Rob combines quick-fire thinking with humour and insight, making this a fascinating and non-stop conversation. Rob’s also one of our mentors on NABS’ Walk and Talk event this summer, so sign up and you could chat with Rob in person.

Key takeaways:

• Societal structures often favour neurotypical people, but it’s time to consider that neurodivergence isn’t an accident – it’s evolved on purpose
• Late-diagnosed ADHD’ers, such as Rob, can struggle with complex emotions around diagnosis, especially if their children are also ADHD
• Reasonable adjustments can very much help in the workplace, but workplaces also need to embrace a culture of inclusion where differences are celebrated and built into working practices
• AI can be used to tailor workflows that work with people’s needs to boost productivity and job satisfaction.

Resources:

Rob’s Substack

NABS Advice Line

NABS coaching

NABS workshops

NABS Walk and Talk

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?

James Cornish is SVP of international sales and partnerships at Vivo. He’s also a fitness enthusiast who turned his passion into a brilliant community fundraiser for NABS, bringing together people from across adland to compete in the ATHX Games fitness challenge to raise much-needed funds.

In this inspirational chat, James – still recovering after undertaking his 24-hour fitness challenge – discusses the brilliant impact of fundraising, not just in terms of money raised, but also on the industry community who come together to take part.

Key takeaways:

• Movement can help you to keep on top of your mental wellness, whether that’s CrossFit or taking a stroll.
• If you have a passion that you can turn into a fundraiser, other adlanders will want to join you.
• Tap into your contacts when you want to organise something – you’ll receive lots of help.

Resources

Got an idea for a community fundraiser for NABS? Email our friendly team at: events@nabs.org.uk

NABS x ATHX Games

NABS Stranger than Summer

NABS Walk and Talk

What's on at NABS?

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

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Got a question for The NABS Podcast?

Charlotte Coughlan is managing partner at Leo UK and a mum to two young children. Which makes her super busy – yet impressively she’s still found the time and energy to create Parental Guidance, a mentoring scheme for working parents across adland.

Charlotte is passionate about helping other working parents, having been through the mill herself.

During Charlotte’s second maternity leave, she was unexpectedly made redundant when the agency she loved working for shut down. In shock, and robbed of the chance to enjoy her last mat leave, Charlotte spent the time juggling the demands of a newborn baby and a four-year-old with finding a new job.

Happily, Charlotte is now working at Leo’s, where she founded an internal network, Parentland, to support fellow parents. Wanting to take this a step further, Charlotte has created Parental Guidance (love the name) to connect working parents across the industry for support, advice and cheerleading.

In this episode, Charlotte shares:

• The crushing effects of losing a job during maternity leave – an all-too-common experience
• What working parents can bring to their businesses
• How mentoring can support parents’ mental wellness

Resources

Parentland

Parental Guidance

NABS Advice Line

NABS Walk and Talk

Who’s Your Momma

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

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Got a question for The NABS Podcast?

Get cosy, festive and fundraisy as we celebrate NABS' amazing donor community with the publication of the Yay List, in partnership with Campaign - this year's industry list to be on.

Grab an eggnog and a mince pie and settle down for a celebratory chat with top NABS supporters James White and Michelle Sarpong, along with Sue Todd, CEO, NABS. 'Yule' get tips for supporting yourself from now until the New Year from our trio of brilliant industry leaders.

Key takeaways include:

• It's OK to party strategically, or even say no to events if you need to recharge
• Why NABS' donor community is fundamental to the industry's mental wellness
• How your organisation can avoid being on Santa's naughty list by supporting NABS

Have yourself a wonderful festive break and we'll see you next year for more intimate, supportive and inspiring conversations

NABS Yay List

NABS Advice Line

NABS Stranger than Summer

NABS workshops

NABS speed mentoring

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?

Steven Ballinger, known best to the industry as Bally, is chief commercial officer at Astus. He is also a huge advocate for mental wellness after experiencing a breakdown. It's a turnaround for somebody who was raised to carry on, no matter what: he now checks in on himself and his team daily and encourages us all to do the same.

Also joining us for this episode is Annabel McCaffrey, head of support, NABS.

This episode is part of our Yay List mini series. The Yay List celebrates the brilliant donors who power NABS' purpose, enabling us to carry out our mission - to advance the mental wellness of thousands of people in our industry each year.

Key takeaways:

• There is strength in vulnerability - talking about what's going on for you emotionally.
• Checking in with yourself is essential and simple - ask yourself daily, how am I feeling?
• Managers can be a listening ear for their teams and that's how best to give emotional support -the next step is to signpost to NABS.

Resources

NABS Yay List

NABS Walk and Talk

NABS All Ears

NABS Managers' Mindsets

NABS Advice Line

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