This is where we be. Greetings. Welcome to Visual PR Live. It's actually officially Episode 2, but it's a completely different look and feel. There's been a big gap between Episode 1 and 2 because I've been focusing on everyone else's shows, as you can imagine, rather than our own internal. But we're going to go for it, and it is a different format.
We're going to do a little bit of a talk at the beginning about Visual PR and how you can get the most out of the service we don't just do the shows it's all of the things you can do pre and post production as well and I've then got a very special business guest and a very special charity guest on as well so let's get episode two underway so there we go all the intros done and dusted for for my side and I just want to cover a couple of bits and pieces that are going to be helpful not just for
existing clients but for future clients because we're really designed to make sure that the retainer is is on board to get more than just these live episodes if you consider podcasts with a video element but going live where we can get interaction with any viewers with comments and questions. And please, anybody, ask comments or questions of me or the guests we've got coming up. We've got John Lewis from JL Mindset Performance. He's the business guest. And we've got Jeff Tucker from Best Mates.
Hashtag, we got you. An amazing charity that I've just started learning a lot more about. And it's just really, really special. So when they come up, please ask any questions. Now... The quick title from the visual PR side of things is to say, right, it's more than just the show. It's going to be great content because we can cover anything in it. We can do news, announcements, how-tos, instructional pieces, meet the team.
speaking to some of your customers, tours, because these cameras can be either in person, webcams or even mobile cameras touring around somewhere. So there's a lot of information that we can do, but it's about what we do wrapped all around it. Now, the idea is we schedule it from our virtual studio to your platforms, your YouTube channel, your Facebook page, your LinkedIn pages. And we then provide you with the links that say, here's the description of this episode.
Here's the guests that you've got on. And here is the links to share to people to be able to view it. And that would be a week before that it would push it out. So Facebook, it will be an event. So people can say they're interested or they're going on Facebook. So LinkedIn and YouTube, it's pending lives so that you'll be able to share those as well.
And the trick is, you know, share it as much as you possibly can, not just by sharing the event itself, but there can be QR codes or links and we can create branded QR codes for you that will take you to that episode. in your written PR, in your digital marketing efforts, anything at all. And you start getting people to know next week we've got this guest on and we're covering this subject and you create an anticipation.
So that's an idea of some of the things to do beforehand and try and get people to have their questions and comments ready. And it will just make it an even better experience. thing to be able to do. By the way, talk about comments. There we go. Hi, Sophia. Good to see you. I interviewed Sophia on a podcast last week as well for somebody else. So hi, Sophia. Great to see you. So your comments, your questions can all come up here as well. But it's not just about the pre. episode.
There's a lot that we can do post episode as well, post production. Now, one of the big things we do is that we create a number of clips. I'm just going to play this video just as an example. I can always point the wrong direction. There we go. That way, where we take the episode and we create a number of clips from them in three different size formats.
As you'll see from this nine by 16, 16 by nine and one by one, because all of our platforms, they love it in different angles, different sizes, don't they? We create those for you. half a dozen to a dozen clips, 20 to 90 seconds long, that sort of thing, so that you've now finished your episode and we've then got another three weeks of social media before we then start promoting the next episode.
So you've got a whole load of video collateral that is created from that episode to really give you, because what's the hardest thing I find with digital marketing is coming up with content. well, the episode can create a lot of that video content for you. And don't forget, not only is video content good in itself, there's the whole SEO side of it.
So when we create the description of the episode, we're thinking of the SEO because apparently YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. Second only to Google. And of course, Google put videos at the top of your search results from YouTube. So it makes sense that we do all of that. You're then sharing with descriptions as well on your social media. So you're getting a lot of traction, a lot of interaction.
If you've seen how much more interaction videos get over just text or even images, it's a worthwhile collateral to have.
um we can even put them as YouTube shorts so if you're putting a lot of effort into your YouTube channel these would go as live episodes plus an evergreen resource that is growing a library for you of content and guests but with these clips you're also able to create these YouTube shorts as well let alone things like TikTok kids are down with that John Lewis I can see him in the green room there he's probably getting down with TikTok yeah Geoff, you knew John would be on for that one,
wouldn't you? He'd be all over TikTok. He's a superstar there. But you've also able to encourage more people to be guests on your shows when they see how it works. And even if I'm not doing the presenting, because quite often people like that they're not being thrust in front of a camera with a script. I'm actually interviewing them and I do it professionally. I'm a professional motorsports commentator and things like that, as people who know me know. And it makes them relaxed.
It makes it a more natural conversational piece. But I don't have to be the interviewer. I can be the producer in the background. And sometimes we have our client has someone that is going to be the interviewer and they're interviewing other guests along. That's fine. And what you're doing is you're making people say, hey, this is a good thing to be doing.
and I want to be a guest on that as well and so you're growing that for you we can also strip the audio out from this and make it a podcast for you so an audio only podcast which are very popular these days but it means that they can either view it or just listen to it and it's all from the same show the same interview they're able to do all of the above we can also transcribe the whole show including who has been saying what and there you go there's a blog post for you to put on your website
or wherever it might go whilst embedding the video for you as well it's all there it's been created for you uh or you could just use that transcription for for seo and then of course the final piece before I start bringing my guests out from my side is that I mentioned earlier about these qr codes fully branded with your logo on it and everything that takes people to that episode. You suddenly do an article in a journal or a press release or whatever it might be.
Who's to say you don't throw this QR code at the bottom of that? So someone sat in a reception reading this journal. They're enthralled by it. You can only go so far in those words and you never know. Have they read it all? Have they read it in the tone and emotion that I wanted them to?
now you've got this here they're sat there with their phone next to them click this qr code and you can watch this interview in full bang they click that they're now watching on their youtube on their phone the full interview with the emotion with the humor if I have anything to do with it um you know the the personable side of it and so you're actually spreading add to that by the way you're now starting to get stats that will be able to show you how many people have watched that video
Therefore, and we can say that they've clicked from that particular journal and you start getting stats from written PR as well as your online media. So there's a lot of things that we do before a show, after a show, as well as during that show. And it is about that full service. And it really pays. We can do everything. All of that for you if you wanted to, or we can just be providing you with a collateral to enable you to do an awful lot more with your digital marketing and your PR.
Visual PR sits between PR and marketing, feeding from and to both of them. That's the kind of the idea of it. So hopefully that's going to help you make sure you get the absolute maximum out of your efforts with this and feel a lot more relaxed where you are being interviewed rather than thrust in front of a camera. And as I said earlier, I do like to try and have as much fun as we possibly can. So that's the tip from Visual PR. That's part one.
That means I'm now going to move on to part two and I'm going to bring on our business guest. John Lewis. Hello, my friend. Mr. Dawes, how are you, sir? I'm doing well, mate. It's so good to see you on. John Lewis from JL Mindset Performance, no less. Tis me, Chris. Tis me. I enjoy kind of being in the green room, although it's not very green here in my mum's cubbyhole in Bassett, looking at all the brilliant things that you do, mate, and everything visual PR offers.
So if you can airbrush this head out, and if you can make me sound different... We're all on that, mate. We're all fine. We're all fine. But listen, you and I have known each other for quite a few years, actually a lot of years, because I can't remember whether JL Mindset Performance existed when I first knew you, when you were collecting parcels and things like that, or whether that was just helping you build up to it. I can't remember. Yeah, I mean, well, actually, you were in Bassett, Chris.
Correct. We're in Bassett now, and you were over the top here by... uh yeah yeah big computers I've I was a delivery man at the time um so we're probably going back 10 years something like that probably more than that now mate I gotta be honest there's every chance it was longer ago than that but it's it's great to see I mean give us a a synopsis first of all we'll start then go into a bit more detail what is jl mindset performance Wow, what is JL Mindset Performance?
JL Mindset Performance is me as a trained person who helps people overcome the obstacles, whether that's in their life, whether that's in their business, whether that's in sport. It's all around mindset and helping people think in a different way that enables them to feel a different way, to enable them to perform a different way. And again, it crosses all boundaries, mate, because, you know, people... want to achieve things personally, professionally.
And I get, you know, I have the pleasure of doing it every single day, Chris, have the pleasure of doing it every single day. And there's several things I want to pick up on there. The first one is that you say you're trained and it's important to pick up on that because we're in a world where there's a lot of coaches, life coaches and things like that. That means that not everybody is trained and certified. And I know you spend a lot of time going and getting training yourself, don't you?
I do, mate.
I think it's important when you're working person-centred, so you're working with people on a mental, physical and emotional level, it's only right ethically and morally that you are doing things the correct way so you know you're doing things for for the good rather than just doing it to create a business you know opening up a book and saying that's it I'm I'm a life coach which can be done it's it's it's not accredited sorry it's not a um regulated industry yeah and for me chris I want to
give the best to to my clients knowing I'm doing things morally the right way you know things change all the time you know different techniques and tools to use with people so why would I not want to invest in my own development so I can offer people the best in their own personal and professional development well that sounded quite good Chris didn't it was that right no 100 absolutely and I enjoy that I like that because it is it's one of those things that definitely stood out
for me where I've spoken to you over the time is all the the accreditation and the training that you get and that you're able to then pass that on. And we're going to, when we get towards the tail end of the interview with you is that we're going to try and leave people with a couple of little nuggets of some description. I have no idea what they are. I put the pressure on you.
But, you know, I love the fact that your client base is so varied from, you know, just personal individuals that have got some kind of blocks or challenges. And, you know, we've gone through a tough time since 2000, sorry, 2020 with the pandemic in particular, that hurt a lot of people. And, you know, we've had a lot of challenges to overcome. So as individuals, there are, businesses as well as business people, because you actually go and train groups as well as individuals.
And some of the most enthralling is sports people that are already even achieving flying things, but not getting the mental, you know, mindset support. And you come in at that stage with all of that repertoire of clients. I do. And, you know, and again, I'd like to think that, you know, I think as we go through the age and just what you're saying there, Chris, you know, 2020 things change. And I think a lot of people since then are more self-aware of their own health and well-being and whatnot.
You know, even psychology. I'm not a sports psychologist. You know, I use NLP, which is, again, fantastic tools and techniques to use in sport. But, you know, even the notion of sports psychology is still new. You know, it's still a newish term. It's still a newish thing that people, you know, get or believe in, if I can use that. Because, again, even in sport, it was always you play sport. You know, and that was it.
Whereas, you know, again, as time goes on, you know, you need to understand it's not the athlete that plays sport. It's the person that plays sport with head, emotion and obviously the physical aspect. And when you can align all three, you know, chances are you'll get yourself in the best position to go on and perform your best. And again, that's why it crosses all boundaries because, you know, you and I are humans, Chris. Well, kind of. You're more human than I am. We know what it's like.
The better we feel in ourselves, then the better we naturally perform. It doesn't always mean we get the greatest results and whatnot, but we give ourselves the best chance. We give ourselves the best chance. It's like a jigsaw puzzle, isn't it? You know, it's like find someone as potentially born with with a talent. And I think there's a big element of that for those that go to the absolute tops. They still need to train to hone their skills and use it in the best possible way.
And, you know, all the other bits that come with it. But then you've got nutritionists that get involved. I provide media training for sports people because they need to interact with media and sponsors and supporters and things like that. Otherwise, they can still fall by the wayside and not achieve their full potential. So yours is probably the most obvious in my mind of all of them. I used to be a national level swimmer before I found beer and everything else like that.
And and it could be, you know, there are certain events that I would just excel at. And it would be because I turned up in the right frame of mind. And then others where my my parents would be like pulling their hair out because I just didn't rock up with the right mindset. And it would make a big difference to what I achieved in that competition. A hundred percent. Yeah. And like I say, you kind of hear about it more and more now.
And I guess it's because people are more open to talking about actually how they're feeling. And, you know, and now we've got this whole link of, you know, the mind and body are one. Whereas for a long period of time, it was OK, the mind is separate to the body. But it's not, you know, we know. And again, everything you're mentioning there, Chris, around nutrition and everything else, you know, there's a whole science now behind nutrition.
playing a sport, you know, the science is always there, Chris, but we weren't kind of pulling it apart in its little entirety is to think, okay, if we can gain a little percentage advantage here, you know, what the difference will that make? You know, if we can gain an advantage here with your nutrition, what difference will that make?
You know, and I think the more that we can pick apart all these different elements that no, will either hinder or excel someone's performance, you know, then we can kind of get better clues into what we can best do to enable somebody to go on and perform their best in whatever arena it is. And, you know, for multiple things, I'm sure this is now. I put it up earlier. Sophia said I could not agree more, John. And that was just one of the early comments is that she agreed. And I do.
It just sort of resonates with me dramatically. And what I love is that whilst sport is possibly the easiest one for us to understand where that mindset could come in, it applies... in our everyday life and in particular within organized, you know, businesses.
And that's why, whether it's sort of, you know, solopreneurs or whatever, trying to make their businesses a success, but equally you get taken on by commercial organizations to go in and train all of their people because they, they know whether it's, I guess the extreme is, is meant, was it mental health first aid? Yeah, I train mental health first aid as well, yeah. Train mental health. Which is different to what we're talking about now in a way, but it's all sort of interlinked, isn't it?
It's about how our mind is. But you help the performance in business as well as in sport. Yeah. And again, that's something, Chris, that, you know, when I trained to become a coach, it was never I want to do it, you know, in business, in life, in sport. It just seems it's the way my business is developed that it's, you know, again, I'm very proud that businesses kind of take me in and trust me to work with with the teams, because, again, naturally, the way we work.
thing we all have blockages chris and we don't always get the results we want but um you know to be able to go into to a business and and work with with individuals you know again around the mindset around kind of aligning their beliefs with the business's beliefs etc uh you know then the best chance we then have of the business performing at its best because the people within the business are will perform at their best and also they will feel valued by the business so then it then has more of
you know mental health etc um you know and that's that's what we want and again you know without putting too much back on 2020 which ironically you know four years ago this weekend was probably the first kind of lockdown you know I think businesses now have realized not all businesses because some were good at doing it anyway chris but the importance of its people the people in your business are the most you know get the people right and like I say the business will excel
and if you can work with those people within the business rather than just leaving things to chance yes grab things of course and not happens to you is it because it's what you're creating or are you living your life based on what's happening I agree. And another mutual friend of ours, Rachel Weaven. Hi, Rachel. She says, invested in you, John, to help their people will improve their productivity. And that's exactly what you were just saying there. It really will, the success.
And you don't just take them on and press go. And let's be honest, is that there's no strong person, weak person. That's a myth. That doesn't exist. Life dare I say, gets in the way, you know, things happen that can come out of the blue and create a blockage of some description, let alone for you to then take it even higher where you kind of go, well, you're doing well, could you do even better? And, you know, you're able to sort of take those skills even further.
It must be so rewarding as well as emotional at times as well, I'd imagine. It is, Chris, yeah, you know, Again, nothing is more satisfying for me than knowing somebody has achieved something they want to achieve or they're happy or I've played a part. I don't see myself as the whole picture. I've played a part in helping that person maybe believe in their self more or maybe achieve something they never thought they were capable of doing. I'm very privileged and honoured.
to do that Chris you know that said I'm still a human being myself and I still have these feelings and these thoughts and these emotions and blockages and whatnot you know and again it's having having a self-awareness and that's what I personally believe it comes to having a self-awareness of self obviously hence the self-awareness and you know stacking on what you are already doing but knowing you know we nine times out of ten we limit ourselves we limit ourselves
Yeah, no, I agree in that completely. Where did this come from then? What happened in John Lewis's life to lead to JL Mindset Performance? Well, how long have you got, Chris? As long as we need to, definitely. Short and curlers of it, mate. Can I say short and curlers? That's not swearing, is it? Well, it depends. People overthink it. If people overthink it, they might be. Okay. So for me, again, you know, just naturally, I've always loved working with people, Chris.
I've always had an interest in people. I've always wanted to help people, support people. You know, back in the school days, I would want to help people, you know, I always stood up to bullies and you know yourself, I'm not the tallest guy, but you know, I always, from a young age, I always believed that everybody should be capable of doing what they want on this planet. We've all been given this gift and that is life to start with.
And so, so, you know, I always had a natural empathy with people and understanding of people and always found it easy to, kind of get on with people always found it easy to build rapport with people. And I feel that is something that naturally was ingrained in me that when I, again, I didn't choose to do what I do. I believe it kind of was a natural progression that when it came to like, even a crossroad in my life, there's me doing a cross.
Yeah. When it came to a crossroads for me, because, again, this ties into what we said at the start, Chris, when I was a delivery driver. You know, dad, two beautiful children, a beautiful wife, mortgage bills. You know, I needed to work, you know, support my family as we go. It got to to a point where, you know, it came back to me. OK, what do I want to do with my life? I don't want to drive a van all my life, you know, so.
then did some research on on you know I knew what I was going to do would be person-centered and I just feel I just I just knew was that was that the answer you were looking for chris have I just gone on 20 minutes and you were just no no no No, no, no. Keep going. But it's like I got that is that you were then looking. I mean, I didn't know the story that it was. I kind of suspected it was the case that you were doing that means to an end.
And I wasn't sure where the jail mindset had already started. And this was just but it was a side hustle at that stage or whether. No, you it sounds like you actually said, right, I'm not happy. I now need to do something. And that's where it became. I'm doing something person centered. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think I was ever unhappy. I don't think I was ever unhappy. You never seemed it, I'll be honest. Yeah, you should see me in the green room, Chris, crying my eyes out.
You know, but it was just I knew I wanted more. And I thought, gee, you know, by then, probably eight years ago, I was doing the maths thinking, right, if I work until 66, I was... 38 back then, that leaves me 36 years. Okay. I want to go through the rest of my life doing something that I want to do. You know, I made that choice. And again, it's great me doing all these things and supporting other people, but very aware in the South that I want to create my future for myself.
And it didn't happen overnight. It's still a work in progress. You know, as, as we said in the green screen, you know, we're in business. This is not always easy as challenges and whatnot, but the vision has always been clear. The vision has always been clear.
Yeah. And I'm very, very proud that I'm achieving my own goals as I go knowing there's still more things along the way knowing there's still going to be hurdles in the way but again it's not what happens it's how you respond to it Chris and I feel if we kind of respond to things in a way that that you know keeps us on our journey then that's that's half the battle there Chris because it's it's a mindset of never say die believe in myself and what I'm doing um and yeah you know the
evidence is there Chris that the business is is going well and every day I wake up with an pleasure in in doing what I set out to do what does the future hold for jay on mindset oh good good question coach good question good question and here's the irony of it I've never been really big you know like as a coach and people always think when you're with a coach you can say what's your big goals what's your big dreams etc you know I've never had big goals and big dreams it was more like a
feeling it was like a natural feeling to to to you know very kinesthetic if you if you know what that means you know so I i go more on feel than than what I see and for me like I say chris for me and I said this on someone's podcast last week for me success isn't having a car on the drive you know a big car on the drive or having a yacht in I don't know lech laid there you go that's how big my mindset works You sound American there. There's no borders outside of Wiltshire. Exactly.
Who are my friend? Who are? You know, for me, it's just waking up, feeling like I'm making a difference and doing that on a grander scale than what I'm currently doing, Chris, you know. My kids are getting older. It's nice now to watch them kind of flourishing in their lives. You know, so for me, it's it's, you know, to answer your question, the future just holds me steadily doing what I'm doing, Chris. I feel I feel like I'm on the right path. I feel like I'm on the right path.
So Rachel's wrong. She said world domination. So she's not right. Oh, Rachel, world domination. You've asked that as a question, like world domination. Like I should be, hmm, world domination. It's like pinky in the brain. Do you remember that animation? Do you know what? I would just like to dominate Highworth. You'll be happy then. You'll be happy. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Can you give us, the viewers, a piece of advice or two that is a useful thing to be able to take away in what is a challenging world and climate that we live in? Okay. Don't watch the news. There you go. There's one. I'd agree with that. Yeah. I agree. I actually have done the occasional one where I've just turned every all notifications from the news apps and everything and not watched it. And it made a world of difference.
Yeah. And I also think, you know, keeping it on a kind of business stroke life theme, you know, if we if we kind of get out of this mindset. And again, I see it with a lot of people. They won't start something because they're too scared to fail. Yes. They don't start in the first place. And I've always been a believer that, you know, there is no failure, only feedback.
Now, if you're going with that kind of mindset of, okay, you know, this might work, this might not, but if I get the feedback and move on, then I can come out the other side and do things in a different way with new evidence, you know, with new ways of doing things.
And for me, that's kind of been... game-changing it's been game-changing because I think it always comes also just just on that you know because it comes back to confidence in in respects and the reason I say that is because it was a conversation I had with someone the other day when I told them this and they said yeah but I'm not confident enough to to to kind of do that I'm like, what you need to be confident in is confident that it might go right. It might go wrong. That's confidence.
You know, confidence is thinking, OK, I can do this and everything's going to be grand and rose. You know, people who know me know I make things up on the spot. I'm confident to know that it might work. It might not. But I'll take the feedback and go again. And that helps drive me on. I've got one that is in the same vein as that is that I have a rule, never have a what if. I would rather give something a go and heaven forbid find it doesn't work or doesn't work how I intended it to.
And no, they'll never go for it and go, what if I had done that? I mean, my commentary, my motorsports commentary, I'm so lucky. I get paid to travel the UK and Europe and, you know, pretty much every weekend between March and November commentating on motorsport. And this came from a five-year-old boy that used to sit on the spectator banks at Castle Combe with my dad and fell in love with racing. And suddenly I'm doing that.
And it all came from... I would rather go for it, apply for it, and not get the opportunity than bottling out, because I nearly didn't. My wife had to sort of change, remind me this rule of never have a what if, because I was about to go, that's what other people are lucky enough to do, not me. But she said, hang on, if we're sat up in a spectator bank listening to a new commentator, how will you feel? And I'll go, oh, I wonder if I'd have got it if I had gone for it.
And this is just how I live my life is that give it a go. and find the answers grow from it learn from it rather than than say no just in case I know so I I'm with you on that one and rachel says great tip guys uh tips guys love the feedback not failure and the what if absolutely I i agree uh thank you for that rachel and sophia says confidence is having the courage to try and not being afraid if it doesn't go to plan Yes, I agree.
And I find that it's quite often not two dimensional of success or failure. What we have in our head is that this is what I'm going to do and this is how it's going to be. It doesn't always go that way, but you suddenly could be doing things even better than you imagined because it opens up doors that you hadn't considered before, but you would never know it.
I do it with my public speaking training is that if you don't go and take those opportunities to speak in front of people and let people know what you know, what you're good at, what you're passionate about, The only thing you can be sure of is that you will never open those doors that you could have done by being heard. Yeah. Put yourself in there. So I love that one, John. That makes so much sense to me. Thank you.
Is there anything that I haven't asked or got you to say that you'd like to on JL Mindset Performance, other than the fact I put this up, jlmindsetperformance.co.uk? Ta-da! You're loving this, aren't you, John? This is like the best day of my life, Chris. I'm very easily pleased. See, the yacht in Lettslade and this. And this, yeah. It's the dream you didn't know you had. There you go. Cheers, coach.
Anything that you'd like to say that I haven't asked you or got you to say yet about it for the viewers? No, nothing. I mean, my website is up there. If you want to take a look and see if anything there you feel relates to you, yourself, your sport, your business or anyone else, you know, because I cross a lot of boundaries between, like we said, sport, life, business, you know, mental health first aid, delivering workshops on confidence, belief. You know, there's a lot.
There's a lot I feel I can offer. You know, I work hard to do it. So we've just left to have a conversation with somebody who feels as though they would benefit from jail mindset performance.
absolutely uh which rachel said more like a dinghy boat to your uh to your yacht in lech laid so uh can we can we like get people can you like kick people off of sending messages I can I can love you yeah well john thank you so much for that insight it's been really useful don't go anywhere everybody because we've got something that is very close to your heart and before we introduce them uh let me just quickly check because uh I love it see she's she's regained us now hasn't she probably it
probably is um but we before we bring out the the next guest and as as we've explained this the whole idea of this charity spotlight we're about to do is that There are a lot of charities about and we don't always necessarily understand or appreciate what it is that they do and why they do it. It's not just about sort of like shaking the can and putting money into the pocket. It's not always money they need.
There is an objective they're trying to go and there are multiple ways that they can achieve that objective. And so I want to do in every episode a charity spotlight where that charity in question is going to come on and explain what it is they do, why they do it, what's the background to it and how they do it. And we're then shining a spotlight on that charity so that we can understand more about what is around us. So before I do this, Sophia says, awesome. Bless you, Sophia.
Thank you for that. Um, on, on that one, before we introduce and don't give necessarily all of it away, but what made you a recommend that we got this next person on as, as the charity guest and why you've teamed up with, uh, with best mates. Well for me personally the reason I've teamed up with Best Mates is purely because I absolutely love what they do and you know in a lot of respects there's a lot of synergy in what I do and what Best Mates do.
Actually it was Rachel I think that first introduced me and Jeff to each other when I first sat down with Jeff and a couple of the other guys I know who are within the charity you know it was a No brainer. It was an absolute no brainer. They're doing amazing work. They're just at the start of the journey. And again, I can't wait to see how this charity excels and the brilliant work that it's doing and the even bigger and brighter and better work it's naturally going to do. Absolutely.
Well, I think we need to get the main man out. It's Jeff Tucker from Best Bates. We're going to kick in to our charity spotlight. Alone, we can do so little, but together we can do so much. Visual PR's charity spotlight is about shining a light on the amazing work and objectives of charities, as they do not do it for publicity, but it is important that we know about them.
what they do and understand why charity is not just about making a donation it is about making a difference well so without further ado jeff tucker welcome my friend thank you so much for joining us how are you Very good. Thank you. Very interesting. Listen to John there. Yeah, but we love him for it. That's the main thing. You know, your words, your kind words just a minute ago, John was, you know, it's fantastic, mate.
You're great that we've got you on board and you understand what we're trying to do in someone. So if we can get that across today and share that passion, then that's what we're here to do. So thanks for having me on. No, appreciate that, Jeff. And obviously, you're in the boardroom of your original responsibility, and that is track employment. That's right, isn't it? Track employment solutions, yeah. We're a 17-year-old recruitment business based in Swindon.
So changing people's lives by finding them jobs effectively. So this is now, we're obviously focusing today on the charity Best Mates with the hashtag We Got Ya. It's very new, isn't it? Am I right in saying that? Very new, yeah. We started the concept, the idea sort of kicked in back in 2022. Carl, my business partner, he ran the marathon and with things going on in the background.
So the idea and the concept was back in 2022, sort of started things moving around about November 22, and then we went live with charity status as of November 23. So yeah, as in charity status and actually going live, very new. But in the background, lots of bits and pieces have been sort of building us, you know, as we get to this stage. I love that. That's really cool. Well, for the people that hadn't heard of it, and I'll be honest with you, Jeff, that included me until John said about it.
Not surprising with those dates you've just said. We're not even at six months old yet. So speak to us. What's the synopsis of what Best Mates is? Because from what I read, it's very different to what we see elsewhere. Okay, cool. Well, I might wrap it on a bit here. So just feel free to jump in. So effectively... There was a time, so I went back there with Carl run the marathon and some thought process going through.
But back in 2020, my son went through a tough period where he actually got attacked by some lads and he went through a really tough time that he didn't know where to turn. Depression and really sort of hit a spot where me as a dad, I didn't know where to turn. I didn't know who to speak to. I got to a point where I didn't even know how to talk to my own son. You know, it was just remember at that time when I just stood at the patio doors looking out crying, thinking, what am I going to do?
How am I going to help you? And it dawned on me over over a period of time that, you know, some people hit a period where they need somebody to help them. You need to be able to reach out. You said earlier that there's hundreds and hundreds of charities out there that do this, that, the other. We don't always necessarily know what they tend to do.
It kind of dawned on me that there wasn't a support charity group out there that you could reach out to and find your way through a crap period of time.
You might be what if you go through depression it could be grief addiction unemployment and so on and some people you just don't know and you wriggle your way through it um and john will probably tell you you know that you end up talking to some people and they just need that guide so effectively what happened was the thought process was going on in the back of my head about what can I do how can this work now this sounds really this is a bit ridiculous but I was on a golf trip
with a load of lads. A few customers, never met them before, but one of my best mates came along. I hadn't seen him for about a year, so he came on this trip with us. And when we got on the trip, I introduced him as my best mate Steve. I said, hello guys, this is best mate Steve. Every single person through that gold trip started calling each other, best mate Jeff, best mate Steve, best mate Ian, best mate pal, best mate this, best mate that. And it was just a joke through the whole weekend.
But Do you know what it did? It built a camaraderie ship amongst those, I think it was probably about 22 people, and we just had such a laugh and a connection that it got me thinking, hang on a minute, that word best mate, it just breaks any walls down. It breaks anything down that sort of gets in the way of you talking to.
So effectively what then happened was the concept came out of, Best Mates basically works as if you're going through a certain issue and you don't know where to turn, you'll reach out to us. And what we do is we recruit what we call mates.
Now those mates are people which have all been through their own individual circumstances, might be continuing to go through it, but they've come out the other end, they've seen the light, they're getting better and they're on track for a better life and they fix themselves. So take yourself with your problem and I put you with somebody that's been through exactly the same situation. You're then talking to somebody that can completely relate to your situation.
Absolutely not advised because we're not counsellors or anything like that. But if you if you were talking to me about that situation and I could really say, listen, this is where I was at. This is how I got to where I got to. You're not talking to your mum, your dad, your brother, your sister or whatever that might be, who will say what they need to say. You're talking to somebody that will just go, I can really, really resonate what your situation is.
And then basically, simple as that, the charity will then step in and either signpost to the service you need, or supporting that service and just help us to help you change your life to get it back on track where it needs to be. So it's as simple as that. You come forward with a problem, we match you with a best mate or a mate as we call them, and then the charity backs that up. So I like that.
So you are, first of all, giving that... feeling of or get rid of the feeling of thinking that you're alone you know I'm picturing you at the back door where you're going I don't have the answers and this is we all have these moments don't we go damn it I don't have all the answers And we just bumble along thinking we do. I know all I need to know and I'm getting on with it. And you said, no, I don't.
I can definitely relate to yours because as a parent, you're there kind of going, I'm supposed to be looking after and I can't do that. That was your particular one there. And it's like, I'm alone. So first of all, this removes that element. Secondly, it's given a person that you can open up and speak to that doesn't have a bias. You said it's not a mum, a dad, a brother, a partner or anything. With the best intentions, they're still going to have a bias.
Sometimes you just need that peeled away. Get rid of all of that and just be someone who's going to even slap me around the back of the head if I needed it. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Which is what, equally, by the way, I've only just realised where your nameplate, Best Mate Jeff, I now get why it says Best Mate Jeff. Very important. I do like that. I didn't get that earlier, but after that story, I get it.
But the follow-up is that you can, if required, you're then able to signpost them to the best source of support, et cetera. And also to support that if the need's there as well. I think the next stage on from that scenario, effectively, is one of the biggest things that we hang our hat on is there are some fantastic charities where you go and signpost you donate and it sort of goes into the research part over here.
And, and, you know, in terms of finding remedies and fixing and cures for stuff, the money kind of disappears into the, into the pot to make that happen. So, but what we tend to do is we, we, we aim to, it's the wrong side of it. It's like put it where it's needed. Effectively. So for example, we had a lad come forward to us. He was working on a building site. He unfortunately fell down two flights of stairs, ladders, should I say, broke his back.
came forward he didn't have any um any sort of um salary cover or anything like that so he came forward to us to say look is there anything you can do to help me out we're going to be out for a good six months um spoke to us we went out to see him had a good conversation and so on so we ended up paying his mortgage for the last six months and paying his shopping bill So we're talking actually where it's needed. You know, this guy is now back on his feet. He's now getting back into work.
We've helped him and his family get back where they need to be. Now, this guy is a great lad and we haven't done it for this reason. He's a fundraiser as well. But he he he will he will bring back to us in terms of being a mate. and offering services out to anybody else that goes through something similar. He will bring that back over and over and over and over again to us.
But the key thing here is we've gone into that person, we've figured out that there's a problem here, and without that support, his last six months would have been pretty much Well, I don't know. I don't know where his mental health would have gone. I don't know where his mindset would have. Do you know what I mean? I mean, that's just like one particular thing we've done.
We had somebody come forward that needed a CT scan because her husband fell off a wall, smashed his head and had a fear and lost his lorry driver, lost his license, couldn't afford to get a CT scan. So we paid for the CT scan to happen. We've put people, we put a group of lads through boxing school who all suffered from sort of ADHD and other issues out in Wantage. You know, we put these lads through summer camp effectively.
So every day they went to something that gave the parents a level of a break. And it also gave the lads some, you know, stimulation, some, you know, some just good feedback and good experiences. So it can be anything, but the key thing there is it's where it's needed, not where it should go. And instantly it's straight to the source, isn't it? And that's a key one.
I mean, that was picking up on one of the things that was blowing my mind when I looked at the website ahead of this discussion is that obviously we started with the more obvious side that was where you are that mate to chat with, that mate to, you know, give the clip around the head, which I love that Rachel Weaven said that she can do that. That's why you're mine and John's mate, Rachel. Yeah. Yeah. That's why she is a good friend, because we know she would.
But it is also the fact that, you just used examples, paid the mortgage for that period, paid for a CT scan, is that you do that mate that sort of like helps out, puts a hand in the pocket. Now, how does that work? I don't know how much you're able to say, but how does the mechanics of that work for people to understand best mate support in that way as well?
Well, I suppose it's quite difficult take every case as an individual case you know people do reach out and we have to look at what the scenarios are what the situations are stuff so obviously we've got the board of trustees and so on so you know people come forward we speak to the trustees there's some stuff going on in the background now which gives us certain parameters of who who who is legible for and so on so we're just working those out to be a little bit you know try to be as
there's lots of legislation about running a chair and you've got to make sure you're doing things correctly. So those things are all being put in place. We've got CRM systems going in and stuff to help us achieve that. But I think at the end of the day, so if we go back to what the concept is, which is we will hook you up with somebody that's gone through a similar situation.
We've had, Probably, I mean, we're only young, but probably five to six different people that have simply spoken to a mate and they haven't needed anything else but that. Yeah. So we go back to don't suffer in silence. Reach out, speak, talk to somebody. You know, men, we're terrible. This isn't just a male charity. This is for absolutely everyone. Lots of people suffer. The workplace. We work in recruitment. You go into the works and there's people suffering different areas of different things.
Sometimes they don't want to talk to their HR manager. Sometimes they just need something to reach out to. But the key thing there is, for me, what BestMakes is all about, it's that connection to speak to somebody. I'm going through this. I'm going to ring John because he knows damn well what I'm going through.
we're gonna have a little bit of support from there and it helps but like I say you know some people some people have those conversations and they're like their mindset changes their attitude towards it changes there hang on a minute he's got through there by just doing that if I just put that in place and people go away and they get it you know and it's it's fantastic but then of course the key thing is is the signposting if it's needed Which more and more, and I'll come to John in a second,
but first of all, sticking with you, Geoff, and you did open it up by saying this, listening to John's part of the interview, is that the synergy between the two of you is so obvious, isn't it, in all honesty? 100%, you know, one of the other things we do. So we go along in life as best mates and we're recruiting mates all the time, people which have got their experiences as its own challenges because people have to want to come forward for that.
But, of course, we also need those service partners, those service providers that meet everything that we do. And when I met with John, you know, and started explaining what we were about, what we were trying to achieve, you know, I think... I still get goose pimples now talking about it. We're a few months in of this thing, and it resonates with so many people. You start talking. I mean, I've been in rooms, networking rooms and stuff, and I've had people turn up just to talk to me.
and start opening up about what their issues are. And I'm like, right, hang on a minute. Cause I'm not that right person. I need to put you with said person. Do you know what I mean? But it just starts to unravels and it's, it's just, we all know, you know, not just mental health, lots of stuff going on there. People are not talking. We all know that it's a big, big thing.
And now myself, Carl and Ian, who are all the best mates, we sit there and on a daily basis, it sounds awful, we talk to people which have got problems. But if we can change one person's life at a time and we can make one person better every single time, then we're doing what we set out to do. And that's literally to change people's lives and try to fix them. Yeah, and some of those can be practical or physical things, can't it?
I mean, I remember I went through a bad time financially, and this is just one that springs to mind as a practical example, is that because I went through that experience of trying to deal with it in my head and the enormity of it as one big mush, but when I then went, right, I've got to get this down on a spreadsheet and work out everything, that's there and by when and what can be done with each one suddenly you're there and go actually there is a way out of this it now
makes a lot more sense and and it's so easy to say that but when you're in the middle of that hell and you can't sleep it's it's making you sweat it's making you not eat properly it's you know or drink too much whatever it might be because you've got this big mess in your head it was that piece of advice that someone gave me and I've given to others since is that the power of a spreadsheet in that one to just break everything down is a big one.
And actually, I would say that's led on to other things further down the line, is that when there's been other things that have become a mess of what to me I think is one big problem, if you can go, you know, what's the app that you can meditate to? Mind... Yeah, yeah. I forgot what it's called now. I'll have a look in a minute to remind myself. But one of the big ones that that taught me was to break down each of the individual things that are worrying you or troubling you.
And you suddenly go, oh, actually, right, that I can't do anything about. That I can do this and it will change it. That isn't as bad as it feels, just feels that way because of everything else that sat there. And that was, again, just some piece of advice. So there's some very practical things that can be done as well, isn't there? My wife is watching, and my wife, thank you, Claire, has said headspace. That's the one. Rachel's put another good one on. Calm is another one.
Yeah. So I think you just saying that, Chris, is your perfect example there. If ever you wanted to come forward to be a mate, And you wanted to say, listen, I went for a financial thing and I'm happy to speak to people. There you go. That conversation you've just had there, just a little bit of advice. You know what we're like as men, women, we sit there and we think we know what you think, you know, the answer. You know, I always used I gave up smoking 12 years ago.
I gave up smoking because I read a book. I read the Alan Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking on 28th of November, 12 years ago, day after my wedding anniversary. I'll put the book down because I've finished it and I've never touched another cigarette. Simple as. So as far as I'm concerned, we all go around thinking we know what the answers are. You know, you're in their own headspace, as your wife just put that.
But if you can then gather a bit of knowledge from somebody that says something to you that goes, I hadn't thought about that. Suddenly it opens a door. Suddenly you're moving forward. Suddenly life starts to get better. You know, and that's where we are. Just getting people's lives and making them better. Hadn't thought of that or hadn't thought of it that way. I think that's the big one. Yeah, definitely. Rachel's just, she's just put well-volunteered Chris.
But John, you know, flicking over to you is that, you know, as I said to Jeff there, is that the synergy between you guys, even more so now after, you know, being part of this discussion, it's just obvious, isn't it? Yeah, definitely.
And again, that's what attracted me to obviously speak to Jeff and find out more about what, you know, what Best Mates is about, because it's fantastic, again, that people can have normal conversations with those who have been there, you know, and maybe can offer some things to support a person.
But, you know, again, for somebody who might need something a little bit deeper and you know it's great that then I'm aligned with best mates because then I can be that support you know that next level because not everybody needs professional support yeah but be able to kind of offer that next layer um you know kind of a no-brainer I think when me and jeff had the conversation And I like it because, especially us men are probably the worst at this, is that our best friends in
the real world might not be perfect to go to because we're proud. We're probably being stupid and not doing them justice because they would be there for us. But you kind of go, no, I can't go to them about this or whatever. But the biggest one is that life gets in the way. I used it in another context earlier, is that We're busy. We're always busy. And you go, well, I can't trouble them because they're busy.
Whereas if you're going to this neutral mate, it means you have the same level of discussion from someone that's experienced it. And it's going to help you to open the door to the right sequence of thoughts. Definitely. I think sometimes we feel we're going to burden those closest to them by having a conversation or we're going to be judged or they're going to have an opinion. A lot of it's perception. We can't have a conversation with our friends because they're our friends.
We go down the pub and we just talk about happy stuff no matter what. Yeah. Things are going on, you know. But when you can kind of hold a safe space. somebody to actually tell you exactly how they're thinking and how they're feeling and then be able to support them on you know in that level it's it's it's life-changing and it truly is life-changing as we know you know we're three men on the conversation here but it saves saves people's lives It does.
I mean, I saw Jim Carrey make a phrase, you know, said something that really resonated with me, as we know, is that my profession and my personality is like, yay, let's all have fun and let's entertain, whether I'm on a mic or just in a room with people. And Jim Carrey's one was that. True depression can be where your brain just suddenly says, screw off with this caricature you've made me portray to the world. I cannot deal with this caricature you've made me portray to the world anymore.
And that means that it almost becomes the tears of a clown if you're not careful. Whereas this mate that we can be given gets rid of that. Oh, but my best mate, I've still got to be that smiley, happy, strong, confident person. You don't need to be anymore with them. Exactly. And even what I do for a for a profession, you know, if if a client says to me, how are you, John? And I say, do you know what? I'm actually a little bit rubbish today.
I've had it many times when a client has said to me, hang on, you you can't be rubbish. You're helping. You know, you're supposed to help all us. You know, and even I even I find it again as men. You know, young children at home, do you really want to go home and burden your, you know, if your day's rubbish on your children? Because you just want to kind of be this person that you want other to perceive that you are, you know...
Dad, you don't want to be burdening on children with how you're really feeling. Same as your friends. Do you really want to be burdened? You know, I wear my heart on a sleeve. I'm sure we all do, you know. But for some, it really is a struggle. That's why best mates, again, putting somebody in a situation who's been in a situation, you know, that stigma, there is no stigma.
Because you are being matched with somebody who might not know exactly how you're feeling, but they have definite evidence through their own experience. And there's a massive power in that. Yeah, they're very close. And that's why, you know, Jeff, we're really just sort of backing up where you opened up this conversation about your own challenges that you went to. Very personal insight there. And it's kind of like, yeah, the detail might be different, but a lot of us go through something.
And this is where it really helps. I mean, hopefully that we did it justice in the way we were discussing it there as well. Yeah. Yeah, no, exactly that. It's just opening those doors. It's opening that mindset. It's opening that room for improvement. How do I get, where do I go? How can this get better? It can, you know, don't care what you're going through. Don't care who it is, whatever your situation is, it can get better. You just need to be hooked up with the right people.
that are prepared to have those conversations and help you to go and do what you need to do. And I think John said at the beginning of his conversation, you get up in the morning and you have a choice. You know, very difficult, very difficult sometimes depending what you're going through to make the right choice to turn the right head on.
But then when you've got somebody alongside you that understands that you can reach out to and you see it's physically made a difference, it makes that whole process that little bit easier. And even if it's one step at a time, you know, small steps, but as long as those doors are opening and you're going in the right direction, things are starting to get a little bit better, you'll start to feel it. And that's what we're there to do.
And I'm going to put again up there, bestmates.org, www.bestmates.org. You'll be able to find out more. Now, obviously, that includes if people want to reach out and they need support themselves. But equally, Geoff, what about in terms of supporting best mates? What can people do and how? Yeah, supporting best mates. Yeah, I think, like you said, getting the point across of what we're trying to do is the main thing.
But when it comes to supporting us and, you know, raising funds to help us to achieve what we're setting out to do, you know, if we're a new charity, I hope this gets the message across for who we are, what we are and what we're trying to do. If there's any interest out there from, you know, businesses or individuals that want to raise funds to help us, please do reach out. Please do come and speak to us.
You'll see if you follow us on our socials that we've got a Tower to Tower event, Tower of London to the Eiffel Tower. We're all riding our bikes, including me, to the Eiffel Tower on the 17th of June. So there's fundraising out of that. You're on the handlebars, Jeff, aren't you? I'm just taking handlebars. I'm just going to sit on the train and just video that. You know, we've got a parachute job going on in April.
We've got an actual physical launch to Best Mates, which is going on in London, which is in April. We've got businesses, which we've got a business, One Vision Signs in Swindon. They've put on a race night for us at the county ground this Saturday. Friday. Friday. You're going, John, aren't you? You're there. I've got your tickets here, actually. Yeah, they're no good there, mate. We need a mayor.
If businesses and people want to raise funds and help us and get involved more, and as well as if you are a person that's obviously gone through something and you feel that you would personally benefit from becoming a mate and helping people out, again, come forward. You know, it's a little interview where we just talk to you a little bit in complete confidence. We sign some forms to make sure that the confidentiality side of things is there.
And then as somebody comes forward, we put it out to see who wants to step forward and speak to people. Can I ask a question on that then, Jeff, is what's the support infrastructure for the mates? So the support and structure for the mates, we've got partners on board. So it's a good question, actually, because what we don't want to do is have a mate come forward, speak to somebody, and it brings everything back to life again. And they sit there and start to suffer.
So we have got support partners in place that should support that happen, then we've basically got the services there to say, right, okay, and they will receive that counseling or whatever that might be. Best Mates, again, obviously covers that. So, yeah, it is very important.
And it's also very important that when Mates come forward that we select the right mates as well you know we're not just a hey everybody come forward we need you all we have to sit down and do some vetting and understanding because um if you're not quite out of that out and in that strong position we don't want to put you the wrong wrong say don't want to put the weaker people forward yet until we know they're ready for it so it's it's it's very important and it's it's um yeah you've
got to go very careful with it but you will also get that feeling of, you know, like I said earlier, I get goosebumps just talking about it because I know that whatever happens, that's another person's life's changed because, you know, making a difference. It makes a difference. Yeah, no, and I get that, which is why I just wanted to make sure if anybody was there on the fence and just worried that, you know, the support is there, it's very important to know.
Rachel Weaver, yeah, she said, I'm up for becoming a mate, so get in touch, Rach. We need to catch up, Rach. Yeah, we'll sort that out. Yeah, I think that you'll make a blooming good one, definitely there. Geoff, anything that I haven't asked you or got you to say that you'd like to say at this stage? No, I think I've gone on. I hope I got the message across of what we are, who we are, what we're trying to achieve, you know, We do need everybody's help. We do need people to come forward.
It can be quite overwhelming at times because so many people are interested. But if there's any interest out there, I think for me, for us at Bestmates, we need people's help. So if you want to help and you can do things for us. And also, the most important thing, if you're out there and you're going through a bit of trouble at the moment, get on the website, reach out to us, drop us a little email. Let's start to fix you. Yep, absolutely. Our catchphrase is, we got you. And we have got you.
Come forward. I love that. We got you, I think, is such a lovely phrase. It sums it up brilliantly. It kind of brings the emotions up to the surface on that at all. John, anything that you want to add about Best Mates from your perspective or have we covered it all? No, just that, you know, early on into their career, if I can use that, but making massive strides already. And it's very, very proud to have kind of met Jeff and the team.
And, you know, long may this journey continue, Jeff, because you're doing amazing things in its infancy, let alone when everything is kind of bigger, brighter, bolder and stuff, you know, so amazing. Just brilliant, brilliant. Well, thank you so much for joining us as well, Jeff. I do appreciate that, and I hope this has helped. Rachel said, awesome, guys, as well. Thank you for everybody that has watched. We could go on for so much longer, but hopefully that has given everyone a flavor.
It's been a very proud episode of Visual PR Live, obviously a Visual PR production. And I thank people for taking the time to be watching this and participating. Remember, Visual PR is all about being in control of how your information is received and perceived. And I think today's been a great example of how we've been able to do that with everything from jail mindset performance and very much so from bestmates.org.
Reach out to both sides of these guys if there's anything that either of them can do individually as a group, whether that's a business, an organisation, a sporting team or anything like that. There's a lot that can be gained from both John and Jeff. So, guys, thank you so much for joining us on this show. I hope you've enjoyed it. It's been an absolute pleasure to get you both on. Thank you, Chris. That was brilliant, mate. Thank you very, very much. Yeah, thanks for the invite, Chris.
John, thanks for bringing us on and letting Chris know about us. Really, really good. Really, really impressed. Thanks ever so much. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Remember, you don't go anywhere. Stay in the green room when I drop you back there. But from myself, Chris Dawes of Visual PR, it's been a pleasure to have your company. We'll see you on next month's episode. Cheers. Bye-bye. Bye.