Milestones, A Chip Butty & Finding My Voice…well nearly!
August has always been a bit of a checkpoint month for me. Maybe it’s because it starts with my birthday or maybe it’s just that it always seems to land with equal parts chaos and clarity. This year didn’t disappoint.
August started at Croft Circuit with DrivenNet’s rebrand launch and it couldn’t have been further from your average “coffee in a beige conference room” networking gig. It full of energy and we even got a behind the scenes look at the BTCC with Porsche. Really interesting and a cracking morning out.
Now let’s talk round table introductions. You know the drill: “Who wants to go first?” That awkward silence. That pit-of-the-stomach dread. I’ve actually cracked my own hack, I stick my hand straight up before my brain has time to talk me out of it. Jump in, get it done, and set the tone. It worked again this time. I introduced myself, added a bit of humour, and by the time I’d finished, the nerves were gone.
In the afternoon and because it was my birthday, we did what anyone sensible would do afterwards and headed to the local chippy. Sat in, chip butty and curry sauce. Honestly, what more could I want…..
Thinking about that…Tom also managed to surprise me for my birthday! He bought me 10 singing lessons. Yep. If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be standing in front of a vocal coach, trying to make sounds that weren’t fit for a dogs ears, I’d have laughed. But do you know what? There’s something liberating about doing things you’re scared of. Finding my voice, literally and figuratively, is a theme right now and I can’t wait to get started.
There were comedy nights with my mum (because nothing bonds quite like laughing until you wheeze) and family milestones like Will competing in the Scoot GB regional finals and bagging third place!
I also covered a client’s shop for six whole days while they had a well earned holiday. Six days of diary juggling, CRM notes, bargain hunters, dreamers, pragmatists. By the end, I had a fresh reminder that systems and communication aren’t “nice-to-haves”, they’re survival kits. It also proved what I’ve always said, we go all in with our mentoring clients. If that means rolling our sleeves up and stepping into their world so they can step away for once, that’s exactly what we do.
And then there was parenting. Let’s just say the teenage “Kevin” phase had us in a choke hold. Some days felt like I was talking to a brick wall, others like he’d been replaced by an extra from Kevin & Perry Go Large. But then, almost overnight, the switch flipped. The grunting and attitude eased, and he spoke in full sentences again!
All of this sat alongside the usual work rhythm, mentoring sessions, workshops, those light bulb moments where business owners finally realise the thing holding them back isn’t their market or their clients, it’s the fact they’re still trying to do everything themselves. Delegation (or rather, the lack of it) came up again and again. “It’s quicker if I just do it myself” is the lie so many owners tell themselves, until they’re drowning in tasks that someone else could do 90% as well, freeing them up to focus on the real needle movers.
Here’s the rule I kept hammering home in August: delegate first, outsource second, hire third. Start with what’s already on your desk. Is it critical? Can it be streamlined? Can it be taught? Done by someone else at 90% is better than perfect and late, and way better than you being stuck in survival mode pretending it’s productivity.
Some of the best breakthroughs this month weren’t about money or systems, but about boundaries. Learning to say no, not out of guilt, but out of clarity. Saying yes to the right things, the ones that light you up, stretch you, or connect you. Saying no to the things that drain you, distract you, or keep you busy instead of better.
By the end of August, I found myself grateful for the mix: the work wins, the family milestones and the uncomfortable growth moments. I’m clearer on where my energy goes, more protective of my time, and weirdly excited about carrying all of this into September. Up next is the annual Flooring Show in Harrogate and three months of absolute chaos…it is after all now silly season in the flooring industry!
So whether it’s belting out an off key note, putting yourself forward first at the round table of doom, or finally letting go of the tasks you should never have been clinging to, the magic happens when you stop waiting for a “better time” and just do it.
Over and out.