I truly believe the pandemic changed my life. Back in January 2019, I was working as a Divisional Operations Manager for a health club chain.  

I taught seven spin classes a week and lived with my partner, my daughter, and my three dogs. I earned a good income, and to the outside world, I had it together, or at least it seemed that way to my social media friends. 

Then Covid hit. My classes disappeared. My partner and my daughter were furloughed, and all the gyms I oversaw were closed, and the owners were in crisis. It was a big, stressful mess; my stress container was filling, and the relief I used to get from my classes wasn’t there.

As Lockdown continued, I was put on furlough, though only for three weeks. Like many others, this was one of the first times I had stopped and taken stock in 25 years. I decided to use this time productively rather than spending it watching Netflix. 

Taking that first step: Let’s do some training; My daughter and I decided to do some mental health awareness training together, and this was when the penny really dropped.

I realised how badly I had dealt with people in my life who had struggled with mental illness. I had my own views on Mental Health as my father had a breakdown when I was 19.  On reflection, I now realise that my opinion of mental health was not great due to the personal impact his ill health had on me in my formative years.  In addition, my generation is the “pull yourself together” and “don’t cry in public”.

I returned to work with a fresh perspective on how I would approach things moving forward. Then, in July of 2020, two previous employees from our fitness community died by suicide. The impact of lockdown and isolation has been terrible for many.

Could I have done more to prevent these very sad events? Should I have reached out?  If I did, would I have helped or made the situation worse? I knew then I needed to do more for the teams at work.

I was helping people improve their physical health, but what was I doing to support their mental well-being? 

My daughter suggested I look into becoming a counsellor. I did some research and applied for a 3-year course to become a hypnotherapist and counsellor, and the rest is history. 

My Hypnotherapy and Counselling clinic operates from a private studio in Coventry, helping people live happier lives.