(Re)introductions, the "why" behind fifty50, and how we catch people before they fall (but there's no catch with fifty50 MindCoach LIVE)

(Re)introductions

We have some new followers joining this month, so firstly, a big hello! Thank you for joining me on my mission to help shift the conversation from awareness to action on all things mental health and wellbeing.?

I’m Camilla, the very passionate founder of start-up wellbeing consultancy fifty50. Born from a desire to help people look at their mental health journey in the same way they do their physical health, we partner with organisations looking to take a proactive and preventative approach to safeguard and support employee mental health.

The backstory

Let’s rewind to the 12th of February 2020, the day I registered fifty50 on Companies House. I remember it like yesterday. I had my start-up plan ready to execute, timing my exit from my then role to follow an operation scheduled to treat stage 4 endometriosis, something I’d battled for most of my life. I was deeply emotionally invested in this operation taking place and getting fifty50 underway. The universe, however, had other plans.?

Enter stage left; a global pandemic, national lockdown & navigating childcare whilst home-working.

Enter stage right; redundancy, operation delays, a diagnosis of adenomyosis & a 6-month induced menopause.

Add to the mix a relationship breakdown, relocation, getting to grips with co-parenting, and the sheer energy required when starting over and starting up a new business made 2020 the most challenging year of my life.?

My old “friend” anxiety paid me numerous visits, keeping me up at night with a grip on my thoughts pushing “what the hell am I doing?”, “is this really the time to launch a business” and “shouldn’t I just get a normal job?” to the surface.

Oddly paradoxically, it felt like everything in my life was grinding to a halt yet kicking off simultaneously. Deep down, in my gut, I knew I needed to make fifty50 a reality and create a business to help people reconnect with themselves and upskill to better manage their #mentalhealth. I needed to get in front of employers and enable them to see the value of preventative support.

My "why"

So why fifity50? I’m often asked what inspired my transition from a 15-year career in financial services to starting a wellbeing consultancy with a niche in preventative mental health support.

There are two things:

1) I trained as a coach from 2012-2016 following an incredible experience at HSBC on their Next Generation Development Programme. I was partnered with some amazing peers from across the world, an NGO in Argentina and some of the world's top leadership coaches. That's a whole other story for another time. Still, it put me on a path of self-discovery, and exposure to the hugely transformative power of coaching, ultimately leading me to become a coach myself.

I saw first-hand the power coaching has when it comes to honing mental fitness, building strong foundations and topping up resilience, or what I prefer to call, bouncebackability. Traditionally, when we're struggling with mental health, our first stop would be a GP and a therapist. But this often is unnecessary, and for many, it's just not accessible, not something we prioritise, at least not until it's too late. We end up reacting to our mental health needs, rather than working with our needs preventatively.

So much that can be done to support our mental fitness within a coaching framework, and as long as therapy runs alongside, and we can ensure safe transitions for deeper work and support where required, we can absolutely help to get more people looking after their mind in the same way as they do their body.

• The benefit for people is clear; a healthier mind means higher work engagement, motivation and productivity. Better energy levels, a zest for life, more creativity & obvious happiness.
• The benefit for organisations is clear; enhanced productivity, increased revenue, greater retention of talent, and sustainable growth. Plus, as Deloitte report, an ROI of over ￡5 for every ￡1 invested in mental health support at work.

2) My journey with endometriosis. In 2016 I was finally diagnosed following the best part of 20 years of being repeatedly misdiagnosed. This news in itself took time to absorb, and understand, and the associated test results linking to my fertility were difficult to get my head around.

What followed was a series of life-altering decisions. My pain was reaching the worst point I'd ever experienced, and managing this "on the quiet" whilst working and pushing myself to be the best I could be, took a massive toll on my mental health. I knew I wasn't the only person navigating chronic, invisible illness at work, or fertility challenges, and it really got me thinking. I also knew I struggled with anxiety but I wasn't the only one. I was fortunate to be able to coach myself through many of my struggles, and I've felt no shame in engaging therapists and coaches along the way to support me. I absolutely could have ended up in deep burnout. I've been close, but always pulled myself back up, just before the crash and burn. But what about other people?

"I'm fine"

One day, I decided to open up at work about my personal struggles and stop with the "I'm fines".?Whilst some shied away, colouring at the word "period" and embarrassed that I should even bring it up (really!?), others felt inclined to do the same and share what was going on for them. Many people were pretending to be okay, putting on a brave face, terrified of speaking their truth in fear of judgement and being labelled as "not up to the job". The reality here is that many people who are struggling at home, despite their best intentions, are not going to be able to show up fully and be present and clear-minded. This feeds into the huge costs related to presenteeism in the UK, reportedly 3 x higher than sick leave.

People, when off the record, open up. I found they wanted to offload, but more importantly, they wanted to know how to move forward. How to manage their mind, thoughts and the realities faced. They want to understand how not to have to go through similar again and be better equipped the next time they faced a challenge.

This mini-experiment helped me formulate fifty50 and gave me the idea for coaching for mental health that links high-performance coaching with a well-being lens & therapeutic touch.

Catching people before they fall...

We’ve now been trading for almost two years, and we’re making a tangible difference to the companies we partner with and their people's mental health and fitness.

We are well on our way to completing our first 1000 coaching sessions (watch out for this milestone later this year!) and have partnered with companies including Octopus, YM&U Group, Guinness Global Investors and scale-up Octopus MoneyCoach. We regularly get feedback about how life-changing coaching with fifty50 is.?

Ten weeks into our journey with Triple Point, we saw employee wellbeing scores jump from 67% to 79%. We’ve now engaged 30% of their 230-strong workforce in our 1:1 confidential mental fitness coaching programme, and 60% of people regularly rebook. We report on the key emerging themes which help the leadership team to shape wellbeing thinking and strategy decisions.

"One of the things I love about fifty50 is that it's a pre-approved and immediate service with no questions asked. It fills the void between GP referrals & private medical insurance, and I love the fact that when I talk to employees, I can signpost immediately."

Victoria Clarke, HR Director, Triple Point

Our partnership with Triple Point is one of two case studies we put forward to the British HR Awards, where we’ve been shortlisted for "Consultancy of the Year" and "Start-up of the Year". Last year we scooped "Coach of The Year"; could another be in store this year? Wish us luck!

...but with MindCoach LIVE, there is no catch!

We've added some exciting new sessions to our MindCoach LIVE calendar & access is a flat fee of ￡125 + VAT per month, per company.

If you'd like to sign up your company to our growing community of over 600 people taking preventative action on their mental health, please message me via LinkedIn on contact us here today for more information.