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Career Journey: accountancy, how to network, developing your confidence, predicting the future of work, dealing with anxiety and mental health with Sharon Critchlow
147 Plays2 years ago
This is the first episode in the career journey series! Every 3rd week of the month I'll share a conversation with a wonderful guest star who will talk about their wide and varied career journey!
In this episode we are speaking with Sharon Critchlow - a qualified accountant with over 20 years experience, a successful coach and mentor, as well as workshop facilitator and public speaker (not to mention a really kind woman with the best smile!)
We discuss:
- Sharon's fascinating career journey (She's had 4 different careers!)
- Her predictions and observations on the future of work
- How to deal with anxiety (and how to get support if you need it)
- The best top tips students use to uphold their mental health
- Networking
- ACCA
- How to secure a job + get promotions
- Confidence
- ...and so much more!
Keen to see more of Sharon Critchlow?! Check out her Instagram here.
Want to learn more about ACCA? Check out their Instagram, website, and how to get started at ACCA!
Check out Discover Your Bounce website, podcast, and join their Facebook community.
Let us know if you enjoyed the episode by giving a review and rating the podcast 5 stars!
Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast and hit the notification so you'll always be in the know about how to succeed in your education.
For more study tips and tricks, check out our Instagram @allthingseducation21
Stay educated everyone!
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and Host
00:00:05
Speaker
Hey, it's Mary Coleman, your host for the All Things Education Podcast. If you don't know, I'm a student too and I'm currently studying psychology. I'm so glad you're listening today because we learn about study and lifestyle tips, chat with professional guests about a range of topics. We learn about the ins and outs of school and uni life, how to form solid friendships, actualize career aspirations, chat about relationships, moving, traveling, and so much more. We have a range of content on this podcast and it's all to help you be that much more informed about the world we live in.
00:00:34
Speaker
So let's get educated, shall we?
Mary's Academic Journey and Podcast Goals
00:00:36
Speaker
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. It is so good to have you on the show today. Again, if this is the first time you're listening, hello. Hopefully you heard the introduction. But yes, my name is Mary. I was a graduate student in 2021.
00:00:50
Speaker
I'm currently studying a Bachelor of Honours Psychology and I'm studying that online and I'm about to study an Arts degree interstate and I'm very excited for this big move.
Introducing Guest Sharon Critchlow
00:01:00
Speaker
Just in terms of what we are going to be talking about today, well I'll give Sharon a proper introduction but we had the lovely guest star Sharon on the podcast today and we talk about so many different things. What I've started to do is I have implemented every third week of the month I have scheduled a podcast episode with a beautiful guest star who is going to share their career journey with us.
00:01:19
Speaker
The series is going to be called Career Journey, and essentially each guest star is going to be sharing their journey, how they got from point A to point Z, and all the little alphabet numbers in between, alphabet numbers, alphabet letters in between, and all those steps that they were able to achieve their career that they're finally in today. These people that we were interviewing, they're a little bit more mature age, and I think that is so brilliant because it really just goes to showcase their life experience.
00:01:46
Speaker
What I would love to showcase to you guys, you listeners, is really just how there are so many different pathways, so many different areas and backdoors that you can get into different careers. For example, Sharon, we're talking about accountancy in the field and the line of accountant work in this episode.
Episode Topics and Mary's Recent Life Updates
00:02:03
Speaker
And honestly, I don't want to get the episode away too much. It was a really great conversation. I'm very excited to share it with you guys. But we just talk about all the different fields of work that she's been in. And it's so great just to see that she has gone far and wide in the jobs that she's gone in.
00:02:16
Speaker
And the first two jobs that she received, they weren't even traditional ways of getting the job like the interview, et cetera. It was kind of, well, actually I'm not going to spoil it, but it was a really great conversation. I'm very excited to share it with you. I just, before we begin, I wanted to touch on what else are talking about in the episode today. We're going to be touching on obviously accountancy. We're going to be speaking about the future of work. So Sharon's going to give her predictions as a qualified coach and mentor.
00:02:37
Speaker
She's also going to be talking about anxiety and confidence, how to improve your confidence, how to be confident, how to fake confidence, all of that. Also going to be talking about mental health, how to improve your mental health, how to support people with mental health issues, and how to support yourself if you do have mental health problems as well. Of course, mental health is something we all will face at some point in our life, like a poor mental health, and Sharon really speaks amazingly on that, so that's a really awesome and critical part of the episode.
00:03:03
Speaker
We also speak about networking and how to secure a job, how to get a job in the first place, how to network with people, and how to get to networking events in the first place, because it's sort of a double-edged sword. You want to network with people, but the only way you can network with people is if you know people, and if you don't know people, then how do you know what I mean? So it's a little bit hard. But we speak about that, and we also speak about how to move up in your job once you have secured your job.
00:03:26
Speaker
So you can see we talk about a range of things and I'm super excited to get into the episode. But before we do, let's jump into a quick weekly recap. So this week has actually been pretty busy, not gonna lie. There's been a lot that's going on. I am getting and prepping for my move, my move interstate, which is very exciting. Very keen for that. There's a lot of other things that I've just been prepping for, just decluttering in general and
00:03:47
Speaker
tidying up and doing my psychology assignments actually just in terms of psychology update which is another segment that I like to give you an update on if you are interested I'm not sure if you are if you're not skip it that's all good but in terms of psychology I actually have three assessments that are due on Wednesday which is a little bit stressful and I'm very happy that you know I got one assessment out the way already so that is done and dusted but I do have two more to do so after I finish recording this and editing and publishing in this episode I'm gonna go jump on and yeah
00:04:14
Speaker
do that assessment. I actually haven't started two of those assessments, so I've done one, but yeah, two out of the three still need to be started and finished by Wednesday, which is kind of stressful, and yes, it is Sunday, so do the math. That's three days, and I'm working, so that's very fun. Anyway, that's okay, not to complain, but I will get it done. I put this on myself, but I'm nearly finished with the summer semester of Psychology, online psychology, so that is very exciting, and then after that I'm going to be dropping down to part-time psychology, only doing
00:04:40
Speaker
one unit per semester as I study my arts degree as a double degree as well. So that is that, that's my psychology update. And let's jump into my next segment, my favorite segment, which is my favorite book of the week.
00:04:53
Speaker
Let's talk about my favorite book of the week. Each week I'll give you guys updates on the book that I'm currently reading. Whether that's educational, fantasy, fiction, or non-fiction, you'll hear about it all. Hopefully you'll be inspired to read some of the books that I'm reading so you can be more educated in different areas of your life. Let's
Sharon Critchlow's Career Journey
00:05:10
Speaker
jump into it. Okay, so this book is called The Goodbye Quilt. I was about to say goodbye quilt then, but it's Goodbye Quilt by Susan Wiggs. It is beautiful. I actually haven't read it, but I'm just looking at the cover right now and it is gorgeous.
00:05:22
Speaker
I'll give you updates on the Instagram at allthingseducation21 on the story, so please go follow if you haven't already. The Goodbye Quilt is basically about Linda Davis' local fabric shop, where it's a place where women gather to share their creations, such as quilts, and Linda is preparing for her only child, her only daughter, to leave for college, and she's sort of this question of who will she be when she's no longer needed as a mother.
00:05:45
Speaker
Linda and her daughter just go across a cross-country road trip and they're just sharing beautiful fond memories. So I think I'm gonna be crying a little bit. I think I'm gonna be laughing and really just journeying with this mother and this daughter, Linda and her daughter, through this adventure. So definitely go check it out if you're interested.
00:06:00
Speaker
Okay, so the guest star today is Sharon Critchlow, and she is a popular conference speaker and writer on the subjects of emotional intelligence, mental health, and wellbeing, and the social aspects of the future of work. And if you remember, those are all topics we're talking about today, so get keen. As an international best-selling writer and speaker, Sharon is a vocal changemaker.
00:06:22
Speaker
She brings passion to the subjects of the future of work, diversity, emotional intelligence and environmental social governance. Sharon is also the director at Discover Your Bounce and is a qualified accountant with over 20 years of experience in senior leadership roles and growing successful businesses. So guys, she knows what she's talking about when she's talking about the future of work and how to help with mental health and when she's talking about accountancy and everything like that.
00:06:44
Speaker
She knows what you're talking about. She's got over 20 years of experience. Sharon's also an experienced conference speaker as well as regularly creating and facilitating workshops. As a qualified coach and mentor, Sharon is super passionate about helping people become the best they can be and allowing their true talents to shine.
00:07:02
Speaker
Now, a fun fact about Sharon, she left school struggling to read and write, and we'll talk about why in a second. But she became a qualified accountant at age 23 with the help of mind mapping. Who knew? And we're also talking about that today. She received her first directorship at 30 and sold her multi-million pound business at age 45. Wow. Honestly, on top of all that, Sharon is beautiful, sweet and gorgeous. She's so lovely and friendly. And honestly, we could not stop talking
00:07:30
Speaker
We had our cups of tea when we were recording. We were talking before and after the recording. It was always wonderful. I cannot wait to share our conversation that we had the other day on this episode in just a second. But before we begin, I just quickly want to say if you're not already following the All Things Education 21 Instagram account, please go do so. That's the handle I just said then at allthingseducation21. Please go follow if you do remember from a previous episode when I was sharing my 2023 goals. One of my big goal is to get to 1000
00:07:59
Speaker
followers on Instagram and a thousand listeners on the podcast. So my other thing I was going to request from you guys before we share the episode is if you could please share this to 10 of your friends or five of your friends or even just one friend if you really like this episode and you really love listening to Sharon because honestly, who doesn't? By the end of this episode, you'll want to be hearing more from her and maybe we can arrange to look like that for you guys. But before we begin, yes, please share it with one, two, three, 10, 100 people and let's get the word out there about the All Things Education podcast.
00:08:28
Speaker
because it's so great hearing journeys about, for example, like Sharon's, who share their wonderful career journey experience and it's just so unique and it's so inspiring to hear someone who is so successful has tried out four different occupations and tried and tested and moved on and gotten bigger and better every time. So, I'm not gonna ramble on it anymore. Let's rub right into the episode. Trust me, I'm gonna need a pen and paper for this one because there are so many amazing tips. So grab a pen and paper, grab a cup of tea, join us with our cup of teas and let's get into it.
00:08:58
Speaker
So welcome Sharon to the All Things Education podcast. I'm so excited to have you on today. Thank you so much for joining me. How are you? Thank you for having me. Yes, I'm very well. Thank you. That's good to hear. I just, let's just jump straight into it. I am really, really keen to talk about your career journey as this is a part of the career journey series. Um, so would you like to talk to us a little bit about your achievements in
00:09:21
Speaker
this career that you have taken up, or careers, I should say. Careers. Yeah, and it is careers, isn't it really? So I started off in a career which I'm sure that a lot of you at some point will attempt or maybe are doing now, which is I was in hospitality. So I was a chambermaid in a hotel and I worked in coffee shops and all sorts of things like that. Because of course, I'd left school without very much in the way of qualifications.
00:09:49
Speaker
And so my journey has been very much that whole thing of regaining my education and then what I did with it after that. So having sort of left school without very much to help me, that university wasn't going to be happening, all those sorts of things weren't going to be happening. And I can remember being in a coffee shop in, I grew up by the seaside in England and looking at all those lovely yachts and boats and everything else and thinking, I'm never going to be able to have one of those.
00:10:17
Speaker
that will never be in my life unless I do something different and of course there wasn't a set pathway for me because it's what do you do you know you're pretty good at making coffee right what do you do so I started to look around for an office job just to see if I could get into something that was a little bit different and I did find an office job I found now we're going back in time so these sorts of jobs probably don't exist much anymore but the job I got was filing
00:10:47
Speaker
in an accountancy practice. So this meant everything was done on paper, not electronically like it kind of is now. So you had all these big files of things and people needed you to find files, put files away, put things in files, all that sort of thing. So I started working in one of those and I could see other people were getting the opportunity to take exams and I wasn't because I was just the filing clerk. So what I decided to do was to work really quickly.
00:11:16
Speaker
because it meant that the last sort of hour of the day or two hours of the day, I'd be sat there with nothing to do. And so they'd have to find me something to do, which meant they had to teach me how to do something useful. So they started to teach me some of the bits of how to put the basic accounts together. And then other things I used to do is I used to then have a look through all the accounts, all those files as I was putting things away and try and work out how they'd done what they call working papers. So how they'd actually done these calculations.
00:11:43
Speaker
and so my mother had a small shop and a small dress shop and I used to drop down her bag of books as they say to her accountant to have the accounts done and so I put a little note in it I had a go myself now I'd only been actually filing for about two months so this was a very rough and ready I think I'm just going to give it a go yeah I gave it a go
00:12:07
Speaker
And I left a note in the bag as I'm going down to say, you know, basically, can you mark the homework? Can you have a look at what I did? I love it. And so he actually phoned up my mother and
Career Progression and Networking Insights
00:12:18
Speaker
said, can you send your daughter down to collect your books? And I want to have a word with her.
00:12:24
Speaker
So yeah, so what basically happened was a bit of an interview really. So he said, so how long have you been doing accounts? And I said, well, I don't really do accounts. I'm filing Clark. And he went, would you like to do accounts? And so very cheekily, I'm like, yeah, you're going to pay for me to get qualified. And so he sort of gulped a bit and went,
00:12:42
Speaker
yeah okay then and so that's where my candidacy career started and so from being sort of leaving school with not very much I was then able to to join ACCA as a student and that's accaglobal.com so this is an international qualification in a candidacy and I was able to to take that
00:13:06
Speaker
partly day release at colleges and then you can do all of these things remotely these days and it really gave me that sort of step up that I needed because one of the things I didn't realise when I was at school you know when somebody tells you something and you think well that's just not true people used to think that I was a bit stupid and I thought that's not true and just because I didn't get that or I don't understand that that doesn't make me stupid
00:13:30
Speaker
And what I soon realised at 17 was that what I really needed was glasses. So everything that had been written up on the wall, everything that had been... I couldn't see it. It's all just stupid. I just couldn't see it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:13:48
Speaker
You know, but it then meant I had to kind of, you know, I had to learn how to learn because I'd gone through my entire sort of school career, just learning from hearing, which is a wonderful thing to do, but it was incredibly difficult. So what this meant then, at least when I started in the accountancy, doing the accountancy exams, is they were incredibly difficult. They were big books and I had, you know, I had, it was really hard for me to learn.
00:14:17
Speaker
But thankfully, I had learned a technique called mind mapping, which meant that I'd use those skills I'd learned in hearing and listening and understanding and taking it all in. And I used to put it all out on one page of A3 in colouring pens. So people used to turn up to take these day courses I'd go on. And they'd be like, you know, the colouring department turned up. They were like, this is the notes. Because if I write, like, loads of notes, I won't be able to read them anyway, and it would be very good.
00:14:46
Speaker
but I had some really good support from a tutor called Chris, he really made it possible for me to become qualified and I did, I became a qualified accountant at 23. So from there I stayed on for a little while in the accountancy practice that trained me, I then went on to another practice, so my partner had moved to the other end of the county where we live
00:15:12
Speaker
and he'd to take a job in engineering and so I followed him and my the boss who trained me basically said look I can't give you a job so qualified I don't really have you know I can't really do that but what I can do is recommend you to a friend of mine who's got a practice near where your partner is now working so I'll I'll make a recommendation so again I just had I had a meeting got a job he basically just sorted that out for me
00:15:38
Speaker
So that's one of the first things I think you need to, well two things you need to learn from this I think first of all. Number one, if it's all looking a bit of a mess now then there's always something you can do to change it. There's always more than one way to get qualified or to get a job and secondly, neither of those jobs were advertised. They were all from my network.
00:15:56
Speaker
So one was something my mum knew and then my boss actually recommended me to somebody else. So neither of those jobs were advertised so I went through that entire thing with actually really having a proper interview to be fair. So I got to 27 before I had a proper interview.
00:16:13
Speaker
But this, so I think that they're really valuable things to think about when you look at your career is that it doesn't have to be linear and that there are open access ways of getting a senior level qualification. So the ACCA accountancy qualification is a master's equivalent. So you can do that.
00:16:33
Speaker
So you can also change tack. I know people who did degrees in chemistry who then got to the end of it thought, well, that was interesting, but it's not me who then became accountants. So these people, you know, it's all possible. So don't feel restricted. Enjoy what you're doing until you don't and then do something different is what I would say.
00:16:55
Speaker
Yes. So at 27, I'm just like, what am I going to do now? So I was getting a bit frustrated in the practice I was in, the guy who, you know, I was very grateful for him to give me that job. He had a heart attack, he wasn't there anymore.
00:17:11
Speaker
things changed things changed there and I couldn't progress at all so I thought what am I gonna do um now as it is my other half had then moved to one of the cities he said I found a job opportunity here in IT so he he was shifted there and I thought yeah okay I'm gonna try that as well um but I was a bit worn down by the whole thing and I thought I'm gonna take a little bit of a break I'm gonna take a I'm gonna take a different type of job
00:17:35
Speaker
just for six months, just to build my confidence up again. And I stayed for 17 years and ended up owning parts of the business.
Career Peaks and Transitions
00:17:44
Speaker
So what happened is, so I went into a financial services company. So that's a company that looks at people's pensions and stuff like that. But because I've moved from a very rural place to a city, my salary had gone up for doing a job which had a lot less responsibility. So I had more money,
00:18:02
Speaker
and actually i was pretty much answering the phone and i'd almost gone back to filing you know it was like it was a bit like that yeah so i thought well i i put myself in the diary to speak to the two bosses at my three month review so this is what happens when you get a job is you get taken on provisionally and then quite often you'll have a review and they'll say whether they're keeping you or not so i put myself in the diary because they've kind of thought well you're just here now you're going to stay aren't you and um
00:18:27
Speaker
And instead of it being all about them saying to me, whether they were going to keep you or not I said I've got a business proposal for you. And they looked a little bit stunned because you don't normally get that for the person that you've employed to answer your phone.
00:18:42
Speaker
So I said, look, I think I've been watching your business and I think that these are ways that we can change things so you can let it grow a bit more and and all of these sorts of things. So they they had to kind of have a chat with each other and then come back and have another meeting to say, yes, I think I think we'd like you to do that and we're going to make you an associate director.
00:19:04
Speaker
So again, sometimes it's just, and your generation's great at this, being a bit cheeky and going, do you know what? You don't have to do it like this. So if you think you're the first generation who did this, you're not. Some of us have been doing this for a long time. Just got straight in there. So this is what we did. And so I spent 17 years in this business until I was in my mid-40s.
00:19:31
Speaker
And then I thought, you know what, I'm right for a change now. We've grown it quite a lot. It's a multi-million pound business. It's worked really well. But the people that were left on the board, they wanted to do things slightly differently. And I thought, you know what, it's time for me to move on. So I left without a plan. And I've never not had a plan. I've always had a plan. But I left no plan.
00:19:52
Speaker
So what I did then is I just thought, right, again, I'm just going to take a bit of time for me and I'm just going to see what happens and see, see how I feel. You know, what do I want to do next? And so a couple of things appeared in my life. One was the ACCA that I've been part of for all of these years. I've been a member of all these years and I've been helping with that. And we call it continual professional development. So what that is is when you get a professional qualification, you need to keep it up to date.
00:20:20
Speaker
So you have to keep doing little courses or reading and things like that to make sure that you still want your technical skills. So I've been helping out on a local level with these sorts of courses and somebody at ACCA said, why don't you stand for council? Now council basically is the committee at the top of the organisation that
00:20:42
Speaker
assists with the executive team to make sure that everything that ACCA does is for the benefit of members and for the benefit of the public and fulfils our charter. So it is a senior level board position whichever way you look at it because you have a huge amount of influence over what is you know nearly a million members and future members as before our students.
00:21:06
Speaker
So, so the things you have to be voted on from, you know, by the membership. So I thought, well, I put myself forward, but I won't get in and I got in. I've been there for six years. Yeah, so good. I know. Isn't it amazing? I'm so grateful to our membership. Yeah.
00:21:23
Speaker
So I've sat on the regulatory board there and now I've been transferred over to the remuneration committee so and that as well has been an amazing experience to see this organisation which is you know it's got a huge turnover it's you know it's turnovers over 200 million and
00:21:43
Speaker
and it operates we have members in 176 countries I think so it's you know it is a huge global organisation so to be part of that is a massive privilege yeah so alongside that even more crazy because if that wasn't crazy enough for a girl who started off in a coffee shop if that wasn't you know if that wasn't crazy enough
Conference Speaking and Personal Growth
00:22:03
Speaker
other things then started to appear in my life. So I have a business called Discover Your Bounce and it's passed off with a lady called Nikki Marshall as her business and she said, oh would you like to come in as my non-executive director? So a non-executive director is a director but they don't get involved in the day-to-day, they just get involved in the strategy of what the business is going to do.
00:22:25
Speaker
So I kind of got involved with that and then I said actually what you need is me to roll my sleeves up and get involved and so that's what I did. So I've been doing leadership courses and all these sorts of things ever since and workshops but what I've also ended up doing is because of my accountancy background
00:22:43
Speaker
And because of some of the writing that I've been doing, I've been invited to speak at conferences. So I can remember when I started doing these continuing professional development courses, and I would be stood at the front, shaking, quivering, and all I had to say was,
00:22:59
Speaker
Our speaker today is Joe Blogg. He's going to be talking about tax. And you would think it was the end of the world by the look of me. I'd be having a total breakdown over it. So basically, over the years of doing that, I kind of got used to standing up and doing these things. So then when my first opportunity came to be a conference speaker, I thought,
00:23:19
Speaker
can I do that? Yeah I'm sure I can and so you start off by sort of you know maybe you've got 30 people there and you stand up and you do your bit and it's fine and then I think some of the big arenas that we have in the UK I've spoken actually at most of them in the last sort of four or five years
00:23:37
Speaker
And so it's when you finally realise that you've put your headset on, you've walked out on stage, you've looked at all these wonderful smiley faces and some people who when they don't know you're looking at them don't look very smiley at all, which is a shame. So all these smiley faces looking back at you and you realise that there's getting on for a thousand people in there.
00:23:57
Speaker
and yeah so who knew I would be a conference speaker as well and for a girl who struggled to read and write at 16 the fact I have a publishing company I'm also a published author now I think is probably one of the things I'm most proud of because it's something I would have never have thought but I was capable of but the opportunity came about
00:24:20
Speaker
And Nicky and I said, yeah, we'll really we can do this for people. We can help them to publish their books. And so that's what we did. So so I have a book out there on Amazon and it's called Love Your Life A Hundred Tips For More Peace And Happiness.
00:24:35
Speaker
I'll have to read it. I mean, just the way you're speaking, I'm already drawn in. It's just so amazing. I say you have more than four careers. I suppose one of your listeners to take away from this is that life is amazing. And you always have those mountains to climb. So I'm not saying the moment you get a mountain, run away from it. Absolutely the opposite. You always have those mountains to climb, but know why you're doing it.
00:25:02
Speaker
So if you were going down a career because you'd kind of promised your mum and dad and you said you were going to do it, well don't. This is your life. And nobody set out in my life to have said, well, now I'm going to help you here or here or here. I put myself into positions and people stepped up and helped me. But you've got to put yourself in that position. First of all, you can't expect people to just open doors and shove you through them. You need to be knocking on that door.
00:25:29
Speaker
Yes. Maybe you need to invite yourself in sometimes. Exactly. Totally. Totally. Yeah. Oh, I love it. Sharon, I'm really interested in talking a bit more about ACCA for people who don't know what it stands for or sort of what it's about a little bit. Would you mind just discussing
00:25:48
Speaker
Yeah, ACCA and what it does. Absolutely. So you can have a look at the website, it's accaglobal.com. And so what we are, we're in a competency body, we're based in the UK, but we are, we're all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand, you know, so we've got a lot of members, we've got a lot of members, and in fact, our current president, Joseph Oolabe, is from Australia. Wow. So there you go.
00:26:13
Speaker
All the Australian listeners. Exactly. Support, represent. Totally. So yes, we say we are a global organisation. It is quite a global passport once you get that qualification because a lot of visas that you might be looking for if you want to go and try and work in another country will accept ACCA as being the top chart of qualification. So what I love about it is it's not just people like me that have benefited from this qualification.
00:26:42
Speaker
Yes, you can go to, you know, some universities do it as a degree and you go through the usual things, you get your degree and you get qualified.
00:26:51
Speaker
For people like me that didn't have that opportunity on
Non-traditional Education and Continuous Learning
00:26:55
Speaker
a global scale, this is where they can do this. And you can study online, you can go to sort of day release courses at colleges, there's nightscreens. So very open access. Yeah, absolute open access. And that's what I love about it because I'm really into social mobility. So just because you're born into a position doesn't mean to say that you have to sit there forever.
00:27:19
Speaker
And if I hadn't done ACCA, I'm not entirely sure where, I mean, I might have just been able to be, you know, I might have got on that first rung and been able to do some account stuff maybe in an office. But the whole reason I can build businesses is because of this qualification, the whole reason that all these other doors have opened to me.
00:27:40
Speaker
and that I was accepted onto a board is because I had this qualification so this has really taken as you know I was the first person in my family to have a degree level qualification so but I'm not the last you know my nieces and nephews have all followed me you know so this is because again if you you can see it you can be it don't you you know yeah so true yeah yeah exactly you gotta make the way you
00:28:07
Speaker
Yeah and when you think about that, that is ACCA's global impact, is that in a lot of places, whether it is Nigeria or Vietnam or Indonesia or China or Hong Kong, Singapore, all these places, there's people that
00:28:23
Speaker
that this is their first step and a step up for not just them but their whole families so I'm really enthusiastic about it and I would absolutely suggest that you go and have a look at it if you're interested in becoming an accountant and also we have in Australia as well we have a unique partnership
00:28:43
Speaker
with Chast accountants Australia and New Zealand, which means that you can get ACCA as a qualification and you also, you can then also get your other certificate, your local qualification certificate as well. So there's a, there's a real, and it is an amazing partnership we have. Yeah. And you're not even just saying that because you work them, like you truly believe it and I can see and I am such a, yeah. Like literally, like it's, it's, you know, it's so,
00:29:11
Speaker
like admiring and just fascinating to hear someone that's really just been impacted by an institution, you know, and like a career pathway has come out of it and it's been successful for you and you know you've had a great experience along the way and you've learned and you've done something that it's just not the normal, you know, traditional route and that's what I really like about it, you know.
00:29:37
Speaker
And I've said this before, but I took a very traditional route, you know, school, university, probably get a job. And it's kind of boring in a way. It's more exciting to do something that is different and yeah, not the norm. So yes, that is very awesome.
00:29:54
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, well, thank you. And you know, there's nothing wrong with the way that you're doing it. Oh, yeah, it's absolutely, you know, it's really cool the way you're doing that. But just always remember is that so this isn't the this isn't the only charter qualification I have. So when I had my business, I realized in order to step up the business, that we needed to become chartered financial planners.
00:30:16
Speaker
And so I thought well the person who's most likely to be able to do that is me because I'm already a chartered accountant. So I used my ACCA qualification to get some exemptions and then I didn't have to take as many exams and so I became chartered twice.
00:30:31
Speaker
And so that was a second lot of qualifications. So this is another thing to remember as well, is that if you want to go into any of the professions, then chances are you will have to take some of their qualifications. But remember, you can always get exemptions for your degree if you've gone down that route. So just ask, because a lot of organisations, you know, a lot of institutes will allow you to bring prior learning in. So it's always worth asking. Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:59
Speaker
And I also understand that you're a qualified coach and mentor as well. Yes. I know, because this is what you do when you're a bit of an examiner file and you can't help yourself. So I thought, right, I've got this new career now doing conference speaking and all the rest of it.
00:31:21
Speaker
and I started doing a lot more coaching so what I hadn't realised in my business is when I left my business I had loads of lovely cards from people saying thank you for all your help from the staff and also from clients and the clients of course I've been doing tax things and I've been doing sorting out the pensions and sorting out trusts and these very technical things for them and nobody thanked me for any of that
00:31:43
Speaker
Everybody thanked me for my patience and for listening and for helping them understand their money and all of those soft skills. All the rest of it was kind of like, yeah, well we kind of assumed you'd be able to do that. What we didn't expect was that you did this.
00:32:00
Speaker
And I can remember at the time taking all these cards and going to the ladies now my business partner Nicki Marshall and saying you wouldn't you wouldn't know what I do for a living if you just read this and she said oh yeah I would because you're a coach and a mentor and I said hi!
00:32:20
Speaker
Oh, wow. Yeah. So the crazy thing is I thought I was selling, you know, pension schemes and tax solutions. And it turns out that I was actually selling coaching. So who knew that they were buying something different to what I thought I was selling. But but all the way out. So I thought, well, OK, if I thought these coaching skills, I want to do them better because that's me. So I started a coaching. So I did a coaching qualification.
00:32:44
Speaker
And I'm really glad that I did because it really opened up, it's kind of formulating, if you like, in my mind, all the things that I've kind of a lot of things I've done naturally, it gave me terminology for it. And so I was really, yeah, and practice and a different group of people to hang out with as well.
00:33:03
Speaker
and a different way to look at it. So I learnt lots of stuff from them, I learnt lots of more techniques I could use as well. And so yeah, so I became a coach and a mentor as well, which, and again, so continual learning, this is another thing.
Digital Transformation and Workplace Dynamics
00:33:17
Speaker
I know that we may end up talking about the future of work, but continual learning is part of this, definitely. Yeah, I mean, speaking of the future of work, do you wanna, let's talk about that for a little bit then. Do you have any predictions?
00:33:29
Speaker
Yeah so the world's changed massively and you may not have noticed it as much because actually you've kind of grown up into it but there has been a huge a huge leap so we've gone everything's gone digital and I know your age group's grown up with digital but your parents haven't and they've probably kind of adapted to it reasonably well here and there and you know your grandmother probably even on FaceTime you know yeah
00:33:55
Speaker
you've got so you've got a bit of it working but it's still in in organizations in large organizations there's still a lot of work to do there's a lot of old attitudes towards things like having to be in the office to do your job well actually the benefit of covid if we can talk about a benefit from covid
00:34:13
Speaker
is that, particularly in the UK, is that everyone had to work from home and so we realised just how possible that was. And of course for rural areas, let's say in the UK, in the past you were very limited on your job opportunities if you wanted to stay where you grew up. Whereas now you could be working in California or Adelaide, you could be working anywhere, could be online.
00:34:37
Speaker
and in fact we wouldn't have been doing this so easily you know yeah i know all of these things the world has opened up and some businesses are really embracing it and some businesses aren't they're struggling with it their culture says no actually on everyone back in the office where i can see them and and i think that leadership needs to change and i'm looking to your generation to do this really well so leadership until now has
00:35:03
Speaker
If, if you like, the 1980s 1990s leadership have been in offices in particular, have been quite male dominated and just sort of, you know, do as I say, kind of mentality. And now I think things are a lot more open.
00:35:18
Speaker
and a lot of companies, progressive companies, are getting rid of middle management so that you can actually just go and talk to the chief exec and tell them what's not right in the organization, you know, so that a lot of tech companies are really modern like that and other companies are looking at it and going that's not such a bad idea. So I think the employee voice is being heard a lot more but don't be surprised if you go in your first job and you're told do this, do that and yeah you've got to learn your trade, of course you do, but if they're not listening
Mental Health Strategies and Community Support
00:35:48
Speaker
that's not unusual but that if I was to say give a prediction for the next 10, 15, 20 years that will change because I think there's that all of a sudden the world has opened up you can literally work from home and anywhere so I think that the good organisations, the inclusive organisations, the ones that listen to their staff will thrive and I think the rest of them will have to either adapt very quickly or then they're not going to do so well to be honest.
00:36:18
Speaker
Yeah, single swim. Yeah, no, absolutely. I think that's absolutely it. So I think there's, yeah, I think it's going to be a very interesting time for leadership. Yes, yeah, 100%. And I would love to jump back a little bit and just go back to how you're a qualified coach and mentor.
00:36:39
Speaker
And particularly because the age range of the listeners are around 16 to 22, they can, you know, reach either side, but these are students and pre-service teachers and all the lack of it. And I love to just talk about the topic of mental health for a second. That's even possible to talk about mental health for one second, because it's just such an accepted topic. I love to talk because you are a qualified coach and mentor. What are some common habits that you see in many students or people between that age range that are
00:37:09
Speaker
successfully and actively prioritizing their mental health.
00:37:13
Speaker
So I think the prioritising thing is the key there. So there is a fine line between the fear that comes and the anxieties that can come from being anxious about everything until it gets out of control and being a little bit anxious because you're doing something new. So I think that when it comes to mental health, particularly in your age group,
00:37:39
Speaker
everything you do is a bit new and and it's perfectly normal to feel a little bit anxious because you're stepping into a new college for the first time you're meeting new people you're doing new subjects it's all new yes so it's perfectly normal to be a little bit anxious about that it's when it gets on top of you it's when it's really impacting your life it's when you can't get out of bed because of it it's when you start making decisions and say oh and i can't do this and i can't do that and i can't and i can't i can't
00:38:05
Speaker
that's where you really do need to get help so if you find and say mental health is um it's on a scale you it's not like you tick a box and go yeah good mental health or poor mental health yeah it's it's a sliding scale and you can have days where it's really not working for you it's just when you get more and more days like that that you really do need to to take some you know take some action
00:38:29
Speaker
So just acknowledge that one bad day is not your life. It's just one day. And that one bad week is not your life either. But the way to approach being able to cope with these things and to find these things is get yourself a routine.
00:38:49
Speaker
even if the only thing you can do today because of your mental health is get up have a shower then get up and have a shower but make that a thing you can do so concentrate on those things you can do you can go outside for a walk get some fresh air it'll do you good
00:39:06
Speaker
Have a think about the people in your life that are positive, the supporters, not the movers, not the people that are always, you know, judging you or making things difficult, but think about the really supportive people in your life. Go talk to them. They're there to help.
00:39:22
Speaker
So find your community I think is another one. It's something we talk about actually at ACCA a lot, it's in our strategy, it's building communities. You've got people online, I'm sure you've got lots of Facebook friends or Instagram followers and all the rest of it, but who is it there that listens to you and knows you, all of you? And if there is anybody immediately to mind, think about what groups you might be able to join in the physical world,
00:39:51
Speaker
that that can actually give you that little bit of support because it's not that they've got to be mental health experts or anything like that but if when you were in junior school you learned to play the guitar well go find a guitar group pick it up again give it another go see what other people you can meet who's just in their company just makes you feel calm and if you think but actually my anxiety or whatever means that i find it difficult to walk into new things take a friend with you
00:40:17
Speaker
So you don't have to do it on your own, take somebody with you to do it. And actually, whether it's regular dog walking with a mate or a neighbour, whether it's you have some of those routines that are just good for you. So that's what I would say is the start and the people who do it well have a routine, typically.
00:40:39
Speaker
or they know what to do when things start to become a little bit too stressful for them. So I'd say you've got to watch yourself because different things will trigger different people. And at the end of the day, no one's watching over you all the time. You're not five years old anymore.
00:40:56
Speaker
So they don't know what's going on in your head unless you speak out, unless you actually say. And do say.
Networking Tips and Career Advancement
00:41:03
Speaker
You don't have to say everything to everyone. You don't have to do an Instagram live and tell the world. You can, however. Go find a friend. Go tell somebody. Go tell your brother, your mum. Go tell someone. Yes. And someone told me, a teacher told me in my high school that
00:41:21
Speaker
It's always good to have five people on speed dial that you can just call up at any time and you feel as though you can talk. And obviously maybe not everyone has five really good quality friends in their life, but one will do as long as there is somebody there that you can just vent to and you have their confidence and you know that you trust them. Absolutely. Yeah. And do you have any insight about if
00:41:48
Speaker
students and pre-service teachers and people within that age range or anyone really are struggling with their mental health, do you have any insight on how they can find support?
00:41:58
Speaker
Yeah, so you can get quite a lot of support online and also your sort of, we call them general practitioner surgeries in the UK. So that's your normal doctor. Your doctor's normally a really good place to start. And if you're thinking, I don't want to be on pills, it's not all about pills these days. There are, whether it's cognitive behavioral therapy, whether it's other talking therapies, there are other things that they will quite often be the primary carer to actually be able to get you into the system.
00:42:27
Speaker
to get you the right sort of service and the right sort of help you need. So I say that the first one has to be go to your doctor and explain what's going on. And it is incredibly common. So in Western countries, it's around one in four people will have some sort of mental health challenge in their lifetime. So if that's you, then, you know, this is really common. You are not alone. Yes, for sure.
00:42:53
Speaker
And support is just the best thing that I guess anyone can get if they are suffering from any mental health conditions. Yeah. I'd love just to jump back a bit and talk about work and careers. And we're talking about the future of work before. So juggling around a bit for this episode. But yeah, I'd love to discuss any advice that you may have on how a student can discover the best way to move up in their career.
00:43:24
Speaker
particularly focusing on, you know, how could they secure the job in the first place? And then once they do have that job, how can they sort of move up slowly but surely?
00:43:34
Speaker
Yeah so I'd say that so the first thing is who do you know in your network and you might go don't have a network well we'll go on to that who do you know your network that already does this so it may be that you've got an uncle or an aunt that's already kind of in a business that's similar to to what you're thinking of or maybe your parents know somebody or maybe a school teacher knows somebody but ask around who knows somebody that does something similar to what I want to do
00:44:04
Speaker
So that's one of the things and then go and talk to them and ask them where's the best way to get in or what's the best avenue. As you can imagine lots of people come and talk to me about becoming accountants and I'm able to point them in absolutely the right direction. So have a look in your immediate network, there may be somebody there who can help you. So that's the first thing and obviously the internet's a great place to go and find
00:44:28
Speaker
what sort of qualifications you need to get started and also have a look at the jobs that are advertised that you're kind of interested in. What sort of things are they asking for? What sort of experience are they asking for? And can you volunteer? So what organisations are taking on people to do that job?
00:44:47
Speaker
And do they have an internship? Internships are really good for getting your experience up and getting your foot in the door, getting them to see what you're capable of. Can you volunteer somewhere? You know, if you want to be, you want to work with animals, you want to be a vet, is there a local veterinary practice that you can just say, can I come down on a Saturday morning and, you know, get involved? So you've got something to put on your CV that says I've been around that environment.
00:45:13
Speaker
So think about the around that environment scenario, where could you place yourself so that people go, all right, so you've got a bit of experience, like me filing things, you've got a bit of experience, you kind of know what we're about. So you need it gets you. Yeah, exactly. It just gets you that thing that other people have probably don't have. So yeah, as I said, my first two, my first two jobs were actually word of mouth. They weren't even advertised.
00:45:40
Speaker
yes so um yeah so just bear in mind that it's not always it's not always a matter of applying for things sometimes um if you hang out in the right places then doors will open for you yes and particularly networking do you have any sort of tips
00:45:59
Speaker
on how people can network effectively, just off the top of your head. Absolutely. So even though I might sound quite bubbly, I'm actually quite an introvert. So I'm actually quite an introvert. So I get all of my inspiration, if you like, from being on my own, not from being around other people. And I'm also very short.
00:46:28
Speaker
So the physical things of walking into a room particularly when all the networking I was doing was around was in a very male at the time very male dominated professions and I'd walk into a room and everyone would be
00:46:43
Speaker
head and shoulders above me, you know, I'm expert on armpits, quite frankly. That's the level I'm at. And so they would step back and tread on me and everything was terrible. So I had to get a strategy around this. And I would walk into places and the first thing most people do is they look around for somebody they know. Well, the whole point is to talk to people you don't know. So the thing is, how do you do that? So what I worked out is you've got two strategies here, either
00:47:08
Speaker
you see the little groups of people that are chatting in the middle of the room and you go and kind of stand on the periphery and kind of get in the conversation and for some people that'll work.
00:47:17
Speaker
or if you're like me then what you've got to do is walk around the outskirts of the room, walk around the edges of the room and see who else has stood there looking confused and doesn't know anyone and go and talk to them or if they've got like a tea and coffee station hang out around there and talk to people there because they've just arrived and if you say oh I don't really know anybody here you're quite
00:47:42
Speaker
often you'll find people go I don't know anyone here either or actually I've got a friend over here should we go and talk to them? Yes. So I started getting into this habit of having a look at who's not talking to anyone else go talk to them and then once you've had a bit of a conversation say oh that person over there looks like they're not really or there's two people over there and they're not really seem to be having much of a conversation shall we go and talk to them and so we normally end up with the largest group to be fair
00:48:09
Speaker
So it's a tactic, you don't have to be absolutely in everyone's face, just go talk to one person. Another thing you can do is whoever the organiser is of this gathering that you've gone to, go and talk to them and say I don't know anyone, and nine times out of ten they will introduce you to people.
00:48:28
Speaker
or they'll butt into one of the bigger groups and say, oh, this is so-and-so, and they don't know anyone. Yeah? That's a good one. Go talk to the organizers. They're very good at that sort of thing as well. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I was going to say that it's just such a smart technique to talk to people on the outside because you're all sort of in the same boat anyway. And maybe the people that are standing in the circle sometimes, they don't know, all know each other either. And it's just like this whole environment of, yeah, just getting to know people. And I guess that's what networking is all about.
00:49:03
Speaker
find out about networking events and opportunities to network with people. Is it just kind of by chance, or what a mouth, or? Well, I suppose it depends on what you're looking for. So in the UK, we have something called Eventbrite, which is where a lot of organizations put their events. Yes. And you can just book and go along. So have a look at things like that. Or in the business sense, they have LinkedIn locals as well. So yeah, you need to
00:49:23
Speaker
How do you get into the room in the first place?
00:49:29
Speaker
I'd say go online and see what things are available there. If you're interested in commerce, in business, quite often local authorities will have networking for local businesses. And actually, if you're doing a degree or a diploma in business and finance or business studies or something like that, then going along to free networking with businesses and just saying, look, I'm just a student. I want to learn a bit about business. Tell me about your business.
00:49:58
Speaker
It's actually quite a good way of building your network as well.
Managing Anxiety and Enhancing Mental Health
00:50:02
Speaker
So yeah, so local commerce groups are quite useful for things like that. And another point I was thinking is like fake it you make it in a way, like fake the confidence when you walk into a room. And yeah, I think, I mean, I know that I would say I'm extroverted in nature, but I also need my introverted time.
00:50:24
Speaker
I do know a lot of the time when I'm not feeling very extroverted and bubbly and I kind of need that time to recharge my energy and I'm still being around people. My job is very outgoing and engaging. I just fake it. It's just acting.
00:50:43
Speaker
The thing is, did you know that smiling, even a fake smile, actually sets off the dopamine response in you? So good. So we have to do this anyway, you know? And in fact, if you want to sound sparkly and all the rest of it, then smile and we're both smiling. We're both smiling.
00:51:02
Speaker
We really are. But this is a good technique and in fact it's something that Nikki and I, when we double act up on stage, we do this quite a lot. Nikki will talk about this dopamine response from a fake smile and I've got to stand there and do this fake smile.
00:51:19
Speaker
as many cheesy grins as I can get an audience reaction for sure everyone starts laughing at me because it looks ridiculous but it's it's there to prove the point that you can do it and I absolutely agree when you say about about those down times you know one of my my tricks because I obviously I've got some board roles and then I do these these sort of podcast interviews and things like that and on top of all the other things that I do
00:51:43
Speaker
Yes. So to help me to transition between a lot of these things because it's a very busy brain, lots going on. So first thing in the morning it's a cup of tea around the garden at Barefoot and I really take in nature and I have a look at you know where the birds are at the moment and should I put some more bird feed out for them and
00:52:02
Speaker
what other animals are present in the garden at the moment and what are the other leaves coming out and the flowers and what's what's happening out there and I just immerse myself through all of my senses and actually that's one of the techniques that people often use for anxiety is to actually immerse yourself in a space and just
00:52:25
Speaker
just concentrate on your senses. So what can you see? What sort of five things can you see? What four things can you hear? What two, three things can you smell? What can you taste? What can you feel? And just immerse yourself because you're getting yourself back in your body because of course anxiety is about worry about the future and depression is often concern about the past and what neither of those two things are is being present.
00:52:50
Speaker
So what a wander around the garden first thing in the morning does for me is it makes me present, makes me absolutely here. Another thing is a good mantra for those situations as well is I'm safe, I am well and I trust myself.
00:53:06
Speaker
yes so to actually um for some people writing things like that um somewhere where they can see it often maybe the first thing you see in the morning um because first thing in the morning you're stood there maybe you're in your kitchen maybe the kettle's going you know that's the first thing that you see and in that environment you are absolutely you are you are safe you are well and you can trust yourself so set yourself up for success affirmations yes yeah yes very much so yeah um
00:53:35
Speaker
Affirmations are so impactful. I totally underestimate the power of them because I think I saw this trend going around a couple months ago that it was sort of 30 days which would eventually turn into a habit of just every morning saying these five things. I'm beautiful, I'm loved. I think that I'm safe, I'm well.
00:53:56
Speaker
there was a fifth one I can't remember now but I really wanted to do it I have to say it's really hard to stare in the mirror and say that to myself but it's very difficult um but I was really fascinated by how people were able to stick to that and they kind of made it a trend so they were doing it and recording it every day and things like that really do make a difference in someone's life especially if you've got anxiety depression or any sort of um
00:54:24
Speaker
a state of mental health that isn't the best.
00:54:27
Speaker
affirmations are really good yeah they really are because at the end of the day a lot of mental health issues come about because you've got a negative affirmation yes because you keep telling yourself you're not good enough or you're not worthy or something's not right about you or whatever and if that can then make you feel as you know common mental health disorders often can with lack of energy and and all of those sorts of things then the opposite is also true
00:54:55
Speaker
So telling yourself those positive things is also true. And yes, in the beginning it can feel a bit weird if you stand in front of the mirror and do that. It's on! Yeah.
00:55:06
Speaker
But the thing is your brain does what you tell it to do. So reprogram it. Give yourself that chance. Have those affirmations. Yes. The craziest thing, and I'm definitely going to be doing either a podcast episode or some social media posts about it because I was like soaking it up and I'm not sure if you heard of it before, Sharon, but it's called the locus of control. Is that interesting? No, I haven't heard of that. So cool. Oh my goodness.
00:55:35
Speaker
I'm a second year psychology honours student and it was just one of the lectures and my eyes are glued to the screen.
Emotional Intelligence in Career Success
00:55:42
Speaker
I could not have been concentrating. I have ADHD. For me, that was my hyper-attentative focus. I was like, zoom! Just to give you a very, very quick snapshot of it. There's different states and it's basically where you perceive control lies in your life.
00:56:03
Speaker
Um, so I have my notes somewhere on my desk, but essentially, um, if you have an internal locus of control, you feel as though you do have control over your life and you have the ability to control life events around you. Like you perceive that, but if you have an external locus of control, you perceive that other things, other people chance is kind of more affecting you and you don't have as much control over your life. So people would think like that. It's more like a, it is what it is sort of mentality.
00:56:33
Speaker
Whereas people with an internal locus feel more responsibility and potentially sometimes more guilt over their actions because they could perceive that control. Anyway, I was getting to a point, but it's just very fascinating to see how people think about that and to reprogram the brain as well to think and to have a good mix of internal and external locus of control.
00:56:56
Speaker
And that's also really positive as well. A little bit off-tropic, but it's just another fascinating point. But it's all about how you approach, actually, your career. Because one of the things I'd like to talk in a future episode about is emotional intelligence. And that's something that we... ACCA did some research on this, and they're not the first ones to do it. So I think it was a Harvard professor that first came up with emotional intelligence.
00:57:24
Speaker
and that was they wanted to know why it was that some students went on to have these amazing careers and others didn't when they both had well they all had that that great start in life yes so what they'd worked out is that this was about people skills these soft skills that that you can learn so um and that they called it emotional intelligence and it's around how your emotions control how you react to everybody else it's about how you perceive and interpret and demonstrate and articulate
00:57:52
Speaker
how you are and how you can then empathise with other people. So the thing is alongside your amazing careers you're going to have,
00:58:05
Speaker
and doing all that amazing work. Think about that people skills, think about those soft skills that you need to develop as well because they will also help you with your own mental health. And they will also help you with, so it's actually a continuum if you like of some of that is understanding about you and how you feel and recognizing your emotions and being able to do something about them. So it's not about controlling it. Sometimes it's about just, it is what it is.
00:58:34
Speaker
But understanding that you don't need to beat yourself up about that. But actually having that platform if you like. And if you start at a younger age then you really are going to fly. There's no two ways about it.
00:58:50
Speaker
I know people that have benefited from understanding a bit more about emotional intelligence in their 40s and 50s and it's had a great impact on their career too but if you imagine if you've got if you've got this in mind right from the start then not only will that help you to keep control if you like of your own mental state and be present but also it will help you with your career.
00:59:16
Speaker
So yeah, these soft skills and your mental health, really important part of your career. So again, if you've got to the end of year two of something, you've got another year to go and you've got no gas in the tank, have a think about what you need to do for yourself and take responsibility for mending yourself so that you can then continue and do year three and give it your best shot.
00:59:39
Speaker
don't think that you've got to just keep slogging on and slogging on slogging on coming out with something that wasn't what you wanted yeah so take some responsibility for that take some action and again go talk to someone yes that's where you are couldn't agree more thank you so much Sharon that was an awesome discussion thank you so so much thank you so much for inviting me of course and yes I'm looking forward to our next episode it probably won't be a part two you'll be a
01:00:07
Speaker
another standalone episode on its own, but talking about emotional intelligence, I'd love to dive deeper into that. That would be really good. Yeah. Thank you so much again. Have a great day. And to you.
01:00:18
Speaker
wow wow wow wow wow that was an awesome episode that was content packed content rich everything was amazing oh my goodness okay wow well there are a couple links couple of handles that were shared in this episode and I just wanted to reiterate anything just in case you lost it also just let you know please check out the show notes today if you were ever to check out the show notes this is one of the times so definitely check it out because there are amazing things in there that will lead you to the accaglobal.com website if you wanted to
01:00:48
Speaker
look and explore any of the open access courses that ACCA is offering that Sharon was mentioning in the podcast episode today. In the episode in the show notes as well, they also have Sharon's personal Instagram account, the ACCA global Instagram account, as well as other really helpful handy links that you'll be able to access
01:01:07
Speaker
Sharon's blog and books and free things and amazing things and things you should definitely go check out. So please go support that and definitely go check out ACCA Global.
01:01:19
Speaker
the instagram account again it will be tagged in the show notes so you don't have the stress about remembering a hundred handles and usernames and links and websites etc etc so yeah check out the show notes and thank you so much guys i hope you enjoyed this episode if you did enjoy this episode i'd really appreciate it if you rated it five stars and if you're listening on apple podcast who leave a review in the description that way it will be great because we are able to get more traction for this episode for this podcast this channel
01:01:44
Speaker
and more people are able to discover it. If you're listening on Spotify, please just give it five stars or however many stars you think it deserves. And I'll see you guys in the next episode where we're gonna have another guest star on completely different topic, but stay tuned.
01:02:01
Speaker
Thanks so much for listening to the All Things Education Podcast. If you enjoyed the episode today, why not support the show? Head to the description of this episode and click on the support the show link to donate in increments of $5. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on your favourite platform. And remember, the advice given on this channel and on our social media is general information only. If you have any specific personal health, wellbeing and or educational issues,
01:02:23
Speaker
Reach out to professionals such as your GP, school counsellor and or a trusted person in your life before making any final decisions. Please do not take this episode as specific personal advice and hopefully you now have more information about the topic you listen to today. For more study and lifestyle content head to our Instagram at allthingseducation21 and the link in the bio will direct you to many helpful resources. Stay educated everyone and see you next time.