Video transcript: A conversation with Emma Watkins

Caroline:

Just thinking about some of the work that we’ve done together, Emma, right back at the very beginning when you came to me, you were really overwhelmed with all of the things that were going on inside your head, and were in this real dilemma about whether to essentially shut down one half of your business and just focus on a different path, and that was holding you back from making all of the other changes and ideas that you wanted to implement in your business. Can you just talk to me a little bit around that?

Emma:

Yeah, so I think it’s fair to say running your own business can be quite a lonely place. So even though you might be full of ideas about what you want to do and how you want to do it, sort of implementing it by yourself can be really difficult and challenging. And I kept looking at the bigger picture. I kept looking, well, not just at the bigger picture, but trying to do everything all at the same time, which is impossible. So working with you, it was a complete light bulb moment of having somebody to share all of my wants and desires for how I think the business might be able to run. But putting it all down onto a piece of paper and being able to actually empty it out of my head, then put it in some kind of semblance of order, and then prioritise it.

And it made it so much clearer and easier then to make decisions about how I wanted the business to run. So the direction that I wanted to take it in, I had been thinking for quite some time about one part of the business that I wasn’t perhaps as happy doing and really switching the focus in a big way. And it was a big decision to make.

Caroline:

You agonized for a long time about that, didn’t you?

Emma:

I did for quite a few years actually, and it just made it easier to make that big decision when I’d had the opportunity to have a huge dump from my brain of everything that I needed to do and organize it, structure it, and then I felt more confident, hugely confident to make the decision to do run the business in a different way.

Caroline:

And then there was another pretty big decision that followed more or less straight away after that where you decided that you actually wanted to step away from doing the actual doing in your business and allow the associates, your associate team, to continue with that work, which frees you up then to take on more of the managing director type role so that you then had the space in your brain to tackle the list of all the wants and desires that have been stacking up for years and years. And that was also a big, am I doing the right thing decision. Sort of letting go and stepping away.

Emma:

Yeah. It’s really difficult to let go when it’s your own business and there are a lot of what ifs when you are self-employed. You don’t have the same levels of security about what you are doing, but sometimes you’ve got to take the leap and having you alongside me to make that leap made it entirely possible. Whereas had I not been introduced to you, I could quite possibly still be sitting imagining all the things that I might want to do, but never actually getting round to doing them or having the confidence.

Just having somebody to talk things through with has made a huge difference. But also then somebody who’s very motivated. It helps incredibly because it’s really hard as someone that runs their own business, it’s hard to be in your business and working on your business. So yes, the big decision that I made to step away from actually doing the work, I mean, I sometimes end up doing it because again, that’s the nature of running your own business, but being able to step aside and look at the bigger picture, look at the things that we need for the business, the structure, getting all the paperwork in order has been invaluable.

There’s an awful lot of things that are always on the to-do list for somebody that runs their own business. And I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn there. There’s lots of people that will be in the same situation. So having you on board and working with you is just brilliant. The amount I have achieved in the two years that we’ve been working together compared to the 10 years previous. I mean, it doesn’t even compare.

Caroline:

I think it’s just having that second brain, isn’t it, to look at an issue together with you and bring a different perspective. And then also I think what’s been really special about the work that we’ve done together, and it’s something that I’m really wanting to replicate with my other clients, is not only do you have me to talk to you about things and to get that advice and the cheering you on and picking you up on the days where things aren’t maybe as great as they could be, but also actually doing some of the really chunky projects of work for you.

Emma:

I would not have been able to achieve what we’ve achieved without you. It’s not even if I’d have made the time available, it just wouldn’t have happened. The motivation, the friendship, the camaraderie, the support of my business and of me, it’s been invaluable.

Caroline:

Oh, it’s been an honour to work with you, Emma. I’m so glad that it’s turned into a really long-term arrangement, hasn’t it? And we’ve achieved so much and being able to bring my knowledge of other areas that perhaps aren’t quite as sexy as stuff that’s posted around on social media about 5 and 10K months. But actually sorting out some of the real nitty gritty things like data protection arrangements, reviewing your legal documents and being able to bring in the experts that I’ve sort of formed relationships with. I’ve tracked down people that are experts in these fields and then helped you to implement all the advice that we’ve got from them. It’s really having a second brain and a second pair of eyes working on your business, isn’t it?

Emma:

Yeah. It’s like having a co-director or somebody to run another part of the business. And I work in a business, I suppose it’s quite specialized in one respect, and so there’s a lot of knowledge in the areas that we work in, but it’s not a business in a traditional sense of a business. And so having the contacts and the knowledge that you have has just bolted on and added to it. I didn’t need anybody to help with how to do the job that we do and that I’m asking associates to do. That’s completely different. But actually the ins and outs of running a business, the operations, and I was employed until the day I decided to run my own business and there is no manual. Well, maybe there, but I didn’t get a copy of it! We are learning all of these things and so there’s so much more to running your own business than the actual work that you’ve decided to do.

Caroline:

When you get to a certain stage, you just can’t do it all by yourself, can you? Because you don’t have the capacity and you don’t necessarily have the skills.

Emma:

Exactly, and it’s a really important thing to recognize when you run your own business that there will be other people that can do certain things a lot better than you can, and it’s not a question of you not being good at running your business. It’s that the best people will always look for the best people to do the tasks that they’re looking for or that they need help with.

Caroline:

Or that they don’t like doing!

Emma:

Or that they don’t like doing. Absolutely. A lot of the detail that you are really good at. I love a bigger picture kind of overview, but I’m a bit rubbish at the actual sort of detail.

Caroline:

I think that’s what makes us work so well together, isn’t it? You’ve got the vision and the ideas, and I follow along behind, turning them all into completed tasks and projects. Exactly.

Emma:

Exactly, yeah. It is not an understatement to say the business wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for us working together.

Caroline:

I truly love working with you, so I hope it continues for a long time to come! Thank you so much, Emma.