An interview with my friend Bri. who I met whilst travelling in  New Zealand in our early to mid twenties! We both enjoyed partying, fundraising and travelling together and Bri has managed to use her experience in New Zealand to pursue a career in her home country in the U.S.A becoming a successful manager... Read on to find out more about Bri's amazing life in California! 

An interview with my long time friend Jade who runs her own business called in real estate photography in Spain, you can find her professional photography Instagram account under this user name “__trulens__”. Jade has had a really interesting career which has been shaped by her location in the south east of Spain(where we me over fifteen years ago)!  By working a lot with expats, holidaymakers and residents through the tourism and leisure industry on yachts and boats.

An interview with my younger sister Evie Chapman who runs her own side hustle business called "RefurbishEvie" which you can find on Instagram in furniture renovations alongside being a mother to her young daughter Maeve and working in a soft furnishings store! Throughout the month of August I will be interviewing strong females who inspire me, in my series "You Inspire Me". Read on for more interviews with inspiring women, with life stories from all over the globe. Evie is located in NSW in Australia and we chatted online to make this interview happen! 

Recognising healthy competition and further understanding where we may thrive or simply survive in the wrong conditions.

It’s easy to become engulfed by problematic behaviours when they occur in your actor, dependent, learner or pet, whatever you want to term the individual you are trying to assist. This blog post will help you identify some of the complex emotions you may be feeling as you navigate the actor’s life.

There's an old myth that goes something like this... "Oh don't pander to that child/pet/learner/dependent they will grow up spoiled, immature, a cry baby etc." This is old fashioned advice that couldn't be further from the truth. Being responsive and demonstrating nurturing behaviours associated with love and tenderness have now been clear in showing that the best way  to protect a dependent/pet/child's emotional needs is to have an awareness of them as being valid. 

Digging deep on behaviour, emotions first and behaviour second? Which do you think comes first, or is it a combination?As someone who is working to shift the brain fog that covid scarred us with, I’m often intrigued to understand whether individuals think it’s the behavior or emotions that leads. We feel a sensation of fear (for example), and then we behave defensively. Or is it the defensive behaviour that leads and the feelings afterwards?

Facilitating decision-making and autonomy in actors/dependents via offering choice and consequences- how including more independence in your learner’s life can increase confidence and general mood.

Following my work on living with a dopamine detox I’ve been working on some new activities such as kayaking in Loch Lomond, just 20 minutes from my home in Glasgow, Scotland.   During this time I’ve been focussing on accepting more solace and presence into my life. What does this look like? It looks like concentrating on more smaller details whilst utilising all the senses… Smell, taste, hearing, touch and vision. Analysing what pleasure or displeasure I get from these experiences and how they make me feel. All of this is helping to shift the brain fog I’ve experienced from post baby covid times and my ability to gain autonomy over my life, putting me back into the drivers seat. Why should you try this too? Well, by gaining more presence with what is happening right now in this moment and adding colour and senses we can ensure we add more vibrancy to the lived moments that sometimes might pass us by, regaining a sense of ownership our lives which are so often in the service of others, society, bills, parenting, friendship navigating and so forth.

Why planning a dopamine detox for yourself and your dog is one of the best ideas you'll ever have!

A wee blog post on the guiding values I have as an animal manager whilst expanding my business in Glasgow