The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius

Founder Story: 'Collaboration Catalyst' Gill Tiney from Collaboration Global, on the Alchemy of Bringing Good People Together for Positive Impact & Change for Good

• Chris Grimes - Facilitator. Coach. Motivational Comedian

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What if we could build a world where human connection trumps credentials? Where seeing the gold in others becomes a superpower? In this illuminating conversation, collaboration catalyst Gill Tiney reveals the transformative journey that shaped her mission to connect good people globally.

Growing up in the multicultural East End of London in the 1960s gave Gill a unique perspective. As one of only two white children in her school, difference became something to celebrate rather than fear. "Different to me meant good. Different to me meant adventure," she shares, describing how this foundation shaped her entire worldview. This early experience crystallized into Collaboration Global's core value: "human beings first" – a refreshingly straightforward approach cutting through labels to focus on authentic connection.

The impact of Gill's work extends far beyond business networking. While members certainly experience economic benefits, she shares profound stories of lives transformed: addiction recovery, family reconciliation, and even suicide prevention. Perhaps most striking is her ability to see "gold threads" between people – recognizing complementary strengths and opportunities individuals themselves often overlook, like the surveyor and office supplies company who sat beside each other for months without realizing their perfect business alignment.

Gill's vision emerges as something extraordinary – an "online country" experimenting with collaborative approaches to global challenges. She draws inspiration from movements like Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion, valuing collective impact over individual recognition. Her guiding philosophy comes from anthropologist Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

For those feeling overwhelmed by global problems, Gill offers simple yet profound wisdom: connect with good people, celebrate small wins, and trust that your authentic self is exactly what the world needs. Experience this collaborative energy yourself by visiting https://www.collaborationglobal.org and discovering how your unique talents might interweave with others to create something truly transformative.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'. If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW wherever you get your Podcasts :)

Thanks for listening!

Chris Grimes:

Welcome to another episode of the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me, chris Grimes, the storytelling show that features the Clearing, where all good questions come to get asked and all good stories come to be told, and where all my guests have two things in common they're all creative individuals and all with an interesting story to tell. There are some lovely storytelling metaphors a clearing, a tree, a juicy storytelling exercise called 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, some alchemy, some gold, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare and a cake. So it's all to play for. So, yes, welcome to the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me, chris Grimes, are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin.

Chris Grimes:

Boom, I believe we're in. Welcome if you're watching across the globe. Obviously, talking of globes, we've got the alchemy of collaboration global to talk about because we have a very special guest. But before I welcome Gill Tiney to the show, this is the show in which I invite movers, makers, shakers, mavericks, influencers and also personal heroes into a clearing or serious happy place of my guests, choosing as we all share with us their stories of distinction and genius. You are extremely welcome to the good Listening To show Jill Tiny.

Gill Tiney:

Thank you so much. It is a joy to be here, my friend, absolute joy.

Chris Grimes:

And Tiny by name, but your aspirations and your ambition is global because of collaboration, global. I'm going to ask you a deliberately clunky we've all got to field this question question which is the networking question, from hell, which is hello. What do you do? So, if somebody doesn't have a frame of reference for you, what's your favorite way, jill tiny, of describing who you are and what you do, and where you come from, what you come?

Chris Grimes:

from yeah yes, and thanks for coming to bristol, to future leap studios, where we are broadcasting in our glow up for the third time today. Boom, so excited. Back to you, dear. It's not about me, so it is a bit thanks.

Gill Tiney:

Well, my my stock answer when people say so what do you do? I go as little as possible. I really am not. I'm a lazy sort of person, but I have been known to get lots of stuff done. So I'm a I look after, I'm privileged to look after, the Collaboration Global community. I'm an author. I'm a superwoman looking after two daughters and three grandchildren. I have two other businesses that my husband helps to run and I just make sure I have a jolly good time with life. You don't sound lazy.

Chris Grimes:

To me, that's a lovely way of doing the silky skill of doing as well, of being as efficient and as effective as possible whilst doing as little as possible too. So you've got a lovely vision mission it's to connect and inspire and empower millions to collaborate to positively impact the planet. I've really enjoyed researching you and I've enjoyed meeting you and our exchanges that we've had to get you to this point as well, so I'm really happy to have you here. The community catalyst is a label that we've I've actually put on a slide for you, which hopefully will click. You've been described as a collaboration catalyst, which is a really lovely way to describe it, so just unpack that for us somebody else described me as that and the penny dropped like huh, oh yeah, oh, that's what I do, isn it?

Gill Tiney:

And then you look back over your life and you realise that you've always done it. I remember when I was four in nursery. It's like no, no, you come over here and play together, don't you be on your own? You come over and play as well. So throughout my life I've always wanted to bring people together. I recently discovered that my natural state is as a strategist. So to bring good people together and I can see the steps where they can go through, to go you two, you three, oh my God, four of you would be fantastic in a collaboration. And they're like huh, what really? Oh yeah, oh, my goodness. And the penny drops for them.

Gill Tiney:

I sort of see this gold in people and where the gold threads join them so that I can bring them together, and I pull that thread tighter so that they can see it for themselves. Quick example we used to have face-to-face meetings and there were two guys that would sit next to each other and one was a surveyor and one had an office supplies company and they used to, like good humans do, sit in the same seats every time we'd have a meeting and have a little chat and they were lovely. And I was at the front of the room one time and I said well, of course you two are working together, aren't you? And they're like no, why would we? We've got office suppliers and surveying. It's a totally different industry, yes, but you work with schools and you sell to schools and you have a product that actually schools should be able to access and you've got a database of 30. Oh yeah, we should be. And I couldn't believe that months had gone past and they just hadn't spotted it.

Chris Grimes:

They forgot to collaborate Exactly. And it was right, there all set to go.

Gill Tiney:

Exactly, I love, love, helping people join those dots and go have you spoken to so-and-so, yet It'd be so good for you to talk to them because they would, oh, you would be great. And then you find out six months later that they've started a project and they've traveled the world, or they've got married or whatever it is they've done and I'm like, oh, I had a little hand in that.

Chris Grimes:

And hence, to your own punchline, the alchemy of collaboration and getting the gold to emerge.

Gill Tiney:

And there is gold in this show, so I'm very, very excited when we get on to talking about alchemy and gold specifically.

Chris Grimes:

So should we get on the open road of curating you through the structure of the good listening to show? Yes, please, yes. If you've not seen this before, where have you been? I've been doing about 250 episodes over the last five years, but anyway, it happens energetically in a clearing or serious happy place of you, my guests clearing. There's going to be a clearing the tree, a lovely juicy story, a tiny exercise called 5-4-3-2-1. There's going to be some alchemy, some gold, a couple of random squirrels, squirrels, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare. There's going to be a golden baton and a cake as well. I've got certain comedy props that I can whip out at certain points. Let's get you on the open road. Where is what is a clearing or serious happy place for you? Jill Tiny.

Gill Tiney:

I do have one specific place in the UK that I go to when I have big decisions to make. If I can't get there and I'm not going to tell you where it is, because then everybody will want to go- oh, what so you're not going to tell?

Gill Tiney:

me. I could give you a clue and you'll probably work it out. It's in the West Country and it's on the coast and it's a very old, beautiful harbour town and the beaches are beautiful like they come from the Caribbean. The sea is as crystal, as turquoise. It's so gorgeous and I just get there and I breathe in and I see the sea coming and going and I just breathe out and I know almost it's tearful, that kind of emotion comes over me that I'm home and any important decision I've ever had to make has been in or around the Cornish coast and it turned out that actually I'm from that part of the world. It's in your DNA. It is indeed. Apparently the tiny name comes from Cornwall, from the tin mines.

Chris Grimes:

The tin is yes that makes complete sense, and I was conjuring St Ives there, there, but I could be totally correct. Boom, it's not a competition. And from bristol, where we're broadcasting from, that is the most beautiful train ride, where that is the last stop yeah and, interestingly, I was there just a couple of years ago when my son stan had finished his gcses one for two years.

Chris Grimes:

He's now about to do his a levels awkward but, yes, st Ives is glorious and it's the end of the train line, so it makes complete sense to step off and decide something, but please keep it to yourselves guys. It's a secret. So when were you last in your serious happy place?

Gill Tiney:

I have to go every year, otherwise I get withdrawal symptoms. I haven't had to make a big decision since about 2019. I did have a business partner and we decided to go separate ways. No wrongdoing, just that was the way it was.

Gill Tiney:

We were very happy to do that. So I then had to go do I do this or do I? And I didn't know what to do. I really didn't. It was 50-50 choice and I had people trying to persuade me and you kind of have to go from your intuition and your gut and the only way I get really connected to that is to be by the sea.

Chris Grimes:

So it's a deliberate reincorporation of a strategy. Whenever you need to decide. Let's be westbound and go to St Ives, a beautiful clearing, and now I'm going to arrive with a tree in your clearing and I'm going to shake your tree to see which storytelling apples fall out. How do you like these apples You've been kind enough to think about. Now this is five minutes to have thought about four things that have shaped you, three things that inspire you, two things that never fail to grab your attention and that's where the squirrels are going to come in, rather than the film Up, which I'll explain more about in a moment. And then the one is a quirky or unusual fact about you. We couldn't possibly know about you until you tell us. So it's not a memory test, but over to you to shake the canopy of your tree as you see fit.

Gill Tiney:

The first thing is where I grew up. Most people would that, but I didn't realise at the time that it was a blessing, even though it felt like it was a very grey area. So, east End of London, forest Gate, I'm six years of age and I've just had my friends around for tea. My mum was a carer for my great aunt and my dad was a docker, so life was a bit tough. We had an outside toilet. We didn't have running hot water, we didn't have a bathroom. We certainly didn't have any heating apart from one coal fire. So it was, you know, as a kid you don't know any different.

Gill Tiney:

But the thing that I remember is my friends had just left, they'd come for tea and they'd gone home and my mum said don't you have any white friends? It's like, sorry, you know white friends. I mean, what do you mean, mum? White friends? And she pointed to her hand and she picked up her skin. It's like white friends. And it was like the glass had shattered and I'm like, oh, oh, no, no, I don't, because, thinking about it, the only people in my school that were white were me and this girl from new zealand. We were multicultural. Down our road you had every nation under the sun. We had irish on one side, portuguese on the other, west Indians further down. Then we had the family across the road. It was this you'd go to your friend's house for dinner. It's like what are they cooking? Because it's going to be different towards at home. You know it's going to be fun.

Chris Grimes:

By happy irony, you were the minority, which was wonderful.

Gill Tiney:

Yeah, and so for me the world was full of amazing, incredible, different people. And so different to me meant good. Different to me meant adventure and change. And I remember one day coming from the school playground into the class and the teacher had moved all the desks around and everyone was moaning like oh no, where's my friend, when am I going to see it? And the teacher was like I know, I know, nobody likes it, nobody likes it. And then she stopped because I'd put my hand up. I'm like, yeah, I like change, I like this is brilliant. I love the desks all changing, so that kind of canal like you can always join the dots along the way.

Gill Tiney:

That emphasis around human beings first and different and that's a good thing has been born in me from a very early age that I didn't know any different and I'm so blessed that I wasn't brought up in middle England surrounded by white people. I was surrounded by disabled people. My neighbor was blind. She used to take me when I was three and four years of age to the park. She had her white stick. I was her eyes for her. I never saw her as somebody that was disabled. So all of these wonderful things were normal. So that, in hindsight, has shaped me incredibly to do the stuff that I do today.

Chris Grimes:

And you mentioned that the first ever school you went to, that was where your currency of galvanising others came from. The habit began as early as that. Yeah, for sure.

Gill Tiney:

And you look at the way people costed their children Five and six. I was walking home from school on my own. It wasn't very far to be fair, but I had to cross the road. That's what we did in those days.

Chris Grimes:

So we were called latchkey kids, I seem to remember yeah, indeed that's a lovely first shape, so shape it to number two please okay.

Gill Tiney:

Well, I think everyone who's been blessed to have kids is going to say that my girls they are now nearly 33 and 35 they've got girls of their, and the eldest one's got a son as well. So I've got three grandchildren, but I remember specifically when the eldest was born, I felt like a superwoman. I have just created another human being all by myself Not quite all by myself, but you know, it's this. If I can do that, there's nothing on this planet that I can't do. And that has been my watchword all the time, because if I've ever been presented with something like oh, I don't know, I'm not really sure you can go and talk over in Malaysia, do you want to go and speak? 500 people in Malaysia, oh, it's a long way.

Gill Tiney:

I don't know, then I think, what would I say if my girls didn't do that, if they were given that opportunity and they didn't take that? I'd be disappointed in them. So I've pushed myself doing so many things, like writing a book and travelling and all the rest of it, because if mum can do it well, we can do that as well, can't we? So I'd never wanted them to look at me and go she played small or mum didn't do it, so we don't have to. I want them to be proud of me, but also I want them to be proud of what they achieve as well. So having children not only did I feel very clever and if you've ever had children, you're very clever. If you've adopted a child, you're very clever. If you've got a pet, you're very clever You're keeping something else alive. That's hard work. But on top of that, they were became my wife for quite a long time. They're still to a certain extent, but not my total raison d'etre for being obviously grandchildren. You can't get away from it.

Chris Grimes:

They're so cute, they're so cute and you were learning an important lesson of life from your four-year-old who went into the well.

Gill Tiney:

She fell towards a tree yeah, just just two and a half. She was running off enjoying herself and we're hoping she'll go to a forest school because she loves being outdoors and she was quite away from me, so I was just trying to capture her on my camera and through the lens I saw her go flat on her face. She totally, you know. Then I'm like, oh damn, I'm going to have to go and run across that grass and pick her up at her again. And she stood up, brushed her knees, made a beeline for me and she said nanny, nanny g. I said, yes, darling, what happened? She said I fell over. When, yeah, I saw darling, you okay. She said yeah, I'm fine, and then off we went just statement of fact.

Chris Grimes:

Yeah, move on, and the other the other statement of fact.

Gill Tiney:

Not long after that, we were going to a little kiddies event and I said, lila, will you come on? We were going to a little kiddies event and I said, lila, will you come on? We're going to be late. And she turned around with this action of raising her hands down, up and down Nanny, calm down. Out of the mouths of babes. Eh yeah, you're right, I will calm down. Okay, it's not important, it doesn't matter if we're a bit late, it's okay, so it's a delightful second shape-age.

Chris Grimes:

In fact, you have an empire of children who have an instinct to go and seek and collaborate globally. Yeah, lovely. And I love the fact obviously you're not called collaboration local, so you very much got this global imperative.

Gill Tiney:

You mentioned Malaysia and going as far away as you can to find opportunities to do that. We're so blessed with the community that we've got people from Brazil, canada, us I think every continent basically and just going back to that, what was the year of the sort of genesis point of Collaboration Global?

Chris Grimes:

When did it first get going?

Gill Tiney:

The thought process started in 2012 with another business partner in a different iteration.

Chris Grimes:

Yeah.

Gill Tiney:

And this time I kind of went solo, which is ironic for a collaboration community. But I had some of the people that were really keen for me to carry on that. But I had some of the people that were really keen for me to carry on. That was 2019, the end of 2019. And we used to meet face-to-face. So we had our very last meeting in January 2020.

Gill Tiney:

It made me realize how important it was when I just went around the room and said, hey guys, what has this community done for you? And someone went well, I've earned X amount of thousand, you know hundreds of thousands from this deal. Oh, somebody went. Oh, I put 26k on my bottom line. I went yeah, yeah, yeah. But what else? To me, that's useful but not essential. And then we heard from somebody that said, if it wasn't for this community, I'd still be an alcoholic. I was a functioning alcoholic all of my adult life and I've been sober for the last three years because of this community. Somebody else said if I hadn't been part of this community, I would never have spoken to my dad again. He didn't know he had grandchildren and they didn't know they had a granddad. So we got back together again and a year later he died. So I wouldn't have had that if it wasn't. I wouldn't have had the last year of his life if it wasn't for this community wow, and that doesn't encourage your purpose.

Gill Tiney:

Imperative I don't know what well, it even even gets stronger than that one. One person said if it wasn't for this community, I wouldn't be here now and I was like what do you mean? And he joined our community as a guy but was able to transition because we were so loving and accepting and we were the first people. He came to the community as a woman and she was what a difference in personality for a start.

Gill Tiney:

But if she hadn't had that outlook, she never would have been able to go to her dad to talk about it. She never would have been able to go to her previous boss and talk about it and the thought of suicide had not been far from her mind. And as she was telling that story, the person in the corner which was like we just heard this little voice go yeah, me. And now she hadn't had any issues with her gender or her sexuality or life in general, but the things that had happened to her had been a struggle. And had she not had people to talk to, she would have not been around as well. And I was like, wow, doesn't society need a space where we can go and call on each other and support each other and be there for whatever reason?

Chris Grimes:

Which reminds me of your purpose, imperative, of it's good people to create positive impacts on our world. A beautiful example of that Shapeage number three, please.

Gill Tiney:

Oh yes, doing my degree. I didn't get to do it when I was 18 like normal people, because people like us don't do degrees, get out and get a job, get paid. So then I worked for local government for 10 years. I then decided well, what am I going to do? I've got these two children, so maybe I'll go into teaching. So I did a degree in order to do that teaching.

Gill Tiney:

I did a five-year part-time degree in just under two years, at the same time working part-time as a teaching assistant, at the same same time helping my mum and dad move house, at the same time doing an extension on our house that was a third of the size of the house. All in space of six to eight months. But that was fun. But the degree opened my eyes to life. I focused a lot on art. So the arts came into my life from a point of view of it's good for the soul, it's good for your happy hormones, it's good not just art, but theatre and music and all of those, poetry and Shakespeare and writing and creating. So I got to go as part of the degree to Paris and to go to all the art galleries there.

Chris Grimes:

So was this preparing you to be a secondary school art teacher?

Gill Tiney:

No, because I was a mature student. Yeah, I was able to create part of my own degree. So we just went down the list of all the modules and we all fancy that. So we wanted to go and do the art one, which was fascinating, also terrifying, because they expect you to be able to do art.

Chris Grimes:

I don't doubt it would have actually given you the skill of facilitation, when all is said and done, because obviously you're facilitating the community. Yes, the conduit of teaching that gives you the art and the craft of facilitation.

Gill Tiney:

Exactly, yeah, exactly. You have to be able to do crowd control, yeah, for sure. I have one memory of going to the Musee d'Orsay and there was a Monet exhibition on and it was packed, absolutely packed. So me and my friend are there. And she disappeared off like she had want to do, and I was standing there look at this Monet and there was loads of people and this guy I must have been about I don't know 70.

Gill Tiney:

And he came to me and he said, oh, and he started speaking in French and I'm like, oh, sorry, don't speak French. And he went un momento. And he went un momento. Then he started speaking beautiful, broken English and said do you like this picture? I said, yeah, beautiful, too many people. I said, yeah, you're right, it's too many people. Un momento. And he just made everybody move out of the way for me. And then he presented it, this picture, and I'm like a bit embarrassed but yeah, thank you very much. And it was like and this picture just came to me. And then he came up, he said something in french. I sort of grasped, as it's been lovely to me, and then he took my hand and he kissed it and he disappeared into the crowd and I. Art is amazing, it's just. It brings people together, which comes back to the whole point.

Chris Grimes:

I'd like to think it's the ghost of mono or someone oh, wouldn't that be lovely yeah an angel appears in your life suddenly and reveals the art and it disappears.

Gill Tiney:

But it just made me realize that how connected we are to beautiful things and how we all need to have that in our life. Whether it's music, or you've drawn a picture yourself, or your child has drawn a picture, and you go that's beautiful, it could be awful, but it is beautiful in your eyes. It's still going on the fridge.

Gill Tiney:

Exactly exactly so that to me the degree made me realise that I was an individual. I wasn't someone's mum, I wasn't someone's wife, I wasn't someone's daughter. There was stuff that I could do that was just for me. So I became a primary school teacher for a few years, but eventually I said I'll have a term off to recover, because I was a bit worn down by it all and then ended up working with my husband in the family business. So I kind of tried that. But then I thought, what about if I can do it my way?

Chris Grimes:

with this, mr Alan Brown, who you've also hoiked into being part of collaboration as well.

Gill Tiney:

Yes, yes he didn't come kicking and screaming, it wasn't that bad. But yeah, he is part of the community and he's a big part from like many members volunteer their services to support. He does an awful lot as well behind the scenes lovely stuff.

Chris Grimes:

I think we could be up to number four shapeage, and there's a bell to go.

Gill Tiney:

Shapeage number four, please so the last one that shaped me was realizing that I could be in business myself. I'd always been this supporter of other people. Yes, darling, you can run a business off you go. Do you want some help? I'll help you. And that would be stuffing envelopes at night and pre-social media.

Gill Tiney:

The first business we started up together was 1988. But after the primary school teaching I was working with him. I was doing all the marketing and the communication stuff and he was doing all the operations, blah blah. So I'd said we needed a business coach because I was up for world domination. I said this business could be huge, we could do this, we could go there and we could support these people. And he was quite happy just doing it his way and jogging along. But we got a business coach, because he usually caves in eventually.

Gill Tiney:

And this coach said to me after about two months Jill, how many people have you helped in business? Because you used to go to these meetings and there were other business owners there. I said what do you mean? He said well, people keep coming to me and telling me that you've helped them so they don't really need me anymore. I'm sorry about that, he said.

Gill Tiney:

So how many people have you helped in the last week? I don't know. One, two, three, actually, um, quite a few. So he said the magic words why don't you go and get paid for it? Oh, can I do that? Then? And that little seed was sown. But I didn't think I was good enough, like a lot of us. You know, we need to have a certificate, don't we? To say that we can do these things? Yes, so I went off and got the piece of paper with the coaching academy and I sat there being taught, realizing that because I'd been running a business with my husband since 1988, realizing that because I'd been running a business with my husband since 1988, I probably knew a little bit more about it than the person trying to teach me Gave up on that. But within a few weeks, people were offering me business and I just went with it and square peg in a square hole.

Chris Grimes:

So it's like you went to learn to ride a bike and realized you've been riding a bike for years anyway and you can do it solo.

Gill Tiney:

Exactly without stabilizers. I was pretty cool anyway, and you can do it solo exactly without stabilizers. That was pretty cool, but it still took me a lot of time to how do you do business. Yeah, and you know what for anyone listening now who's thinking of starting a business, it's called common sense. Really isn't that difficult. But you just need customers. You need to find out where they live, you need to find out what pond they fish in and you have to be there so that you can catch them. When I very first started got my very first gig, I didn't have a website, I didn't have a business card, I'd just gone out networking women in business network.

Chris Grimes:

Yeah, and that was my first gig that I got you've reminded me of my favorite quotes which is it's all about the relationship. Stupid, and that's common sense, but it's his. It's all about relationships and exactly how we build them and to collaborate. Lovely shape, which now we're on to. Three things that inspire you.

Gill Tiney:

It's all about people, isn't it, chris? Really so good people inspire me. We've got loads of fascinating people at Collaboration Global. I'll tell you just two stories. We have one lady who is in Pakistan and she wants to help people out of poverty and she's doing that by teaching the children in the village, giving them an education, especially teaching them English. So while she's teaching them and these are children from one-parent families or people that are homeless and they're sending their young children to her and she manages to find funds for their uniform, for all the stuff, and at the same time she is building the school while she's teaching. So they're in a shack at the moment and next to the shack there is building works going on, so she's finding the funds to create the actual building to then carry on the the education, and she is so humble and she is so positive and she is so keen to learn.

Gill Tiney:

That inspires me. How did she find you? That's a good question. She's on linkedin, so a lot of people find me through linkedin. But as a result of her coming to the community, another member of ours has a business called the world's greatest experiment and he is now helping to fund some of the things that she needs, and she's learning from us as well, so it's a it's a win-win all around, and so many people are so touched and inspired by her journey that they want to help her as well.

Chris Grimes:

And what's her name, just so people can connect with her too.

Gill Tiney:

Yeah, noreen Remat R-E-H-M-A-T. Lovely, she's incredible. My grandchildren we've already mentioned. They inspire me because they remind me to forget all the rubbish that's going on in the world.

Gill Tiney:

Just keep it simple. At Collaboration Global, we have a value. That's human being first. You have probably heard me say it before, but if you haven't, I say it all the time I don't care what you do for a living, I don't care how much money you have or how much money you earn. So this seven-figure salary malarkey don't care, really don't care. I don't care if you are black or white or sky blue, pink. I don't care if you're gay or straight or can't decide. I don't care if you are young or old. You've still got wisdom to be had. I don't care if you are.

Gill Tiney:

So many other labels, what other label can you think of that we put on ourselves? You're a human being first. Therefore, I love you. If I love you, I'm going to trust you. If I trust you, I'm going to respect you. Now, if you want to let go of that, that's your problem.

Gill Tiney:

But at the moment, that's the expectation I have of everybody, not only in our community but everyone I meet. Now a lot of people go oh Jill, that's so naive. Honestly, you've got to cover your back. You've got to watch out for yourself. You've got to make sure you don't get ripped off. Well, I find. If you have high expectations of people, they generally live up to them so far, not being ripped off and not being I don't have to cover my back, I don't.

Gill Tiney:

I am naive, but it's paying off. And that's where I see children who are naive. People love them for who they are, just where they are, whatever colour their skin happens to be, whatever they decide to do with their life, whatever affliction they might have at the moment, whether they've got a disability or whatever. We love those children and if you give them respect and you give them trust, they really live up to it as well. So my grandchildren have reminded me of that, but they inspire me every day. Just our second granddaughter has just lost 24 hours, learned how to stand up against the furniture and move herself around. Little miracle, she's off. Yeah, exactly exactly, they're gonna regret that. But hey, and the other one? And exactly exactly they're going to regret that. But hey, and the other one. And my friends? They're not incredible people, but they are incredible people.

Chris Grimes:

They've all got wonderful stories that's such a lovely way to put it. They're not incredible people, but they're incredible as in isn't everybody? Yes, if you give them a good listening to absolutely exactly exactly so.

Gill Tiney:

I've known since I was at school, from the age of 11. Grew up without a mum because her mum died of cancer, which is tough enough. She is an actress and she went off and realised that if she wanted to get a mortgage she couldn't be an actress anymore because it's not regular work. So, anyway, she went and worked in the finance industry and recruitment was very successful at it, but then a few years ago she went. I've had enough of this. So she's now got a production company.

Gill Tiney:

She travels the country, she's out there singing. She has one woman plays, she puts on other shows, she's big powerhouse at Hampton Court Theatre doing what she loves. And I look at her and go, wow, that's just. There is no flies on her, that she doesn't suffer, falls gladly. She knows what she's doing, she loves what she's doing, she loves what she's doing. And the fact that she's not making an absolute fortune is rather sad from my point of view, because she should, she's so talented. But I just admire her and she inspires me.

Gill Tiney:

Another friend was the teacher from my daughter's and she has amazing social media reach and she's got so many things on the go. She writes books for children, she creates things through a branding company. She helps people with their websites. She's got a Twitter account where she's got Malcolm and Baby Dog is the name of the Twitter. Go follow it, because they're just amazing. It's so hilarious. These are her pets and she videos them every single day and a video goes out every morning and it's just fun. It it's not to make a load of money, it's just to share something beautiful.

Gill Tiney:

And we went to a book launch a few years ago and part of the speech from the lady who'd written the book said who inspires you? And I was like, oh yeah, that's interesting. And I thought Caroline instantly. So I went over to Caroline and said, oh, wow, you're one of my people, you inspire me. And I said, oh, who's your inspiration? Then she went well, you, obviously. And I'm like, oh, my goodness, that's. And I was like stopped in my tracks that I'd never considered my friends would find me inspiring. It's just like, oh, that's a bit mad. But when I look at all of my friends and then we've had a close group of friends that we've all known for donkey shoes, each other now I know a lot of people, I'm friends with a lot of people, but there's that the the cluster yes, the cluster, and they're all inspiring.

Gill Tiney:

What's Caroline's second name? Petherbridge.

Chris Grimes:

I'm glad I asked.

Gill Tiney:

Yes, so my friends are my inspiration as well, and I plug into them as often as I can.

Chris Grimes:

So now I'm going to do another. If you're watching this, here's a slide Squirrels. This is borrowed from the film Up this construct. What are your squirrels? Your monsters of distraction and of course you will all have seen the film up, but this is where the dog keeps going squirrels. So what are your shiny object syndromes? What never fails to stop you in your tracks, whatever else is going on for you in your hectic life?

Gill Tiney:

yeah, music, to the embarrassment of a lot of my family. Have you ever heard of the verb to a stair? To where?

Chris Grimes:

No.

Gill Tiney:

As in Fred Astaire. Apparently, whenever he walked anywhere, he did it in rhythm.

Chris Grimes:

Wow.

Gill Tiney:

So if I hear music and I'm out like a busker or just music overplaying from somewhere, I'm doing an Astaire and I kind of have to move and dance. And if there's a busker and they're really good, I'm standing there, I'm clapping, I'm putting money in the basket Wherever there's music. I can't help myself. So if I've been to a show when there's been music, I'll be at the stage door I'll be saying thank you so much. That was amazing, even if I paid a fortune for the ticket. But I have to go and say thank you because that gift that they have is just beautiful. I belong to a little glee club. We have a little sing song and that's just fun. Don't have to be any good at singing, just make a noise but I love the, the official new verb a, a stare.

Chris Grimes:

To a stare yeah, I a stare, you a stare. Conjugate the verb to a stare, it's great.

Gill Tiney:

We a stared together, yeah. And the other one, which is totally in contrast, is if I see someone crying, that's it. Whatever I was doing, I'm gone. I'm dealing with them To the extent that I have had people crying on me in the middle of Tesco's total strangers, bang on me in the middle of Tesco's total strangers on the tube in London, on the train. It doesn't have to be somebody that I know. That makes my heart break when they're crying. If somebody's crying, I have this uncontrollable urge to go. Even if they don't want me to, I do go up and say are you okay, do you need a hug? And then I get the permission to give them a hug. But generally that's my ambition is like oh, you're crying.

Chris Grimes:

You need a hug. You're striking me as being a bit of a Mother Earth because of the collaboration, global, and then the maternal instinct in being empathic, sympathetic when someone's crying.

Gill Tiney:

I don't know about you, but some people can see somebody really upset and just go oh shame, walk on by. Yes, I had one lady on the train once you know those poles in the middle of the pole and the tears were just down. And I looked around and like is she on her own, is nobody else? Okay then? And my daughters are like oh, mother. So I got up, I had a chat with her. I could have passed my stop.

Gill Tiney:

I didn't know everything stopped and I had a life story and my boyfriends just dumped me. Anyway, I've got dried up and you're important and you're a powerful woman and you can do this and you choose what you want to do. And she said well, this is my stuff I've got. Thank you so much. You've been so kind of no, it's fine, you have a lovely life, go enjoy. And as she walked off, her boyfriend that we'd been talking about the whole time, who'd been just there, got up and walked off with her. I like you little so-and-so, yes. So I don't know what happened. If she's to this, I'd love to find out if they got back together or not.

Chris Grimes:

And you probably didn't get her name. You're just being totally present for her. Yeah, an angel visited, a bit like the Monet in the gallery that visits you.

Gill Tiney:

Yes.

Chris Grimes:

You're an angel on the tube.

Gill Tiney:

Yeah, reciprocated. Yeah, definitely Lovely. That was my squirrels, yeah, great squirrels.

Gill Tiney:

Now we're effect about you. We couldn't possibly know about you until you tell us. Well, most people know everything about me. So I had to struggle with this one. I can't handle violence. I can't watch it on tv. I have never paid money to go and see an 18 movie. Even tom and jerry. When they're having a go each other on casting, I'm like, oh, and they're just, oh, my goodness. When we used to go and see the harry potter films because we were big into harry potter day, my kids were like, well, you're going to sit in that aisle, mum, because we're going to sit over here, because I would be like, oh, no, oh, my goodness, it just hits me in the solar plexus, it hits me in the heart. I just, I feel every blow and I dream about it and I think about it and I take it away. So any people go oh, have you seen that tv program? Oh, I was written. No, no, can't watch that, can't watch that game of thrones?

Chris Grimes:

I'm not, I'm not going to watch that. How do you feel? If I may ask about slapstick, because you know there's a genesis of slapstick in why is that funny? Other people's well, if stan laurel is my all-time comic hero, oh and so that's okay. But it's always very gentle and kind and humble and sweet, yeah, and hapless, which is why I identify, I think, with it. But slapstick has its genesis in laughing at other people's misfortune, the banana skin, the falling down a manhole, and I just wondered whether the black and white stuff doesn't do it for you.

Gill Tiney:

No, I cannot watch it. I've seen the backstory of Laurel and Hardy, so I get where they're coming from. It's a time and a place, but I can't watch it. No, because in those days there were no stunt people. That must have hurt. That must have hurt a lot. I mean when, again, when I was four years old, in nursery, and somebody took a chair away and the kids sat down like why would you do that?

Chris Grimes:

that's just mean I knew they were going.

Gill Tiney:

Fuzz lapsed yes, okay, I'm a bit weird, but I just I will get angry if somebody is being like mean.

Chris Grimes:

So someone stumble, trips in the street and corrects and makes it look like they meant to do that. Does that not make you laugh?

Gill Tiney:

No, I'm like, oh, you're okay, what's wrong? To the extent that when I was 17, I used to work in Limehouse, east end of London not the best place before Canary Wharf came along, so it was a bit rough and ready. I was going to get my lunch. I was just walking along the road and down a little alleyway. There were two men beating five bells out of each other I'm 17, most people walking on by and I just stood there and yelled at them. What do you think you're doing? And it was such a shock to get this little girl yelling at them. They both stopped obviously a little bit worse for wear, drink, drugs, whatever lunchtime. And they, they stopped and I was like, okay, I carried on, but I couldn't have gone past and let them do that to each other because it it was hurting me a true empath yeah raw, true empath.

Chris Grimes:

I mean, it's a real, it's a superpower. I think you know moments of spontaneity, like a spontaneous fart that might happen. Do you find that sort of thing funny?

Gill Tiney:

I'm just fishing for what you find funny words are funny, the the phrasea and clever humor. So a fart can be funny, like the peter sellers lift when they were doing all the outtakes. And there's a youtube, uh, with a lady who's just bought herself a chew backer mask and she puts it on and she can't stop laughing and every time she laughs a chew backer mask makes that chew backer noise. I thought that was hilarious. So if I'm ever in need of a lift I'll go and watch that, which is almost the physical thing. It's just watching someone laugh. But for me humour is the clever words.

Chris Grimes:

What a great final thing to shake your tree, Hurrah. Now we stay in the clearing, which we're not telling anyone, but it's actually St Ives and we're now moving away from the tree and we're talking about alchemy and gold. So, when you're at purpose and in flow, what are you absolutely happiest doing? Collaboration, catalyst the two's in the title really Jill Tiny. But what are you absolutely happiest doing in what you're here to reveal to the world?

Gill Tiney:

Bringing people good people together. I'm a firm believer that there are more good people in this world than there are bad, and the reason why the world is in the way it is is it's this divide and conquer through society. So if we can keep bringing good people together, eventually we will have the volume and the capacity to make a difference on the planet. So when we have our guest meetings and we're bringing new people in, I'm in my element when we have our members meetings and I'm really drilling down to who these people are and what their vision is and what their purpose is and how we can help each other. I mean, my element for funds is I love reading, but also reading about how society was formed and how we can make a difference. And there's different things around that.

Gill Tiney:

If you've ever read Simon Anhalt he's spoken at our meetings a couple of times he's a government policy advisor. He talks about different ways to measure our countries. Rather than gdp, let's measure our countries on how good we are to our citizens. So you'd have a different scale of what's okay and what's acceptable. Let's change the way the world is functioning, because it just ain't working at the moment, so it's a collaboration economy.

Gill Tiney:

It's one of the ideas there's lots of different ways of doing it and I'm not saying we have the. The only way we're going to find out lots of different good ways is to bring good people together. So for me, collaboration Global is a country online trying stuff out and see what fits.

Chris Grimes:

And just say that again, because that's really quintessential, I think.

Gill Tiney:

Collaboration Global is an online country trying stuff out to see what fits. I'm going to award you with a cake now Hurrah.

Chris Grimes:

So now you get to put a cherry on the cake with stuff like what's a favourite inspirational quote? Julie Tiny, that's always given you sucker and pulled you towards your future.

Gill Tiney:

A lady called Margaret Mead was an anthropologist back in the 1920s which is very rare for a woman to have held that kind of position and she says my favourite quote never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Chris Grimes:

And deliberately reincorporating. Just say it again, because it's worth repeating.

Gill Tiney:

Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Chris Grimes:

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given by somebody else?

Gill Tiney:

You're perfect as you are. I think I spent most of my life being a people pleaser because of where I was born, in the family and various things that went on, and I never felt I was good enough. And when you do enough work on yourself, you realize that this is it. You ain't gonna get no perfection because that don't exist. So we are all good enough and we can all make a difference in the world, and it might just be getting someone to smile and that's all this job done. But also we have a genius within us that can make a massive impact and it's you deserve to know what that genius is, and then other people can be the recipients of that.

Chris Grimes:

And you did answer that beautifully. And you might have therefore answered, if you had the gift of hindsight and could offer your younger self a piece of advice. What might that be?

Gill Tiney:

Yeah, don't waste so much time worrying about what other people think Perfect, let's get on with it. Don't waste so much time worrying about what other people think Perfect, let's get on with it.

Chris Grimes:

Okay, so we're ramping up to Shakespeare now, in a few moments to talk about legacy most likely to be remembered, but just before we get there, this is the pass the golden baton moment, please. This is a bit like I don't know, Mr Manring, but who would you most like to pass the golden baton along to to keep the golden thread of the storytelling going?

Gill Tiney:

One of the most remarkable people in Collaboration Global at the moment has been there for many years now and she has become a very good friend. But every day she tells me a story that I'm like you did what? And she just how she does what she does, how she gets out of bed every morning. She's had to learn to walk twice. She's been award-winning head teacher. She's been award an award-winning leadership consultant. She's now working with Fatima Whitbread to create a charity for children in care to make sure that they don't slip through the system. Her heart knows no bounds and she's incredible. Her name is Gina Gardner.

Chris Grimes:

Gina Gardner. Thank you very much for that very lovely golden baton pass. You will love love talking to her. She's got so many gorgeous stories, thank you. And now, inspired by Shakespeare, all the world's a stage and all the bedded women merely plays. This is the actual book that I went to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. It's not a first folio but it says 168986 on the cover, so it feels very thumbed. I the cover, so it feels very thumbed. I haven't read all of it, obviously, but it allows me to borrow from the seven ages of man speech to talk about legacy and how, when all is said and done, jill tidy, you would most like to be remembered. You coughed at my sort of moment.

Gill Tiney:

That's fine I'm not used to talking this much. How would I like to be remembered? Well, I talk a lot about how there are lots of movements out there that gain momentum for good reasons, like Black Lives Matter, extinction, rebellion Me Too and you don't really know who's at the top of the tree. You don't know who's in charge, because technology has given us the ability to bring these people together and they come together for a reason and they come together to get a job done. So I'd like to kind of be remembered as who was that person that started Collaboration Global? I don't need to be at the top of the tree, but I'd like Collaboration Global to be my legacy. But I might be the only one that knows that it's my legacy, because I don't need to be at the front. I just want people to enjoy and be part of and experience what it means to be part of collaboration global lovely answer, gorgeous.

Chris Grimes:

Where can we find out all about you on the old interweb? Tell us the website also for collaboration, global itself yeah, it's at collaborationglobalorg. Bish bash bosh, and there you will find you, the community and everything that you're setting out to achieve.

Gill Tiney:

Yeah and if anybody fancies coming along just to experience the vibe and the energy, you can find us on Eventbrite or you can book through the website as well and come along to our online community, lovely.

Chris Grimes:

As this has been your moment in the sunshine, in the good, listening to share with stories of distinction and genius, and we've been doing a founder story episode to celebrate all things collaboration global. But is there anything else you'd like to say?

Gill Tiney:

jill taylor I think people are worried about the world at the moment and what's going on, and we can worry ourselves into oblivion, I think. Find good things that are going on in your life, be grateful for the small things and connect up. If it's not with collaboration global, then just connect up with good people so that you can make a difference in this world. And that difference might just mean saying good morning to somebody, it might mean giving someone a hug, it might mean using your business for good and helping people that way. But there are more good people on this planet than there are bad, and we can all make a difference in some small way so thank you so much for being my lovely, gorgeous guest.

Chris Grimes:

Jill tiny, wonderful person. Thank you for coming to bristol if you'd like to have a conversation about being on the show too. The website for the show is the good listening to showcom, and also, very excitingly, there is a new website connected to it, which has been in the mountainscape of the Good Listening To show all along, called LegacyLifeReflectionscom, which is to help you record either your story or the story of somebody near, dear or close to you for posterity, without any morbid intention, but lest we forget before it's too late, using the unique storiescape of the Good Listening To show. So, yes, I've been Chris Grimes. This has been Jill Tiny. Thank you so much, and I believe we're about to go all fair. Anything else else you'd like to say?

Gill Tiney:

Just thank you for having me. I've had a lovely time. It's lovely in Bristol, thank you.

Chris Grimes:

Wonderful. And there is a final QR code, I believe, for Connect With Me, chris Grimes, on LinkedIn too, to also actually, I forgot to mention dan cooper, my wonderful podcast editor, is in the studio, but dan cooper is awesome and he's also strangely available for more, more podcast editing. So thank you very much indeed, and also to our wonderful technician, joe tickety boo. Good night. You've been listening to the good listening to show with me, chris grimes.

Chris Grimes:

If you'd like to be in the show too, or indeed gift an episode to capture the story of someone else with me as your host, then you can find out how care of the series strands at the goodlisteningtoshowcom website, and one of these series strands is called Brand Strand Founder Stories For business owners like you to be able to tell your company story, talk about your purpose and amplify your brand. Talk about your purpose and amplify your brand. Together, we get into the who, the what, the how, the why you do what you do and then, crucially, we find out exactly where we can come and find you, to work with you and to book your services. Tune in next week for more stories from the Clearing and don't forget to subscribe and review wherever you get your podcasts.