A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Life® with Emma Weaver

Today I’m joined by Emma Weaver, founder of Mental Wealth International, global speaker, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and publisher.

We talk about mental wealth, resilience, personal growth, and some of the life experiences that shape who we become. Emma shares lessons from her own journey, including a highly personal chapter that ultimately inspired her work and advocacy.

This is a thoughtful conversation about well-being, leadership, perseverance, and creating a life that feels truly fulfilling.

Connect with Emma here:

Mental Wealth International

CynestX

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Welcome to a funny thing happened on the way to my life. This is the place to be for stories to inspire and uplift when life doesn’t go according to plans. I’m Laura Muirhead your host and the reigning queen of a funny thing happened on the way to my life. I can’t wait to share my plot twist stories and the stories of my guests with you!

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Transcript

Welcome And Meet Emma Weaver

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to this episode of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Life. I'm your host, Laura Muirhead, and I am so excited to have as my guest today Emma Weaver. Emma is an entrepreneur, a global speaker, a TEDx speaker. What don't you do? She is the founder of Mental Wealth International, and she's my friend. So Emma and I have known each other for about a year and a half, but it seems like so much longer. We've been together internationally multiple times. So anyway, welcome Emma. Come and tell us about yourself and what you do in the world.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Oh, thank you so much. And you're right, it feels like we've known each other so much longer. I've been in your home space, you've been in my home space or country, should I say. So this is lots of fun. Yeah, I am Emma Weaver. I live in Ireland. I have three children. And my background, I suppose, is I managed mental health services for over 20 years across the Western Trust area here in many different genres. I was part of policy change, government change, bringing in new services, maintaining the existing ones. And it was amazing. For over two decades, I learned a lot and met loads of people, which was amazing. And you're right, I am now the founder of Mental Wealth International. I'm also the co-founder of Synestics, which is a whole different area of expertise. And I'm very fortunate, I suppose, as well, to have authored at this point three books, the fourth one's on its way. And I've co-authored or contributed to, I think, another 12 or 13, a bit like yourself, and got the writing bug, and I suppose realize now the impact that your words can have. So whether I'm speaking on a global stage or writing in an international best-selling book, I've definitely found a flair for that at the minute, too.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

You are one of the best speakers I've ever heard. You're so, and I know that I know for a fact that you speak sometimes off the cuff, and it's amazing because most of us have to prepare and prepare and prepare. But you're an amazing speaker and uh uh an author. You've had an impact with your books for sure. And with with your with your businesses, you're also a founder of uh Horizon Area, which is a women's collective and uh has a global reach. So I I don't know when you have time in the day, but you do.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

I know, you know, you know yourself. Being a mom, you learn to kind of delegate and and really get precious with your time. So throughout the years, and look at your right, I have Mental Wealth International, Sciences, and Horizon Area, three thriving businesses. And then I also do some charity work as well in the background where I have set up a new group called Tia, which is around domestic abuse. But I make sure I only commit to what I know I can, and I've learned that the hard way, to be honest with you, because when people see that you're capable or you're able in the things that you're doing, I want it to be all things to all people, but learned very quickly the importance of showing up mindfully and intentionally to the right things, because it just gets diluted if you stop doing that. So everything you see me involved in, I'm fully immersed into because I've learned the hard way to say yes to what I really want to, and just sorry, it's a no, not right now, to other things as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

I think that that's a really important thing to mention because especially as people are listening to this or watching this, when they see someone like you doing all the things, and you you're not spreading yourself thin. You are making the time and being intentional,

Time Boundaries And Intentional Yeses

SPEAKER_00 4:10

like you like you spoke about. And I think I know you have been part of my Queen Code mastery program, and that speaks to to Queen Code as well, and setting your personal policies and making sure you're not stretching yourself too thin.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Yeah, well, look who that serves nobody, to be honest with me. And I mean, I can only speak from my own experiences and especially as being a woman as well. You we just kind of have that in us to help people and want to help. But I know, and I again I've learned like if it's not, and the Queen Code does help with this because you need to understand your values, you need to understand your why, you need to understand what you're saying yes to. And if you're saying yes to all of those things, what are you saying no to? Because, and I do, and I don't know if it's my psychology background or what it is, but I question myself all the time. Why is that important to you? Where have you got that thought from? Are you able to offer all of your time? Are you spreading yourself too thin? And uh, how do I feel about something? So, I mean, you know, how you know, it's a feeling as well. Does it light me up? It has to light me up, or you're not getting the best of me. And, you know, that just makes me resentful, it gives you a bad impression of me, so it's worthwhile having the courage. And it doesn't have to be a hard no. Sometimes I say, look, it's just a no, not right now. It's whatever you're comfortable with saying, but say it intentionally, and that is how you see me showing up in all different places because I've thought about it, I really have thought about it.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

That's yeah, I agree with this so much, but also I see you really traveling the world uh with what whichever one of your businesses you happen to be representing at that time, whether it's Dubai or here in the States in New York or Australia. Uh where I where were you? You just were somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

I was in Marbella. Yeah, I was in Marbella, and um I've been in Malta, but do you know what it is, Laura? I genuinely do be, oh my goodness, this is my life now, because this was not always my life. I've had many a challenge and barriers, and some terrible things have happened along the way as well. So I do really appreciate that this is my life now. And I'm not going to lie, see when you said to me I was one of the best speakers you've ever heard, because people just assume you know that you're a good speaker. It's lovely to hear that. It really is lovely to hear that. And I am so very grateful that that is a gift that I have and that I've nurtured. So I have nurtured that. And um the reason why I'm able to speak off the cuff is because I've mastered um, I've mastered my craft. I know what I'm talking about when I'm talking about mental wealth, I know what I'm talking about about business and all the different dynamics to that there. And then with horizon area, of course, I know what it's like to be a female businesswoman or entrepreneur traveling the world because I live it. So everything is very much value-based. And I have a few tricks as well because obviously I have done two TED talks, and then I've ran two TED events as well. So I got the license for TEDx and it's kidding. So I kind of have I have a little formula that I use whenever I know I'm being asked to talk. So I will always know my first line. I'll always know my first line in my head. I'll break it into three sections, and then the talk just comes from there. That's that's literally my formula.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

It's so amazing because I literally this is no joke. I've literally been in a car with you, and you I knew you had to be on stage within a couple of hours, and you

Speaking Off Script With A Simple Formula

SPEAKER_00 8:05

and you asked me, Do you know what you're talking about? And I was like, of course, I of course I have to know. Like I'm so I'm so scripted. And you said, I don't know, I don't know what I'm what I'm gonna speak about yet. So and it was and it was fabulous.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

So I like to read a room. I like to read a room because I could literally, you know, where was I recently? Gosh, I was somewhere recently. And oh, I think I was in Belfast talking about workplace well-being. And again, the lady sitting beside me had her notes, she had them on an iPad. Now I couldn't do that. I would either need a piece of paper and read off that, or nothing at all. Uh reading off an iPad I would find quite difficult. And I said, I know what my first line is, and so I did. It was a statistic around what we were talking about or whatever. But I needed to read the room, I needed to know was the men and women in the room, were they all business people, were they people impacted by what we were talking about, to know where to go? And then at that point, I work out my three points. That's that's that's how I do it. Like, I don't take it for granted. I like I really do appreciate it. It's a gift that I have and I nurture it all the time. And I do remember one time as well, Laura, I was asked to speak at the Department of the Economy conference here in Northern Ireland. And again, I kind of knew what I was gonna say, and the day before they asked me to send them my speech. And I said, I don't really talk off script, and they've said, we can't let you talk on this. They had to know what I was gonna say to make sure. So I had to write, I had to write the speech the night before and speak it then when I got there. So that was a new one for me. Did you stick to it? Did you stick to your scroll? Oh, you had to, you had to. Yeah, so exactly what I sent them is exactly what I what I had to say. And that was all right too. I mean, it's all part of it's all part of learning.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

That was okay. Amazing. So I want to go back for a minute because you do you, I mean you do have so many businesses, but I'd would like to mention back to the fact that you have three children. And I know that you have both personally and business-wise had different funny things happen on the way to my life moments. Could you maybe mention something about something about your personal journey as a mother?

SPEAKER_01 10:43

There's lots of different things and all of my three, there's a there's a big age gap between my three children, so they all come with their own unique and different story. My youngest child was born through IVF. I had never anticipated that. Whenever we found out we couldn't conceive naturally, I suppose it was a blow, it was a really big blow, something I found it quite difficult to get my head around. I already had two children, and there was other immediate factors as to why we couldn't uh conceive, and I went through IVF, and that journey was harrowing, it took a lot of toll on me emotionally and physically,

IVF Story That Changed Everything

SPEAKER_01 11:25

and fortunately, after years we were successful and had a little girl, and um from that then came the invitation to write a book about it. So that's the funny thing that happened. So I went through this experience, didn't tell anybody, nobody knew until she was six months old. Nobody knew, and then I was invited for my 40th birthday to write a book. So I wrote a book about the emotional impact of IVF, because there's loads of books about the physical, and I wrote the book, and this sounds like such a cliche, Laura, that I wish I had read when I was going through it, given that I talk about emotions and mental health and well-being, all this stuff was happening to me. I was having these intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and if somebody had explained it's maybe the medication or hormones, or it's part of the journey, I think I would have coped it up better, but I didn't. So I wrote a book and then I got invited to do a TED talk. Like I got invited to do a TED talk about IVF, and anybody here knows you apply for TED Talks, and you may or may not be. So I again truly blessed to be able to do that. But going through IVF, there's no way I'd anticipated because we didn't tell anybody that I was going to write a book about it. Never mind do a TED talk on it. And what happened then was that completely catapulted me into a whole new world of speaking and being an author. And the book went to international best-selling status overnight. Like I kid you not, I woke up with a notification that the book had gone to international best-selling. I couldn't believe it. Again, that was a new world to me. That wasn't really something. I know, Karen, that was her world. It certainly wasn't mine. I was sitting in managing mental health services. So, Laura, the MEUC now is a completely different M than the one that you would have met 10 years ago because I was so serious and I manage mental health services, and this is a serious issue, and we've got to sort this out. Whereas now I'm very much, yeah, let's talk about it. And I've I've learned a lot of things about myself from that journey that I am open to talking about the hard things. You usually see me fully immersed in a conversation that nobody wants to talk about. So whether it's mental health or IVS or domestic abuse or the death of a parent, you see me fully immersed in that because of my own personal experiences. So that journey definitely changed the whole trajectory of my life, although I didn't know it at the time. So that is one personal thing that happened to me, I suppose, that springboarded me and into a whole different world.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

And I think this is this is the point. This is the point for me of not only this podcast, but my memoir, if anything happened on the way to my life, because things happen, they unexpected things happen, and it's the way we approach those things, the way we react to those things that are so important. And I genuinely believe, just based on things that I've experienced and and what you're saying as well, is that those things frequently open doors that you absolutely didn't expect. Like what you're saying. And even I love I I love that you're saying, even though you were mental health expert, you you still struggled. And I also to follow up on this is the power of story, the power of us, you know, so many people maybe wouldn't have said anything. No, it's not for me, it's not for me, it's my personal story. I'm not gonna share it with anyone. And this is the point of when we do share, it inspires people, it impacts people, it it uplifts them, whatever. And it's so important. And I love that you shared your journey. And I've heard your TED talk. I haven't read your book, but I have heard your TED talk, and it's so good.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Yeah, it was. I mean, and that red dot, honest to goodness, like again, this sounds terrible. That was an opportunity that came my way. There's one thing about me is if an opportunity comes my way and I it's a yes, it's it's a yes if it's really aligned, it's always a yes, and then I'll figure it out. And having to look when I done my first TED talk and it was on IVF, I knew my talk inside out and upside down because it was TED. I I took note because it was so important to get the timings right to articulate how I was feeling, even down to pulling the elastic band on my hand to try and forget about the pain of the stingy injections. And like it was so important to get that right because of the audience that it was going to maybe go out to, and I really felt it I wanted to do it justice. So I knew if you'd said to me what's the fourth word on the third line of your TED Talk, I probably would have known it. And that's the only time it was for that TED talk. Now, when I done my mental wealth TED Talk, I it was not like that, but for the IVF one, I knew I knew I really I needed to do it justice for myself and the attorney as well, and to compliment the book was so important. The amount of people that came to me afterwards and and and this is so funny, this really is because we told nobody, and I'm actually quite a private person, although I'm on social media, people have no idea what actually goes on in my life. It's quite funny to have told nobody to be speaking on a global stage and then writing a book that went completely international about the subject matter that I never spoke about. But the impact, and you're right, Laura, it has created so many conversations. Like I had people coming and knocking my door saying, you know, my sister went through that, and I just thought it was injections. But reading your book, I now know it's so much more. Like it just takes over, well, it did with me, it takes over everything. But again, that was my first book. That was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

That is amazing, and uh, you're right, we don't know. I see people, I know people who have gone through IVF or whatever struggles with having it having a child, and we don't know. And I I do know that it's also a financial burden, it's an emotional burden, physical burden. So thank you for sharing that.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Thank you very much. And yeah, it's been really good. And then I got the bug and then thought, gosh, I better write a book about what I talk about most. So it was mental wealth instead of mental health, and then that springboarded me then to another TED talk, which I just was like, how is this my life? Um, but it's really important to understand sometimes when you're going through something, finding the courage then to talk about it. No, you don't have to, but if you have that courage or that burning desire within you, you you just have to believe and know it makes a difference because it does.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Yeah. So mental wealth, tell us a little bit about that name.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

This is another this is this is another one of those funny incidents because um I obviously had a great job. Um at that time I was in a relationship, I had my three children, and everything was set and stable. You know, just one of those happy-go-lucky people getting on with their life. And we ran an event in Crumb Castle here in Ireland in 2019 called ENE, Entrepreneur Circle. It was with Karen and Shelley

Why She Calls It Mental Wealth

SPEAKER_01 19:05

at the time, and I was there helping out because you know I'm the person on the ground in Ireland, I'm the one, the kind of runner when all these events are going on, and we were there and I was listening to all the speakers. So Speaker Day, I was listening to all the speakers, and there was a gentleman there, Roman Hotchap, who I'd never met before, he's from Australia, he had came to stay with us in the castle, and he got up and spoke. And I remember sitting in the audience thinking, that really landed with me. I could do what he does. Like where that thought came out of my head, I don't know, but it came. And I was looking at him talking and I I resonate with everything. In fact, a lot of what he's saying, I say, and it really landed with me. So I just thought, oh, okay, I'll sit with that. And three weeks later, Laura, I woke up out of my sleep at three o'clock in the morning. I don't know where all the threes are. At three o'clock in the morning, and I don't know about you, but I always keep a pen and a piece of paper beside me in the bed. And I woke up in the middle of the night, and I kid you not, I went mental wealth, and I just started writing and writing and writing and writing and writing all about the concept of mental wealth being looking after yourself when you're well or when things are going well, to build your mental wealth resilience or your toolbox or your capabilities around it, so that whenever life gets tough, you have this essentially a toolbox or the skills to to overcome whatever it is that's going on. And it just it just all went from there.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Amazing, amazing. And yeah, I know about the the 3, 4 a.m. muse that wakes you up and and says, Hey, you you got something to say or you've got something to write, and you better you better get it down now before you miss it. So that's amazing. And but at that time, that was were you were still in a traditional job at that time? Was that before you founded the company?

SPEAKER_01 21:05

So what happened was then mental health international. So then I done what most people do, then I started buying all uh the dot coms and the dot UK, and I sat down, I got really practical with it. So that was in 2019. And then I stayed in my obviously, I was still managing mental health services, and then I started mental health international and started talking, I started doing talks and workshops around mental health adjacent to my existing job. So like on a Saturday I'd went out and done a talk to a community group or believe it or not, the construction industry is my biggest client. So I go out on the building sites and talk about like I'm talking about mental health, I'm talking about the serious stuff, but in a new way and using new language and really getting to the grassroots of it and really getting to understand that we all have a part to play in supporting our own mental health, but our those people. People around us, and it's really important. And businesses have really taken it on, like they really have taken it on. So after about eight months, then I think COVID hit. And then obviously I was working in mental health at the time, and we all went on Zoom. And then the organization that I was working for came out with a couple of policies, and I just didn't agree with. I just thought we can't do this in the middle of a global pandemic where people are at their home. And I thought, okay, I might. And I left and then just kept going with Mental Health International. Now it's hard work, Laura. It's hard work. And I know it works. I've been very fortunate. So I do workshops. We del it's not just me, I have a team behind me. We deliver mental health first aid, which is an accreditation for it's like first aid, except it's mental health first aid, so it's world recognized. We go out and deliver that to allow people to be trained appropriately. And how to support people in their moment of need, should they need it, and if they're if their mental health not not great. And then I also do keynotes, and that's where you will see me around the world. I mean, I've been in, as we said, Dubai and Los Angeles, and you know, I was in Australia, and they were all mental wealth talks, that's all, or MC and I love MC and an event. Give me that microphone, and I will be the best ever you seen. You seen it yourself in New York. Now that was a dream to MC and event in New York. You know, I'm slightly obsessed with New York. And um I MC event as well. So really find the flair for all of those things somewhere along the line. And then that's whenever I ran TEDx in a skilling, that's when I met Charlie. So he was my tech guy in TEDx and a skilling. He was a technical because I have no idea of a tech. And then that's for Synestics, which is an incubator hope for startups and scale-ups. So that's where that happened. So it's completely parallel to what I do. But I don't know if you agree with me on this.

Building Synestics For Startup Growth

SPEAKER_01 24:05

All skills are transferable. You know, so I have people skills, organization skills, I have a vision, I'd say yes if it's aligned, and Charlie's tech. You know, so that's how that was another little yes moment that brought me down a whole different road. Again, out speaking, creating opportunities for other people, helping the people that are coming along build their journeys and businesses as well. So that's important to me too.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

I'm glad you brought that up because I was gonna ask you how Cynetex came about because I had no idea. But I have seen you in action. I have seen you number one, be an MC, and you are amazing, but also I've seen you just in a situation where something has gone side completely sideways, and you just take you just take up the ball and go with it and and handle the situation with complete composure, by the way. And it's amazing. It's amazing to watch, and no wonder you're you have successful businesses. But would you talk a little bit about Syneptics and what it does? Because I I think it's fascinating, that side of it as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:21

And again, Laura, it's a bit like mental wealth international. It came out of a gap or an unmet need. Um, there seems to be like that reoccurs in my life quite a lot, even with the IVF and and the DV as well. There's an if I see an unmet need and I think I can add value to it, I'm not afraid to kind of go forward. So here in Ireland and the UK, um, if you're a startup or scale up business, you'll potentially be put onto a programme, you'll be allocated hours, and you'd follow that, and that's a government scheme that maybe you're delighted to be on, but is it really going to push you forward? So Charlie is the tech guy, and he would have been drafted into some of those schemes to help build a website or an e-commerce business or Shopify or something like that there. And that's what he'd done. And then we recognized very much that people were only being brought to a certain point, and then that was it. You you're meant to grow your business, or then you're having the challenge of trying to maneuver all these different places that give you funding, whether it's monetary or in hours or mentoring. So we set together then to build out our own platform to support startups and scale-ups, and that's how it came about. So throughout the years, we take on a cohort of 10 businesses. So we went around and got private funding from major companies across the island of Ireland that had like a social conscience or wanted to offset some of their funds into the next generation of business owners. So we were completely fully funded privately from that, which in a very strange way, Laura, gave us free reign to understand the market needs, what was trending, how we were evolving, and the needs of other people. So we've built a whole programme around that. So you come in for 12 months and we wrap around you and your business and your team. So if you're a startup to get you off the ground, we put you into this amazing academy that is fully accredited CPD courses to upskill you. So if you identify, look, I'm not great at talking, or I'm not great at team meetings, or I'd like to know more about LinkedIn or how to do my books. We have a full suite of courses that you can do that to get you off the ground, as well as mentors. We've mentors all over the world. So we started to build that out and it grew exponentially. And people started to see what we were doing and the success of some of the businesses across the island of Ireland and the UK, and then we spread out then to Dubai. So we now have partners and Synestics. Our our whole programme is in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and Cyprus at the moment. That's where we are at the moment. So last October, when I went out with Horizon Area, which was an all-female trade mission to Dubai, we launched our Synestex office out in Dubai whenever I was there. So that was a very proud moment. Now, Synestex, we're very, very lucky. We've that whole wraparound program. What we love about it is it's tailored. So what are your needs? What do you need to get your business off the ground? Or what do you need to scale? And then we we wrap that around you. Instead of us telling you this is what we do, and we're going to put you into this program. What do you need? And we wrap that around. And then we were also very fortunate in 2024 to receive quite a significant amount of funding from our American partners. And we now have a capital fund where we're an investment. So Cynestex Capital. So we're able to invest quite significantly into companies that have already scaled but can't get to that next, next level without a significant amount of money. And we are now able to do that. So it grew quite quickly from 2022, really.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

Amazing. And you you have an office in New York now, right? Correct? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We have an office in New York.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

Our partners are over there. So we have an office in New York. Ignora, why am I not in New York more?

SPEAKER_00 29:25

I don't know. I don't know why you're not in New York anymore. We'd love to have you over here more often.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

I'd love to be there more often. So I have we have an office in New York, we have an office in Dubai. We I I do believe Bilal is signing off an office in Morocco in the month of June. It hasn't happened yet, but we have an office there as well. And then obviously we're already in Cyprus and South Africa. But again, Laura, it's all how do I explain this? It's all our idea around synesthetics and about understanding the markets. And the same thing applies whether it's in New York or Morocco or Dupa Bay. That unmet need for startups and scale-ups is very similar, you know, and we put a lot of time and effort, even to make sure that on the different websites it's the local language. You know, we're we're not assuming we go in with English everywhere either. You know, there's a lot of thought breaking down those barriers to people receiving the support that they need. Because one one side, one two does not fit all, and that's what we very much recognize, and that's why we've tailored it the way we have. So it's very fortunate. A lot of work was into it. We do be busy, and you probably see me in Malta at the startup event in Malta, and then whenever we present what Synestex is doing, there's nothing else like it. There just simply isn't anything like it. So people be very keen to become involved very quickly.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

That's amazing. And I would think that there's a certain level of mental wealth international and Cynestex having having crossover and what you do and know for Mental Wealth International can support the people that you're that you're bringing up, the startups that you're you're mentoring and working with. And I think it's incredible. I think it's an incredible business model, uh, for sure.

unknown 31:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

I also want to go back for a second to the fact that you're you you said that you have so many customers that are construction excuse me, I can't talk. Construction companies because that's such a that's an industry that you would think and you we we own our business and it's a repair business and it's similar, it's not construction, but similar, like hardworking, hands-on

Mental Health On Construction Sites

SPEAKER_00 31:55

workers. And that seems like an area where where men would be like because most of our employees are men, and that's why I'm saying men, and not and I'm not trying to leave out women because I'm sure there are women in the construction business, but they're it seems like they would come across as like, no, I don't need mental wealth, I don't need help in this area, even though every person has it has times when they could use support. So what are your thoughts about that?

SPEAKER_01 32:28

Now that happened organically. So obviously, when you own your business, you spread out and you tell people what you're doing. And like I mean, it's consumer-based. So while my motivation is to support people with their mental health, and it's always been that and have proven that over decades, it's a business. So I got into contact with a man that was a health and safety officer on a construction site, got into a conversation with him one day, and he started telling me about his issues. So then I supported him in his moment of need, and he was like, Jeepers, you're good at this. So then I would ought to explain what I'd done. So that was one of my first contracts. I got straight into Wills Brothers. It's a huge construction here in um Ireland that cover the whole Ireland, and they have multiple sites. So once I started doing that, I was then I don't want to use the word recommended. So then one Health and the Safety Officer person recommended me to one of their colleagues that maybe worked on a different site. So some of the sites could be three different construction companies all on one site, doing different things. And I kid you not, Gloria. You could see me standing in a building site in Dublin in front of 200 men now, I'm sure, and you know, be, and the cracker would be good. But 200 men talk about mental health. Now, some of them come in, and you're right, they're really adverse to it. They're looking at me thinking, this doll is rocking up here like that, and she's going to try and tell us about mental health. Well, I kids do not, by the time they're leaving that room, they're realizing it's not all like you don't have to hit the ground to be looking after your mental health and well-being. And looking after your own helps others as well. It allows you to show up your best self for your family, for your colleagues, whatever it is. And because of all of my experience, I don't need to fluff it up with fancy words, Laura. I get to the absolute grassroots of what we're talking about and allow then space to talk about it as well. So I suppose my reputation, I suppose, has built it now precedes me in terms of people know what they're getting to see me online, and which is quite funny and peculiar. But unfortunately, here in Ireland and the UK, two construction workers a day kill themselves a day. Uh-huh. Yeah, there's a whole research piece done around that with the Lighthouse Foundation. So construction very much recognised where we have a problem here. And if you were to really bed down into that, some of the main issues are loneliness. Because here in Ireland, construction workers could be leaving where I live in Fermanagh and driving two hours to go to Dublin and then maybe staying all week, Monday to Friday, on their own in a very small room or a bedsit and coming home on the Friday. So loneliness is huge. Financial issues and family matters and deadlines are the four triggers, apparently, through this research piece as to why construction has such a high suicide rate. So that's where you'll see me standing, whether it's I'm a keynote, I'm talking about it, or delivering a workshop, or my team has come in and delivered mental health first aid. And the reason why I love mental health first aid, Laura, is because you're training peers to support each other. You know, so they will notice very quickly if somebody seems off or someone hasn't turned in on a Monday morning, or is that three Monday mornings in a row? What's going on here? And if we're able to train people to be competent and confident to approach the subject matter of, you know, what's going on, it makes a huge difference. Huge difference. And look, I have been on business sites, and the reason why they've got me out there is reactionary because they have had a suicide and they're like, right, we need to get somebody in to talk about this. So it works, it can be both.

SPEAKER_00 36:18

I think this is obviously such important work that you're doing, especially in that field. Clearly, I also think that the narrative has changed over the years because it seems like years ago it would just be like, We're hard, we're hard guys, we're hard workers, we we're just doing the thing. And for to to change it, to to have your coworkers looking out for you and keeping an eye out and saying, Hey, you know, maybe, you know, maybe Mike over here could really use some support. I think that's really you're really making an impact, and it's huge, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 36:57

And for some reason, Laura, like even my dad just said to me, How did you think of the name mental wealth? And I genuinely woke up out of my sleep, mental wealth. It was like a calling. And for some reason, people feel more at ease or more able. We're all we're still talking about the same thing, your mental health. But when I phrase it mental wealth, it seems to open. So that's why words are so important as well. It seems to allow people to be more open or but we're like I we're talking about the same thing, but it just appears to be. I don't know, there still is that stigma. And people quite often say to me, Let me see, Chloe's 30. So, like I'm 27 years working in mental health, and it's completely different. Like the issues are completely different, the

Mental And Physical Health Go Together

SPEAKER_01 37:45

language is different, what we believe works definitely is different. You know, there's different trends and triggers that come up throughout all of the years, and people do say, but there's more being done. There's more being done. And my thing to that is we are talking about it more. We definitely are talking about it more. Is there more being done? I'm not sure. However, the fact that companies bring me, and it's not just construction, you know, I be in the manufacturing industry where people are making food, I be in gyms, universities get me in to talk. As I said, my reputation seems to be that I'm not afraid to talk about things other people aren't talking about, but you know I know what I'm talking about because I'm doing it for 27 years. And I suppose then the word mental wealth seems to intrigue people as where I come up with that idea.

SPEAKER_00 38:39

Well, and also there's no point in cut walking in and being fluffy about something. That you it's an important issue that you you need to get you know get to the bottom of it and talk to people, not not just sugarcoat everything. And and I would imagine that that does take a special person. I also wanted to, I'm not sure how I want to phrase this, but mental wealth, obviously, your your mental state, your mental wealth, that I I feel like calling it that, naming it that is a more positive connotation to it, but also no doubt there's a ripple effect to it what your mental, you know, if you have good mental wealth, then clearly that's just gonna not only affect you, but everyone around you.

unknown 39:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

And that's the idea. And, you know, for years I've talked and talked about like your mental health and your physical health should go on par with each other because, you know, and there is so much talk about your physical well-being. I believe you can't have one without the other. You can't be mentally well without being physically well, you can't be physically, you know, it takes the two, the two should come as one. One should not be more of a priority over, you know, the other. And they do say your health is your wealth, and I believe that, whether it's your physical health and well-being or your mental health and well-being. Because Laura, and you know, I've met a lot of people in my life, and I've been really fortunate to be able to have some amazing, really meaningful conversations. But no amount of money, if you are mentally unwell, it doesn't matter. It simply doesn't matter. Or, you know, you look from the outside in that you have it all, you've your your your house and your husband and your children, or whatever it is that people perceive that you have it all. If you if your mental health is suffering or you are impacted by your mental health or well-being, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. But I also recognise we have to work at that. You know, we have to work at it. I mean, you cannot take for granted the same as your physical well-being. You just can't. You go to the gym or you go for your walks and you lower your cholesterol, or you, you know, you do whatever it is to keep you physically active and out there. But we need to prioritize our mental health and well-being as well because it takes everything, especially nowadays when there's so much information, there's so much access. Like, I mean, I talk with this all the time. Like when I was at school, if I had a bad day at school, I come home and I was able to sit with my family and not having to think about school till the next day. It's society's not like that. Now we're too accessible to everybody. There's no getting away from things unless we can be disciplined enough to tow the phone or or not turn on the iPad, whatever it is. But and that takes a lot. So we have to constantly be like, what's your morning routine? Like, do you go for walks? Like when I'm at the gym, it's as much for my mental health as it is for my physical well-being. It's that like that mental fitness that you can feel if you're looking after your mental health is unbelievable. And I think people underestimate it.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

Well, and and a lot of people don't have the the fortunate situation of a of a family. Sometimes the family that they come home to from school, you know, it's not only just the the the technology and and constantly being connected, it's also what are you coming home to? And is it you, you know, you were, you know, I'm fortunate to have that in in your life. And maybe somebody else doesn't, you know, even anybody has can struggle with whatever it is. And you're I agree, what you can have everything and and still struggle, and you don't know what it is, something could come sideways at you. And that goes back to what we were talking about at the beginning. How do you react to things and how can you have tools in place which to help you see you know, without again, without just overshadowing something and saying, well, I'm I'm gonna pretend that didn't happen. It's not about that. It's about looking at the situation, uh working through it, finding finding answers, finding support. But for me, some of the hardest things in my life have been finding gratitude in the situation, and sometimes, again, like what we spoke about, not realizing that okay, that seemed like that was a really awful thing, but these good things came from it, and I never would have expected that. That's why I love hearing people's stories that have experienced horrible things even and have come out the other side even better than where they started. And I think that's so important. And I you're the work you're doing is amazing. I think that we could potentially talk all day. I know we could. I feel like this should be a a podcast. series, but I think we should probably is there any are there any last thoughts that you want to talk about? Anything you want to bring up or anything you've done?

SPEAKER_01 44:09

If you didn't, but I'd like to say it's one of the things I've learned lots of life lessons in my life. I know I've alluded to some of them, you know, the loss of my daughter's dad, um going to IVF,

Asking For Help And What’s Next

SPEAKER_01 44:20

breakdown of a marriage, DV, all of those things. And my way for Mental Health International is because I couldn't unseen knowing that workplaces are a significant part of a lot of people's lives and if we're able to support people's mental health there. But one of the things that I've had to learn over the last few years, believe it or not, and you know I'm old enough to have many a year behind me, is it's really hard to ask for help. It's really hard to ask for help. But it's also very hard to accept it. So when I was going through hard times in my life and there have been a few, one of the things that I recognized was I found it really hard to accept help. So I mean we have to be very kind to ourselves and allow others to help us along the journey of this thing that we call life as well. And that is a life lesson that I have learned of late.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

That's so good. And I agree with it because some so many times people might say oh you know I don't I don't have any any help and if you just would ask for it that there are people that are there or people might be seeing it and you're unwilling you know might be offering it and you're not willing to accept it. I think that's a really important point. Tell me also before we go tell me what is next for you. What do you have coming up? What's going on?

SPEAKER_01 45:42

Oh gosh well obviously Synestex again is launching we're launching more businesses and partners across the world JP Morgan being one of them I'm very excited about that. We're allowed to say that now and um I have a new book coming out it's called Let's Do Better and it has stories about people's I suppose experiences about domestic abuse and also it's solution focused. So what worked what didn't work what would you like people to know I'm very excited and humbled to be in a position to be able to bring that book to the forefront especially here and then we're also back to New York with Horizon Area which is very very exciting it is in November and then I'm out to debate as well with Synestics because we've got new partners out there. So there's a little bit of travelling in between all the rest of the stuff just keeping talking Laura that seems to be my thing and I will be seeing you in October again at the castle near your home castle oh my gosh in Ireland skip past that oh my gosh that bees amazing it bees amazing because we get to do it my sister obviously but then also we get to hire the castle and everybody gets to know each other and I mean you love it right that was amazing the Heroes Roar Heroes Roar castle events are incredible and I can't wait for that and also you are I hate to bring this up because you skipped over this one the my anthology that I'm that I'm have that I'm leading is undeniable presence and women women owning their stories and you are a co-author in that anthology thank you very much I'm honored to have you as part of that and share your story. So lots going on lots going on in MOS lots going on and again Laura you began or you definitely understand and appreciate the power of words what I love about a book in the written form is people have it all the time. You can pick it up and take what you need from it at any time. So there's magic in your book I'm very fortunate to know some of the other co-authors in that book as well so it's going to be amazing and it's launching whenever we're we're over in New York in New York. Yeah it's going to launch in New York City so excited for that are there any web I mean I'll put I'll put any information in the show notes as far as connecting with you but is there anything a website or anything you want to just mention now or we'll just put it in the notes you can get me on the Mental Wealth International website lay on there's there's little videos of the different things on that that allow people to understand what we do and also synests and and I'm sure you'll put that up there's a website there as well for people to understand what we do or if they had an idea of a startup or scale up we're always real happy to have a conversation and around that and creating impact around the world is very important. And I'm on all the socials you'll see me doing my little car chats on socials every day. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:48

I was going to mention your car chats because follow I seriously follow Emma on on Instagram because she puts in her stories her car chats.

SPEAKER_01 48:58

What's your Instagram that you share that what's doing Emma yeah it's Emma Weaver so there they go up on them.

SPEAKER_00 49:04

Some of them go up on my mental one mental wealth one as well but I kind of forget they're always going to Emma weaver and again somebody happened to mention to me Laura I was so serious about mental health and talk about mental health and I was an Australian that said we want to see more Emma and I was like why would anybody want to know what was on in my life and that is how the car chats came about and they just took off it's really fun and they're not long they're just long enough to give you a little a little morning well it's morning for me when I see them so I love it because it's just a little pick me up in the morning and it's fun and sometimes you have a little surprise guest you're mini me and that's always fun as well.

SPEAKER_01 49:44

So he loves it.

SPEAKER_00 49:45

Yeah it's fun so anyway thank you so much for joining me today I it's always I like said we could just talk forever and it's always fun to see you and hear you talk with you. And thank you to our listeners we wouldn't be here without you thank you