Founder@ Interview
Interview with Gavin Perrett
“Underpromise and overdeliver! Managing expectations and being regarded as a man of my word is the cornerstone value of everything that I do and is why hopefully I am well respected and well liked. .” – Gavin Perrett
Today we feature Gavin Perrett, the founder at Identity Resource. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I’m age 46, married to my husband Ian with a puppy called Toby. We live in Braintree in Essex. I run 3 businesses: Hawkhurst Invest (Property Investment Consultancy) Will Protect (Estate Planning Consultancy) and our brand new business Identity Resource (Coaching & Mentoring). These are all based from our offices in Chelmsford in Essex. I enjoy running, cycling, reading and personal development.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I started in business when I was 22 having graduated from university shortly beforehand. I have only ever worked for myself. I began as a financial adviser before specialising in the mortgage and property sectors which is where I built my client base. Since 2010 I have been working with my business partner David Liddle with whom I run the 3 businesses.
The new business Identity Resource was set up recently following an extended period of personal development. I had trained to become a Master Practitioner in NLP, Practitioner in Behavioural Change, an ICF accredited coach and a Master Practitioner in Hypnotherapy.
I began this journey to improve the quality of my own life as a personal development exercise. As I furthered my studies it became apparent that the people around me, family, friends, staff and colleagues were beginning to benefit from a shift in my communication style.
It then became clear that there was a business opportunity that could benefit from our expertise and when we shared our plans to existing clients there was a palpable demand for our coaching services.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
We offer 121 and group personal and business coaching. We are helping individuals and organisations to become the best version of themselves and to learn how to work collaboratively with their colleagues, clients, friends and families.
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We do this through our coaching skills and where appropriate employ NLP techniques and hypnotherapy to help our clients achieve their goals with greater ease. We also run workshops so that clients have the opportunity to learn in a group setting.
Personal outcomes can include smoking cessation, weight loss, stress and resilience training, dealing with anxiety, and banishing limiting beliefs. For businesses, it tends to be more about strategic planning, decision making, and conflict resolution/change management. we are based in our offices in Chelmsford in Essex
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
I have always had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and to continue to learn. This has prompted me to develop myself both personally and professionally over the years. The business hasn’t always been easy however I have adopted a curious attitude towards problems and reflected on how to overcome them and transform them into opportunities.
My biggest inspiration are my parents. Sadly they both tragically died earlier this year from Covid-19. This event changed my life forever. It became abundantly clear to me that I could make a significant difference to our client’s lives with the work that we do across all of our brands and in particular with Identity Resource.
This is why I have set the business up in their memory. They would have been so proud of the work that we do. In fact I trained as a hypnotherapist originally to help my mother manage her pain from arthritis and rheumatism. Sadly she died before I completed my qualification however I know that she would have encouraged me to help others with my new skill. There is no bigger motivator than the love and inspiration of a dearly departed parent. My goals and focus are crystal clear which then makes the business journey an easier one.
When you do something that you love it doesn’t feel like work. Another strategy that I employ that has never failed me is to distance myself from toxicity and even more so now. Since my parents died I have become very clear about what I want out of life and even clearer about what I don’t want out of life.
Consequently, I put distance between myself and people who are mean spirited, overtly negative or cynical. By surrounding myself with people who inspire, encourage, and support me I give myself the best platform to succeed.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
The 2007/2008 recession was a challenging period for me. My main source of income back then was from mortgage broking and it dried up pretty quickly. Financially and emotionally it was an incredibly difficult time however the challenge opened my eyes to diversification and setting up multiple streams of income.
I quickly worked out how to earn income from other areas of financial planning by setting up introducer agreements with other trusted strategic partners and it was this quick thinking that saved me from financial ruin.
Now, none of this would have been possible had I not fostered and maintained quality relationships with other like-minded professionals throughout the course of the previous decade. Now that we are in a very different crisis period with Covid we have multiple businesses within our group and income is steady across all of them.
It is reassuring to know that if one business suffers a drop in income that there are several others that can subsidise in the interim. Again, relationships are at the heart of everything that we do and consistent communication and strong marketing are critical to getting the message across that we are here and open for business.
I’ve always adopted the philosophy that no man is an island and that it is important to collaborate with other businesses and support one another during challenging times.
That I should trust my instinct in each and every instance
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
I tend to be quite philosophical in that everything that has happened to me in my life good, bad or indifferent has happened for a reason and that arguably I wouldn’t be the person I am today without these experiences. That said I would probably encourage myself to have started my personal development journey at a younger age. I actually feel that personal development could be taught in schools.
It has started to become appreciated more with the advent of meditation classes in primary schools which I think is brilliant. I would definitely advise myself to be confident to like myself for who I am and be confident to be myself; to stick to my values and have the courage to stand up for them. I would have avoided some difficult times if I had heeded this advice.
To anyone who ever doubted me I would thank them for offering me an alternative perspective to consider before moving on and making progress regardless.
There have definitely been times when I have doubted whether I am doing the right thing being a multiple business owner. Every now and then particularly if I am tired I crave a more simple life, maybe for an hour or so and then I soon revert back to type and look forward to the next challenge.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
From an operational perspective having an effective CRM is critical. Our marketing company recommended the provider and we have an operations manager that manages the CRM. Before the CRM it was a good old fashioned spreadsheet but that was a long time ago. Without the CRM I would feel pretty disorganised so I’m glad that we have it.
From a marketing perspective we get a lot of use out of Mailchimp. Our marketing company manage this for us and we schedule campaigns regularly throughout the year to ensure that our message is reaching our existing contact base. We have been using this for years and researched it ourselves before committing to the platform. Again, we would be lost without it as its so quick and easy to put together a campaign. I love the fact that we can monitor the activity and success of each campaign.
I also use the Dragon app for dictating emails, articles and blogs. I only started using it recently as I am starting to write a book and I figured that it would be easier to speak than type and it is. I asked for a recommendation on social media and Dragon came up as the most popular choice. I’ll probably be able to provide a more objective opinion on life without Dragon once I have finished the book but for the moment so far so good.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
That I should trust my instinct in each and every instance
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
Achieving my qualification as a Master Practitioner in Hypnotherapy because it was dedicated to the honour of my parents
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
I would like to become a successful author. I am writing a book on Grief at the moment which I plan to have finished by Easter 2021. There is a follow up which I will publish soon after which will be a series of interviews with others who have experiences tragic grief. I have more stories to tell beyond this subject so to publish one book each year is my big goal.
I have experienced a lot in my life and feel compelled to share what I have learned with others. This will be my legacy!
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Underpromise and overdeliver! Managing expectations and being regarded as a man of my word is the cornerstone value of everything that I do and is why hopefully I am well respected and well-liked.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Identity Resource”
To learn more about Identity Resource Visit www.identityresource.co.uk
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