Evolve and Thrive: Starting before you're ready - the Supervisor Platform with Natalie Stott

Welcome to the Business of Psychology podcast. Today I'm joined by clinical psychologist in independent practice, and founder of a fancy new supervision platform, Dr Natalie Stott. I'm really excited to have her here today because we’re going to talk about the journey of putting something innovative out there into the world, especially something that is designed to support independent practitioners. I think this is really important because it's very often a mindset issue that stops people from getting started with something innovative, and I know Natalie is really well placed to talk to us about those mindset issues that crop up and how we can plow through them.

Full show notes and a transcript of this episode are available at The Business of Psychology

Links for Natalie:

Supervisor Platform: supervisorplatform.com

LinkedIn: Dr Natalie Stott

Mastering Therapy Podcast: masteringtherapy.com

Website: www.drnataliestott.com

Links for Rosie:

Substack: substack.com/@drrosie

Rosie on Instagram:

@rosiegilderthorp

@thepregnancypsychologist

The highlights

• Natalie tells us about herself and her practice 01:02
• I ask Natalie about the problem she saw that needed fixing, that let to creating Supervisor Platform 02:42
• We discuss the importance of supervision and community 06:33
• Natalie talks about the difficulties with advertising your services as a supervisor when you are in independent practice 11:36
• We discuss the importance of visibility and personal branding 20:08
• Natalie talks about how she pushed through the discomfort of being visible 29:25
• Natalie highlights the power of feedback 35:40
• Natalie tells us how to get in touch with her 39:17

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If you want time, freedom, more income, and to make a bigger impact for your client group, join me for a free masterclass on Monday, the 17th of November at 11:00 AM and I'll show you how I use my values, voice and impact framework to create income, impact, and flexibility in my own business, and for the hundreds of psychologists and therapists I've supported over the last five years.

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Hello and welcome to the Business of Psychology. Today I'm here with clinical psychologist in independent practice, and founder of a fancy new supervision platform, Dr Natalie Stott. Welcome to the podcast, Natalie.

Oh, thanks so much for having me, Rosie.

So I'm really excited to have you here today because we’re gonna talk about the journey of putting something innovative out there into the world, especially something that is designed to support independent practitioners. And I think this is really important because it's very often, I would say, almost. In every case, a mindset issue that stops people from getting started with something innovative. And I know that you're right in the thick of it at the moment, so you're really well placed to talk to us about those kind of mindset issues that crop up and how we can plow through them. So first, can you tell us a little bit about you and your practice?

Of course. So I probably have been doing private practice on and off, about two years. So I started doing a bit of private stuff on the side when I was working in the NHS. And honestly, I don't think I ever imagined that I would leave the NHS and go into private practice. That was, it was never my game plan. But like many people, after having children, I realised I wanted the flexibility and there's always been this thing that I've had, I can't quite quantify it, but it's this feeling of I want to do something. I want to… I want to add value to our profession, I want to do something on the side other than just therapy. And I couldn't quite see that happening whilst I was in the NHS. So it, I would say it happened organically when I left the NHS and took that leap into private practice and devoured your podcasts, I might say, I found them so useful. After a while I started to get that thing starting to grow in me and thinking, I want to be a voice in clinical psychology, and I want to do things that I would've found helpful. And I guess that's where it began really having ideas. And so I ran a podcast as well called Mastering Therapy, and that was the first idea that I had. And then it, from there, I guess has snowballed a little bit and as I've collaborated with other psychologists and had conversations with people, felt like the platform was something that was missing. So if I can tell you a little bit about it, if that would be helpful?

Yeah, well actually the thing I'd really like to start with, because you, as I know, you know, because you've listened to the podcast a lot, the thing I'm really obsessed with is what need are we meeting? And so I'd really love to hear a bit more about what it was you, the problem that you saw that needed fixing?

Yeah. And I'm glad that you said that, Rosie, because I think I have realised like, in order for an idea to be successful, you have to be solving a problem and a problem that ideally you are the customer of, like you are in need of yourself. Whether that is a book that you're wanting to write or, you know, a course you're wanting to run, if you can speak to an audience that you're really familiar with, ie yourself, I think it hasn't, it's made it a lot easier for me. So I think one of the key things about being in private practice is, I guess, how lonely it can be sometimes. You can feel quite isolated and so being in community for me is really, really important. That's important both in my work, but also in my personal life. Like, community is a real driver for me in how I make decisions and kind of my values and what's important to me. And supervision is something that all of us as psychologists do, and we don't just do it to meet our HCPC requirements, we do it because actually I get so much out of it. I learn through talking things through with my supervisor or through talking things with others, but the difficulty I found when moving into private practice was my world suddenly became really small. One of the things I love about the NHS is those informal conversations you have over a desk or you meet someone in the canteen, you say, oh, actually, can I pick your brains about this? And you connect with someone that you might not have otherwise come into contact with. And I noticed the absence of that leaving private practice. And so I was left with, Oh, how do I connect with other psychologists that are in my field that are expert in the client group that I'm working with, but also I now needed a supervisor, how on earth do I find one? And that was a problem for me. I guess I realised there's no easy way for us to find supervision or find the professionals that we need to find. So we rely on Facebook groups or on social media, and that is fine, but you’re then relying on posting your request, is anybody around for a chat about X? You are relying on the person that you need seeing that at the time that you post it. Unlike social media, it's transitional, so it's very fluid, a post can easily get missed. So I had the idea, what if there was a platform where you could actually search by modality, you could search by specialism, or the client group that somebody is working with? And this is for that one-off supervision that we all need, that the regular supervision that we all need. But also, what about those one-off consultations? I would say probably in the last two or so years that I've been in private practice, actually it's probably a bit longer, there have been, oh, at least five times that I've needed to pick the brains of someone of an area that I'm not specialist in, but I can I grab you for a Zoom call… and the platform enables people to do that. So it enables clinicians to find someone that's expert, either in a topic that they're unsure about or in a modality that they work in, to be able to get that support. So that's really where it started.

I love that. I talk a lot about supervision shopping in private practice because in the NHS it often, you know, you have a default supervisor, they are your supervisor. Maybe if your service is introducing something new, you might get an external supervisor come in to do a bit of extra work on a particular modality with you. But generally people can get into this really fixed mindset of, I have one supervisor, they're my supervisor, and that's it. And I just don't think that's the best way to approach it at all. Like I do have my regular supervisor who I really value the long-term relationship, and she's incredible, I happen to have a brilliant one. But I love the fact that if I have a client that I feel, you know, I need a different lens on, I can go and find somebody to provide that. And I think that really enriches your work and is such an opportunity in independent practice that we don't get when we're employed.

Yeah, and the other thing I think I've found is that I've had a couple of supervisors and I've got my EMDR group supervision, and I've got my individual supervisor, but as you grow in your practice, it might be that you end up going down a road that you didn't anticipate or that you end up, you know, in a niche that you didn't five years previously. And so therefore, I think the needs of supervision can change. But we don't always think about that. We, you know, we've got a supervisor in the NHS and you don't tend to chop and change. Whereas I think my hope is that the platform can make supervision flexible for people if, if that is useful to them. You know, it's a bit of a balance, isn't it? Because I think having that long-term relationship, someone that knows you, that gets you, is really important. But also to, for people to hold in mind, the needs that you had at the beginning of your practice might be different to the needs that you have three years down the line. And definitely when I was starting out, I picked a supervisor that was really helpful in starting up. So I could ask all my practical software questions, process questions too. And then as I got up and running, I didn't need those sessions anymore and so I moved more to my clinical work and having a supervisor that works in the model that I use, but also that can work in a way that's gonna help me grow as a therapist. Because supervision isn't just about, oh, I've got this client and I'm stuck here, I really am passionate about supervision being a place where we grow and develop as therapists. And I think you therefore can look for a supervisor that does that for you. Whether that's, I dunno, through role plays or through chair work or through you bringing recordings. I mean, supervisor's work’s so varied, I'm keen for people to flex how they see supervision and really see it as not just a tick box, but as something that's an integral part of them growing as therapists.

Yeah, I think it's really interesting actually, and something that I'm sure you've addressed and had to address in your marketing that there is, because I think of some of the trauma that people often go to on their way to becoming a qualified psychologist. There can be a little bit of shame around supervision and a fear of being caught out. You know that imposter syndrome, which tends to live in people and think, oh, I never really deserved my qualification, and I certainly am not good enough to be in private practice. I think often when people are looking for a supervisor, what they really need is to be, oh, I suppose, held and given that sense of competence, which they might be unable to kind of fashion for themselves. Thinking of when I stepped into coaching work, on paper I knew I had everything that I needed to provide coaching, but because it's an unregulated industry and I wasn't a coaching psychologist, I felt really, really exposed and terrified to do it. And, you know, it took me a lot longer to do it than it probably should have. The difference came when I found my coaching psychologist supervisor. And it was so hard to reach out to her, I was so anxious about it. I thought she might say, I can't supervise you because you're not a coaching psychologist, you're not good enough to be supervised by me. But actually because she met me with compassion, she talks through, oh, these are different models that you could use to approach this client group. And she really extends my knowledge and skills as a psychologist in every supervision session. I found that so much more valuable than I would've found throwing thousands of pounds at a coaching certificate. So I think supervision is highly underrated and extremely important.

Yeah. And if I can talk to the, I guess the other side of building the platform, the other thing as I've got, you know, more experience now, I qualified, oh gosh, feels like ages ago, probably wasn't that long ago. But a lot of psychologists extend their practice by then moving to supporting, you know, other psychologists or you know, CBT therapists. But it's really hard when you're in independent practice, I think, to start that growth. You know, where do you go? How do you, if you decide, right, actually I feel competent, and the next stage for me is supervising others. How do you advertise your services? There's not really anywhere to do that. You can advertise it on your website, but inevitably the people that are going on your website are clients, they're not other psychologists. So it felt like, for me at the moment, I don't quite have capacity to add another plate, although I'm very addicted to spinning plates. I feel like in my life at the moment, I don't have the capacity to do supervision. But if and when that stage comes, this is a, this would be a platform I could say, okay, this is my niche, this is who I can help and this is the way that I work. And so Supervisor Platform is a place where supervisees can be more visible and can advertise their services. So if anyone is listening and you're thinking, oh, I kind of wanna dip my toes into supervision, but I dunno how to get my clients, you don't need to just rely on those social media platforms or on Facebook groups and hope someone sees it. My hope is, and you know, I'm right in the middle of this journey, Rosie, I, you know, haven't reached the end, it's not this successful platform, you know, in a year's time we might be looking back on this and thinking, oh, that was a failed business. But it, Supervisor Platform is a place where people can do that. And what I think I have really learned in this process is that you don't have to have your five year strategy with an idea. I've started Supervisor Platform because I noticed it was a need and a need I kept seeing. But I don't know how it's gonna grow or I've got some ideas and I think that's been important for me and not being intimidated by it. Because I think, imposterism, we all have those thoughts of who am I to do this? You're not a qualified coach, you're not a, you know, you haven't done a startup before. But I don't need my 10 year plan laid out. I just can, in this moment, meet this idea and I can strategise from there. And that, I dunno if that's the wrong advice to give people like, don't have a five year strategy? Because I guess there's a part, a road mapped out, but for me that would've been really intimidating to think, I don't know what that is and I dunno how this is gonna grow, but I know what I can do in the next year. So I guess that's been, I dunno if you would say that's controversial or not?

Well, it kind of is controversial, but I agree with you, and I think because of the nature of the work that we do, you know, we're both grounded in clinical practice and so that idea of co-construction, to make sure that we are always aligned with the needs of our client group, I think that's probably intrinsic to the way that we think about all of our work, and that's what you are bringing into your startup mentality. Now, there are definitely people out there who teach a very different method, which is more about, you know, seeing an opportunity in a market and then planning basically how you're going to capitalise on the opportunity that you've seen. And they would certainly be doing their financial projections more than five years out because that's how you're gonna attract venture capitalist investment, that kind of thing. But actually I think where they often go wrong, if they do go wrong, is they forget that the humans that they're supposed to be serving with whatever product or service you're putting out there, there is always a human who has a need. And we are trying to meet that need in the best way possible. I think if you plan your product too far in advance, you lose your ability to respond to what people are telling you. So you might start this platform, you know, you said a minute ago, we might in a year be calling this a failed business. I won't be, I will never call it a failed business. Because what happens, I've had so many things that have flopped and everybody successful, I know has had a lot of flops. But every single one teaches you something which builds the next success. So if it turned out that Supervisor Platform needed a different name or it needed a different emphasis, none of that would be a failure. It would just be a pivot in the direction of success.

Yeah. And starting I think's the hardest thing because ideas in a way are quite easy. You know, people have ideas all the time. Actually taking that bold step of saying. Okay, I've got this idea, I think this could work. That is the hardest part, I think. And so it’s really important to not do that on your own, whether that is with a small group of other people that you can, you know, bounce your ideas off, or whether that's a coach, I don't think I'd have been able to do it without the support of others. And actually, in terms of like, the lifecycle of an idea, you have to have that validated, you have to have your idea validated. Otherwise, you could spend however long planning this fantastic course that you're gonna deliver, if you don't know that people want it, you’re wasting your time. So the way that I have done that is through, I guess the, my relationships with other psychologists and simply just asking people. You know, before the platform launch, there was a good few months of… and it felt, I remember the, I posted it on one of the Facebook groups, and I felt sick. I was like, I, oh, how am I gonna tell people that I've got this idea? And I basically wanted people's feedback. Is this a good idea? What would you use it for? How much would you pay? And if I hadn't had got their, the feedback, I don't think I would've had enough conviction to move ahead with it, because it's all very well if I think I've got a good idea, but if the client group doesn't think it's good, it's not going to work. So, I think being in some kind of community, whether you are in a group or you, you are asking people's feedback through a questionnaire, whatever it is, it's so important in order to validate your idea and you feel much less alone in it.

I think that's so important, and particularly I would say that perfectionism is the enemy of the startup. I think you just can't be a perfectionist and get a startup off the ground because perfectionism makes us want to hide our ideas until we think that they're so good everybody will want it. When actually, we’re not mind readers. We don't know what everybody is going to want until we give something to them and get their honest feedback. And I always say to people, you don't really know if people want something until you put a PayPal link or a Stripe link on it and see if they pay for it, because it's almost impossible to, you know, even predict your own spending until it comes to the crunch. And that's so, so scary, and it is really vulnerable. But just as you said, having people around you who support you, who understand your values and who know that even if you haven't got the perfect idea, you are doing it for the best of reasons and they believe that you're gonna get to the perfect idea, those are the people that will keep you going forward. You know, for me, I couldn't start my tech startup until I found a co-founder. I needed somebody beside me who cared as much as I did. I just couldn't, every time I would do exactly what you described, you know, put something out there, get a bit of feedback, it wouldn't quite be right, and I'd retreat back into my cave. I just couldn't like stick with anything, but having a person beside me to be like, no, this is good. You’re good. You'll think of something different. You'll pivot. It'll be good. That's all I needed, really that community.

And you know, the other thing that I've been quite surprised by is how important it has been to be visible. Because when I had this idea, I've put in Chat GPT, is it possible for me to do this idea but not have my name behind it? I don't know, I just felt like I'm convinced it's a good idea, I think other people have said it's a good idea, but I don't wanna be the face of it. And for whatever reason, I think it just feels vulnerable and exposing. I guess I'm worried if it fails, maybe I could fail quietly. And so when I did the mockup of the website, I sent it probably to 15 people, people that I've worked with that I know. And three people came back and said, yeah, this is great, it looks great, but you need more about you because I was looking for, well, who's done this? You know, if you've got an idea or you've got a course or you've got something that you know, you've spent your time crafting, people want to be able to trust you. They, I think they need to be able to trust you to then put their, put their money behind it. And I think, I was hoping that that wouldn't need to happen. But that is a big learning for me, that actually visibility is important, and it's not an arrogance thing, it's actually about people believing in the person behind it that they know, oh, this has been developed by a clinical psychologist. Oh, she's in my field, she gets this problem. And if you can share your why, why you were developing something, it really does change how much I think people buy into an idea. And really interestingly, I don’t know if you track your Google Analytics, I'm, I just, you know, have a look at, you know, how much traffic the site gets, because at the moment we are really trying to grow it. And other than the Find a Supervisor page, the next page that gets the hits is the About Me. People want to know who you are and why you started it and what your story is, and what problem you're solving. So as hard as that is, you have to bite the bullet, I think, and find a way to quiet that imposterism inside and allow yourself to be seen. Because if you don't do that, I think you are actually robbing yourself of the success that you might otherwise have.

Oh, I completely agree. I don't think it's possible to be successful without being vulnerable. You know, I'm a real fan of Brene Brown's books. I've been rereading Dare to Lead recently because I've needed it, frankly, with a few things that have been going on, and I think that sense of, I'm willing to put myself on the line for this, especially when you're doing a startup where you need people to get behind you, you need colleagues to spread the word for you because you don't have a marketing budget, that sense of, I've got real skin in the game, like I'm willing to look daft for this. That's what makes people go, do you know what I'm gonna tell my mate about Natalie's platform. I'm gonna, you know, spread the word for her because she really believes in this and that makes me want to believe in it. But even for the people that don't know you, who will come to the products further down the track, your authority really means something. And often mental health professionals in particular really underestimate the authority that they're bringing to that course, that book, whatever it is they're putting out there. It's like, no, you've got a lot of really important experience that means you are going to do this differently to how someone else would approach it. We are used to being bombarded with ideas for platforms that come from people with very little kind of experience of the clinical environment, who are chasing what we were talking about earlier, that market that they've identified. They're chasing the profit, often advertising opportunities on sites that get high traffic. If anyone's wondering why so many of these sites are popping up, I think that is the business model. But they're chasing profit. They're not, they're not really trying to do a service for anybody. And so as people who receive emails inviting us to join things all the time, we need to understand why we should pay attention to this one. Why I shouldn't just mark it as spam. And you’re the reason that I wouldn't mark it as spam. So of course I need to see your face.

Yeah. And my ethos is really about how can I like, help and add value. I'm not really driven by… it helps that I'm not driven by like money, as in I'm not thinking, oh, how can I make as much money as I can? I love supporting and helping, like I said about community. It's always been kind of at the core of me, and I think the podcast, the platform is a, like an extension of that. I remember when I started the podcast, my, I had like a business coach that walked me through the beginning stages and she was like, so how are you gonna monetize this? Because it is, it's a lot of work, as you know. And I, I didn't know. I just really loved it. I loved giving other people a platform. I loved learning from other people. And what's interesting is now the podcast is a little bit of a funnel to the Supervisor Platform because my listeners are psychologists, they’re psychotherapists, they're counselors. My market for Supervisor Platform are psychologists, psychotherapists, and counselors. So I didn't know that step a year ago when I started season one, but it's, it has all kind of come back around. So I think if you stick to the idea of adding value and not just focusing on growth and money. You know, if people love an idea and they get on board, you can then think about how you can charge for it later. But you need the, you need to build a network of loyalty first. And I'd say for anyone who's listening to this thinking, okay, this visibility idea sounds great, but where do I go? Because not everyone wants to start an Instagram or a TikTok. My thing is, I think LinkedIn is really great for building a network, whether that's, you know, regardless of what your network is. And that is a place where people go to, you know, then get sent to your various different websites or you can collaborate with others. And for some reason I was terrified to post on LinkedIn and I even had a session with my coach on, I don’t know what to post. She was like, it doesn't matter, you just need to post something. And actually, I love LinkedIn because I'm so inspired by the people's content, and I use it as a space to reflect on this journey, just like I'm doing with you today on the various different things that I'm doing or podcast episodes, things that I learn from other people, so I tend to use that as a reflective apace for myself, and in turn I've met loads of people who then come on as guests. So it's been also a networking platform as well. But if you are wanting to, I guess, grow your brand, my advice, I think, you know, being able to be visible, LinkedIn is a great space to do that.

Yeah, I completely agree. And I think the way you are using LinkedIn is about relationship building. I think where people fail, or actually where they put themselves off is thinking that they need to approach social media as a broadcast platform. Now, some people will really enjoy that. If you love creating content and you want to be a professional content creator, then you can still grow organically on the social media platforms. But we are talking about that becoming a very big part of your work, so you have to love it. And if you are not somebody that's a natural broadcaster, that's just not your vibe, you can still do exactly what we've been talking about today and build up that network of supporters who will want to work with you by building relationships, by posting stuff which is genuinely interesting and sparks interesting conversations, and responding to other people's interesting content as well. But I just wanted to add to that, that if you're somebody that really doesn't want to do social media, you can do a lot of this by going to the old fashioned stuff, like the special interest groups that the BPS runs. You know, it doesn't have to be, even if you've got an online product, your promotion of that doesn't need to be an entirely online thing. It's about finding the goodness of fit between what you want to achieve and the marketing activities that feel authentic and like they're not going to destroy your nervous system. But one thing I'm curious about is I know that you didn't find that visibility piece comfortable. Was there anything that you did in particular to help you kind of push forward through that discomfort?

I actually found hearing other people's struggle with it, really validating, and I just thought, I was having a conversation with someone yesterday who had just posted a video and said, oh, I just can't stand seeing myself, but apparently I need to do this visibility thing. And conversations like that really helped me realise, like, I don't know that anyone goes back and listens to their podcasts or, you know, goes through their videos and sits there and enjoys it. Like I probably won't listen back to this, honestly. I don't think it's comfortable for many people, but knowing that, that, you know, that whole idea of feel the fear and do it anyway, just like we would teach our clients, there's something about accepting what's uncomfortable and then when you, you know, reminding yourself of your why, like, what am I doing this in service of again, that's helped me. And I'm part of a small group of psychologists that I guess are doing things in the, doing various different projects and, product, releasing products, and being, seeing how some of them who I'd think, gosh, she's written a book, it's in America, she'd never struggle with imposter experience, and hearing her be like, oh, I'm not really sure about this, what does everyone think? You think. Oh yeah. We're all human at the end of the day, and that has been really helpful. I think there's a real cost if you wait to feel confident, and I think that's the perfectionism. I heard someone say like, starting a business is the best form of therapy because you are faced with all of your self-doubt, you're faced with like, rife imposter experience, and that's really difficult. So if you wait until you've got the perfect idea, you feel amazing, you feel confident, you feel convinced it's gonna work, you might be waiting a really long time. But if we can, like we would do with our clients, sit with what's uncomfortable, remind ourselves of why we're doing it, and see any kind of project as collaboration with your audience, with other people in your network, you realise you're not on your own and that's way less daunting.

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think there's so much in there about community, acting in spite of what your emotions are telling you sometimes. But also just about the way that you view the project, I think if you view it as pass/fail as a lot of us have been trained to do, then of course it's gonna be too scary. But if you can view it as, you know, I'm starting out on a journey and I don't know exactly where it's gonna go, I don't have this perfect five, ten year strategy, I think that's gotta help too. I reckon that mindset has probably helped you move forward when a lot of people get stuck.

Yeah, and I definitely didn't reach a point where I felt like, right, I'm ready now. I think I would say starting before you're ready is the only way to start, because readiness is, you know, just like a value. You don't ever reach that destination of right, I'm ready now. You could always be doing more courses or having more sessions with, with more people, having more focus groups, whatever it is. At some point you've just gotta press publish or hit record. And that's what I mean by if you have this kind of strategy, like big strategy, sometimes that's intimidating. It's like if you've never run a marathon and you sign up for a marathon, that would feel terrifying. Whereas if you sign up for a 5K, you think, yeah, I could do a 5K. And you do it incrementally. So, I mean, that ethos has just helped, helped me because otherwise I don't think that I would've kind of done it. And the podcast as well. I, you know, the idea of hosting a podcast, gosh, who am I to host a podcast? What do I know anything about? You know, all these thoughts come flooding in, and you have to think I'm gonna go with where there's energy and where there's inspiration. And the first guest that I had on the podcast was Dr Chris Irons, compassion Guru. And he was the first person I approached, which looking back now, I think, oh, that was ridiculous. And in my email I said, just to let you know, I've got zero listeners, I've got this idea, I think other people would find this useful, I definitely would find a podcast like this useful. Would you come on? And in the true spirit of compassion, he was like, great idea, yeah, I'll come on. And if I had allowed my imposter thoughts to get in the way, I just would've thought, oh, I can't ask Chris, he's too busy for somebody like me. He won't, he won't think this is a good idea, but you just, people surprise you and ideas have definitely surprised me. So my encouragement to anyone listening is if you are sitting on something that you know, you think would add value, whether it be to your client group or to your profession, give yourself permission to make mistakes, to get it wrong and to put yourself out there. Because once you've submitted that publish on the first LinkedIn post or on Instagram, whatever it is, you realise actually no one really cares. Like it's not that bad. Sometimes I remind myself of that, like it's not very compassionate, but like no one really minds, you know, no one's sitting there going, oh, what's she talking about? That's terrible. On the whole, people are lovely and really want to come behind your idea.

That's so true, and I love that idea of picking up energy from people. You know, you mentioned that you know when you get positive feedback, when people come on the podcast and are enthusiastic about it, every time you just gather up a bit of that energy and it helps you to keep moving forward. Whereas when you're doing that perfectionist thing of trying to keep it all to yourself and not putting a face out there, you're not getting any energy back from anybody, so of course it grinds to a halt. I think that's such a lovely way of approaching the whole idea.

And one of the things that I have learned through this process that is powerful is that feedback from other people. But when people just, I've had people email me just to say thank you. Oh, I love this idea, this has been exactly what I needed, thanks so much for creating it. Or, this podcast was really instrumental in me doing something different. And the purpose of them getting in contact has been to say thank you. And I cannot tell you how energising and uplifting that is. And so now I make a point of, you know, whether it's messaging someone on Facebook or LinkedIn just to say, oh, this thing that you did, I actually just wanna say thank you for doing that. Like sharing that appreciation because we can think in our head, oh, you know, Rosie's got a great podcast, but unless I actually tell you that thankfulness or gratitude just stays in my head, and now being on the other side of the fence, I realise those are the things that you kind of, that keep you going. You know, when you're like doubting it, the email that comes in and says, oh, I've had three enquiries already, this is fab, keep going. My tendency is to look at the 20 people that haven't and go, oh no, the platform's not working. So, if there are people that you are supporting or podcasts you listen to, let people know because they're just people on the end of it. It's not this big organisation, it's just one individual. So let them know that you appreciate them and that you're thankful for what they're doing.

Yeah, I like that. And it's like with any compassion practice, when you are doing that, you're putting that out into the world, you become more receptive to it. And so you feel the flows going both ways. And I, yeah, I followed a similar path to you. I used to imagine that podcasters were these like, almost like celebrity entities who didn't really need validation from a little old oik like me. But now I will try and take that time to let people know that I've appreciated whatever they've put out there, because I know what a massive difference it makes to me. I often get really shy about it. Like when people tell me in person that they've enjoyed the podcast, I probably look like, like I can't even make eye contact properly. But that's because it means so much for me and it, and it always has done, I think like you, why would we do this if it wasn't to try and serve the community that we care about?

Totally, and also not being precious about this idea around competition and celebrating other Psychologists or therapists, you know, where, whatever your field is. If I, so if I see someone who asks about private practice, I always say, you gotta listen to Rosie's podcast, because that was something that genuinely, really helped me. I went through all of your season one and two, you know, what blog articles should you write, you know, all of it. And I feel like we can then be our ears and eyes for each other, that you know, if you see someone looking for a supervisor, you could be like, hey, Supervisor Platform's pretty good. And we need that like just to, to help each other.

Exactly. Yeah. I think that is so important and a really good point to conclude our discussion, I think. If we could all just collaborate more, then I think we could really make a bigger impact on how mental health services work in this country. If we band together, I believe we can make the biggest difference. So I'm sure there are gonna be lots of people listening to this who want to go and check out Supervisor Platform. Where's the best place for people to connect with you and to find out more about the platform?

LinkedIn is a great place, so I’m on LinkedIn, and I'm quite active on there. If you DM me, I make it one of my values to always reply to people just 'cause I think it takes a lot for people to send an email or a message. So, that's just like a personal thing for me. So please drop me a message or a voice note on LinkedIn. I love a voice note. supervisorplatform.com is the website address, you can search for a supervisor. And because I'm keen to grow it, people can list for free initially, see if they like it, see if it works for them. So you can do that on the website. And I'm quite active on the Facebook groups and things like that. So do come and say hi. I'd love to hear from you, genuinely.

Brilliant. So I will make sure all the links for that are in the show notes. And I just wanna say thank you so much for coming on. I think it's really going to help people to hear that it doesn't always feel comfortable, but you can do it anyway.