This is why I am so passionate about remote and flexible working 👇👇👇👇

I am currently sat beside my Dad’s bed in an Hospice and I have been here for the past ten days knowing he has only days left of his battle with Cancer. My team at Hands Down Agency and Sarah Halfpenny at the Inside Out Awards™ have all been incredible at handling everything and work has been furthest from my mind.

What does this have to do with flexible working?

As I sit here I am completely at peace about Dad going because over the past 12 months (since they stopped his treatment) I have been able to spend a considerable amount of quality time with him. We have had all the difficult conversations you never want to have and I have told him everything I have ever wanted to say to him.

I have been able to have these because my business is designed to work from anywhere with flexible working at it’s heart.

The old world of work wants to give you days off or compassionate leave but until these past 10 days I haven’t needed total time off from work. I just needed to be able to make the most of the time Dad had left with frequent interactions so there were more opportunities for creating special memorable moments.

I feel so grateful to have had an abundance of these beautiful (but brutal) moments by coming to see him regularly by working remotely and flexibly.

Creating a business that can operate wherever your team might be located means that when life throws them shit storms (like this one😬) they can be present and personally I think that that is important.

And it works for the good times too - perhaps your family lives abroad where a one or two week holiday is never enough.

I believe life and work need to be interwoven because often it’s not about ‘days off’ and ‘compassionate leave’ it’s about making the most of the everyday wherever you need (or want) to be.

This is the future of work that I am pushing for ❤️