Realising the exponential value of selfcare

Welcome to this edition of Trade Talks, where we bring you insights straight from the fryers of the fish and chip industry. In this column, Sarah Heward, founder and co-owner of The Real Food Café, shares her perspective on the trade.

To some people the title of this article may sound a little ‘whoo, whoo’, but I say, ignore it at your peril! I recently returned from a holiday cycling the Hebridean Way in the outer Hebrides. This is a 185-mile route along a remote archipelago made up of 10 islands, 6 causeways and 2 ferries crossings.

Its was quite literally an out of this world experience of extraordinary extremes in the most remote, wild and stunningly beautiful part of the British Isles.

Before leaving I was worn out physically, mentally, and emotionally from family challenges, as well as running a busy rural business, plus the community and charity work I’m passionately committed to, and juggling the finances and all the other everyday stuff!

I had lost perspective and felt trapped in a constant loop of working or looking after others. Does this sound familiar to you?

Selfcare for me, myself, and I, had slipped way down the list of priorities and off the agenda.

In previous articles I’ve written for Stelios, I’ve talked about the value and importance of attracting and retaining talent and building a strong team. Staff welfare and work life balance are right at the heart of our offer and culture at The Real Food Café.

Of course, the more we move in this direction, the more pressure can fall to us, the owners and leaders. So, who looks after us?!

The answer should be, but sadly isn’t always, ‘us’! - We look after us!

If we don’t look after ourselves as the leaders, we will not be the best versions of ourselves, and we are never going to maximise our team and business performance.

Its easy to say, but also all too easy to lose sight of when you’re up against seemingly never-ending challenges.

So, how can we deal with this and put boundaries and mechanisms in place to deal with overload and imbalance? 

All I can share is what we are doing, but if you have other ideas, I’d love to hear them.

So, here are ours:

First off, we have reminded the management team that we, the owners, in the same way as the team, deserve a work lifebalance too! 

• When we are off duty, calls, messages, texts etc, should only be made, when necessary, in emergencies or in agreedextreme situations.
• It should be assumed that emails will only be answered Monday – Friday in ‘normal’ working hours.
• We have explicitly included the owners in our handbook and literature when we talk about wellbeing and work lifebalance, to highlight to management that our time matters too!
• Clock your hours like everyone else! We use ‘Find my Shift’.
• Work a 45-hour maximum…Easier said than done for me!  Its all possible with a great team working effectively.
• Do some exercise, or a hobby.
• Cut down doom scrolling and time on social media by at least 50%.
• Manage people’s expectations by forcing yourself to manage the important tasks that make the most money, or have the biggest impact, and push others down the list, even if they may be preferable.

The Hebridean Way was such an exhilarating and challenging adventure, it took me out of myself and helped give me fresh perspective.

I loved it and already want to do it again already!

Most importantly it gave me space to think creatively about what to do to help protect myself when the going gets tough, as it can do for us all. This is especially true when you are in a business for the long haul!

I believe its vital we recognise this and reenergise and reinvent ourselves from time to time.

So, here I am back at the café with renewed vigour, working on my 3-5 year strategic plan and at last completing another article for Stelios, whom I thank for his patience!! (kiss, kiss!)

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