Life after On Purpose

From banking to founding a start up focused on mindfulness, On Purpose Fellow Jo Living tells us about her experience after On Purpose.

Who are you and why did you decide to do On Purpose?

I’m Jo — an On Purpose Fellow from the October ’13 cohort. After 10 years in banking I was starting to feel pretty disillusioned with the world of finance. I wanted to find purpose in my career and direct my skills and talents to something more than just making rich people richer. I had an idea for a social enterprise, but I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to be a social entrepreneur myself, or find a role in a social enterprise. On Purpose helped me figure that out (and do both)!

What value did you take from On Purpose?

The most tangible asset I took from On Purpose (aside from the job I got afterwards and meeting my fiancé…) was the network and support through my career transition. Not only do you have a cohort of people going on a similar journey to you, but there are hundreds of Fellows already working in Social Enterprise that you can turn to for support and advice — not to mention the On Purpose core team! Most On-Peeps have other projects on the side so there are lots of opportunities for collaboration and group problem solving!

How did you find work after On Purpose?

During my placement with National Citizen Service I worked on Business Development ideas and kick-started a project to build a virtual “Opportunity Hub” for NCS graduates. Following the 6 month placement there was interest from both sides to discuss a permanent position — so it made the hiring process that much easier. I stayed on full-time in a Partnerships role with NCS, where I’ve been for the last 18 months. I am also passionate about mental health and have become Trustee of a youth psychotherapy charity. Plus, I’ve co-founded a social enterprise called LifeUp — which delivers online mindfulness training to help people move ‘from survive to thrive’.

Why did you decide to found LifeUp?

I founded LifeUp because of the benefits I had taken from mindfulness during my time in banking. I wanted to share that insight with others. When I was exploring mindfulness I couldn’t find a simple and accessible virtual tool, and had to piece it all together from books, workshops, retreats and self-help. LifeUp is an online one-stop shop that solves that need.

What are the biggest challenges to launching a start-up?

I think the biggest hurdle is taking that initial decision to just get on and do it. Talking and thinking only gets you so far. Also I’ve learned that perfection is the enemy of completion — sometimes you have to go ahead and launch something that might not match your vision for the ultimate finished product (instead launch your “minimum lovable product”), so you can learn and evolve. As a bit of a perfectionist that was hard for me.

What’s your one tip for a budding entrepreneur?

Find a trusted business partner that complements (not matches) your skill set. There have been stages during the launch that either Scott (LifeUp co-founder) or I were ready to give up, and each time the other was able to pull them back from the edge. We’ve also recently welcomed a tech developer onboard which should fast-track a few things for us and certainly fills a skills gap.

What has been your biggest success so far?

Last year we were given a start-up grant by the social enterprise funder UnLtd — they supported our vision and recognised that our organisation puts passion, people and purpose before profit. That was really encouraging. We’re also partnering with a major corporate to deliver LifeUp to their employees in January, which was a big win for us. But mostly it’s really rewarding to hear the feedback on our course and how it’s helped people.

Jo Living is a fellow of On Purpose, is Partnerships Manager at NCS Trust, and founded the corporate mindfulness programme, LifeUp. She is running a free mindfulness workshop on Sunday 29 November.

You can register your interest here and someone will in touch to confirm your place. You can also take their free 21 day challenge, or find out about more about LifeUp in the workplace at www.lifeup.be