Latest / Never Too Late to Dream / E5: This is Me, Myself & I with Paul Smith

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E5: This is Me, Myself & I with Paul Smith · Never Too Late to Dream

0:03
Caroline Buist: Welcome to Never Too Late to Dream, the podcast
0:07
for anyone who's ever shelved a dream, talked themselves out of
0:10
one, or let fear, doubt, or life itself get in the way. Every
0:15
episode, I'll be talking to real people, late bloomers, slow
0:20
burners, plot twisters, who dared to pursue their dreams
0:24
later than supposed to. We're talking about the messy middle,
0:29
the wobbles, the moments of "what the hell am I doing?", and
0:33
the extraordinary things that happen when you keep going
0:36
anyway. Because here's the thing: there's no expiry date on
0:41
a dream. The world's full of people who found their groove in
0:45
their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond, and they've got stories worth
0:49
hearing. Each guest will share their dream, what stopped them,
0:54
how they got unstuck, and what they'd say to anyone still
0:57
waiting in the wings. And I'll also be asking everyone what
1:01
their dream's theme song is, because every good story
1:04
deserves a soundtrack, doesn't it? Hello, and welcome to
1:09
episode five of Never Too Late to Dream. Today, I'm really
1:13
pleased to be joined by Paul Smith from Paul Helps People.
1:17
Now, Paul wears two hats as an independent travel agent and
1:21
utility warehouse advisor. Welcome, Paul. It's great to
1:25
have you on the podcast.
1:26
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Thank you very much, Caroline, for
1:28
inviting me. I'm really looking forward to today. Thank you very
1:31
much.
1:32
Caroline Buist: So, before we get into your story and before I
1:35
start asking you about your dream, can you tell our
1:38
listeners a little bit more about you and what you do,
1:41
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Absolutely. As you've rightly said, I'm an
1:50
independent travel agent and have been doing that for 43
1:55
years this year, and thoroughly enjoy that. That business was
2:00
set up by my late parents in 1983 when I left school, and
2:06
then in later years I've become a utilities advisor not only for
2:11
residential people but for commercial energy and telecoms
2:18
as well. So, that's given me three completely different
2:24
strings to my bow, of which I really enjoy the opportunity to,
2:30
as my brand says, Paul Helps People.
2:34
Caroline Buist: Brilliant. So, did you always have a dream to
2:38
become a travel agent, or was there something else that you
2:41
wanted to do?
2:43
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: No, to be honest with you, when I was
2:46
younger, I really didn't know what I wanted to be. The
2:50
opportunity arose when my late parents had their own business,
2:57
and I, to be honest with you, I really don't know what I wanted
3:02
to do. I looked at different options, looked at printing and
3:08
publishing, and that was too boring. And then I looked at
3:12
travel and realised, you know what, this really is for me, and
3:17
what it's allowed me to do. Because it's allowed me to learn
3:23
so much, and you learn something new every day. But it's also
3:28
given me the opportunity to improve myself on many different
3:32
levels, and even learn words of other languages as well, which
3:37
really comes in handy at times, especially when you're going
3:40
overseas.
3:43
Caroline Buist: We've spoken before, and I know that you had
3:46
quite tricky challenges growing up. Can you tell us a little bit
3:51
more about that?
3:51
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Yes, certainly. I was born with
3:54
cerebral palsy, which affects me through a blockage in the left
4:00
hand side of my brain, which means I have a weaker right hand
4:04
side. My parents wouldn't accept the diagnosis that I would be
4:15
quote unquote "a vegetable" back in the mid 60s because they
4:21
weren't that kind of people, and they found a dedicated
4:28
physiotherapy school in 1969, 1970 in London called the Bobath
4:38
Clinic. They were a Hungarian couple, and they got children
4:48
moving, walking, doing things that a "normal" child would do.
4:55
I don't like the word normal because nobody is normal to the
5:00
parameters, we're all special. We all have our own superpowers,
5:05
and yeah, I think the fact that I also have a speech, or I used
5:11
to have a really bad speech impediment because of the
5:13
blockage moved and affected my vocal and voice patterns. But as
5:20
you can tell, it's pretty calm now. So really, I think it's
5:28
positivity. That's really has been a very big factor in my
5:32
life as well. So yeah, I just think it's a case of just you
5:36
know, you have to get on in life and do what you need to do.
5:42
Caroline Buist: Yeah, definitely. So, would you say
5:44
your dream was to, you didn't know what you wanted to do when
5:47
you were at school, maybe? But as you went through different
5:51
jobs...?
5:52
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Yeah. I mean, I looked at different
5:54
things, and you know what? The dream was to be able now to
5:57
travel. So, yes, being a travel agent really helped me get into
6:03
the basics, and you know I've been really fortunate enough to
6:08
travel to so many different places around the world. More
6:13
often than not, it's almost like complacency, and then you
6:17
realise just how lucky you've been to get to places that you
6:23
wouldn't have expected to go as a child, and when I say that
6:27
places like Beirut in the Lebanon, I was taken to taken to
6:35
places like Baghdad in Iraq. Now, those aren't exactly the
6:40
kind of places you would expect to go, but you know what?
6:44
Caroline Buist: No, they're not traditional destinations!
6:47
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: But you know, yes, there was Cyprus,
6:49
there was Spain, there was Italy, and other things like
6:51
that. But they were interspersed with some amazing experiences.
6:56
Going to Hong Kong as a child, that was really an eye opener,
7:00
and I've been back to Hong Kong on many occasions, but yeah, the
7:05
ability to travel for me was really good, and being able to
7:12
learn a few words of the language of the country I'm
7:15
going to, that has been born out of my passion now for travel,
7:24
and I love it. It really has helped so much.
7:28
Caroline Buist: Great. So, I'm a huge music lover. So I have to
7:33
ask you this question:
7:35
If your dream had a theme song, what would it be, and why?
7:39
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Oh my goodness! I think my go-to song,
7:46
my dream song, is "This Is Me" by Kiala Settle from The
7:50
Greatest Showman. The song, as so many people know, is
8:01
highlighting who we are, who I am, rather, what I've achieved,
8:08
what has really made me positive about who I am, and there will
8:15
always be people in life who won't necessarily want you to do
8:21
as well as they would have you believe, and I've found that
8:27
over the years. And yeah, this is me, warts and all, and I am
8:34
now proud of who I am, very proud of my achievements. I'm
8:43
especially proud and privileged to my late parents for actually
8:48
taking the decision not to listen to what the doctors
8:53
actually told them.
8:54
Because we wouldn't be having this conversation today, and I
9:00
think that this is me song just stands out for me as one of my
9:06
all time go to songs. I mean, you have some incredible pieces,
9:11
especially in your book and things like that. And I've been
9:14
reading that so much. I love it. But I've never thought of
9:18
bringing music into my life in terms of the way you do, and
9:25
it's a really interesting thing to do.
9:29
Caroline Buist: Brilliant, love that choice there, Paul. So
9:34
obviously we've already discussed some of the challenges
9:37
that you've had. So what do you think was has been the main
9:41
thing that's got you unstuck and really helped you to tackle the
9:45
challenges that you've had in life?
9:47
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Okay, firstly, having parents who
9:50
believed in me-that was the main thing. They pushed me into areas
9:59
when I say pushed, encouraged me into areas that took me out of
10:04
my comfort zone. With the challenges as I grew older,
10:10
having the speech impediment and dare I use the term a weight
10:19
issue, I was very insecure, and I've been able to find different
10:28
things in my life that have allowed me to work through the
10:36
pain points and things like what you're doing at the moment.
10:43
Anyone who has got a speech impediment, I'm sure you'll
10:47
appreciate, would never dream of going onto a podcast or anything
10:52
to do with hearing your voice. But I feel very comfortable with
10:57
you and others in being able to express myself, and I think it's
11:02
a very cathartic experience in life. Going through meeting
11:07
people, that's helped me a lot because some of the people I've
11:13
encountered have been extremely supportive, and it's really
11:19
helped me to realise that I am a good person but I've got to
11:27
believe in myself, and I think that if you can believe in
11:32
yourself, then that's half the battle.
11:36
Caroline Buist: So, what advice would you give your younger
11:38
self?
11:40
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Oh, now that is a really good question.
11:44
I'd look at him and I say, don't give up. Don't allow the people
11:50
in your life (if I could see those people now) to actually
11:56
tell you what you can't do, go out and show them what you can
12:02
do, and focus on the positives, not the negatives. I think
12:08
that's a good point for anybody, for the simple reason being is
12:15
that nobody has the right to tell you what you can't do, only
12:21
what you encourage you to do what you can do, if that makes sense.
12:28
Caroline Buist: Yeah, that makes total sense. Yeah, definitely,
12:30
definitely. So, is there anything you think you'd do
12:35
differently if you went back? It's obviously with the benefit
12:38
of hindsight.
12:39
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Oh yes, benefit of hindsight, some of
12:41
the shall we say some of the people in my life that I have
12:45
come across in my earlier years I wouldn't wish to associate
12:49
with now, but we've all had those people in our lives. I
12:57
also go out and say try it, and if you don't, if you haven't
13:02
tried it, that will then come back to bite you more often
13:08
because you think to yourself, "If only, if only I tried this
13:14
or tried that. I mean, a good example is I decided that I
13:22
would go to a karate class, and I was just coming up to 50, so
13:31
it's about 10 years ago, and I had people say, "Oh, you can't
13:35
do that. You're disabled, or you can't do that because you won't
13:38
be able to cope. And I think that was one of the things that
13:43
made me do it even more. It was hard, and I have no reason to
13:49
doubt it wasn't. It was hard. Do you know what? I did it, and I
13:54
achieved my first grading to Yellow belt because it was my
13:59
decision, My sensei, my tutor was amazing. Karen's the kind of
14:07
person that I wish everyone could meet because she was there
14:11
to support me. When I went and saw her, I explained the
14:14
situation, and she said, "I'm going to take you through this
14:19
to the best of your abilities, and you will get there. Being
14:23
told that is such a help, and I use that now in any walk of
14:29
life. You know, with my utilities business, for example,
14:35
I won't say to people what you can't do. It's what are your
14:39
strengths, not what are your weaknesses, and I focus on the
14:43
strengths to enable people to find out more about themselves.
14:48
So yes, if I was to go back and give the advice, is don't listen
14:52
to other people's negativity.
14:55
Caroline Buist: Yeah, definitely. It sounds Paul like
14:57
you're very similar to me. We've got a stubborn streak, if
14:58
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: You and I know it too well. I mean, if
15:01
someone says to us that we can't do something, that makes us more
15:05
determined.
15:08
someone says to me, it's like someone saying to you, "Oh, you
15:11
can't have that packet of biscuits because it'll make you
15:13
fat. All right, probably a bad analogy, but you go and eat them
15:16
for the simple reason being it's your choice and not theirs, or
15:19
whatever the circumstances, absolutely. Someone tells me I
15:24
can't do something. I mean, granted jumping out of a plane
15:28
without a parachute. Yes, I probably would agree with him on
15:31
that. But overall, I think it's a case of let me see what I can
15:36
do, rather than you tell me what I can't do.
15:38
Caroline Buist: Yeah, absolutely. So a question I love
15:42
to ask all my guests is: What does success mean for you?
15:48
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Success means to me on different levels,
15:52
right? Success is not necessarily monetary. It's about
15:59
showing myself what I'm actually capable of doing. Money helps.
16:07
We know that. That's not something I'm going to say isn't
16:10
the thing. But that's not necessarily the overriding
16:15
thing. When my parents died, I continued with the travel
16:23
business on my own, and I had people tell me that I couldn't
16:28
do it because I'd be on my own and I wouldn't be able to do it.
16:31
I did it and 43 years later, on the first November this year,
16:35
I'm going to be celebrating 43 years in travel. That is a
16:42
fantastic experience, given the fact that we've had lots of ups
16:45
and downs in life, lots over the past few years, and obviously
16:50
the elephant in the room for the travel industry, hospitality,
16:54
loads of industries was COVID and lockdown, and that nearly
16:58
crippled me financially. But it was a case of getting through it
17:04
and then building up my utilities business again.
17:08
Something people say, "Oh well, whatever the case may be, that's
17:12
not something you should do. Well, that's kept me financially
17:16
afloat during that period. So, in essence, success is showing
17:23
people what you can do, and but more importantly, yourself what
17:28
you can and are capable of.
17:32
Caroline Buist: Yeah, that period obviously of COVID and
17:35
lockdown, that must have been quite difficult for you?
17:37
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Yeah, frustrating would be an
17:39
understatement, as you can understand, as you'll
17:44
appreciate, people weren't travelling, and as much as you'd
17:50
love to talk about travel. Yes, you still have to keep it in
17:55
their mind's eye for when it did come back, but you couldn't
18:01
actually book holidays or business travel for anyone or
18:06
with extreme difficulties. And when it did come back, there
18:12
were so many hurdles you had to jump through. It was untrue.
18:17
Lockdown for me was quite isolating. I was as we all were,
18:23
I coped with it because I got involved with the online
18:28
networking scene, which was very much in its infancy, and I was
18:34
doing maybe one, two, three meetings a day just to actually
18:39
interact with human beings, now obviously online you could be
18:45
anywhere in the world, but coping with it, you did. You
18:50
just got on with it in the end. You'd have good days, you'd have
18:56
bad days, but then I got introduced. Although I'd started
19:02
the utilities business a couple of years before that, I really
19:07
got into it when we were in lockdown because I could talk to
19:13
people, so that was a big help. But yeah, coping with it was, I
19:19
wouldn't want to go back unless there was no other option. But
19:25
you know what? It made me a better person. I think yes, it
19:30
made me more self reliant rather than think of oh well they'll do
19:36
it, someone else will do it for me. You didn't have that option,
19:42
and it allowed me to think for myself. It made me think for
19:48
myself, and that was a big eye opener. But you and I are not
19:54
the only ones. It's happened to everybody, and you take it for
19:59
what it is. It's like any challenges we get in life now.
20:05
You just think, was it really as bad as that? And why don't I
20:10
look at it now in such a way that you would adapt to the
20:16
situation at that time?
20:18
Caroline Buist: Yeah, yeah, definitely. So where do you see
20:22
yourself in the future? Do you have any new dreams?
20:26
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: I have a very big dream, and it's one
20:30
I've only recently come to put down on paper, and now have a
20:38
vision board for it. Within the utility warehouse business, I
20:44
want to reach the top. No two ways about it. We can always say
20:48
that, and we can all just go around in circles and continue.
20:52
Oh yes, with what we would like. But I now have got that
20:56
visualised. There are many different hurdles or chapters I
21:03
need to go into, different goals that I need to achieve along the
21:08
way. I've already achieved one of them, which means that I need
21:14
to have a minimum of 100 personal customers. I've got
21:19
265. I then need to develop my team so I get a lot of people in
21:27
different levels, and then there's the extreme part of
21:31
this, which is 24,531 customers that I need, and that's a big
21:44
ask, but if I visualise it and I then break that down into chunks
21:51
that I can digest, that's where it's helping me at the moment. I
21:57
don't look at the bigger picture. Yes, of course, but I
22:01
have to break it down into manageable chunks. So that's my
22:06
idea. I want to retire and keep myself accustomed to what I
22:13
would like to do. You know, we'd all like that. But I think if I
22:18
can be focused on what I'm going to do, that will encourage me to
22:25
do it even more. And you know, even for example, coming on your
22:33
podcast now, that's helping me to achieve things I wouldn't
22:40
normally do. So yeah, I think that's a really good thing to
22:46
have.
22:47
Caroline Buist: Yeah, definitely. So, what would you
22:51
say to somebody who's put their dream on the back burner?
22:55
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: I would say, give yourself some time to
23:00
sit down and revisit it. Look at what you want to do, and break
23:08
it down into manageable chunks. I know I said that about my own,
23:13
but it's true. If the final goal you've got is so big that you
23:19
think to yourself, I'm never going to get there. Take it,
23:23
look at it, bring it down to basics, put it into chapters for
23:30
want of a better term. Once you've finished the first
23:37
chapter, look at the second. I think that is the way, and also
23:43
be prepared to give yourself credit for reaching the end of
23:50
each part that you need to get to your final goal. But don't
23:55
let it out of your sight. If you do have a vision board or
24:00
something to that effect, even if it's on your computer screen
24:04
as a post-it note, just so you can see it each day. Don't take
24:10
your sights off of it just because someone else thinks that
24:13
you can't.
24:14
Caroline Buist: Yeah, that's really good advice. Having the
24:16
visual motivation there is really powerful, isn't it?
24:21
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Absolutely, Caroline. It certainly does make
24:24
you accountable to yourself, and if you actually put it out there
24:32
to other people what you're doing as well, they can see what
24:36
you're doing and they can encourage you accordingly.
24:39
Caroline Buist: Yeah, absolutely. Well, we've come to
24:42
the end of our conversation now, Paul. But just my final
24:45
question: How can listeners find out more about you and what you
24:49
do?
24:50
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Thank you, Caroline. That's very kind of
24:52
you, and thank you for today. It really has been a fantastic
24:55
experience, and I do appreciate the time. So you can find me on
24:59
LinkedIn. You can find me on social media, and you can
25:05
interact with me through those medias. My nickname is Smiffy, S
25:11
M I double F Y. Even though I'm called, but that's my nickname,
25:15
and I love it when I get called that because I feel now that's
25:21
something that I really have built up, and I love that. So
25:25
yeah, on social media, if you look under Paul Helps People as
25:28
well, you can find me there on LinkedIn and TikTok and and
25:34
Facebook, even Instagram and even Threads for that matter. So
25:40
yes, would be delighted to interact with anybody on anany
25:45
topic.
25:47
Caroline Buist: Thank you, Paul. It's been a pleasure having you
25:49
on the podcast today, and we always have really interesting
25:52
conversations when we meet at networking. So I knew it was
25:55
going to be a nice conversation.
25:58
Paul "Smiffy" Smith: Well, I would just say thank you much
25:59
indeed for the opportunity, and thank you very much indeed and
26:03
congratulations to you on what you've done with your podcast.
26:07
Because there are so many different people that you've
26:12
interviewed and will be interviewing in the future, and
26:15
it's great to hear their stories of what makes them successful.
26:21
Caroline Buist: Definitely, thank you. Well, that's a wrap
26:24
for episode five. Next month, I'll be joined by Rafiat
26:28
Adekunle, and if you don't want to miss that episode, subscribe
26:32
wherever you get your podcasts. And if you like what you hear,
26:35
please share, like, rate, and review. You know the drill. And
26:39
finally, remember, it's never too late to dream. It really
26:43
isn't.