Latest / AbersochPodcast / Lifeboats, Law and Living Fully | Elissa Williams on Sea, Service and Adventure

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Lifeboats, Law and Living Fully | Elissa Williams on Sea, Service and Adventure · AbersochPodcast

0:10
So good morning and welcome to another of the Dunkers podcasts.
0:14
Now before we start, I want to say a big thank you to both
0:19
Jason Hurd and Emma Woods because Jason helps us on the
0:23
tech side of the Dunkers podcast and Emma, Emma is our social
0:28
media and show support. And without them, I think we'd
0:32
probably just bumble along a bit whereas they try and smooth out
0:36
the the bumps. So today on Dunker's podcast, we
0:40
meet somebody I hadn't met until a few days ago.
0:44
But she was on the opposite opposing time of an Abasot tug
0:48
of war. But I swear that the village
0:51
breeze whispered a name even before then.
0:54
She's a force, a lawyer by trade, lifeboat skipper by
0:57
thrill and part time Article 4 Warrior queen Alyssa Williams is
1:02
one of those Abasox souls who does a week's worth of a living
1:06
before most of us finish our tea.
1:08
When she's not steering rescue boats or running marathons for
1:12
fun, she's convincing Welsh policymakers to think again over
1:16
Article 4, or welcoming holidaymakers to one of the most
1:19
magical corners of Britain, our beloved Lynn Peninsula.
1:24
Alyssa's energy feels part human, part storm system.
1:28
She's got a racing bib in one hand, community spirit pumping
1:32
through every vein. So settle in, because if you
1:35
think cold water's wild, wait till you hear what Superwoman
1:39
gets up to before breakfast. Alyssa, welcome to Dunker's
1:42
podcast. Good morning.
1:44
I don't think there's anything left for me to say after that.
1:46
What an introduction. We'll, we'll scrape it back and
1:50
we'll, we'll, we'll revisit some of those points, but where do we
1:53
start? Let's start with our tug of war.
1:56
That was a close thing, wasn't? It it was and what a day it was.
1:59
And you know, I was saying to almost anyone who would listen
2:03
to me after that is anyone who says there's no community.
2:05
And I was so should have been on the beach that evening.
2:08
It was such a wonderful community afternoon.
2:11
We had the lifeboat there, we had the the Coast Guard there,
2:15
we had the dunker teams it was and the farmers.
2:18
It was just wonderful. I mean, my arms didn't recover
2:22
for about fortnights. It was significantly harder than
2:25
than I thought it was going to be.
2:27
It's just it's not getting hold of a rope and standing there, is
2:30
it? It's no, it's really, really
2:31
not. And we were the only all women's
2:34
team as well. So we were obviously pulling
2:35
against mixed teams, which the regatta committee looked very
2:38
confronted by when we turned up and we said we'll pull against
2:41
anyone. It's it's mine.
2:44
But it was, yeah, it was significant, frequently more
2:47
difficult than we thought it was, certainly.
2:49
Was was your husband on the farmers team?
2:51
No, he was on the lifeboat team. Oh.
2:53
Was he on the? Oh, right.
2:54
OK, somebody told me. No, so he, he's, he was, he's
2:58
very competitive. As for it's for anybody who
3:00
knows him, you know, competitiveness is, is right.
3:03
That's probably why we get on so well and argue so much.
3:06
But yeah, he, they, they were. So what should we say?
3:11
I don't want to say disappointed.
3:13
So riled up with the result between the Live Folk crew and
3:15
the farmers that even after the trophies were given, they
3:17
challenged them to another tug and probably lost that one as
3:20
well. Oh, did they?
3:22
Oh, did they? We had to.
3:23
We got the kids with us. So we we left the beach before
3:25
that. Yeah, there was a there.
3:26
Was a final. There was a final tug of war
3:28
after the after the prizes had been given, which yes, they
3:31
still lost. Oh, well, yeah.
3:32
But mind you, you look at the farmers, be honest.
3:35
We're not gonna. No.
3:36
Nobody's. Gonna and they know what they're
3:37
doing. They do this stuff at the
3:38
agricultural shows. There's a technique to tug of
3:40
war and so they had the advantage over the rest.
3:42
Of us, yeah, there was one we we got about, I think there was two
3:45
teams of dunkers, 12 in all, and there was probably 10 captains
3:49
all giving us different instructions at different times.
3:53
So yeah, if they do it at agricultural shows, then
3:57
obviously they used to. They know what they're doing.
3:59
And my father-in-law told me very sagely said there's a
4:01
technique to it. It's not all about, it's not all
4:04
about how strong you are. And I think you can see that
4:05
with them. They were all in tune.
4:07
They knew what they were doing. It was good communication, good
4:09
leadership, whereas the rest of us all just sort of collapsed
4:12
into a heap on the sand. Yeah, like we absolutely did and
4:16
all thought that when we can't do that again.
4:18
But you, you just get yourself back up again and don't, don't
4:21
you? So just link it all to together
4:24
for me. Set the scene.
4:25
What's this? Because you were wanting to be
4:27
an international lawyer. I did.
4:29
So I, I had a very sort of traditional legal education and
4:34
journey. So I did my law degree in
4:35
Cardiff University and when I graduated and headed off to go
4:40
and do my LPC's, my legal practice course with the College
4:42
of Law, I was absolutely determined I was going to do a
4:45
tax law on an international basis.
4:47
That's what I decided I was I was going to do.
4:50
I was lucky enough to to do my training contract or for those
4:53
who have a few generations before my articles with a
4:56
company called what was Hammonds got taken over by a big US
5:00
corporate firm called Squire Patton Boggs.
5:02
So I spent two years with one of the largest law firms in the
5:05
world, sort of working on that international basis.
5:08
On my first day in the firm as a trainee, I got dropped into the
5:12
employment department and everything changed.
5:15
I just absolutely fell in love with the subject area.
5:17
I'd never studied it, I'd never studied employment law, I never
5:19
did it at university, I never did it on the legal practice
5:21
course, but I absolutely fell in love with it.
5:24
And and that was it. The international tax went out
5:26
the window and employment law, there we were.
5:28
And it's been that ever since. Why is it?
5:30
Is it? Have you got AI?
5:31
Know you've got a sense of community, but you've clearly
5:34
got a sense of fairness. I would say so.
5:37
I mean, in in the big international companies, you
5:39
don't do much of the traditional stuff like family law, criminal
5:42
law. I never really had a pull
5:44
towards those. I always thought, you know, if
5:45
things go wrong in criminal law, someone could lose their liberty
5:48
without deserving to. With family law, people can lose
5:51
their children, their homes. You know, the consequences are
5:53
huge within those sorts of areas.
5:56
Whereas employment generally, people get over losing their
5:58
jobs. You know you're not.
6:00
You're not going. To.
6:01
Yeah, you're not going to get your house burnt down.
6:03
You know, if things, if things go wrong.
6:05
It's a fascinating area of the law.
6:07
Things move very, very quickly. As we're seeing with the Labour
6:09
government now, there's a huge amount of change coming in our
6:12
entire legal landscapes changing and you have to get to grips
6:15
with that very, very quickly. And what was key for me, you
6:18
work very, very closely with people.
6:20
So I love working with people. I love getting to know people
6:23
from different backgrounds and tax just doesn't really have
6:26
that. So yeah, it's, it was that, you
6:29
know, being in a position where you get to problem solve, work
6:32
with people, but actually if it all goes wrong, people get over
6:34
it. Yeah, yeah, so.
6:36
And why is it so dynamic? Is it because when a policy's
6:39
brought in, it just effects everybody?
6:42
It's hugely. Policy driven.
6:43
So what we're seeing with the Labour government is, well,
6:46
basically our employment legislation is based on the
6:49
Employment Rights Act, which was written in, you know, the 90s.
6:54
Oh, it is. It is as new as that is it?
6:56
I thought you were going to say 1837 or something.
6:59
But now what we're seeing is I'd say in some areas they're trying
7:04
to modernise, but say, for example, if you've got someone
7:06
who is employed, you don't have the right to sue your employer
7:09
for unfair dismissal unless you've been employed for two
7:11
years. What the Labour government is
7:13
bringing in as a day one, right? So if someone walks into their
7:16
job on the first day, it doesn't work out, employer let's them
7:19
go, they will be in a position to sue that employer.
7:21
So when you think about areas like Abasau where we have
7:24
hospitality is one of the main industries, the risks for
7:28
employers is going to become significant.
7:31
So it is a generational change that we're that we're going to
7:34
be seeing along with things like significant reductions and
7:37
restrictions on the use of 0 hours contracts that if people
7:40
have worked for a certain period, you then have to
7:42
guarantee them those hours in the future.
7:43
So you could get to September when typically everyone would be
7:46
released and you have to guarantee them hours through the
7:48
winter on the same basis that they've had through the summer,
7:50
which would bury businesses in this area between that and the
7:53
day one, right. So they're very trade union LED
7:58
in terms of the policies that are being brought out and they
8:00
made a lot of manifesto promises which they are seeing through.
8:04
But my feeling is it's done without ever having worked in a
8:08
small business or in seasonal businesses that are reliant on
8:11
casual labour or student labour. So for areas like here, it's
8:16
going to be particularly challenging.
8:17
I did a workshop, a free workshop for some businesses at
8:20
the start of the season to talk about what's coming and what
8:22
businesses need to make sure that they've got in place and
8:25
how they can use this summer, almost like a trial run because
8:28
the laws aren't here yet. So let's try it in like kind of
8:31
a low risk environment and I'm going to be doing more of those.
8:33
When does the laws so? They're going to be phased in
8:36
through 2026 and 27. We will see some later on this
8:39
year, which won't really affect businesses here quite so much.
8:42
But yeah, it's something. Again, you know, it's not me
8:44
going out fishing for work. I'm passionate about the area
8:47
that I live in. And if we lose the businesses
8:48
that are here with no community left, so.
8:51
Exactly that, yeah. And you, you sort of think of
8:53
when you think of 0 hours and you think of how people have
8:56
been or potentially been exploited, you think
9:00
automatically, you think of companies like Amazon.
9:02
Well, they're, they're sort of, they're big enough to be able to
9:05
sort of stand that, I guess. And that's what they're
9:07
legislating for you. Know is it for Tesco?
9:10
Barons and things like that, they don't think about, you
9:12
know, your pub in the village. No, the the trade drops off in
9:16
September and I've been one of those zero hours workers.
9:19
You know, I've worked in bars in the village when I was a
9:21
teenager. You don't expect hours in
9:22
September and you expect to be exploited during the summer
9:25
because you want the money as well.
9:27
You know you'll all the 100 hour weeks because you want to go
9:29
back to university with loads of drinking money.
9:30
That's just that's the way it goes.
9:33
Absolutely so, but it will they are going to have a practice at
9:37
least. Yeah, it's it's.
9:38
Very. Much.
9:39
Yeah. It's very much going to change
9:40
the face of the way that people are employed.
9:43
And like I say, you know, it's something that I'm hoping to be
9:45
able to support people with in the area on a totally pro bono
9:47
basis, just to make sure, you know, that I can help and be
9:50
there to help. Us well, the fact that you had
9:52
that that that workshop was was amazing because the and people
9:56
just presumably as these things develop and get nearer to the
10:01
deadline date, you'll be presumably doing that again for.
10:04
People, yes, yes. So we'll do.
10:05
I'll do them regularly over the coming months and just make sure
10:08
that we're topping up that knowledge and people have got
10:10
what they need. Is that the sort of the, the
10:13
drive that got you behind this Article 4 warrior queen?
10:18
I was telling when I first before I met you, somebody said,
10:23
oh, Elisa, yes, she's she's a real warrior queen on this
10:26
article. Oh, I think someone's
10:27
overstating that slightly. I mean, I'm, I'm part of a much
10:31
wider team that there's a few of you, you know, been been working
10:35
to, to try and change things in this area.
10:38
You know, we had the judicial review hearing a few weeks ago.
10:41
We're waiting on the judgement at the moment.
10:43
So it's a, it's a sit and wait at the moment to see what
10:45
happens with it. The the Article 4 stuff for me
10:48
was I didn't feel it was well thought through enough in the
10:52
sense that we have two communities or we used to have
10:55
two communities in Abersoch. We had the people who lived here
10:58
all year round. And then you would have the
10:59
people who would come for the duration of the school holidays.
11:02
They would stay in their houses for the entirety of the summer.
11:05
Their children would go and work in the local businesses and they
11:07
become part of the fabric of the community during those holiday
11:10
weeks. What we're seeing now, one
11:12
because of the increasing council tax, and 2:00 because of
11:14
the threats of Article 4, is people who can no longer afford
11:19
to come for the summer. They need to be renting their
11:21
homes out to pay for the council tax.
11:24
So they're coming for a week and then they rent their homes out
11:27
via Airbnb or whatever for the rest of the season so that we
11:30
don't see the regular faces anymore.
11:33
We used to go into the pub in the summer and we would know
11:35
every face that was in there. There were some of faces.
11:38
There were some of faces, but they were part of that
11:40
community. Now we can go in and it is a
11:42
room full of strangers now. It's not necessarily a bad
11:45
thing. It's fresh trade coming into the
11:46
village, but I think we're seeing increasing antisocial
11:49
behaviour, we're seeing increasing damage in the holiday
11:51
let's. It's driving the price of those
11:53
holiday let's down. So people who aren't making as
11:55
much as much money. And it is changing the face and
11:59
the feel of the village because we don't have those regulars
12:01
here so much. And there isn't this this
12:04
incoming flux of students and young people who were able to,
12:08
to help staff the local businesses that then really
12:11
struggle to find the staff because they're not here for,
12:14
for the duration anymore. So in that sense, I think it's
12:18
it's hugely challenging for locals who have holiday let's to
12:21
be told that your house isn't a legitimate business because you
12:24
haven't rented for 180 whatever days it is.
12:27
Well, I don't live in that house because I have a house that I
12:29
live in, you know, use it to tell me that because I haven't
12:31
hit some arbitrary threshold that it's not a legitimate
12:35
business. It's it's astounding, you know,
12:38
and when they've got farms who were told to diversify, you
12:41
know, turn old farm buildings into holiday let's and they're
12:44
now being penalized. I can see what they're trying to
12:47
do. There is an issue for young
12:49
people not being able to get on the housing ladder.
12:52
But it's the same where I grew up.
12:53
My sister wanted to buy a house near where we grew up and she
12:56
can't afford to do so. So they buy a house further out,
12:59
do it up, move on. It's called the housing ladder.
13:03
We've all been there, haven't we?
13:04
We. Have and I feel like it's
13:06
skipping those steps, but when we are being realistic, no
13:10
matter how many policies you throw at this area, you are not
13:14
going to get someone who's 23 years old on minimum wage with a
13:17
partner on minimum wage who is able to buy a house in the
13:19
center of Abu Saw. No, it's not going to happen.
13:21
So we're going to end up with empty homes and it's going to
13:24
create a community that becomes a vacuum.
13:27
And it was for that reason that I joined the Article 4 team is
13:30
because, yes, Article 4 for some areas may well work, but I don't
13:34
think it should have been retrospective.
13:36
It should have applied to new builds and I think that certain
13:39
areas that are so hugely reliant on tourism for their economies
13:43
should have been carved out and I think the blanket approach and
13:46
the retrospective approach was fundamentally wrong.
13:48
Do you think this was driven by Gwyneth Council or was this was
13:53
Gwyneth just sort of finger pointed by sort of South Wales?
13:57
Now I believe it's been driven by Gwyneth Council.
13:59
Do you? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:00
So it was and, and even the sort of the vote, I mean, I'm not
14:03
going to get into it because that'll be too political.
14:06
But the vote was very, very skewed, wasn't it?
14:08
The, the amount of the amount of people that were allowed to vote
14:11
and the amount of people that had to abstain because of vested
14:15
interest, etcetera. As you said, Pete, farmers, they
14:17
put millions and millions into the into doing these properties
14:21
up now. And we hear, as you know, we've
14:23
got an Airbnb. We hear that people are saying,
14:27
well, it's really tough out there.
14:28
Yeah, it is tough out there. And you know, I, I did engage in
14:33
consultation, I wrote to local leadership and local councils
14:37
and the, the, the responses that we got back were very
14:40
frustrating, which was in response to a well reasoned
14:42
argument. You would get essentially the
14:44
sum total of if you don't support Article 4, you support
14:47
homelessness. We don't have a homelessness
14:49
issue in the Slim Peninsula. We don't if there's one in
14:53
Bangor, put Article 4 on in Bangor or Caernarvon.
14:56
You know it's That is not how you fix a homeless problem by
15:00
applying Article 4 into areas like this where we are so driven
15:03
by tourism. I can understand that they want
15:06
locals to try and establish more sustainable businesses that are
15:10
more economically sustainable year round, but I don't think
15:14
the blunt force approach to force people out of tourism is
15:18
the way to do that. I think you do it through small
15:20
business grants, that you do it through looking at things like
15:23
hot desking workspaces. How many people put on the
15:26
abstract appreciation page in the summer?
15:28
Is there anywhere I can sit with a laptop and a stable connection
15:30
and work for the afternoon? There are just no facilities
15:33
like that. And for young people, you know,
15:35
I've got stepchildren who really have worked incredibly hard so
15:38
that they can build a life one has been and come back, one
15:41
drive 77 miles each way to get to work.
15:45
Ridiculous. Just so that they can stay in
15:47
this area. Whereas if you had local
15:50
enterprise support where people can go and work for a day, and
15:53
it's something I feel quite strongly about, is that the
15:55
village school's a bit of a lost opportunity in that respect.
15:57
I. Thought that wasn't that.
15:59
I know this is a sidetrack. Wasn't that going to be one of
16:01
one of the target applications for that?
16:03
It was one of the things I submitted was I felt that there
16:06
should be space for people to be able to go and hot desk and then
16:10
have a childcare provision in the next room.
16:12
So where you've got young local mums who want to get back to
16:14
work, it's very, you know, the assumption that everyone can
16:17
just work from home is for the privileged.
16:19
Not everybody has the space to be able to do that or the
16:22
ability to get childcare. So I think what they're doing
16:24
with the school, it's great. But I do think there is a need,
16:26
you know, if the focus is on employability and giving people
16:29
opportunities outside tourism, we've got to give them the
16:31
facilities to do it, particularly if we are taking,
16:35
you know, so many opportunities away at the same.
16:37
Try that in Buttunog, Didn't they?
16:39
There's a school in Buttunog that.
16:40
Yeah. So there's a centre up there
16:42
that I think is done all right. It's it's it's out the way.
16:46
I was going to say the problem is it's Buttunog.
16:48
It's, it's just that bit. It isn't that far, but it's far
16:52
enough to especially when you've got kids that you've got to be
16:54
be careful of, you know, 3:00 pick them up and which means you
16:58
leave from Buttunog, you're leaving at 22.
17:00
Yes. It isn't practical, is it?
17:02
Yeah. So who knows?
17:03
I mean, look, the, the area's got lots of issues, but I, I
17:06
still wouldn't live anywhere else, you know, and I love the
17:08
fact that people are trying. So, you know, the fact the
17:11
village school's gone in a different direction.
17:13
Well, look, let's hope it's a huge success and you know, it's
17:15
going to be another asset for the village.
17:18
And you know, the feeling here, despite the Article 4, I think
17:22
that has, you know, drawn people together to think, oh look,
17:24
we'll still try and make a success of the area because it's
17:26
all our livelihoods, isn't? It Yeah, because there are.
17:28
In fairness, there are one or two other buildings around the
17:31
village that could be redeposed, redeployed into a workspace, for
17:39
example. Either that or say everybody's
17:40
going to have to go to the one on the Warren, aren't they?
17:42
Well, I did manage to go there for a while.
17:45
So I had a had a friend who who was able to use a guest pass to
17:48
to get me in for a few weeks. You know, it was empty.
17:51
That workspace. One, it's fantastic.
17:53
Two, it's empty. So I have been banging on that
17:55
door for ages to to try and hassle the Warren management
17:58
into letting like local people either have a membership or pass
18:01
it. They're just they won't have it.
18:03
No, no, not even a concession. It's.
18:05
For the Lifeboat, we've been trying to use their gym for
18:07
years and they won't, they won't let us use it.
18:09
So but you know, it is, it is what it is.
18:12
I can understand it's, it's exclusive, you know,
18:14
particularly given what people pay to, to be on there.
18:16
So you can, you can understand that, but yeah, there's no harm
18:20
in asking, is there? No, no, no.
18:22
But the lifeboat, I mean, there's another part, big part
18:24
of your life, isn't it? 8 going going in at 18 and
18:27
you've. Been I went in at 18 long time
18:29
now. Yep.
18:30
So next well in January it'll be my 20th year.
18:33
Wow, so I know. Did you give?
18:36
6. In ammo badges you're neither.
18:40
20 year. So they they do.
18:42
They give us long service awards.
18:43
They'll do that. Yeah.
18:44
So once you get to, to 20 years, I think you get your, your first
18:47
one, then you get them at, I think KITS 25303540 maybe.
18:54
So Fritz, my husband, he's had his.
18:57
I'll get, I'll get shouted at. I'll be getting this wrong.
18:59
He's either over, he's 30 or his 35th.
19:02
So he's done a very long time. And yeah, I'll be in line for 20
19:05
minutes. No, we met, No, we met, we met
19:09
at the station. So it's a, it's a bit of an
19:13
embarrassing story is how I got into it.
19:14
So I was a competitive sailor as a teenager.
19:18
Down here. Here round the coast, so at
19:22
quite a high level, I mean at university I was in talks with
19:25
Team GB and I've sailed in national events.
19:28
So catamarans were my thing, you know, so, and I did very well at
19:32
it as a teenager. I been out in some questionable
19:37
conditions, which in hindsight I probably shouldn't have done,
19:40
which resulted in me requiring a bit of assistance.
19:43
And I remember, I remember at the time I wanted to raise money
19:48
while I was at school. And I remember my grandmother
19:50
telling me to focus on my study. She said, look, raising money
19:52
for charity, you'll always earn more money.
19:55
She said the one thing in your life that you can never get back
19:58
is your time. It's the most valuable thing
20:01
that you can give because once it's been given, that is it.
20:03
Yeah, wise words. So when I was 18 I joined up and
20:06
that was it. OK, so.
20:07
And it has had 20 years of my life so far.
20:09
Gosh, brilliant, brilliant and and you still enjoy it.
20:13
Are you a boat captain or? A So I'm a helm.
20:16
Helm. Yeah, helm.
20:17
So on the larger boats, the all weather boats, so Portinshine,
20:20
Pacelli size, they they call them coxon's.
20:22
We're we're Helms and I've been a helm for six, coming on for
20:28
seven years right now, so. And there are three females in
20:32
the team. I understand.
20:34
We've got 4 now. 4 we've got. 4 now, so yeah, and we that. 4th
20:39
one will forgive me. Yeah.
20:40
So we've got myself, there's my stepdaughter and she OK and
20:44
she's been on the crew for 5-6 years, recently come back from
20:47
maternity leave. So she's our first maternity
20:49
returner. We've got Joe and Kate who both
20:53
joined us within the last couple of years.
20:54
So it's nice we're building a real, a real female team there.
20:58
Absolutely. And I'm hoping we'll get our
20:59
first all female launch within the next year.
21:02
Lovely. Yeah.
21:02
Which would be a nice a nice point for me.
21:04
Yeah, there'll be a headline or two there.
21:06
Yeah. So just telling me that when he
21:08
was here, he was telling me there was about 18 altogether,
21:11
wasn't there 18 volunteers? Yeah.
21:13
So for. The sea yeah, for this, for the,
21:15
for the sea going team. I think there might even be more
21:17
than that. Now.
21:18
We're quite a big team. Um, but then we also have the
21:21
shore side team. So we have shore crew, we have
21:24
our long, which is our lifeboat operations manager, and then we
21:27
have launch authorities who are like deputies for the long.
21:31
Obviously the press team's got Emma, we've got Sarah.
21:35
So there is a wider team as well as all the fundraisers.
21:37
Yeah, you know, it's, it's not just us.
21:39
You get to go do the sexy stuff that are there.
21:42
You know the key part, we couldn't do it without the
21:44
fundraising team. We couldn't do it without the
21:45
station team either. No, and I think the fundraising
21:48
team, it's one of the best fundraising areas, isn't it, for
21:53
RNRNL? They do very, very well.
21:55
Yeah, they do. You know, their events are
21:56
really fun. You know, I get to go to a few
21:59
just as as sort of one of the benefits of being being on the
22:03
yeah, invariably, you know, they're always a day when I end
22:05
up having to book a day off work afterwards.
22:08
But no, it's say it's, it's another community here.
22:11
Lots of stations within the RNLI talk about the RNLI family for
22:15
us. That really, really is a thing.
22:16
You know, it's there's I would trust the other Helms with my
22:20
life if I went out on a on a big shout with any one of the other
22:23
Helms, you know, I would never question the conditions.
22:26
You know, we, I'd trust them implicitly and it's, you know,
22:30
often if something was to go wrong in life, I would struggle
22:33
to think of somebody outside of that team that I'd be calling
22:35
first. You know, it really is.
22:36
We are. We've got.
22:37
Some real accolades. Yeah, we're a tight knit
22:39
community and it's it's lovely and it's nice to see when the
22:42
new crew come on how they kind of come to that realisation as
22:45
well and and how long. Do they ask how long does it
22:47
take them before the penny? Depends what's going on in their
22:50
own lives. Oh yeah, that's.
22:51
True, but we're we're a social bunch as well.
22:54
So, you know, I think. That's a lot that comes quite.
22:56
Strong there, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:59
So I think the the venal sort of see you in en masse on a few
23:03
times and through the years. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
23:06
And our Christmas party is quite legendary as well, so.
23:09
That's always that was it this year.
23:11
So the last couple of years we've had a noodle.
23:13
I suspect we'll do it there again just because they're they,
23:15
they don't mind if we get a bit rowdy and we don't get told to
23:18
be quiet. Yeah, so long as you don't start
23:20
another tug of war. Yeah, yeah.
23:23
So you're talking of tug of war. That's obviously back to sort of
23:26
fitness. You are a bit of a runner as
23:28
well. I understand you like founding
23:30
the pavement. Yeah, a new runner.
23:31
So it's it's something that I only came to within the last
23:35
couple of years. I decided in the run up to
23:39
coming to my 20 year anniversary that I wanted to get more
23:41
involved in the fundraising side of things and I did the Mayday
23:47
mile, not this year, last year and it was also the 200 year
23:52
anniversary for the RNL eyes inception.
23:54
So I decided, is that beeping OK?
23:59
Is that we'll just carry on. Yeah, so I decided I was going
24:04
to, for the Mayday mile run, 200 miles during the course of May.
24:09
Okay. And I thought, oh, it's a whole
24:10
month, you know, easily manageable.
24:13
It was only the day before when I realised that that actually
24:17
translates as 10K a day and I hadn't quite done the maths, but
24:20
I thought, you know what, I've committed to this, Yeah, so
24:22
let's let's go and do it. So off I went in totally
24:27
inappropriate trainers having done no training and I really
24:32
I've powered. I'm Still the Slaughter comes to
24:34
mind. I think I visited Beck's physio
24:36
3 times and she asked me to bring my trainers to a session
24:40
and sort of looked at hot in horror.
24:42
I had on on my feet and she sent me, packed me straight off said
24:46
go and buy yourself a proper pair of running shoes because
24:49
you are doing yourself some harm.
24:51
And when the month finished, I can't even remember what the
24:54
next challenge was that I set myself.
24:55
But then, oh, why not? I entered the half marathon.
24:58
OK, then I was training for that.
25:01
After the half marathon. I then entered the New York
25:03
Marathon, which I'm doing this November.
25:06
But this year it's sort of become a bit more of an
25:08
obsession. So I've had several events
25:11
through the year. I've started mountain and trail
25:13
running. So I did the Snowden half
25:15
Marathon. I did the Ogwen 25 kilometres a
25:18
couple of weeks ago. I did my first triathlon last
25:21
week. Where was.
25:24
That that was down in Dorney. So it's in the grounds of Eton
25:27
College, which no idea. It was amazing in the in the the
25:30
Olympic facilities. Yeah, it was really, really
25:32
cool. Really enjoyed that triathlons
25:35
alike. Yeah, back to physio.
25:37
She was listening to this, but like I told you, you see, sorry
25:40
I need to one good for cross training, she said.
25:42
Two just for kind of general fun and it really was fun.
25:44
I enjoyed it. So yeah, now focuses firmly on
25:48
New York Marathon in November, and then I've started my
25:51
planning for events for next year, one of which includes my
25:55
first half, Iron Man in June. So.
26:00
Yeah, so from the Mayday mile it really has escalated rather
26:04
significantly. But it's, you know, I've got a
26:07
very demanding job, very demanding hobbies.
26:12
Running gives me a lot of headspace.
26:14
So lots of people run socially. They like running in groups,
26:16
they like joining running clubs. That's not really my thing.
26:19
I like running alone. I like having sort of that peace
26:21
and quiet. And it's it's a real kind of
26:24
problem solving time for me as well.
26:27
And if it is a difficult week, there's nothing that straightens
26:29
my head out like going going for a run.
26:31
So yeah. It's a book I read many years
26:33
ago called The Piece of the Piece of the Long Distance
26:36
Runner. And it was just about a guy who
26:38
started just like that and he just ran and ran and ran and,
26:42
and that was that was his headspace.
26:44
It's almost meditative at some points, you know, you sort of
26:47
look down and go, you don't realise the mileage that you've
26:49
covered. And having come from being
26:52
someone who couldn't run for more than two or three minutes
26:55
without being out of breath, which one?
26:57
As a lifeboat career, I should be ashamed of that.
26:59
My level of fitness had got to such a dreadful point.
27:02
But you do become complacent, and you know you don't You get
27:04
you. Don't realize.
27:07
So to get from that to the point where I can now run for 4 1/2
27:10
hours and, you know, just kind of go, you know, I really, yeah,
27:16
I, I really, you know, I, I do feel pride in how far I've come.
27:18
And my sure, my younger brother, who is a serious runner, he does
27:21
big ultra marathons. And, you know, you know, he
27:24
jumps straight from the half marathon to the ultras.
27:26
And you know, he's on a different, different plane with
27:28
it in time. How far is an Ultra?
27:30
Is there anything over a / / a marathon?
27:32
Oh, right. OK.
27:33
So like 30 miles or something? So he doesn't keep all his
27:36
medals, whereas I do. So I, I keep them all.
27:39
And he said, and he said to me, he said, he said, I don't know
27:41
why you do that. He said, you're not embarrassed
27:43
when you look back at sort of the times that you've done and
27:45
things like that. I said no, because it show, it
27:46
shows my progress. I said the fact that, you know,
27:49
that first time that I did a 10K and I found it so difficult and
27:52
I now look at the events that I'm doing, I said for me, it's,
27:55
it's almost an entire picture of my progress.
27:57
So I'm a medal hoarder. Anything that I can go to where
28:00
there's a medal, I'm like, put it on my neck.
28:01
I want it. You know, it's, it's something
28:03
that certainly is a driver for me.
28:06
Yeah, well, the, the tug of war, there we go.
28:09
Absolutely. Yeah, let's do it.
28:10
So do you think you'll go on two other things besides obviously
28:13
you don't have to lots of running?
28:15
Do you think you'll sort of get into any other sport, which is?
28:19
You're. Obviously a lady with a mission
28:21
and I'm just sort of trying to tease out what's the next, next
28:24
mission, obviously besides you're running.
28:26
Well, one of the crew asked me that and said, you know, how far
28:28
is this going to go? And I was like, I think until I
28:31
find something I can't do. So in terms of sort of the
28:34
running, the endurance sports, you know, it's well, my, my
28:39
brother did. I can't remember if it's, is it
28:40
the UTI? Can't remember if it's UTS or UT
28:43
MB the, the 100 kilometres. He did his first attempt at that
28:45
across the mountains last year. He dropped out at 75 with an
28:49
injury. I'm going to try the 50 next
28:53
year kilometres, which is over a marathon.
28:57
Whether I get to the level he's at in terms of that pushing, I
29:01
don't know. Or whether I go down the
29:03
endurance route with the triathlons.
29:04
So we'll see how we'll see how the the half Iron Man goes well.
29:08
Absolutely. The problem is it's fitting
29:10
training in around life. They do say for a full Iron Man
29:13
you basically need to be working part time.
29:15
Really, it's the other part of your life because.
29:17
The other part of training, yeah.
29:19
Yeah. And whilst I'm still a lawyer, I
29:22
left private practice three years ago and I started a tech
29:25
start up. So I'm in the start up world
29:28
which is. A textile shop.
29:30
A tech startup. So a technology startup?
29:32
OK, OK, tell me a bit. Tell me a bit.
29:35
I'm from tech is. Technology is my background,
29:38
yeah. So it's the HR SAS platform
29:41
where we take a traditional HR platform where employers will be
29:44
able to approve holidays, store employee documentation.
29:47
But we've woven in legal processes to help employers.
29:51
So if you want to take someone through a disciplinary process,
29:53
the software helps you to do it in a compliant way.
29:55
If someone raises A grievance, you can run that in a compliant
29:57
way. When you're on boarding people,
29:59
you can do the Right to Work checks, It generates contracts,
30:01
it generates policies. So the idea being is helping
30:04
small businesses stay compliant. So we started that three years
30:07
ago. We've added on an e-learning
30:09
platform. We've also got the consultancy
30:11
with it. But if you know the tech
30:13
industry, tech startups are scrappy, you know, you really
30:16
are absolutely down in the trenches and sort of, you know,
30:20
working lots of hours and kind of.
30:21
Just wonder where life's gone to?
30:23
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
30:24
The parapet and thank Christ well.
30:26
Yeah. So whilst in in startup world,
30:29
I, you know, there will, I think my limit will probably come from
30:32
how much time I can devote to training which you know, there
30:35
is a cap on that really at the moment.
30:36
Do you do it with the team or? Is it?
30:38
I am lucky enough to have a team.
30:39
So I am investment backs, which really, really very lucky and to
30:43
be in to be in that position. And then I've got a team of six
30:47
staff at the moment that yeah, helping us kind of get where
30:50
we're where we're trying to go. Well, it sounds as though you're
30:53
on the right track. Yeah, you're well on the way.
30:55
Yeah, we are. We're well on the way.
30:58
But you know, when you look at the statistics, it's like, what
31:00
is it? It's like 95% of tech start-ups
31:02
fail in. The first five years, I'm going
31:04
to say something very close to my heart.
31:07
Are you making money yet? Not yet.
31:11
It's all right. I had 20 years of of boards
31:14
looking at me and saying, well, are you going to make money,
31:17
Mark? Well, yeah.
31:18
Give me time. Give me time.
31:19
Yeah, it was icamefrom.com so. I went through.
31:24
Through that and the whole ofthe.com bubble in 99 and 2000.
31:27
So it was a very, very exciting time.
31:31
It was. Great.
31:32
Well, we're only three years in and we've only been trading for
31:34
really for less than a year. And so we are brand, you know.
31:37
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're running on.
31:39
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. But like I say, you know, got
31:43
got really brilliant backing, really, really great team as
31:46
well. So yeah, we'll see, right?
31:49
So the focus goes. The focus is I'm just going to
31:52
chill out when I'm running and doing the triathlons.
31:54
Yeah. And then you've got your family
31:56
and you've got the tech startup and I think you've also got a
32:00
bit of a menagerie, a farm that's.
32:02
Started. I mean, the more I'm talking,
32:04
I'm going Alyssa, what have you done with your life?
32:08
What haven't you done with your life, Alyssa?
32:10
Yeah, I think I need a holiday. So yeah, we.
32:14
Fritz, get that message please. Now we're lucky enough that
32:18
obviously we live in such a beautiful part of the world and
32:21
you know, we've got got the space.
32:24
So I've got two of the worst behaved Springer spaniels in the
32:27
area, sort of ones that where the beach clears out when they
32:31
arrive. So it's, you know, there are,
32:33
I've got one who's think. There's a few more vine for that
32:36
position though, you know. I mean, one's 13 and one's
32:38
11/10/11 and there's still no better behaved and I'm still
32:41
waiting for them to slow down. And then we also keep chickens.
32:46
We took in two piglets 3 weeks ago.
32:50
And then I've also started beekeeping this, this sort of
32:53
late spring, early summer, Yeah. So just where on earth do you
32:58
get the where on? Earth the running.
33:00
The running is where the headspace and.
33:02
The real time is, yeah, that just sort of brings you all the
33:04
way back. And Fritz is the busiest man on
33:06
the planet. Like if I were to sit home and
33:07
just kind of wait for him to, to have some time, I'd be, I'd be
33:10
waiting a very long time. Absolutely.
33:13
You know, there's, it's nice because it means that we've got
33:15
lots of things in the immediate vicinity that we can do together
33:19
because there's lots going on, you know, between lifeboat and,
33:23
and everything we've got going on at home.
33:24
There's always a project that we can kind of dig into together.
33:26
But you know, both of us being busy, it just means life ticks
33:29
along quite nicely. Yeah, it does, doesn't it?
33:31
Yeah, yeah. And yes, when asking about Fritz
33:35
a bit, somebody said, well, if there's a if there's a hell in
33:37
the way, he'll just move it. Yeah, he's a man.
33:41
He likes to get things done, you know?
33:43
With a digger. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:45
With some heavy, loud machinery and inevitably there's not a lot
33:49
of sleep in our house. So actually in our neighborhood
33:51
at all, you know, they're up at 5, the machines are starting
33:54
half five, 6:00 and, and, and off they go.
33:58
You know, he's, he works incredibly hard 6-7 days a week
34:02
is, is nothing really to him. And you know, it's a family
34:05
business now, so the kids are involved as well and all all
34:09
working really, really hard. You know it's it's.
34:12
It's buzzing. Well, isn't it?
34:13
Yeah, Which is really good. So do you ever, do you ever go
34:17
dunking? I've got to ask.
34:19
This is just the Dunk Goods podcast.
34:20
I can't not last. The question, I mean, I do look
34:25
at the dunkers and I think, Oh my goodness, some of you are in
34:28
swimsuits and it's so cold and it's still cold.
34:32
And I, I do, I'm a little bit ashamed because I, the last time
34:35
I went, the last time I went wild swimming and I was, I was
34:38
training for the triathlon. So I was, I was out to go and
34:40
sort of do some laps in the Bay and I had my booties on.
34:43
I had my wetsuit, I had my gloves on and I had my thermal
34:47
swimming hat. And so I'm like, they're getting
34:50
ready to get in. And there was a lady further
34:55
down the beach. She was, she was quite she's she
34:58
was relatively elderly, so she looks a bit uncertain on her
35:00
feet. Was that just in her swimsuit?
35:02
And off she went. And I thought, there's me why
35:04
she gets it up. And I thought, well, you know,
35:06
I'm, I'm going, I'm going properly swimming, you know, I'm
35:09
so was she, you know, So, yeah, as much as because, you know,
35:14
people have this assumption that lifeboat people don't mind cold
35:16
water, It's a total lie. And I never used to as a
35:21
teenager, you know, in my 20s wouldn't be a thing.
35:24
I don't know if it's like a middle-aged thing.
35:25
I really struggle with it. Yeah.
35:27
Really. So yeah, I'd, I'd, if I were to
35:30
come and do it, I'd probably be the you've had.
35:32
A cold shower purposely had a cold shower.
35:35
Not when the gases run out. Or yes, but only when I've been
35:37
like feeling ill or like had a hangover or something, you know,
35:41
and just never, never purely for the, oh you know what, really
35:44
nice cold. No, I've just never, never,
35:48
never really thought of cold water that way.
35:50
Once I'm in, I'm all right. I am.
35:53
But it's when, when I went to the triathlon, it was, I'm
35:57
really embarrassed to admit this, I had lots and lots of
36:00
questions when I got there and I realised I wasn't allowed to
36:04
wear my boots or my gloves. And it literally dominated every
36:09
second of my thoughts up until I got in the water.
36:11
Like my hand's going to be cold, my hand's going to be cold, my
36:13
hands are going to be cold. It didn't matter.
36:14
And. You've got just 200 and. 300
36:17
yeah, it's just my obsession with Oh my goodness, my hands
36:19
and feet are going to be cold. Like, you know, it's just, yeah,
36:22
so I need to get a grip, grow up and actually just try getting in
36:25
without the wet suit every now and again.
36:27
Well, that, that mental tenacity I've got to sort of take on
36:30
board myself because the dunkers have have shortlisted me to have
36:32
a go at the triathlon next year. So the the Sprint rather than
36:37
not the Olympic high hasten to have.
36:38
But just I did, I did part of 1 as a relay last year.
36:42
Yeah. So I'm probably going to have a
36:44
crack next year to do the whole thing.
36:46
But yeah, you did have some sort of discipline.
36:49
Yeah, it's, I mean, I found it good because with the cross
36:53
training I found less in the way of injury niggles.
36:57
When it's just the running, it's a lot of time on feet and I
37:00
found that my endurance and my fitness is increasing at the
37:03
same sort of pace but with less strain generally.
37:07
But I'd really like to do the triathlon here.
37:10
I couldn't do it this year because one of my closest
37:12
friends got married on the day and then I was all getting ready
37:15
to enter the Triple Crown for next year.
37:16
And I've got another friend getting married on triathlon
37:18
day. So it's just, I mean, I did try
37:20
and swing it this year and I said to to me for wedding.
37:23
Day could. I could, I, could I go and do
37:26
the one in the morning? And then and she was like,
37:28
absolutely not. She's saying you'll be at my
37:31
house at 10 AM ready to get ready.
37:33
Um, so yeah, I didn't, I didn't get not.
37:35
Fun. Not all friends are fun.
37:38
I. Know so then I was gonna I had
37:40
entered the angles he Sandman for this year which is which is
37:44
quite a tough one but unfortunately I'm having to
37:47
defer that because I've been selected to go to the
37:49
Netherlands on a crew exchange for the RLI.
37:52
So I'm going to go work with their lifeboat service for a
37:54
week yeah so Fritz is devastated because he isn't getting a Dutch
37:58
girl for a week right. They send a crew member down to
38:00
the South. It's not a direct swap in that
38:03
sense, but yeah, it's it's a great reason not to be doing it.
38:06
But yeah, I'll be in the Netherlands for the week, so
38:08
I'll I'll have to miss that one. Yeah, OK, OK.
38:10
There's always a good excuse. And that was a pretty.
38:13
Good. It's a pretty good excuse.
38:14
Yeah, it's a pretty good excuse. OK.
38:16
So what we have on the Dunkers podcast is a bit of a tradition
38:19
and that is we always ask you one particular question and that
38:24
and I'm going to ask you and then somebody has left you a
38:27
question. So our last, our last
38:29
interviewee has sort of said make this for the next.
38:32
So my question is, if you could dunk with anybody anywhere, who
38:36
would it be? I could dunk with anybody,
38:41
anywhere. That's a really good question.
38:47
I think it would probably be the Princess of Wales in the
38:53
Buckingham Palace pool. Nice.
38:55
Because I only found out recently Pooking in Palace has a
38:57
pool. So one, she's a very good
38:58
swimmer, she's very sporty. But two, she's going to have all
39:01
the insurance and outs of what's really gone on with Megan and
39:02
Harry. And I'm a prophet.
39:04
I love all the royal gossip stuff.
39:05
So that that would be the one we'd be doing breaststroke in
39:07
the pool and I'd be like, so Megan, you know, do you like her
39:10
or not? I.
39:11
Think that's a bit obvious, but oh, that's classic.
39:16
Yeah, that would be mine, I think.
39:17
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the, the question that
39:19
somebody left for the next, oh the yourself is if you've got
39:24
£50 left to your name and you had to spend it, what would you
39:28
spend it on? Oh, now I'm a shopper, so that's
39:34
quite a hard one. Well, 50 quids is not going to
39:36
love. My last £50.
39:43
I'll tell you what it would actually be.
39:45
It'll probably be dinner and noodle.
39:47
I would, I'd go and have, yeah, I'd go and have the, the, the
39:51
short ribs and a Catsu Curry and a glass of wine in noodle.
39:55
That would be, yeah, that's it's a really good one.
39:57
I love love eating in there anyway, but it's one of my
39:59
favorite dinners so. And it'll be something that
40:01
leaves you with an experience rather than a thing.
40:03
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hope that noodle get wind of.
40:06
This because. They need to give you that
40:08
because of the promotion you've skin.
40:10
But thank you very much indeed for your time.
40:13
Honestly I had a lot of fun and as somebody said honestly just
40:17
wind it back because Elisa has got so deep she goes in and a
40:21
big story. Very much enjoyed.
40:23
Oh well, thank you for having me on.
40:24
It's been a little. Pleasure, and may the spirit of
40:26
the dunkers go with you. Thank you very much.