Latest / Never Too Late to Dream / E1: Freedom to Finally Use my Voice with Caroline Buist

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E1: Freedom to Finally Use my Voice with Caroline Buist · Never Too Late to Dream

• 0:03
  Unknown: Welcome to Never Too Late to Dream, the podcast for
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  anyone who's ever shelved a dream, talk themselves out of
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  one, or let fear, doubt, or life itself get in the way. Every
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  episode, I'll be talking to real people, late bloomers, slow
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  burners, and plot twisters who dared to pursue their dreams
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  later than supposed to. We're talking about the messy middle,
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  the wobbles, the moments of "what the hell am I doing?", and
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  the extraordinary things that happen when you keep going
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  anyway.
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  Because here's the thing, there's no expiry date on a
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  dream. The world's full of people who found their groove in
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  their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond, and they've got stories worth
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  hearing. Each guest will share their dream, what stopped them,
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  how they got unstuck, and what they'd say to anyone still
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  waiting in the wings. And I'll also be asking everyone what
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  their dreams theme song is, because every good story
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  deserves a soundtrack, doesn't it?
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  Hello, and welcome to the very first episode of Never Too Late
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  to Dream. I'm your host, Caroline Buist, and I'm
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  absolutely chuffed that you're here. So, for this episode, I
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  thought it was only right and proper that I go first, put
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  myself in the hot seat before I go asking anyone else to do it,
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  and this might sound a little bit weird, so bear with me, but
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  I'll be interviewing myself for this episode, just like I'll be
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  doing with future guests from episode two. So, without further
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  ado, let's crack on. Consider this your backstage pass to my
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  story. I'll warn you now, it's a little bit wiggly.
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  So, tell me about your dream and why you wanted it. My dream, the
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  one I've had since I was about 15 years old, was to be my own
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  boss. Simple as that. It started with music actually. I grew up
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  in a musical family. My dad was a singer songwriter, and as
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  kids, my brother, sister, cousins, and I had our own
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  little family band. I was the 10 year old drummer, not because I
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  chose that, but it was the only vacancy going. But I struck
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  lucky, pardon the pun. My first business idea was to become a
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  band/artist manager, jet-setting around the world and getting
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  paid to watch gigs. Honestly, at 15 I thought that was a viable
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  career plan. But back down to earth with a loud bump, reality
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  kicked in. I had zero experience of business or even work at that
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  stage, but the dream, the freedom, the flexibility,
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  working for myself, doing something that meant something
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  that never went away. It just went very quiet for a very long
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  time.
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  If your dream had a theme song, what would it be, and why?
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  That's easy. Freedom! '90 by George Michael. That song sums
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  it all up for me. It's about breaking free from what people
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  expect of you, doing things your own way, and not being defined
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  by your past, which is pretty much exactly what my wiggly
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  journey has been about. Plus, and I make no apologies for
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  this, George Michael is an absolute legend (RIP). I had a
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  major girly crush on him when I was 12 years old, and that was
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  only heightened after I saw the Careless Whisper video, and that
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  song even got me into trouble once when I drained my dad's car
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  battery playing it on repeat. He was far from amused when he had
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  to call the AA. I can tell ya.
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  What stopped you from pursuing your dream at the beginning?
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  Where do I start? Life mostly, the usual suspects. When I was
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  in the middle of my O levels, my parents split up. It hit me
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  hard. I stopped showing up to lessons, stopped revising, and I
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  failed all of my A levels, every single one. Big, fat,
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  spectacular fail. Oh, bollocks. I remember thinking at the time,
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  now what? And I think that set a bit of a pattern. The
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  well-trodden academic path wasn't working for me, but I
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  didn't quite know what the alternative looked like, so I
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  got "proper" jobs - I'm using air quotes there - kept my head
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  down and kept the dream at a nice safe distance. Once I
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  started working and had a regular pay cheque, it became
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  safe and comfortable. Well, at the time I thought it was
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  comfortable. Looking back, it wasn't really what I wanted, but
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  I was afraid of what would happen if I actually tried and
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  it didn't work out. I wasn't sure if I was good enough to go
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  it alone, and didn't really have the confidence in the beginning.
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  How did you cope with these challenges? Music, honestly.
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  Music has always been my therapy, my motivation, and my
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  happy place. I can stick my iPod on, sing along to the bass line,
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  the drum fills the guitar riffs, the whole shebang, and I'd get
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  through anything. But without fully realising at the time, I
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  also kept building, every job I took, every course I did, every
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  difficult micromanager I survived, I was adding to the
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  toolkit. I was learning what I did and didn't want from life.
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  The dream was still there, it had just gone a bit quiet. Just
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  like a song on low volume. You can still hear it if you listen
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  closely. Then, in August 2015 I had a brutal and shocking
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  wake-up call when a friend took his own life. It made me
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  question my life choices and whether I was happy, and it
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  turned out I wasn't. So I decided to go for it and set up
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  my first business in 2016 which didn't go too well. More on that
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  story can be found in my book, Sing Like No-One's Listening.
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  But when I started Above & Beyond VA in 2020, it felt
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  easier and I felt more confident offering admin services, as
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  that's where my experience was. But I didn't cope with the
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  challenges alone. I've been lucky enough to work with some
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  awesome coaches and mentors throughout my business journey
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  who have helped me with my mindset and confidence, and I
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  don't think I'd still be doing this if it wasn't for the help
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  and support I've had.
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  So, what advice would you give your younger self? Oh, blimey,
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  loads. I think I'd say stop lip syncing to someone else's song,
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  stop following the path that other people have mapped out for
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  you, and start writing your own. Failing your A levels isn't the
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  end of the world, it's feedback. It's the universe saying "not
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  this way, try another route". Failure, full stop, is not the
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  end of the world. I talk about this in my book, but see failure
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  as feedback. It's information to help you tweak and change what
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  you're doing if it's not working. There are no mistakes,
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  because everything you do in business is not wasted. So, you
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  need to see mistakes as learning rather than failure. And I'd
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  also say your dream doesn't have an expiry date, so put it
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  somewhere safe, but don't put it away forever.
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  Is there anything you do differently? If I'm honest, I'd
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  have started earlier, not at 15, I wasn't really ready then, but
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  maybe in my 30s when I had a bit more life experience behind me,
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  but still plenty of runway ahead. But what I've learned is
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  there's no point in the what ifs. Every job, every wrong
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  turn, every disaster, including the time I accidentally
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  underpaid the postage on 20 marketing envelopes and had to
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  send cheques to 20 estate agents, all of it shaped the
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  business owner I am now. I'm not going to elaborate on the
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  envelope story. You'll have to buy a copy of my book to find
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  out more.
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  So, what does success look like for you? Freedom and
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  flexibility. Full stop. Success for me isn't about money. Don't
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  get me wrong, though. Obviously, paying myself and paying the
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  bills is important. Let's be real and not be stupid about it.
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  But for me, success is more about waking up every morning
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  and choosing how I want to spend my day, working with people I
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  actually like and respect, doing work that means something. It's
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  choosing to sing in a choir because it brings me joy.
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  Borrowing dogs via borrowmydoggy.com because it
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  gets me out of the house and into the fresh air. And building
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  something that's entirely unapologetically mine.
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  Would you say you're there yet? Getting there. I left my last
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  employed job in November 2023 when I was 53 years old. And my
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  first full year in business was honestly a baptism of fire. I
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  lost three retainer clients almost immediately, only a month
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  after taking the plunge, and I just invested a hefty sum in
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  mindset coaching and copywriting training, so it wasn't a gentle
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  start by any means, but I'm still here, I'm still going in
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  what will be my sixth year in business this year, so I'm still
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  building, still learning, and I wouldn't swap it for the world.
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  I have absolutely no regrets about taking the plunge. You
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  have to think of it like a band in their early years. You're
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  still finding your sound, making mistakes in front of small
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  audiences, and honing the set list. The headline gig will
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  come.
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  So, where do you see yourself in the future? Any new dreams?
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  Well, you're listening to one of them. This podcast, it'd be
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  great if I've built up a loyal little community of late
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  bloomers, although I'm not too sure how long I'll be doing this
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  for at this stage, because I do get bored quite easily. But I
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  wouldn't have got the idea for this podcast without my book,
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  and I wouldn't have got the idea for my book without going it
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  alone. So, the idea that my book might actually help other people
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  stop putting their dreams off is a new dream in itself. I'm also
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  currently working on a second book, and it's brewing very
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  nicely, thank you. I'm hoping to get that published early next
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  year. I also see myself speaking on other podcasts, and maybe
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  even stages, and I'd love for my choir to have performed
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  somewhere absolutely ridiculous and brilliant. We've already
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  supported Paul Carrack at the Royal Albert Hall, and we're
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  going to a festival in Italy this October, so who knows? New
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  dreams emerge once you start taking those small steps and
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  taking action. You realise that you can do it, and once your
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  dreams start coming true, it gets a little bit addictive.
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  What would you say to someone who's put their dream on the
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  back burner? I'd say take it off the back burner right now, not
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  next week, not after the kids have left home, not when the
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  time is right, because the time is never right. You just have to
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  go for it. Life's too short not to, and it doesn't have to be a
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  big dramatic leap. It can be one small, imperfect step. Sign up
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  for the course, tell someone about the idea. Write the first
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  line, take the first note, take that first step, and keep moving
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  forward.
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  So, how can listeners find out more about you and what you do?
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  Thanks for asking! As I've already mentioned, my book, Sing
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  Like No-One's Listening is out now. It's the full story, the
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  practical tools, the late bloomer inspiration, everything
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  I wish someone had handed me 30 years ago. It's available from
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  my website if you're based in the UK or on Amazon. I'll drop
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  the links in the show notes for you, but you can also find me on
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  LinkedIn if you search Caroline Buist or Above & Beyond VA, or
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  you can sign up to my monthly emails, they're called More Than
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  Words, which is named after the 90s song by Extreme. And if
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  you're a neurodivergent creative business owner who needs a hand
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  with admin or content marketing, that's literally what I do. Head
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  over to my website, abovebeyondva.co.uk to find out
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  more about me and the services that I offer.
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  Well, that's it for episode one. Thank you so much for listening
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  to my wiggly little story. I hope some of it resonated, and
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  don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts
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  to stay in the loop when a new episode lands, and if you like
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  what you hear, please share, drop me a comment, or leave a
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  nice review. Next month, I'll be joined by Robyn Harris from Wild
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  Wellbeing, who'll be sharing her own brilliant late bloomer
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  story. You won't want to miss it. Until then, take one small
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  step towards that dream, sing out loud and proud, and remember
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  it's never too late to dream. It really isn't!