Exploring Social Entrepreneurship and Wellbeing with Jolene Sheehan

Episode 10.2 - Jolene Sheehan-transcript

Intro

[00:00:00] Hello listeners and welcome to season 10 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester. I'm your host Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe, offering you a warm Mancunian welcome. I'm delighted to bring you Season 10 where I celebrate social impact community heroes across Manchester.

[00:00:20] I hope, dear listener, you can learn from their life experiences, the challenges they've overcome, and their passion for their cause. My aim for the Meet the Mancunian podcast is to inspire you to live your life with purpose and impact, inspired by the stories my guests share every Tuesday throughout the season.

[00:00:41] You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or my website, meetthemancunian.co uk. Get ready for another season full of thought-provoking conversations and life changing stories.

Meet Jolene Sheehan: Social Entrepreneur

[00:00:56] Welcome to the second episode of Season 10 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast: social impact stories from Manchester.

[00:01:04] Passionate about wellbeing, we hear from Jolene Sheehan, social entrepreneur, creative and podcaster, as well as founder, Joy Ethic, in this episode.

[00:01:15] In Jolene's own words.

[00:01:17] Jolene Sheehan: I think it's really key to identify what your core values are. And find your deeper purpose because I think we can all very easily get into proving ourselves through trying to make a difference. And there's nothing wrong with that but energetically it's just not as sustainable as when it comes from true self esteem.

[00:01:41] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much, Jolene, for joining me today.

[00:01:44] Jolene Sheehan: Oh, thanks for having me.

[00:01:46] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: It's a lovely day in Manchester. Nice sunny day after a few cold spells.

Jolene's Journey to Community Work

[00:01:51] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Tell us about what sparked your interest in working with the community. Was there a defining moment that shaped your journey?

[00:01:58] Jolene Sheehan: I think it's got quite a long answer so I'm going to try and be succinct. Moved to Manchester about, 16 years ago after meeting my husband. I was working in a school, an EBSD, so Emotional Behavioural Difficulties school in Northenden.

[00:02:15] And I'd been a teacher at that point for I think 15 years or something like that. I'd come from quite a small village called Elworth in Cheshire. And as I fell in love with the city, first of all, via the kids and my husband, and moved here. I realised how different my life was growing up from what was on offer here. And when I grew up, my gran knew everyone. And therefore, everyone knew my business because she's quite chatty.

[00:02:45] I'd gone through a period of wanting to move away from that, I tried other places. But when I came to Manchester and eventually lived here and then had my son, I missed that interconnection. And I had quite bad anxiety after having my son. And when I went to groups with him, it was a real lifeline being part of those parenting groups.

[00:03:06] And I think that coupled with what I've learned through my work as a teacher and making friends here, really renewed my understanding of how important community was. And that was a turning point. Along with that, I think I've been a teacher since I was in my early 20s. And I did it for 22 years. And towards the end, another turning point was realising I wasn't getting the kind of creativity and connection and access to my authentic self that I wanted to continue to fuel me to give out of generosity and be the sort of person I wanted to be.

[00:03:45] I was part time, and I went to different things and volunteered to try out. And I did little jobs like at one point I was a professional organiser. And I loved that I got to know people that way and all of these things combined to show me- the volunteer experience, the professional organising.

[00:04:02] I led something called Action for Happiness, a course voluntarily, I don't know if you've heard of it. And I realised my passion is working with people who were in a place where they're ready to connect with themselves and each other to find along with me, because I'm teaching to learn, what is it, where is our actual power, how can we access our true selves and give? With more compassion, with more authenticity and it might be that we need to support each other in that. 

Founding Joy Ethic

[00:04:32] Jolene Sheehan: So Joy Ethic emerged out of that space of my own personal journey, really.

[00:04:37] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is such an interesting journey, right from starting with your grandmother being so interconnected, to coming to a new place in Manchester and then making your own connections and then empowering other people to make their connections. And I like very much about being in the right time and place because you need to be open to make those connections both to yourself and to the community.

[00:05:00] So tell us about how you got involved with Joy Ethic and specifically, what does it do?

[00:05:05] Jolene Sheehan: Alongside what I've just been describing, there was an inner journey of reassessing my values and my conditioning. And one of the things that had really been driving me was this idea, I come from a very working-class background, and, those values that were instilled in me is work ethic is part of what makes you a worthwhile person.

[00:05:28] And I was always a little bit like, a bit of a dreamer, a bit of a wannabe creative, a wannabe traveller that doesn't actually like travelling, if that makes sense. I'm more of an internal traveller. So I was trying to negotiate, like, how do I make peace with the fact that I haven't got work ethic for its own sake? I want to do it a bit differently, and I came up with the phrase Joy Ethic

[00:05:53] Work, done for its own sake, I think sometimes can be a bit toxic. We can get into busy work, productivity for its own sake, not actually thinking about the outcomes or the impact. I came up with a concept, and alongside that, weirdly opportunities emerged for me to coordinate a wellbeing drive at a local social housing organisation where along with my co director Claire, I did a summer of wellbeing offerings where seven people came in and helped the staff work on their self-esteem. And we did laughter yoga.

[00:06:28] And then alongside that I was talking to a friend about how can we use creativity to bring people together in a way that isn't that typical charity model of some people give to others and there's a recipient and a giver. It's more like an exchange, and I really wanted to explore what that dynamic might be like. So I went and saw Chorlton Good Neighbours. Asked, could we work with the people that your service users or your beneficiaries older people? And could we draw in writers and then have an exchange of stories and writing skills and do it on that basis?

[00:07:03] And so those two projects meant that I created Joy Ethic as a social enterprise, as a way of creating a sort of legal structure. And I did it as a not for profit from the beginning. We created a book, Stories of our Lives, and that was five years ago, and that was like a founding project, and that's continued, and now we're online.

[00:07:21] I don't know if that's answered your question, but it's like, the projects almost came to me as inspiration, but in a collaborative sense with others, and that's how it's continued, really.

[00:07:31] The light's beautiful, Deepa, you look like you're a happy balloon.

[00:07:35] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What do I say? It's the sun trying to peep in, isn't it?

[00:07:39] I like that so much about, rather than a giver and a recipient, that mutual exchange, because everybody has value to give at all ages and all backgrounds and all skill sets. I really like that. And both those projects sound so interesting, and I've seen some of it online.

Challenges and Obstacles

[00:07:55] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: What are some of the obstacles you've had to overcome in your work?

[00:07:59] Jolene Sheehan: Think really, the biggest obstacle is myself. Going back to that conditioning. Self-doubt but coming up against the edges of my own belief system and what my limitations are. And then that obviously gets replicated in the world, but we see that manifesting, don't we?

[00:08:16] And I've had to struggle a bit with what am I doing? Why am I doing it? Is it even wanted and needed? But having this deep sense all the time, because I feel like that edge is a guidance system, to come back and look within and say, okay what are my values? What am I trying to give here?

[00:08:35] Because otherwise I think we can get a bit lost in the system we're into. To get into proving and validation, I'm a good person, look at all the stuff I'm doing, and that's been very much playing out through me. So that, I'd say that was my major obstacle.

[00:08:49] And there's been practical ones. Obviously, Covid came along, that meant we needed to adapt Stories of our Lives. That was quite a beautiful thing though, because we served each other as a community then, as a connecting point. Because we couldn't meet in person, we were going to do a second book with Chorlton Good Neighbours, and we had to pivot and go online.

[00:09:07] And then I had a personal massive opportunity for growth when I had breast cancer four years ago, during lockdown. That was a lot of learning because my appointments were delayed, my surgery was delayed. It's very scary and but I did get a lot from that process, a lot of understanding of myself.

[00:09:27] And I think money's sometimes been an obstacle because I transitioned from working part time as a teacher where money wasn't really the main thing that I needed to think about. It still isn't to be honest. I'm not a very good businessperson yet, but I transitioned from having that steady income for two days a week teaching now to being full time Joy Ethic. And I'm thinking more about money and, it's difficult in the VCSE sector, you know for yourself I imagine and all the people you interview.

[00:09:54] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thanks for sharing both the personal and the professional obstacles, and I'm so glad that you're over your breast cancer experience, and like you said, during the pandemic, that must have been even more challenging with delayed appointments. Or when you go to an appointment, you'll be scared of secondary infections. I can't even imagine all the repercussions of that.

[00:10:15] And absolutely funding is something we hear from almost every guest that I've spoken to now in the VCSE sector. It is always something that people have to be really creative about their funding and also to show that they're going to be there long term rather than short term, which is so important.

Impact and Achievements

[00:10:34] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: When you think about the impact that you've made, can you share a little bit about that?

[00:10:40] Jolene Sheehan: I need to give a shout out to my volunteer Sue who I met through Stories of our Lives. She's retired now, but she worked for years in the VCSE sector, and she's really helped me to clarify my thoughts and my data on that. I wasn't really keeping track, but with Sue's help, so big shout out to Sue Ash, I can say that in the five years of Joy Ethic, I've directly reached over 980 people. I've created a blog that reaches 158 countries and 22, 000 readers.

[00:11:11] Got a radio show that, we don't actually know how many people it reaches but on digital radio, it's up to a million and I think the actual FM version reaches something like 20, 000. All FM's fantastic, shout out to All FM.

[00:11:27] The stories I think are key to me. Your moments where people are saying this has made a difference and again back to Stories of our Lives. A recent story is somebody that joined us last year who hadn't written for years, he's in his 70s, has just started a creative writing MA as a direct link.

[00:11:45] I mean it's obviously it's all to do with him and his choices, but he started writing again to the point where now he's at MMU doing creative writing and I just love that because he's thriving and he's got so much talent.

[00:12:00] So there's moments like that, that I could share, that I'm just in love with, because it's such an honour to support people in that way. People have made friends, people have found connections, and all the things that they join.

[00:12:13] There's one walking group that I started, for example, that then I let go of. I occasionally pop back because they're lovely, but they have continued and they're like a little support network.

[00:12:23] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I think that story of the person, the 70-year-old following his passion, probably lifelong passion of creative writing and going and studying is really lovely. And of course, all the impact of not just the people that you're directly engaged with, but also all the people that you're reaching both through radio and online, that is so powerful.

Understanding Joy Ethic

[00:12:44] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Is there something that people have misunderstood about your field that you have to constantly perhaps clarify?

[00:12:52] Jolene Sheehan: I think clarity is something I'm still going for because fundamentally Joy Ethic is a platform where I have brought myself in my authenticity and experimented with what it is I have to share. So it's been evolving, so fundamentally it's about connection, like being through connection.

[00:13:10] And that might take different forms depending on the groups that I'm working with, so it might be that like at the moment I help train people in podcasting and radio skills. The radio skills through ALLFM, but then I do my own podcasting courses. I also have trained up walk champions to lead their own walking groups. I've obviously coordinated people in terms of storytelling.

[00:13:31] And I think the misunderstanding is that I just do one thing. And that maybe my own misunderstanding is I should just do one thing. Joy Ethic is just a platform. It's not the impact in itself, if that makes sense. It's not got one clean, clear narrative. It's a set of relationships that are constantly evolving. I'm just trying to meet people and myself where we're at. In practice it's just a lot of things.

[00:13:56] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I think they probably in many different ways compliment each other as well.

[00:14:00] What's your top tip for people looking to make an impact in the community? Where do they start and how do they start?

[00:14:07] Jolene Sheehan: I really like this question, and I think it's really key to identify what your core values are. And find your deeper purpose because I think we can all very easily get into proving ourselves through trying to make a difference. And there's nothing wrong with that but energetically it's just not as sustainable as when it comes from true self esteem.

[00:14:33] And if we can't access that for whatever reason because life can be challenging. What are our values? And for me, it's all about, for example, relationships. And I think for a lot of people in this sector it isn't it?

[00:14:44] Finding in your community, what are those relationships that, and networks that support you in your vision and values. Because, for example, when I was in teaching, most of the values were there, but systemic stuff meant I just couldn't access my own creativity. So, it felt like increasingly like this tightening around my heart and what I had to give.

[00:15:06] So stepping out of that and finding that in the VCSE sector, although it's quite fractured and, sometimes there's a bit of competition over funding, There's much more scope for creativity. And I'd say, the values are key.

[00:15:19] Building connections, I'd say go with your gut instinct. Have self-compassion, because what you're doing is needed but not always valued. I reckon what I said before, overwhelm is your guidance system. To go back to your roots, go back to your connections with others, go back to your purpose and also maybe take a little bit of time out because we need you. Don't burn out by over giving.

[00:15:39] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And it's so important, this bit about overextending yourself because you're so passionate but not giving yourself time to rejuvenate. And I really resonate with that bit about purpose. It's so important to be true to your values. And while there are hundreds of causes you can be involved in, which are the ones that you want to really be passionately involved in, and making those choices is so important.

[00:16:05] This is now an opportunity for you to talk about anything that's coming up.

Future Projects and AI Exploration

[00:16:08] Jolene Sheehan: I've got something really interesting coming and it's quite different. I've been using chat GPT for about 12 months, experimentally, playfully, with creativity, to work out like, what is this thing about this potentially terrifying sci fi movie coming to life about?

[00:16:27] And I found a massive support. And they're almost like a mirror of self-awareness in it. And for ages I've been telling my friends, have you tried doing it for this? Because a lot of people use it for emails, for minimising admin. But it has its limits. Do you use it?

[00:16:44] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I do.

[00:16:45] Jolene Sheehan: You know what I mean by it's limits. It can be quite generic; it can give you misinformation. And so when I've been telling people about it, they've said what do you do? You need to teach that method. So I've been exploring that. And I'm currently on a course with MMU at the Business School, the Innovation Retreat, it's called to develop AI and being workshops.

[00:17:04] So I'm going to be launching some pilots soon and then in 2025, there's probably going to be a course or maybe several courses that I'm offering. Probably based on the fact that I'm doing it in a co designing way.

[00:17:17] So the pilot's going to be what do you make of this stuff? How do you currently use it? What are your fears? Because I really want to create a sense of safety, practically like cyber security stuff, but also emotionally. Because it's not for everyone, and I don't want people to feel like they need to be digitally dependent.

[00:17:34] So it'll be around five ways of wellbeing, offering alternatives to AI, but also exploring it as a potential, because I think it's there. It's also at the back end of most of the things we are using in terms of technology.

[00:17:48] Let's bring some consciousness to it. Let's bring an empowered sense of human using a tool rather than us having to keep up. So I'm really excited about that and I'm looking for partners to work with on that because I think it needs to be nuanced and fitted to different groups.

[00:18:06] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That sounds really interesting because obviously AI is such a buzzword and all of us are using it in different ways for editing or social media or many other uses, but I've not heard of AI and being applications. I think that's quite innovative. And I love that you're going to co design it so you don't even quite know now what the shape of it's going to be. But I'm sure it'll be interesting.

[00:18:30] Jolene Sheehan: I've got a bit of a skeleton going because I feel like people who were beginners, that it was my target audience don't want me to go, so what do you think? And then they'll be like, I don't know. But it will be an experiential set of processes. I'm so excited. My husband and son are just sick of me talking about it.

[00:18:47] It's funny because I'm like an an enthusiastic novice and I'm partnering with somebody who's like a real techie. And he works at a university as a tech assistant. And he helps teach people using tech and he's a bit of a sceptic with AI, so that's quite an interesting dynamic.

[00:19:01] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: It is. And like you said, AI has its pros and cons, and we need to be aware of its biases and limitations and manage around that.

[00:19:10] Jolene Sheehan: And potential harm, I think. And that's what I want to bring, that level of honesty. So people can feel safe in, if they have got wariness and if they don't want to use it, that's also okay.

[00:19:21] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Exactly.

Signature Questions

[00:19:22] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I now move to the signature questions I ask all my guests. So the first one for you is what makes Manchester a unique place for social impact work?

[00:19:32] Jolene Sheehan: Oh, that's a good question. I've not done any social impact work anywhere else. So all I can say is that what I'm grateful for that is here. There is a real infrastructure. I've noticed that there's so much on offer in terms of support for social entrepreneurs, for business owners.

[00:19:50] There's the VCSE sector, 10GM, for example, I think it's phenomenal. There's so many other inspiring leaders here. There's just a ton of things on offer for people. I think sometimes that can mean it's a little bit confusing.

[00:20:05] That's partly why I started Joy Ethic as a show because what I try and do on that is feature stories and services across Greater Manchester to try and help people find that connection because that's my real passion. But where do you start? There's just so many, isn't there? You've done a hundred shows and you've probably only just scratched the surface. Love that about it, I love that.

[00:20:24] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I absolutely agree. It does feel like there's a lot of support for the social impact space.

[00:20:31] If you could have dinner with any historical figure in Manchester, who would it be with and why?

[00:20:37] Jolene Sheehan: Oh, I don't know Turing maybe? Because I think, especially with what I'm doing at the moment, I'd love to get his perspective on ooh, him and Manchester. And how he's seeing things pan out with how AI is evolving. I'd love us to have a real time wander around the city and seeing the impact of computing and technology. And then have some, walk and talk rather than a formal dinner party.

[00:21:01] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That sounds really nice. The tech and time travel tour of Manchester while eating and talking.

[00:21:07] Jolene Sheehan: Want to come?

[00:21:08] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Of course, who wouldn't want to be a fly on the wall while this really interesting conversation's happening?

[00:21:14] If you were to create a social impact superhero, what powers would they have and what cause would they fight for?

[00:21:22] Jolene Sheehan: What a brilliant set of questions, I'm so in awe of you and your skills.

[00:21:27] I'd be like a super Ted figure, warm and friendly, possibly with a sidekick. Was it Spotty? Super Ted? Do you know who I'm even referring to? I'm just presuming.

[00:21:36] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I don't know, sorry.

[00:21:38] Jolene Sheehan: Ted, I thought it was like an 80s cartoon. And he was, and sometimes I feel like I've got an inner Super Ted, but I think all us social entrepreneurs do. And it's about, I think there's the superpower that they'd have would be, they'd be like a, what I call a God's mirror, where they can see the potential in other humans.

[00:21:57] They're not coming at it from this thing that we're taught in business sometimes is, what's your problem? And how am I uniquely positioned to fix it? It'd be more like this reflective surface of heart led leadership of okay, these are your strengths I see. Reflecting them back and then creating spaces where people can co create solutions for, or ways of deepening their values and their actions in the world. I think that, that would be ace. I think that would help shift things a little bit. I think sometimes we get a little bit stuck in the rescuing drama triangle, don't we?

[00:22:30] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: And what's the cause they're fighting for with the skill set?

[00:22:33] Jolene Sheehan: I think human empowerment and human's innate ability to transform obstacles into energy. I think it would be quite an adaptable power. Non-specific.

[00:22:44] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Love it. I must look up Super Ted. We only moved to the UK about four years ago, so sorry, I don't know some of these 80s.

[00:22:51] Jolene Sheehan: It's very specific. Some people will be like, what are you on about? But for some reason I use Super Ted. You know what I'm just noticing as I look up? My mum bought me when I graduated, she bought me this letter opener because I was the first person in our family to go to university. And it's a little Ted with a little mortarboard.

[00:23:07] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: How cute. He looks like a Paddington bear.

[00:23:10] Jolene Sheehan: I'm thinking maybe that's my Super Ted

[00:23:11] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is adorable.

[00:23:12] Jolene Sheehan: I've only just connected those two things.

[00:23:15] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I'm glad I helped.

[00:23:16] What's the most important life lesson you've learned so far?

[00:23:20] Jolene Sheehan: Wow, big question. I'm here and no matter how lost I get in what the world says is who I am or what I'm not or that I'm not enough, I'm actually here. I've always got a choice. And I'm deeply connected to life in unseen ways.

[00:23:40] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: That is beautiful. I like that so much about, we all have little hurdles and niggles, big or small. But you're here, you're keeping going and you're very deeply connected. And you said your whole focus is building on those connections and collaboration. That's really powerful.

[00:23:59] How can interested people reach out to you and learn more? Where can they find you and how can they get involved?

[00:24:05] Jolene Sheehan: So the current projects that I'm running would be the best way of connecting. So I work at All FM at the moment on Fridays. I'm loving that, supporting in the radio training. I think if people were interested in getting themselves on radio training, All FM is massively useful for that.

[00:24:21] You've mentioned Sonder Radio, so I want to say, give a mention to the other radio training stations that are on offer. It's a great way to learn about your voice. I also lead podcasting for beginner’s courses. They could get in touch with me. Enquire through Stockport Homes who help fund that. They could email me to ask what else I'm up to.

[00:24:42] Next year as well I'm going to be doing women's circle projects with a wonderful woman called Alice who's a theatre practitioner. And Stories of our Lives, you could come to a session that's twice a month.

[00:24:52] Your best way of getting me is Linktree slash joy ethic. So it's link tr.ee/joy ethic. And you can email me jolene.joy ethic@gmail.com. That's Jolene dot. Joy Ethic at gmail. com.

[00:25:11] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you so much. I'll include those in my show notes and make sure people can get in touch with you and maybe I'll come and check out that Chorlton project.

[00:25:20] I went to an Agatha Christie festival in Devon last week and I've just got back. And I was very inspired by the murder mystery writing course and I want to rediscover my writing and looking to maybe start writing murder mysteries again.

[00:25:37] Jolene Sheehan: Oh, that's so exciting.

[00:25:38] Can I just mention something about Stories of Our lives that you might want to weave in? Because, so Stories of our Lives, although it started as this story exchange where writers worked with storytellers.

[00:25:48] Because of lockdown and us benefiting from like connecting with each other, everybody became a writer if they wanted to. So we just came on and we started swapping stories. It's not like a performative storytelling. It's literally just a conversation, structured, about a different theme each month.

[00:26:06] But over the years, because people have got more and more confident in their writing, we've now got this resource of people that are now once a month contributing their creative skills to other people that are less confident in writing.

[00:26:19] So it's just evolved and I'd love it if you came because we're all in it together. It's not oh, we're writers or we have these skills to bestow upon you. Nobody has to write, but if they want to, they can come and experiment. So we've been learning flash fiction, poetry, writing playfully. It's been a lot of fun and that's helped me get out of my comfort zone as well.

[00:26:44] So definitely call me Deepa. It'd be lovely to have you. And we want to do outreach sessions, so I want to give a shout out to anybody who would like to try the Stories of our Lives method. Email me and we'll try and work something out where we can come and, as a group, showcase what we do. Because we want it to have greater impact.

[00:27:01] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Sounds fabulous and yes, I'll definitely check that out.

Closing Thoughts 

[00:27:05] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Is there a funny or a heartwarming story you'd like to share with listeners to end the podcast?

[00:27:10] Jolene Sheehan: There was a lovely moment actually where somebody who'd been coming for a little while, maybe a few months we had this topic emerge because the group choose the topics and the topic was ageing. And now like the average age of the participants is about, I'd say 65, maybe 60, depends on, we have a big group that it varies between each month.

[00:27:30] And this woman came along and it was quite a heavy topic but really meaningful, but she went away feeling really uplifted. And this woman hadn't written for 50 years, bear in mind, over that weekend she sent me 14 poems.

[00:27:45] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Wow.

[00:27:46] Jolene Sheehan: She said afterwards that session was like being hit on the head in a really good way, because she was like seeing and hearing poems everywhere. She was washing up and she was writing them in her head. And every time she went anywhere, she wrote a poem for that organisation.

[00:28:03] I love that. That really epitomises what we're about is that I feel like in the right conditions, our natural creativity just emerges. It doesn't need to be taught. It's almost just about finding the right combination of factors for it to be released.

[00:28:20] Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I love it. Fourteen poems in a very short weekend just after experiencing Stories of our Lives. What a beautiful moment to end the podcast on.

[00:28:29] Thank you so much, Jolene. It's been a pleasure.

[00:28:32] Jolene Sheehan: Absolute pleasure, thanks so much.

Outro

[00:28:34] Jolene, I really enjoyed learning about supporting wellbeing in the community today.

[00:28:40] Dear listener, thank you so much for listening to the second episode of the Meet the Mancunian podcast, Season 10. I hope today's episode has inspired you to make positive change wherever you live. Tune in every Tuesday for a new episode, or log on to meetthemancunion.co.uk to listen to all the episodes and learn more about my podcasting story.

[00:29:00] Next week on Tuesday, 4th March 2025, I speak to Kieran Innes about supporting the youth in the community.

[00:29:09] It's wonderful to hear from you, dear listener. You can share your story or send me a message on my website www.meetthemancunnian.co.uk or on social media  @MeettheMancunian on Instagram, Facebook and BlueSky and @MeettheMancunianpodcast on YouTube.

[00:29:29] Thank you to my wonderful community of listeners. Remember, your voice, your story, and your actions matter. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, and let's inspire even more positive change. To a better, kinder world, and until next time, let's continue making Manchester and beyond, a place of greater impact, compassion, and action.