Cheering the Cheerleaders
Firstly, a big shout out to my LinkedIn network for their great and inspiring posts. This week, I was inspired by a post from Zoe Wildey about cheerleaders.
Whatever you do in life, your cheerleaders are probably your most important asset. If the world is filled with people who energise you, and those who drain your energy, your cheerleaders are the rocket fuel that enables you to reach destinations you would never have dreamed possible.
Today, I want to give a big shout to one special person without whom I would never, probably, have left my safe career to launch Glasstap and without whom Trainers’ Library wouldn’t exist. That person is Craig Worcester.
Throughout the 24 years I’ve known him, Craig’s support has been unwavering. It was his suggestion, after we’d known each other just two years, that we launch our own training company. When, three years later, I suggested letting people have access to all the training materials I’d worked so hard to produce in return for a small annual subscription, it only took minutes to persuade him I wasn’t mad. Within six weeks, he’d created the very first version of Trainers’ Library – not bad for someone whose database development skills were self-taught.
We would have been married for 15 years, but we’re of an age that made that impossible, although for our final six years together we were in a civil partnership. Sadly, running a business together 24-hours a day, a recession (that the pandemic has subsequently made look like a stroll in the park) and losing parents to cancer within a short space of time all took a toll on our personal relationship and, as many of you know, we separated in 2013 after 16 years together. However, we have remained best friends (I was a witness at his wedding in 2019) - and co-directors of Glasstap of course - and Craig remains, to this day, my most important cheerleader.
Of course, as Trainers’ Library nears its 20th anniversary in 2023, I must remember that there are other cheerleaders whose support has been vital to us both, including the amazing team we gathered around us over the years.
There’s one other set of cheerleaders to mention though, without whom, Trainers’ Library would be just another failed experiment. They are, of course, its customers.
I’d like to, say a particular thank you to two groups of these:
Firstly, the pioneers. Every fledgling business needs them. Without the likes of Caroline Lewis, Phil Hawthorn, Sue Hewitt, Ric Hayden and many, many more who first joined Trainers’ Library way back in 2003, taking a chance on an unknown service, things would have turned out very differently indeed. Since then, every incarnation of Trainers’ Library, every new service we’ve introduced has needed its own pioneers, and I’m always so grateful to them.
And secondly, those customers who continue to encourage, support and champion Trainers’ Library with their feedback, comments, and by acting as ambassadors for it. We may not always be aware of those acts of kindness, but they are, and always have been appreciated.
It’s worth remembering that none of the journeys I’ve started would have been possible without the support of my champion cheerleader, Craig. But we must also always remember that without our cheerleading customers, those journeys we start would, ultimately, be very short.
Until next time…