Beverley Jones from Raglan helps others recover from burn out

“In 2009 after a successful 20-year corporate career I experienced a devastating crash of depression, followed by a long road to recovery, which I have since written about in several books.

"Through recovery I began to rebuild my life, setting up Awaken Mentoring in 2010 to help others not go where I went. I try to help people change their life, using my experiences and the lessons I learned through my own burnout. When I founded ‘Awaken’ I made a pledge that I would retire from it, and never work directly for an employer again as I wanted the freedom of entrepreneurship.

"For me, back then, celebrating a twelve-year anniversary was a pipe dream. However, dreams do come true as I celebrated how far I’ve come since my burnout at my twelfth year in business anniversary lunch in August. I love celebrating milestones and this was a big one. I had anticipated celebrating a decade, however we all know what happened in 2020 to put a stop to that. That day will live in my memory forever.

A young Beverley Jones

"Mark Wright, my good friend and 2014 winner of the BBC TV series ‘The Apprentice’ was my guest speaker and the room was filled with family and many connections that I have had the pleasure to work with since founding ‘Awaken’. Mark, who is an entrepreneur and CEO of the London-based digital marketing agency, Climb on Line, shared his journey and business tips. The audience loved it and it was a joy for me to give something back to them in gratitude for the support they have shown me. It was so important for me to celebrate my anniversary because there were times when I didn’t think I would get through the first couple of years.

Beverley Jones with Mark Wright

"My anxiety was high, I was in debt and I didn’t know what I was doing but the fact that I am still here and helping people is a huge achievement and one I believe worth celebrating.

"I was very lucky to have had a wonderful childhood growing up in Raglan with an older brother and sister whom I’m very close to. In school my biggest aim was to get out. I like creative subjects, my favourite was English but I liked art too. I remember telling my English teacher I would write a book one day, and I did. Although I had close friends, I was really shy in school which is interesting, given the fact that I now stand up and speak in front of people. I did a two year hairdressing course, only because my friend persuaded me to, and worked as a hairdresser for three weeks but hated it so got a job in the paper shop, Caldicot’s in Raglan.

"I then enrolled on a typing course at college for a year but didn’t like typing, moving from one job to another. Then, quite by fluke, I went to the job centre and saw a job for Snappy, the onehour photo shop in Woolco. Within six months I was a manager, becoming area manager and loved it.

"Photography was a passion for me when I was a child. It was the creative bit I suppose and I used to love looking at people’s photos. At 18, I visited Trafalgar Square and had always said I want to live in London one day, and that’s what happened. I moved to London and worked for City Photo. During my time there I met a man, with whom I moved back to Chepstow with and we and got married in Raglan. It ended very amicably after two years, without children and nothing to be bitter about.

Beverley and her now husband Mike

"I decided to return to London and work for Kodak in Hemel Hempstead where I had over 200 indirect staff and ten managers. I loved it and it was one of the best jobs I’ve had. The people were lovely and though there was pressure, it was a different pressure or maybe I was just younger. I later moved to the marketing department in head office, looking after budgets and the operational side. But in 2001 I thought I needed to change my life. Photography was moving into the digital-era and things were changing.

"I’d always said I wanted to live in Dublin so I visited Ireland for a weekend in 2001 and by June I was living there. When I arrived in the city I walked around with blisters on my feet looking for a job which I soon found with a car leasing company. After three and a half years I decided I wanted to come home. I was missing my family more and more. My mum and dad always said home is always here and we will be here to support you. I was happy in Ireland, but I was lonely.

"In 2004 I moved to Newport and worked on the railways. Then, I just got busy. There’s a saying which says depression isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign you’ve been strong for too long and it’s true. It wasn’t just the job specifically, although it was the main contributor, life in itself just spiralled out of control.

"In 2009 it got to a point when I started to have panic attacks at work and crashed out big time. I went through a period of dark depression. I was prescribed anti-depressants, saw two counsellors, self-harmed and contemplated suicide. It got to a point where I couldn’t get up in the morning. I thought, ‘I have to go to the doctors.’

"When he told me it was clinical depression and severe anxiety, I felt relief that it had a name. I thought ‘I’m a positive, upbeat person’ and I didn’t understand what had happened. I couldn’t get my head around how I had turned into this negative, untrusting, angry one. I took sick leave from my job and left in November 2009.

"I started to work on myself, taking baby steps. When I couldn’t get out of bed I would move from the bed to the sofa and that was an achievement for me. I couldn’t face crowds and couldn’t do public transport. I didn’t go to a supermarket for almost two years for fear of crowds. My apartment developed dry rot so became uninhabitable which coincided with relationship turmoil in my personal life but my family were so supportive.

"Raglan became my sanctuary. It’s a community that wraps itself around you. Over the Christmas and New Year, I thought: ‘That’s it. I’m not going to have another 2009 in 2010. I can never live that year again.’ I almost stood outside of my life and just looked back in and thought I can’t do this anymore. I had to sell my property. It took three months to renovate but it was massively therapeutic to be painting the house. I had some building work guys who came into the house and I was forced to communicate with the outside world.

"I started to talk about how I had depression and they started to share stories of neighbours and people they knew with depression. I was inspired by Sue Stone’s book, ‘Love Life, Live Life’ and knew I wanted to do what Sue does and help anyone who just wants to change their life and live life to their full potential.

"I signed up to a six-month home learning diploma and trained as a life coach before founding my life coaching business. In the beginning it was hard to find clients, but I had all this life experience and it was just a matter of getting the message out there.

"My book ‘Made It Thru The Rain to light the journey ahead’ was published in 2012 and it documents my road to recovery and beyond. It’s about how an ordinary life can become extraordinary and how experience can indeed be the greatest gift. I also became involved with ‘Time to Change Wales’ which is a national campaign to end the stigma faced by people with mental health problems.

Beverley Jones with her husband Mike on their wedding day

"It took five years to build my confidence enough to venture back into the corporate world as a consultant, but I did, now I work with businesses of all sizes assisting them with staff well-being alongside assisting small businesses as a mentor.

"When I returned home to Raglan I met my childhood sweetheart, Mike, an agricultural contractor, by chance outside the chip shop. He was my first boyfriend 31 years ago when I was seventeen. We were best friends for a long time before we re-kindled our relationship in 2011 and he is my rock. My mum and dad, Glenys and Melvyn Jones, who married at St Cadoc’s Church Raglan, recently celebrated their Diamond wedding anniversary on 22nd September. It is indeed the same church where Mike and I got married on October 8.

"As they play such an important part in our lives, their support means everything, we decided to dedicate part of our wedding reception celebrations to them to mark their anniversary, it certainly bought on some emotional tears for all guests. St Cadoc’s Church is for me the focal point of our community. In 2013 I became the community fundraising coordinator for the ‘Raise the Roof campaign where I was heavily involved in the four-year campaign to raise £400,000 to repair the roof of the Grade II-Listed St Cadoc’s Church in the village. Launched by the then-church vicar, Joan Wakeling, three parishioners and the committee, we raised £60,000 by holding fundraising events.

Beverley Jones' parents on their wedding day

"Today, people still ask me about my mental health. I’ll always be in recovery but know how to manage it and have learned that self-care is not selfish, that talking is the best medication and that using my experience to help others helps me to keep my equilibrium. Over the years I have shared my experience and talked openly about burnout with many organisations, groups and individuals, ranging from the South Wales Police to the NHS, large corporate organisations, schools and charities to help others not go down the path of burnout that I went.

"In these uncertain times life can be overwhelming and stressful. My aim is to help professional females and business owners embrace a simple life while enjoying working or growing a business. I have written and published six E-books, aimed at helping people to grow their business and also talking about mental health and am currently writing my seventh book. In the last twelve years I have won several awards, including Inspirational Speaker of the Year, Business Excellence in Mentoring and am an avid volunteer and supporter of charities.

"I run a successful Torfaen Breakfast Networking group which meets monthly at Greenmeadow Golf Club in Cwmbran and the annual ‘Mind, Body and Spirit Show’ at Chepstow Racecourse, now in its seventh year. Looking ahead, I have some exciting plans for next year, which include launching my burnout support retreat, my second published book and many more avenues to help others not go where I went."

To find out more visit www.awakenmentoring.co.uk