064 Exercise As A Business Tool With Pippa Tanko

Joining me on this week's episode is the vibrant Pippa Tanko. We unravel how staying active isn’t just great for the body, but is an essential tool for your business too!

We discuss how exercise benefits not only your physical health but also boosts your mental sharpness and productivity sky-high. Whether you're gearing up for a nerve-wracking pitch or simply tackling your daily to-do list, we look at how exercise can keep you on your A-game.

But that’s not all—Pippa shares some fascinating insights on how the rhythms of exercise fuel creativity in the world of photography. Plus, we talk about the art of storytelling and building a brand that truly resonates with people on an emotional level.

So, lace up your trainers, and let’s get moving with this dynamic conversation on “Exercise as a Business Tool”!

About Pippa Tanko:

Pippa is a strategy led brand photographer and visual image consultant who helps women to step into the best vision of themselves. Pippa knows that imagery can have a powerful impact on our businesses, and she is on a mission to use brand photography to empower female founders to become the face of their brands and build their confidence, brand recognition, and showcase their unique story to differentiate and make them stand out.

Pippa believes that we all have a story worth sharing and that we can use storytelling and photography to grow wildly profitable businesses while reflecting who we are.

https://andpip.co.uk/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pippatanko-brand-photographer/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pippattanko
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/andpip.co.uk/

About Sarah Bolitho:

Sarah Bolitho helps fitness and health professionals develop their careers and grow their businesses by providing specialist training in teaching, assessing, and internal quality assurance, together with qualifications in exercise referral and disability.   

With over 30 years in the health-related fitness and physical activity fields, Sarah has a wealth of experience and knowledge.  She has worked in most roles in the industry from group exercise to personal training but specialised in working with specialist populations.  For over 25 years Sarah has trained fitness and health professionals to work with clients with long-term conditions, mental health issues, disabilities, older adults and pre/post-natal women.  

She has a post-graduate diploma in exercise and health behaviour and extensive training in supporting behaviour change.  She has worked with awarding organisations to develop qualifications and training and with accreditation bodies to endorse high-quality non-regulated training. 

For more about the training and support Sarah offers, visit www.sarahbolitho.com or contact her at admin@sarahbolitho.com.

Follow her on social media
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fabnewlous_active_lives
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitnesscareer mentor
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahbolitho

Transcript

Sarah (00:02.382)

Hello and welcome to this episode of Creating Active Lives and my guest Pippa Tanko. We are talking about exercise as a business tool and this is kind of a really different take on exercise and business for me because obviously I'm in the business of exercise, it is my job, it is my vocation, it's my career. But actually Pippa is going to be talking about how she uses exercise as a tool in her business which is nothing to do with exercise.

Pippa is a strategy led brand photographer and visual image consultant and she helps women to step into the best vision of themselves. As a photographer and as you can imagine very creative people know that imagery can have a very powerful impact on our businesses, the way we present ourselves, the way we look, the way we show up on social media or in business, whatever. And she's very much on a mission to use brand photography to empower particularly female founders to become the face of their brands and build confidence, build their brand recognition, but also to be able to showcase their unique story to differentiate and make them stand out from others. And Pippa like me thinks we've all got a story to share. We've all got a story worth sharing. Sometimes we don't realize it, but sometimes that storytelling can really show up in our brands and in our images and just, as I say, really help us stand out and reflect who we are. So, Pippa, say hello and then tell us a little bit about exactly what brand photography is because there might be people out there wondering.

Pippa Tanko (01:35.058)

Hi, Sarah. Thanks so much for having me. It's great to be here. Yes. So, you know, brand photography is really anything that can showcase what your brand stands for from your brand personality, whether that's your personal brand, whether that's your business brand, to your values, what your brand values and what values it follows, to the story, the story of you know, how you got started or what got you into this field, whatever field it is. So really brand imagery is about telling the story of your business and helping your audience understand what you stand for.

Sarah (02:18.414)

I think for a lot of people out there, whenever you mention brand, people just think logo and colours, whereas actually, I know from speaking to other photographers, there's just so much more to it than that. It's reflected in everything and the photography is just a part of your brand, the logo is just a part, isn't it? And it's important to have a very cohesive and a very personal approach, even to a business.

Pippa Tanko (02:46.13)

Absolutely. And I think it's the strategy behind it that's really important because that leads into everything from your imagery to your logo, your brand colors, your kind of messaging and what you're trying to shout about. So I think it's that strategy piece that is really important when it comes to branding and building your brand and the story because people relate to stories really easily.

and stories being used for ages to communicate messages, but people can relate a lot to stories. And so it's helping people use their stories really to create their brand that I'm interested in.

Sarah (03:29.07)

I think it's so much more isn't it than just the way we look or the actual story. There might be things like, I don't know, I suppose it could be as massive as a big experience that you've had that you're sharing as part of your business or it could just be you're wearing a dress that other people think that's a really nice dress. There's so much to it isn't there? We're going to talk a little bit more about brand photography and everything that you do a bit later but coming back to exercise as a business tool.

You exercise regularly, but it definitely influences your approach to working with clients, to managing projects, to client interactions, doesn't it? So tell us a little bit more about how exercise contributes to your business rather than being the focus of your business.

Pippa Tanko (04:19.282)

Absolutely. So I think I was chatting to my husband about this recently, because I think what happens as business owners, we get really stuck into doing the do for the business. And so we're so busy plugging away, there's always so much to do as a business owner. But really, that gets to a point where we've been doing for so long, where we start to become inefficient, because we're getting tired, we're getting lethargic, our brain is getting overwhelmed.

And so that's when I find regular exercise really helps me kind of, and that one element is just getting away from my desk, getting away so that I can be clearer about what I'm trying to achieve and that it gives me a little bit of energy. But it's not the only way that's more kind of around stress management, I guess, to some degree. But I think where I find it most powerful, where I use it the most is when I'm preparing for a big event as a business owner. And that might be speaking at a big event or going on a podcast, for example, or I'm about to jump on a sales call with a big client that I'm really excited about working with. And that's when, you know, often that imposter syndrome starts to creep in. And so I find using exercise as a tool to get over that and prepare for those situations is hugely powerful and overlooked. And I actually have, I think I've told you the story, but I have an alley behind my house and I call it Power Alley. And when I'm getting ready for a really big sales call or I'm going in for a pitch for something, I actually leave space in my diary 15 minutes before that call to do a little march around the block and go up at Power Alley and really get my blood flowing and get my arms moving and kind of get myself into the zone, and having a bit of positive self -talk while I'm out there powering away and just getting that blood flow and that movement going is really powerful because then I come back with the right energy to be able to take on that call. It helps me with things like brain fog. When I'm so kind of engrossed in the work that I'm doing, sometimes that brain fog creeps in. So it just helps me get really clear.

And it gives me the time and the space to think about what outcomes do I want from this particular event called podcast? What am I hoping to to get? And so having that time, just 15 minutes to get blood flowing, it really helps engage my brain and get me moving and kind of in the right frame of mind.

Sarah (07:04.398)

It's interesting isn't it because you know anyone out there who exercises regularly and I'm not talking about just sort of general activity but if you actually go for a workout you warm up first and this is something we take for granted when we're going to do something physical you know we might stretch we might warm up whatever we'll rehearse what we're going to do we'll prepare we'll get ourselves up to a level where we're ready for the workout sort of thing but actually you're talking about things like a big event there's going to be an element of stress in anything, whether it's however confident you are as a public speaker, however you're confident you are on sales calls, when it matters, there is going to be a certain amount of stress. And that's our sympathetic nervous system, if you like kicking in, whoo, it's kind of an arousal thing. And the reason it does that is anyone who's listening will be familiar with fight or flight. It's preparing us for action. And what you're saying is I actually use that kind of nervous system response to act, to be active, to exercise, because then it means that I go into the event, the call, the podcast, whatever, calm.

Pippa Tanko (08:15.73)

Mm -hmm, exactly. And I'm a really big believer in like when you are feeling anxious or you are feeling nervous and taking some kind of action towards dealing with that, whether it be, you know, just take implementing something work -wise. But for me, even just that getting up, standing up, moving around the room and having that kind of action can hugely help. It makes you breathe differently. It opens up your lungs. It kind of opens up your body. You start using things, you can use things like power poses, which I am a strong believer in because it really opens everything up. It gets you standing tall. And even just a small thing like that, if you don't have a lot of time, can help. You might be backstage waiting to go on to a big event where you're speaking. Even just moving your body, you know, and just standing in those power poses can help. Just get you kind of using that fight or flight as a tool to kind of calm yourself and get ready for the action that you want to take in the podcast or event.

Sarah (09:26.766)

Yeah, and it's the best of both worlds, isn't it? It's the anticipatory response of the nervous system to prepare us for action, but it's also using the kind of the restfulness by doing the exercise. We're kind of we're getting rid of the unnecessary nerves, if you like, and we're just being left with the necessary ones that will help us perform better. And it's kind of shifting, you know, shifting that kind of that that fear or that anxiety.

Pippa Tanko (09:50.738)

Exactly.

Sarah (09:56.174)

It's like, whoa, I've brought that down, but I've got enough left to help me perform at my best. And I think that's it's it seems like such a good idea. And I know there's probably a lot of people out there like me who procrastinate exercise, if you like, when you've got something and your brain is just gone and everything and you know there's something really big and it's like, I'll go through. I'll go and do this. I'll do that. But it's there's almost an instinct is that I need to do something physical 

because then I'll be ready to do whatever it is I'm prepared for. So there's almost an instinct, but it's what you're doing is much more conscious. It's right. I've got this going on. This is going to help me do it. And I think that's, that's, you know, I'd say to anyone out there, even if it is literally a few seconds of power poses, if it's even if it's stretching or just mobility exercises, jumping up and down on the spot, even you try it, you might be very surprised about how, how different you perform afterwards. But it's one of the things that we've talked about before we've had a couple of chats is creativity and I know that again you find exercises really really helpful for creativity and it's something that I think a lot of people possibly do like I say you know I'll when I'm putting things off I'll go and do something physical and then I kind of get the answers and I know anyone who's listened to me will know that you know when I hike all these ideas come flooding in afterwards.

But I know we've talked about how important it is for your creativity to actually move your body.

Pippa Tanko (11:31.794)

Yeah, absolutely. I think for me, you know, you can't turn creativity on. We're so busy all the time and no one can say, right, right now, come up with this creative idea for the shoot that you could probably spitball some ideas. But really, you need space and time for creativity to kind of take hold. And so making sure I'm regularly going on exercise and just being outside in nature for me is really inspiring. Even using things like climbing up high on something or getting down low is really so important, especially from a photographer's point of view, because we're trying to capture things from different viewpoints, which means we're trying to look at things from different angles. And that's not only in the imagery, but the way we capture a brand as well. So even just using those in my walks before I'm planning a mood boarding session is going out for a walk and maybe climbing up a gate and just having a look from a different viewpoint or tree stump or, you know, just getting down low and taking note of the flowers and the grass or the insects and things while I'm out in nature.

And just that like element of, I guess that's just using different muscles in your body as well. And that gets the blood flowing in different ways, but it just helps me prepare for being creative. And I get inspired by looking at things from different viewpoints. You know, often we walk and we just walk in one direction. And I quite like to turn around and look back on where I've come from periodically through my walks, just to see it from a different perspective. 

Sarah (13:06.958)

And it is, obviously photography is a very, very creative business to have. It's a very, very creative thing to be doing. But I guess there's probably people think, well, it's just holding a camera, taking a few shots, things like that. But actually it is a very physical job as well, isn't it? It isn't just standing there, you know, reeling off a few shots. There's so much more physicality to it, isn't there?

Pippa Tanko (13:40.498)

there is a lot of physicality to it. You're carrying a big camera, you've got lots of lenses. So it is quite physically demanding. So making sure that you are prepared even for that is making sure I'm keeping my body fit, my upper body strength is there because otherwise you get things like camera shake. So it is very physical and I'm quite mentally and physically drained after a shoot. 

So I have to make sure that I'm taking time to recover after a shoot. So I'll never book in a hugely busy day, the day after I've been out on a shoot because it's also mentally quite demanding trying to think of all the different, a lot of the work that I do is trying to find different ways to showcase people in a way that hasn't maybe been done before is not common.

I think in social media, we see so many entrepreneurs sitting at a laptop drinking a cup of coffee. And so I don't want to create those samey boring images. I want to create different unique images that speak to the brand. So using energy and exercise to just help me come up with those ideas is really helpful.

Sarah (15:01.646)

And like you said, though, you don't just... When you photograph somebody, when you're on a shoot, it's not just standing in front of somebody, clicking away. It's different positions, isn't it? Different angles. So again, there must be an element of being, I suppose in my day we would call it limber, but being flexible, being able to get down, get up quickly to really capture different angles, like you say.

Pippa Tanko (15:22.898)

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So you get you doing lots of squats in a photo shoot, I find. I'm doing lots of lunges and squats, but it's also tiny little micro movements that you do with your neck and your shoulders, just to change that slight little angle or that slight little different, different angle that you're going for different look, or sometimes you're paying attention to what's in the background and there's a rubbish bin in the back there and you have to just move ever so slightly so you.

So you crop that out. So there's lots of these kind of very micro movements that you're doing. So you have to have quite a lot of core strength for that and just, you know, to keep yourself strong. Otherwise, you'll be a mess the next day and you won't be able to move, which nobody wants.

Sarah (16:09.038)

which nobody wants. So yeah, it's interesting though, isn't it? Because I think there's probably a lot of people saying, well, you know, I'm not a photographer or anything, but actually if you sit at a desk all day, some of your muscles are going to be overworked because they'll be working while you're sat at a desk. You can't relax all your muscles that sat at a desk, you'd slide off the chair. And again, it's, it's make taking those micro breaks, micro pauses if you like, just to move, just to mobilize, just to shake everything up, because like you say, you know, a lot of jobs have quite physical requirements in them, even if it's not running a marathon, but just the fact that you're on your feet, you're moving constantly for hours at a time, even though they're not big movements, like you say, if you're not fit, you will feel it the next day or the day after, and nobody really wants that, do they?

Pippa Tanko (16:52.722)

Yeah. No, and I actually find stretching hugely helpful with that. I stretch every single day, I stretch every morning, and I stretch every evening. And then even often in the middle, if I'm shooting, often I'm shooting for a half day or a full day, that's quite a lot of time on your feet holding a camera. So just taking regular breaks and stretching out my shoulders and kind of giving myself time to breathe.

And just even if we're breaking for lunch, I will say, I'm just going to take five minutes and I'll just do a quick whip around the building where we're shooting just to get moving and to help because otherwise I will just be a complete, you know, stiff ball of muscles when I get home that evening. So especially with the lots of squats and things like that. So just being able to stretch out. And I'm sure some of my clients will be able to tell you they've seen me kind of stretching and moving my neck and shoulders and kind of doing some exercises just to help relieve the tension that kind of gets caught in the muscles from doing these micro movements.

Sarah (18:08.782)

is something that just popped into my head is is it something that you would encourage people who are being in a photo shoot the actual the person that is being photographed is that something you would encourage them to do to relax them before a shoot during a shoot and things like that?

Pippa Tanko (18:27.25)

Yes, absolutely. So I talk about getting your body moving before you have a shoot. Often the shoot is quite physical because sometimes we'll be walking around London, for example, from one location to another doing different things, but each shoot is very different. But it is something I often tell my clients to do. I use movement and music as the two kind of tools I use for kind of helping them prepare on the day. So it's something that I encourage them to do on the morning of their shoot is make a playlist before the morning of the shoot that they can listen to, but just take some time to get out and move their body before the shoot because that just helps them step into their confidence.

Sarah (19:10.83)

That must make a big difference to the quality of the photographs and things like that. Now you also, we've talked about this a little bit beforehand and I definitely want to come back to it but you kind of use exercise as well as a full stop for your working day. So tell us a little bit about that because I think this is something that a lot of people I think I always recommend you do something active at the end of your working day because it means you stop basically, you stop working.

Pippa Tanko (19:41.01)

Exactly. Yes, I arranged to walk with either friends or I mentioned to you I'm doing the couch to 5k at the moment and which is an organized with the running club, local running club. And we meet twice a week at 630 in the evening. And as business owners, there's nobody telling us to stop working. There's no home time at the end of the day when the working week finishes because there's still a whole list of things that always needs to get done. And so what I find is I will just end up sitting at my desk till eight o 'clock at night working. And so I use exercise, organized exercise to make sure I don't sit there until eight o 'clock at night. And I actually get out and go and kind of de -stress really. I'm using the exercise at the end of the day, maybe to catch up with friends, but it gets me away from my desk. And it also helps me kind of decompress from everything I've got going on in my head that I'm trying to achieve that day.

And it just forces me to go away from my desk and not be glued to a desk trying to work harder.

Sarah (20:50.414)

It's something that I think, you know, we're all probably a little bit guilty of, but it's so easy to do, isn't it? Especially now that so many of us work from home. We have an office at home and it's very tempting to just, I'll just finish that or I'll just tie that up. And before you know it, three hours later, it's practically bedtime. And I honestly recommend to anybody out there that you build some sort of activity at the end of what would be the end of your working day with me, I tend to start working really early. So I'm done by about four o 'clock, 4 .30. I'll take the dog for a walk. Others, they might actually, like you say, work till six. But have something planned in because whatever your business is, but particularly if it's a creative business, you need to switch off. You need to stop working because otherwise you're just going to your mind's just going to be running around that hamster wheel and when you never step away from it, you don't get that creative kind of input that comes afterwards because you're always on.

Pippa Tanko (21:54.354)

Yeah, and also just to switch off from the work brain into your, it's time to relax, go to bed, you know, all of those things. So having that exercise gives you time to maybe process what you've been working on during the day, but it kind of gives you a break into then transitioning into, you know, not working and not being in that work. And for me, that's transitioning into being a good mom and spending time with the kids in the evening afterwards or even switching off in order to enable myself to go to sleep, because I think so many of us struggle with sleep and not being able to switch off our brains, particularly when you run a business, because there's always a new idea to implement or a request from a client to follow up with. So you're having that exercise to kind of break your work and transition into your home life is also very powerful.

Sarah (22:54.126)

It is, isn't it? And it's, as I say, something that I think I would recommend anybody does because it, it seems, there seems, when you do something physical, there seems to be a mental shift of leaving work. Whereas if you don't, you don't kind of leave work. Whereas that activity, that, that physical experience acts as a real kind of commute, if you like. It's like, no, I'm home now. Yeah.

Pippa Tanko (23:20.626)

Yeah, it does. I mean, literally, I work in my garden and the shed at the end of the garden. And so I can walk back to the house, but I'm still thinking about the emails I have to send the, you know, editing that's still in my queue to be done that call I need to make all of those things. And so I'm still not present because I've still got that. But if I go to exercise, the exercising just by nature, stops you thinking because you start having to think about something else, right? I've got to remember to breathe and I've got to put one foot in front of the other, you know, and all of these things. And then before you know it, you're out of that work head into kind of that exercise head again, which is for me is where I get to really empty my head and not think about anything hugely important. And that just gives me the mental break that I need at the end of the day.

Sarah (23:53.706)

And obviously with photography you've got the physical side with the shoots, but there's also the sat in front of a computer editing. And again, do you find that having regular breaks to do something helps with that as well?

Pippa Tanko (24:31.442)

Absolutely, and I actually build that into my editing process. So I only, I'm not allowed to edit for more than 40 minutes at a time because I start to get sloppy with my editing. And so it doesn't actually, it's not serving me because I'm then having to go back and re -edit images at a later stage that weren't edited properly. So I actually set an alarm for 40 minutes. And then when that 40 minutes is up, I just get up, I might just go and make a cup of tea in the house. But it just gets me moving. It gets me away from the desk. And sometimes I'm doing little calf raises while I'm boiling the kettle or things like that, just to use my body and just breathe. And sometimes I just dance around my garden, I skip across the lawn to the house. So my neighbours think I'm crazy.

Sarah (25:20.558)

Another good tip. I love your calf raise as well. Yeah, but again, if people sat down a lot during the day, calf raises are one of the best things you can do while you're waiting for the kettle to boil or whatever. Ideally standing, but you could do them seated as well because it just helps to pump the blood back to the heart and get your circulation going. So, you know, even if that's all you were to do, it's going to have a beneficial effect and you end up with nice calves as well, which is always a bonus. But it is, isn't it?

Pippa Tanko (25:45.17)

Yes, and I actually have a standing desk as well. So if I'm really busy and I am struggling to get away, it means I can just change positions. So I'm just standing halfway through and then sitting back down again. So there are times where we've got a deadline and there's something that needs getting done, but just having that kind of built into my workstation means that I get to stand up and move while I'm still, you know.

Sarah (25:54.798)

Mm. Yeah, at least your changing position. And as I say, you know, particularly if people are at their desk for a long period of time, you know, having those movement breaks, activity, you can call it, but having those little breaks can really boost your productivity. Even if you're tired, you're flagging, just ideally get outside. Even if you just stand out in the fresh air and walk up and down the garden or walk around the block for five minutes, you will boost your productivity. It might not be obvious to you at first, but after a while, when you don't do it, you'll notice that you just get, like you say, you get sloppy, you make mistakes, and I'll go back sometimes and I'll look at things that I've typed and I'll be thinking, you know, who on earth has come in and changed all this spelling to awful variations? And it's like, no, it's me, because I've just not paid attention. And I'm like you, I'm quite strict in that I won't work for longer than sort of 45 minutes to an hour without some sort of break and again I'm one of these people that I don't drink my coffee and my tea as I'm working I take a break to drink it and then I'll come back mainly because I hate cold coffee but it is it is it's it's such an important part isn't it of as a tool for business I think exercise and activity is very very underrated and you've just showed us brilliantly how important it is to you and I think -

Pippa Tanko (27:39.474)

And I think also, you know, as business owners, we kind of get sucked into what we're doing and we forget. So that's why using things like timers to force us to have those movement breaks can be really helpful. I also have a post -it note stuck above my computer says, don't forget to move. And I think, you know, we also, if we haven't built it into our routine or the way that we work, we kind of forget about it. We stop doing it and then all of a sudden we're super stressed. We're not being productive and we're just feeling really low and we're wondering why we're not doing these things. And then we remember to do it. And then we're like, why wasn't I doing this? Why wasn't I doing this before? So I think, you know, if you can build it into some kind of routine for yourself, like, you know, forcing yourself to meet someone after work or having an alarm that you set that gets you away from your desk, having a visual reminder that's going to remind you to do that. Then it's in front of you all the time and it becomes just part of the way that you work. And I think that's very powerful.

Sarah (28:45.934)

It is, isn't it? And it's also like habit stacking, as we know, is a really good way of creating new habits. But it's things like say, if you've got children, tell them we will go for a walk at half past five today because they won't, you know, they can't, they can't remember sort of if they brush their teeth or not. But they will remember you said that two weeks ago. But it's, you know, rope other people in, involve other people, because, you know, even five minutes will boost your productivity and you just won't believe how much it's been boosted. So coming back to photography then, tell me about some of your favourite success stories with clients.

Pippa Tanko (29:25.042)

my gosh, I think there are just so many. I think one of my favourite brands that I've worked with or still work with today is a jewelry brand that just had such an incredible story. And what was really interesting about her is that she didn't understand, she didn't think she had a story that was worth sharing. She didn't think it linked to what she does. And she owns her, her name is Stacey and she owns a jewelry shop in Brighton called Aquila. And she actually sources her jewelry from places that she's travelled to and has an emotional connection with. And she goes back to those places time and time again, and they're all hot, warm, sunny destinations. So helping her see that that was something different that she could use as a marketing tool, but was really like close to her, and part of her journey and how she discovered the first silversmith she discovered was a family of silversmiths that they passed down those kind of traditions of the type of metalwork that they did from, you know, members of the family to their children and their children's children. And that's how she, that's what she fell in love with. 

And it's such a powerful story. And it's one that we use through her brand from her product images to her personal brand images to the images of her team is thinking about how can we tell, well, how can we keep telling that story? How can we incorporate the travel and the warmth and the sunshine and the connection piece through her personal brand? So for me, that's probably a really good success story because when she came to me, she didn't think she had an exciting story to talk about.

Sarah (31:08.381)

Do you think as well that these days there's so much cheap, fast fashion, jewellery, things like that out there? And do you know what? If that's what people want, no judgement here. But I think there are a lot of people who want something that's got more of a story, that's got something different about it, something unique, something that isn't cheap or fast necessarily. But that has a meaning to it and that must be something that must be so exciting to bring that to life in the brand, you know, not just the shot, but the whole carrying it through a whole brand into who the person is.

Pippa Tanko (31:50.77)

Yeah, and even the people that are buying the jewelry, they're buying into that story of going on holiday to warm sunny destinations, that boho kind of idealist life where we're traveling three times a year to warm sunny destinations and just living that lifestyle. So I think it speaks to a lot of inspirations for people, people that are aspiring to to travel more and go on warm sunny holidays. I'm South African, so I'm always up for a warm sunny holiday.

Sarah (32:24.486)

I was going to say it's it's either aspirational in that that's what you want to do and it's something you've got you're you're bringing a little bit of someone else's experience back which is something you aspire to but I think there's also reminiscence as well of gosh that that reminds me of the holiday I went on and you know so many of us have got absolutely loved pieces of jewelry clothing things like that that we've picked up on holidays and and quite often because our style changes over the years.

We don't wear them anymore, we don't use them anymore, but we cannot get rid of them because it just evokes those powerful memories. And I'm guessing that that's what you try and do with a brand. It isn't just, here's what I do, but in the ideal client, it's evoking memories or aspirations, as you say. 

Pippa Tanko (33:14.386)

Absolutely, and hopefully they'll go on to make memories with those jewelry pieces. If you think about it, I don't know, something gets damaged or stolen or burnt in a fire. The thing that people always say is, it's irreplaceable because of the memories, the memories that it holds. So that's what we're trying to, it's that sentimental, absolutely value to those things. So that's what we're trying to  instil in her brand. And so we've been working together for about four or five years now. And it's just been so great to see how her brand has slowly come alive and been shaped by the stories and the various different elements that we've incorporated into it. But you know, not everybody has that kind of story. Some people come to me and they say, I don't have that kind of story, but eventually we'll dig down and we'll find, and I find I've never found someone who hasn't got something in their history that connects them in to what they do today. And I think if you can find that connection and you can tell that story, so many people will relate to it because it's real.

Sarah (34:19.726)

It will and it's just lovely to hear how kind of being active, exercising, things like that helps you with that process as well, because it's, you know, I think sometimes we separate business and activity and things, but actually like you've talked so brilliantly about it, exercise and activity can be a really, really useful tool in your business to benefit both your physical health, mental health, creativity, and just kind of useful, isn't it, in so many ways?

Pippa Tanko (35:02.45)

Yeah, absolutely. And I don't think I would have a successful business without that element, to be honest. I think especially from a mental health point of view and just a general fitness point of view, I think none of us want to work until we're 100. We want to, at some point, stop working. And we rely on our health in order to be able to keep going and be good family members, mums for me in my case, and good business owners and good wives or husbands. And I think that exercise is so crucial in helping us do that.

Sarah (35:40.59)

It is and you know, I think more and more now people are getting to retirement age and they're not thinking, look, retirement age time to slow down. They're actually thinking, retirement age. Now it's time to actually speed up and start doing all those things that I've put off. So again, you know, not just actually for your business now, it's also a kind of your banking health and ability and functional ability for when you don't work or you do less work as well. So I think, you know, that's another reason, isn't it? Not just all the things we've talked about, but you are, you're banking your, your ability and your health for, for when you have got more time to do the things you want to do rather than suddenly realizing, actually I'm not healthy enough to do any of them. I just have to read about them. Yeah. Cool. So now it's all right. Any last bits of advice that you would give to people who are sitting whether they're into photography or anything else, but who are business people thinking, yeah, but you don't understand, I haven't got the time and things. Is there anything you would say?

Pippa Tanko (36:45.714)

I would say if you're using “I don't have time” as an excuse, you just need to make time. I know that we're all busy, but actually you can't afford not to do this because what you're doing is not as efficient as if you were doing it. So it will take you 10 times longer if you don't walk or get out and move your body. So make the time, carve out time, build that routine, build in the exercise into your routine and the different elements. Like I said, when I've got a sales call, I walk down, you know, power alley behind my house and that's built into my routine. So I make sure I'm doing that because it will have such a positive impact on your business that actually that 10 minutes that you've spent walking down power alley will be, you know, half an hour saved on low productivity. So it's definitely I think, you know, you can't afford not to make the time you just have to keep yourself accountable. Like you said about telling your kids you're going for a walk. And at certain times, my husband will also come over at lunchtime, he also works from home. So he'll will agree on a time in the morning and what time we're going to walk at lunchtime, and then we will, we'll keep each other accountable to that. So if you've  got some way of keeping yourself or getting someone to help you stay accountable, that's also hugely helpful. So I think those would be my tips on using exercise to be really productive.

Sarah (38:22.446)

It is. And if you haven't got somebody local that you can do this with, you know, the worst case scenario, get some headphones, get your phone and have a phone conversation with somebody for five or 10 minutes that you otherwise wouldn't because again, it's using time. Pippa, thank you so much for coming on to talk to us. Where can people find you if they want to find out more about what you do?

Pippa Tanko (38:42.13)

So I am about to launch my new website, which is www.andpip.co.uk. It's eminent. I'm thinking two or three days and it'll be up. But if you go there, it will redirect you to my old site anyway. So yeah, if you look at the website, you can also look on my social media channels. I'm Pippa Tanko on LinkedIn and Pippa on Instagram and Pippa Tanko on Facebook. So reach out to me in any of those places. Follow me. You know, look at what I'm doing. I often run various different things. So I'd love to hear from anyone.

Sarah (39:25.262)

Brilliant and thank you so much for coming along because as I say this is something that I think could benefit so many different people to start thinking about exercise as a business tool in the same way that you would use I don't know Asana or Outlook or chat GPT this is a business tool to definitely use so Pippa thank you so much for coming along and I will see everybody else soon.

Pippa Tanko (39:50.674)

Thanks, Sarah.