My early days with Juniper

Having worked with Nicki on a couple of projects in the past, I couldn’t wait to get started as part of the Juniper team. Much of my experience has been working in sport and the equestrian world, so I was really looking forward to bringing my writing and project management skills to a new adventure.

So far, I am loving the opportunity to be creating content to amplify the great work that the Juniper team is doing. A lot of my time so far has been spent immersing myself in our project work and the programmes that we run, learning as much as I can. Seeing participants experience that golden ‘a-ha moment’ during a workshop is so rewarding and well worth the care and thought that goes into creating the learning materials.

There have been plenty of a-ha moments of my own over my first few months. Working in learning and development certainly encourages you to think about your own journey, and it has been refreshing to take the time to evaluate my goals and ways of working. When you are communicating great advice from the team, such as ‘Take time to stop and look at the bigger picture’, or ‘We can learn as much, if not more, from our failures than we can from our successes,’ you cannot help but be inspired.

The Juniper Co. calendar has also been a great addition to my desk, full of food for thought and words of wisdom from inspiring figures in history. The quote for June came from the President of the McChrystal Group Leadership Institute, Chris Fussell, who has dedicated much of his career to empowering teams to work together to create success. He said, “Your organisational rhythm should value purpose over habit and effectiveness over efficiency.” It has been interesting to explore our purpose as a team and to each consider our ‘why’. We have shared our thoughts in this newsletter, so have a read. For me, it is ultimately about being able to communicate things in the best possible way – to make life easier for people and to help them feel more fulfilled. I look forward to continuing to bring this to my new role.

Outside of work, most of my free time is currently being taken up by my young Labrador puppy called Isla. I had forgotten how much work a young dog can be, and she certainly enjoys testing my patience and resolve! However, training her is proving to be more rewarding than I ever could have imagined, and seeing her happy little face at the end of a day for cuddles is the perfect way to relax after work (in between the puppy biting that is!).

I am also a keen wildlife photographer and recently managed to take a few days away from my desk (and Isla, thanks to my parents!) to head over to the remote island of Skomer in Pembrokeshire. For me, there are few better ways to relax and reflect than within the beauty and tranquillity of our wild spaces.

I had a fantastic time photographing the incredible array of life on the island, but it was undoubtedly the puffins that stole my heart! They are such little characters and emerge each time from their burrows as if seeing the world anew. Despite the challenges – facing a mob of angry seagulls three times your size whilst trying to bring home dinner did not look much fun – they start each adventure with such an air of positivity. A little stretch, a flap of the wings, and out to face the world. I love the lessons that we can learn from nature.

Feeling refreshed (and with several thousand images to edit) I am now back in the office and looking forward to what the next few months will bring.