How To Start Up by FF&M
How To Start Up is helping founders decide what to do now, next, or never when starting & scaling a business. I'm your host Juliet Fallowfield, founder of the podcast production & PR consultancy Fallow, Field & Mason & my aim is that each episode focuses on solving one clear, specific problem faced by all startup founders & small business owners. And if you can’t find your answer, DM us!
Episodes cover practical topics including starting a business, scaling a startup, founder mental health & wellbeing, writing a pitch deck, raising investment, hiring & managing teams, PR & marketing, customer acquisition, & navigating the realities of entrepreneurship.
How To Start Up is designed to provide practical startup advice, real-world insights, & reassurance from experienced entrepreneurs, operators, & experts, so founders can make better decisions with confidence.
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How To Start Up by FF&M
2 How to manage your mental health, Matt Johnson
In this episode, I’m joined by Broadcaster & Mental Health Ambassador, Matt Johnson for a grounded, practical conversation about letting go of archetypes and expectations and instead getting honest about who you are, where your patterns come from, and how to forgive yourself and start again with intention.
We talk about purpose, motivation and self-doubt, why kindness to yourself is not optional, and how - particularly if you’re self-employed - you can create your own validation. Matt shares practical ways to regulate your mental health, from journalling and movement to breathwork, meditation, nature and switching off screens, and why being proactive with these tools doesn’t just prevent burnout, but makes life easier and happier overall.
Matt's advice:
- Don’t be concerned with archetypes, be what you want to be
- Face up to what you are - and work out why, where things come from
- Then forgive yourself
- Start again: what do you want?
- Try to be more purposeful, better motivated
- Ignore the self-doubts and be kind to yourself
- If you’re self-employed (no appraisal, no Christmas party) try to find substitutes for these things
- Provide your own validation, remind yourself of your own worth
- When things don’t work out, don’t always blame yourself
- Find out how to regulate your mental health, what works for you (journalling/yoga/breathwork/meditation/nature/no screens)
- Be proactive about using these coping mechanisms
- Impose boundaries and stick to them (especially with social media)
- This will a) prevent burnout and b) make life easier and happier!
FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts.
Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2025 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.
MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence
