Trailer: 12 Days of Christmas - your guide to health & wellness this festive period

As the year draws to a close, many founders feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and stretched thin - while being told to relax, be festive, and switch off, but it isn't always possible. 

This trailer introduces How To Start Up’s 12 Days of Christmas mini-series: a calm, practical collection of short episodes designed to support founder health during one of the hardest times of the year.

With insights drawn from four years of conversations and over 140 guests, this special edit brings together expert guidance to help founders rest, reset and regain perspective.

What this series covers:

1. Imposter syndrome and how to work with it, not against it — with coach Hamish Mackay-Lewis
2. Founder mental health and self-reflection — with Matt Johnson
3. Stress prevention and burnout — with Nina Nesdoly
4. Using breath to regulate your nervous system — with Jamie Clements
5. Nutrition and energy for founders — with Jenna Hope 
6. Mobility, posture, and physical resilience — with Tim Blakey
7. Sleep - with Professor Russell Foster
8. Personal branding boundaries and social media pressure — with Eshita Kabra-Davies
9. Building emotionally intelligent teams — with Daisy Bird
10. Money, cash flow, and the emotional weight of finances — with Rachel Harris
11. Female founder health and working with your cycle — with LeNise Brothers
12. Productivity culture and redefining success — with Emily Austen

Each episode is 30 minutes, designed to be easy to take in - whether you’re lying on the sofa, heading out for a quiet walk, or simply needing space to breathe.

This is not hustle content. It’s thoughtful, practical support for founders who need care, clarity, and steadiness as 2026 comes into view.

🎧 The 12 Days of Christmas from How To Start Up begins on Christmas Day.
Normal programming resumes in January 2026.

Produced by Juliet Fallowfield, www.fallowfieldmason.com 2025 

If you enjoy the series, please rate and review the podcast — it makes a meaningful difference to the show being discovered and helps support its future.

Transcript

[00:00:00] 

Juliet Fallowfield's video recording-1: As the year draws in, founders feel worn, burnt out by the days they keep pushing through till dawn, stretch at the seams yet told to unwind. Be present, be festive. Be light of mind. but hear this now and hear it clear. This feeling is normal at this time of year. Our how to start up guests say the same.

You are not alone and you are not to blame. So lean into rest. Let the noise fall away because something gentle starts on Christmas day. 12 days of calm in episodes short, 30 minutes of care, not effort or sport. We cover the weight found quietly. Hold. Stress, sleep. Self-doubt. The stories we're told.

Imposter thoughts. The voice that persists. All met with care, nothing dismissed. So take half an hour, lie down or walk slow. Let stillness arrive. Let your breathing go. Expert leg guidance. Steady and true. Small words, real help just for you.

The construct of the ego is gonna still tell you that you haven't got there, that you're not [00:01:00] enough.

Matt Johnson: Stop and ask yourself what do you need, 

Nina Nesdoly: Burnout happens when your demands exceed your resources.

We can use our breath consciously to shift our state physically, mentally or emotionally.

Jamie Clements: Your body's so focused on digesting your food that the melatonin isn't going to be as efficient.

Jenna Hope: and you're just infinitely more productive and it just shows 

Tim Blakey: How tied our physical health is to our mental and business health

most people don't have a sleep problem.

Russel Foster: They actually have an anxiety and a stress problem.

Eshita Kabra-Davies: I don't want to feel like if I'm not feeding the monster, which is social media, that I will be forgotten.

Having empathy and being able to read mood and sentiment

Daisy: not just our clients, but our colleagues.

Rachel: Personal sacrifice has been far greater than anything I ever thought it would be.

There's this girl boss, hustle mentality of like I just need to be working.

LeNise Brothers: There's a negative performative culture that exists around productivity.

Emily Austen: I think

Look, successful and unsuccessful people have the same f**cking goal