In episode 360 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Tom Maberly.
Tom is now a decade into managing his own business, &FRIENDS, a content studio servicing global clients with content strategy, creative, production and delivery.
He is also CEO of a second business, Cavalry, a Contingent workforce management system, servicing marketing, creative and production agencies, and inhouse teams.
Tom founded &FRIENDS alongside two business partners, Matt and Julian.
In 2018, Julian wanted to move his family to Australia as his wife is Australian, so Tom and Matt came together and agreed to buy his share of the business out. Matt became Head of Business development and Tom became Managing Director.
The business continued to grow fast, and their success was recognised with a holding group’s offer to buy them – they got close to a deal but pulled back.
They were then approached by an Australian based business, Cavalry freelancing, who had offices in Sydney and Singapore, about the prospect of a merger, and they agreed, with &FRIENDS acquiring Cavalry in March 2022, taking on the Cavalry proprietary tech.
It wasn’t plain sailing after the merger and it was a big learning curve for both Tom and Matt.
Unfortunately, during this period, Matt’s mental health was also beginning to decline severely.
Tragically, on April 16th 2023, Matt took his own life. It was a huge shock for Tom and the whole organisation. Tom as MD had to steady the ship, support his team whilst also grieving himself.
Just two months before that, on February 16th 2023, Tom’s brother had also taken his own life.
In this episode we discuss Tom’s professional journey and the events around his brother’s and Matt’s deaths.
We then compare the experience of the two griefs as Tom’s brother had a history of mental illness, whilst Matt didn’t.
We talk about how he processed the two deaths and why Matt’s death, in his words, gave Tom an ‘excuse’ to take action on his mental health, where previously he felt too stigmatised to do so without it and take those first steps on the road to recovery.
As always, #itsokaytovent
TRIGGER WARNING: this podcast contains a deep discussion about grief, loss and the impact that losing a loved one to suicide can have, which some listeners may find distressing or upsetting, so please listen with caution.
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