Mint & Lemon

Founder & CEO

Plumm

Head of Sales & Customer Success

Head of Sales and Founding Member

London & Partners

International Trade Program

AVORA

Enterprise Sales

RebelMouse

Technical Business Development

eDreams ODIGEO

Group Insurance and Ancillary Revenue Product Manager

Intelligent Environments

Graduate Trainee

Armani Exchange

Sales Consultant

LK Bennett

Internship - Wholesale Department

Founder & CEO @ Mint & Lemon 🍋 | Building personal brands for startups founders and CEOs | Speaker | Startup Advisor

Hi, I’m Elisabetta 🙋🏻‍♀️ My journey has been defined by resilience, self-belief, and a commitment to continuous learning. From navigating language barriers to building and leading teams in successful startups, I’ve proven that determination and grit can take you anywhere.

I’m passionate about personal branding and the power it has to transform careers and open doors. LinkedIn has been a game-changer for me, and I believe it can do the same for you.

Here’s what we can help you achieve:

- Attract inbound sales
- Spark investor interest
- Attract and keep top talent
- Land speaking gigs and podcast invites
- Expand your network and business opportunities

Ready to take your personal brand to the next level?

✋🏼 Book a call here to work with us: https://shorturl.at/PuMgl

✋🏼 Want only a one-off LinkedIn power session? Book a call here: https://shorturl.at/oih3f

✋🏼 Brand Partnerships - Work with me on an influencer campaign: https://shorturl.at/7Syv7

Elisabetta Torretti

I’m in a pod.

There I say it.

With my parents.
Not by choice.
By love.

Every time I post, they’re there.
Always the first like.
Always the sweet comment.
Always showing up in ways I never asked for… but always needed.

They’ve been cheering for me since before I even knew what I wanted to do.

We talk about growth, reach, engagement.
But honestly?
Nothing beats your parents rooting for you like you’re still five years old, showing them your first drawing.

Who’s that for you?
Hold them close.
They matter more than the algorithm ever will ❤️

No one understands the LinkedIn algorithm.

And I repeat, NO ONE.

We can guess.
But we don’t understand it.

So stop assuming everyone else has it figured out.
They don’t 🤷🏻‍♀️

My 10 non-negotiable daily rules:

• No work after 7 pm
• 4-day working week
• No-meetings Wednesdays
• 9–11 am = focus time
• Max 5 meetings per week
• Don’t check messages before 9 am

And that’s the recipe for success 👌🏼

Hold on…

Who am I kidding 😆

I break all of these rules.
(OK… I try really hard with number 6 😂)

Fun fact: founder life is 89% NOT fun.

But here’s the other side of it:
• No holiday approval needed
• I get to work wherever I want
• I get to work with whoever I want
• I choose my own team

So yeah…
Not that bad 😉

Networking events are useless.

Most of them are just a peacock show.
Everyone’s “doing amazing.”
Their business is “booming.”
Life’s great, clients are rolling in, and everything’s wow.

Meanwhile, you’re standing there thinking, what the hell am I even doing here?

You barely have one proper conversation. It’s too loud, too big, too much.
You just end up collecting LinkedIn connections you’ll never speak to again.

I’ve stopped going.

If I’m going to meet people, I’d rather do it one-on-one or a more intimate small group of people.
Grab a coffee. Have a real chat.

Honestly, some of the best people I’ve met came through LinkedIn.
We started chatting online, met in person, and built something meaningful.

That’s the kind of networking I’ll keep doing 👌🏼

JSESSIONID

(19) Feed | LinkedIn

LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn

li_at

Talks about #belonging, #wellbeing, #leadership, #mentalhealth, and #diversityandinclusion

I fired someone last week.
It was the last straw.
They cost me money, time, and two great leads.

And yes, they were “always available.”

But they didn’t reply fast enough.

They forgot things. 
Always dropping the ball at the worst moment.

Turns out… the person I fired was me.

Or at least, the version of me who still tried to manually qualify every inbound lead while juggling calls, client work, and life.

My inbox wasn’t the problem.
My process was.

So I built myself a replacement.
A Lead Qualifier Agent with Zapier.

Now every time a new lead lands, it instantly:
→ Reads the message
→ Pulls out the important bits
→ Scores the lead
→ Categorises the intent
→ Sends the qualified ones straight into my CRM
→ And pings me on Teams only when I actually need to jump in

No delays.
No chaos and drama.
No money slipping through the cracks.

My stack?
Outlook → ChatGPT OpenAI → Excel → HubSpot → MS Teams.

Zero code.
Zero overwhelm.
Just speed.

If you’re tired of being the bottleneck in your own business…
👉 Try building your own Zapier Agent: https://lnkd.in/eb9nMWBx

Psst: don’t tell anyone… but it’s kind of my new BFF 😆

#ad #ZapierPartner

Brand partnership • Founder & CEO @ Mint & Lemon 🍋 | Building personal brands for startups founders and CEOs | Speaker | Startup Advisor

Since when did we start announcing how much money we make on LinkedIn?!

Stop the peacock show.

The more you flex numbers, the faster you lose trust.
And btw, it’s a big sign of insecurity, not success.

PSA: Translating a post you stole is still STEALING.

Some of the posts we write for our clients do REALLY well.
Great reach. Great engagement. Literally going viral.
(and no, no cheatsheets or billboard quotes)

But then I see the same post…
..copy–pasted.
Same structure.
Same lines.
Just in another language 🤦🏻‍♀️

And people genuinely think no one will notice?

Guys.
Come on.

You’re out here building companies, hiring teams, raising money… but you can’t write one original thought?
And the worst part?
You don’t even try to hide it.
It’s THAT obvious.

Even my own posts have been copied.
At this point, I don’t even get mad, it’s just embarrassing...

And yes, this thing has a word: PLAGIARISM. 

Be inspired, sure.
Steal the inspo, fine.
But copying the whole post and running it through Google Translate?

Please...

Write your own stuff.
Or hire someone who can.

Originality isn’t extinct. Some of you just stopped trying.

*Pic of me when I see copy-and-pasted posts 🤦🏻‍♀️

Waitrose won Christmas this year 🎄

Hands down.

They didn’t go over the top.
They didn’t force it.
They just told a story we all felt.

They brought back Love Actually.
Keira Knightley.
That iconic scene.

And suddenly.. we were all transported back to 2003.
22 years ago.
How wild is that?

And yet… it feels like yesterday.
Emotions are the same.
The nostalgia is the same.
The warmth is the same.

That’s the power of great storytelling.
Just pure, human emotion tied to a moment we all remember.

Waitrose absolutely smashed it.
Kudos to their creative team.

PS: Link to the video in the comment section 👇🏻

You’ve Googled yourself..
haven’t you?
Confess..we all had..

But have you ever ChatGPT’d your brand?
Or asked Perplexity or Gemini what they say about you?
No, right? Me neither..

And when I finally tried, it made me stop for a second.
Because this is what people are doing now.
They’re not opening ten browser tabs anymore.
They’re asking one question to an AI tool and making decisions from that.

I see this with founders all the time.
They’re active, they’re creating, they’re present online…
but only in the places they use.
Not the places their prospects use.

And that gap can be HUGE.

That’s why I’ve been using Semrush One.
For me, it’s become a quick way to see how a brand shows up across Google and in AI search.
Search questions people are asking.
What’s landing.
What’s missing.
Where they appear.
Where they disappear.

Just a clearer picture of what people actually see when they look your brand up.

If you’ve never checked how your brand appears outside Google, it’s worth doing out of curiosity alone.
You can try it here: https://bit.ly/4o8GI9O 


#SemrushPartner

Jessie and I have been flirting for 2 months.

Me: “Oh, I like her content. Let me like it.”
Her: “Oh, I like Eli's post. Let me comment on it.”

And on and on and on.
That’s how it all started, two women cheering for each other (don't worry, no pods involved lol) just genuine appreciation for each other’s voice and stories.
But we never really spoke.

Then I realised she was in London.
So, of course, I said, “We should meet.”
And she said, “Absolutely, let’s do it.”

Finally got to meet her, and let me tell you, she’s an HR Queen 👑

We discovered we have so much in common:
We both come from HR backgrounds.
We both love ops, but neither of us likes doing it.
We both love creativity and content creation (and she’s so good at it).
We both hate networking events but love meeting new people.
We’re both immigrants who learned a new language from scratch - me English, her German.
We’ve both built businesses from the ground up.

She’s worked so hard to build something out of nothing. And she’s done it all while being a wonderful mum to her little one.
So here’s to Jess - for building a strong, relatable, and real personal brand.
For keeping it authentic when it’s so easy to sound like everyone else.

Cheers to more coffee chats, whether it’s in London or Berlin next time ☕💜

Helping you navigate HR tech | Founder @ Stakkd | HR Tech Queen | Speaker | Boy Mum

"30 years ago, I had 0 followers, 0 presence on LinkedIn.."


Please guys, give me a break 😆

There’s ONE thing that consistently grows your top of funnel, and most people never start it.

It’s great seeing more people finally use LinkedIn properly.
Showing up.
Sharing what they know.
Building a bit of momentum.

But almost no one thinks about what happens after someone lands on their profile.
Or how to stay in front of people who already like their content.

That’s usually where a newsletter does the heavy lifting.
(yep, that simple)

A lot of people love the idea of a newsletter, but the minute they open most tools, everything feels too complicated.
Too many steps.
Too much design work.
Too many settings that make you want to close the tab and try again another day.

So they push it back.
A LOT.
Only because the tech turns something simple into admin.

But when I started using ActiveCampaign, the whole experience felt completely different.

It’s straightforward.
Everything is where you expect it to be.
Blocks stay where you put them.
Formatting behaves.
You can create a clean, simple layout without feeling like you need a PHD.

And this is where Active Intelligence really shows up.
It doesn’t just organise your newsletter, it analyses it.
Spots what’s working.
Flags what isn’t.
Gives you quick optimisation prompts so your marketing runs with less busywork.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a newsletter but keep putting it off, it might not be the idea that’s the problem.
It might just be the tool you’re using.

If you want to try it out, here’s the free trial link 👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/eD42KC7F 
﻿
#ActiveCampaignPartner

I receive this type of message at least once a day..

..did you check my profile?

Clearly not, but that's still ok. 
I understand that automating outreach might be the most efficient way, and I don't blame people for that.

But at least get an exclusion list where you put all your competitors, or vet your outreach list before starting a campaign. 
It's just basic outreach rules 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do NOT start your own business

(I meant, not yet..)

Instead:
- Go work for a startup
(The earlier stage, the better. If you can join as one of the first employees? Even better)
- See the messy start. Feel the growing pains
(That’s how you prepare for what’s coming when it’s your turn)
- Try different roles. Explore different markets.
(You’ll quickly learn what you love and what you don’t)

Then ask yourself:
do I enjoy the chaos?
do I handle the pressure?
do I actually like the pain?

If the answer is YES, then go build your thing.

And honestly, there’s no right or wrong path.
Plenty of successful founders never worked in startups.

But this path? 
It gives you an edge. It prepares you for the reality behind the “entrepreneur” title.

Ciao 🫡

If you’ve ever opened your inbox and felt attacked… same.

I used to spend half my day replying, chasing, organising, rewriting, and trying to remember what was said in which meeting.

My workflow wasn’t broken.
It was chaotic.

Then I tried Noota.
At first, just for meeting notes.
But it didn’t stop there.

It started organising my inbox.
Drafting my follow-ups.
Summarising my calls.
Connecting my conversations in one place.
No more “Where did we say this?”
No more information living in seven different tools.

And now they’ve launched Noota 360 - the full upgrade.
Meetings, emails, calls, actions.
All talking to each other.
All in one sovereign workspace.
It’s the calm my brain needed.

So yes… when they told me their Black Friday deal was 50% off annual plans, once a year only, it felt like a no-brainer to share it.

If you want less chaos, more clarity, and a workflow that actually saves you time, try it.
There’s a free trial.
And the upgrade is half price 👇🏻

⏳ Offer runs till December 1, 11:59 p.m.

👉 Get your 50% off here: https://lnkd.in/e2-eYvRR

#Ad

KEVIIIIIN is back!!!

And honestly?
It works.

35 years later and Home Alone still hits like yesterday.
All those memories packed into a 60-second ad.

You can’t go wrong when Kevin shows up.
And the name correlation? Brilliant.
But…
they missed a trick.
A bit more storytelling and this could’ve been iconic.
Kevin deserved more.
Still, strong ad. Nostalgia always wins.

Most underrated LinkedIn feature 👇🏻

(although some people hate it…)

Voice messages on DMs.
Not AI-generated.
Personalised.
Human.

Best ROI you’ll get in sales outreach.

You’re welcome 🫡

You want to know a secret?

2 weeks ago, I had a full-on meltdown.

The kind where you stare at your laptop and think:
“Mate… I cannot keep doing ALL of this by myself.”

I actually made myself a promise:
For 2026 Elisabetta: This will NOT happen again.
I’m done being the HR team, the ops team, the support desk, and the emotional support animal for my own business.

I need to outsource.
I need support.
I need… something.

And then (plot twist) Plumm handed me early access to their new AI Agents.

I swear, it felt like the universe tapped me on the shoulder like:
“Girl, sit down. We got you.”

One test message.
One request.
And suddenly this AI agent is doing my HR tasks like it’s been secretly reading my mind for months.

No onboarding.
No drama.
No ‘let me understand the system first’ headache.
Just pure:
“Sure, Elisabetta, I’ve done it already.”

I actually laughed.
Because for the first time in ages, I wasn’t doing everything alone.

You know I’ve used Plumm forever, my team runs on it.
But this?
This is different.
This is next-level.
This is them entering their supervillain era (in the best way).

Everyone else is still figuring out “AI strategy” on whiteboards.
Plumm actually built the damn agent.
A real one.
Inside their HR platform.
And it actually works.

Fast.
Simple.
Bloody brilliant.

Let’s just say… my 2026 promise is safe now.
Because I finally have support that doesn’t need managing.

If you made that same promise to yourself (or if you just simply want to make your life easier) -> give it a try! https://lnkd.in/eR9WCDGS

#Ad

Asim Amin

I wanted to create something that truly helps people and businesses thrive. 
That's why I built Plumm.

I founded Plumm with a mission to address the growing issue of poor mental health in the workplace, which costs UK employers around £56 billion a year. What started as a mental health platform has now evolved into a comprehensive HR solution — while keeping mental health at its core.

Plumm is an all-in-one HR platform that simplifies managing employee records, performance, leave, Payroll, ATS, LMS, and automates key HR tasks — all powered by AI.

What sets us apart is our seamless integration of mental health support. We provide access to 1:1 therapy, coaching sessions, and self-help resources through a global network of 170+ providers, available in 35+ languages.

I believe that when businesses get HR right and support their team’s mental wellbeing, everyone wins.

Immigrants Building Companies

Host

NatWest Business

NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator

Business Growth Program

VentureOut

NY HealthTech Hyper Accelerator

Founder & CEO at Plumm | Empowering Minds & Building Thriving Workplaces | Passionate Mental Health Advocate

I’m the Founder & CEO of Plumm, the all-in-one HR platform with mental health at its core.

HR today is fragmented, companies juggle payroll, performance, compliance, and wellbeing across too many tools. Plumm brings it all into one platform, helping organisations cut costs, save time, and look after their people. Because no HR strategy is complete without mental health.

Plumm started as a mental health solution and has grown into a full-service HR platform, used by companies worldwide. Our mission is clear: make workplaces more productive, inclusive, and human.

I’m also the host of the Immigrants Building Companies Podcast, where I speak with immigrant entrepreneurs who’ve built companies against the odds, sharing lessons on resilience, growth, and leadership.

If you’d like to:
🚀 Book a demo with Plumm: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0mJb040 
🎙️ Discuss podcasts, speaking, or media features: taslynn@heyplumm.com

Poor mental health costs UK employers up to £56 billion a year.

And yet, when employers invest even just £1 in preventative employee wellbeing, they see an average return of £5.30.

We’ve seen case after case, that happier employees make for a healthier business.

It’s why we developed Plumm: a seamless all-in-one, evidence-backed mental wellbeing solution for employers and their teams.

We support your team through our global and diverse pool over 200 accredited therapists and coaches, who can cater to their individual needs, preferences, and circumstances, regardless of where they are in their wellbeing journey.

Whether they can benefit from group learning, need professional help and personalised 1:1 therapy or coaching, or self-help resources, we've got it covered.

Ready to level up your team's wellbeing? 👉 https://www.plummhealth.com/request-demo

When the job market is brutal… 
..this is what taking control looks like.

I was walking through Liverpool Street last week, and this guy genuinely made me stop.

A fresh MSc Finance & Investment grad… standing in the middle of a busy street… holding up a board with his QR code so people can scan his LinkedIn and maybe offer him a job.

No drama. No big story. He was just out there trying.

And let’s be honest, the market right now is rough. Layoffs everywhere. AI cutting roles. Hiring freezes. If you’re a fresh grad, it’s brutal.

So what do you do?

Sit at home and complain that no one replies?
Or do you put yourself out there, properly out there, like this?

Most people wouldn’t.
But he did.
This is attitude. This is effort. This is the kind of mindset you want on your team.

I actually walked past him at first, then turned back because he caught my attention. I hope he catches yours too.
If your company is hiring (finance, investment, ops, anything analytical)… speak to him. 

Ayush Chaturvedi - wishing you all the best mate. Hope something good comes from this.

PS: After I took the first photo, he looked at it and said, “Sorry… would you mind taking one more? I want it to look right.”

And honestly, that small moment told me everything about him.

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. And he asks. He tries.

We need more people like that.

Founder & CEO at Plumm | Speaker | Advisor

Company birthdays are weird. 
They age you in dog years, but somehow they still catch you by surprise.
 
A couple of weeks ago, Plumm had another one.
And instead of popping a bottle, I found myself thinking about everything that’s changed since day one.
 
How the original idea looked nothing like what we are now.
How many people have walked through our door, some who shaped the company, some who shaped me.
How much you grow, break, rebuild, and grow again without even noticing until moments like this force you to stop.
 
Plumm started in the wellbeing space.
A small team.
A simple mission: help people feel better at work.
Then we moved into HR, but we kept wellbeing at the centre.
It’s still the thing we protect the most.
It still guides the decisions that matter.
 
And standing there on our birthday, I reminded myself how nothing stays the same, and that’s not a warning, it’s the point.
You’re supposed to evolve.
The mission evolves.
You evolve right alongside it.
 
So here’s to another year of change - the good, the hard, the unexpected.
Another year of becoming a version of Plumm none of us have met yet.
Same heart.
New chapter.
Bring on the next birthday 🎈

Talks about #startups, #leadership, #mentalhealth, #entrepreneurship, and #workplacewellbeing

People keep saying the UK isn’t the place to build anymore.

But at SEMINAL Summit on Friday, I was reminded again why that isn’t the full picture.

Speaking on a panel about entrepreneurship brought me back to when I first moved here. I arrived with ambition but without a network, and the opportunities in this country changed the direction of my life and my family’s future.

We often forget how much the UK still offers founders.

A mature startup ecosystem with real support.

Incubators and accelerators that are free and genuinely useful.

An investment landscape strengthened by SEIS and EIS that gives early founders a real shot.

And a level of diversity where merit and contribution matter more than where you come from.

For anyone building globally, the UK also sits in the right place. Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia all feel within reach.

Sitting on that panel felt like a full-circle moment. 

I once hoped to move here. 

Now I get to explain why building here still makes sense.

Thank you to the Seminal Summit team for hosting such a great event, and to fellow panelists Russell Schaller and Ashleigh Ainsley MBE FRSA and the moderator Franklin Asante, for the insight and openness you all brought to the conversation.

Jasmine Sayyari watched her hair turn grey at 24.
Not from genetics.
But from fear.

She woke up every morning thinking the same thing: “I might not survive today.”
This was her daily reality.

When you live in a place where safety is never guaranteed, fear doesn’t stay in your mind.
It moves into your body.
Your hair.
Your skin.
Your posture.
The way you walk down a street.
Every day became a calculation.
Every conversation a risk.
Every decision weighed against the possibility of not coming home.

People underestimate what prolonged fear does to a person. It’s not abstract.
It’s physical.
Visible.
It ages you in ways that time can’t explain.
Her grey hair never reversed.
It’s a permanent reminder of what survival demanded.

This week on Immigrants Building Companies, we go deep into resilience, survival, and rebuilding after trauma:
→ What life feels like when fear is your baseline
→ How chronic fear reshapes your body and ages you overnight
→ The invisible marks that stay long after you’re “safe”
→ What it takes to wake up terrified and still choose to keep going
→ How you rebuild after surviving something most people will never experience

This is for anyone carrying trauma no one can see.
For those who survived what should’ve broken them.
For everyone rebuilding from the unimaginable.
Full episode in the comments.

Companies love mental health… 

until it costs money.

Every Movember, the moustaches come out.
The LinkedIn posts roll in.
The awareness machine kicks off.

But inside most companies?
Burnout is normal.
Silence is normal.
Mental health is still treated like PR, not responsibility.

I’ve seen this play out at Plumm more times than I can count.

When we were only a mental health platform, the interest was “important… but not now.”
Everyone said it mattered.
Almost nobody actually prioritised it.

Then we launched the full HR platform, still with mental health at the core.

And suddenly:
8× more clients per month.
Record logo growth this year.
Fastest adoption since Plumm started.

Nothing about the mission changed.
Only the *context* changed.
Companies didn’t suddenly care more.
They just found a budget category that made the spend easier to justify.

And that’s the saddest part:

Mental health is still an ROI conversation before it’s a duty of care.

Movember won’t fix that.
Hashtags won’t fix that.
Another awareness campaign won’t fix that.

What will?

Leaders actually doing the work.
Not performing empathy.
Not outsourcing responsibility to a once-a-year initiative.
But building cultures where mental health isn’t an optional upgrade, it’s embedded into how you run your business.

PS: Shoutout to all the great companies out there that still care, used Plumm since the early days and prioritise employees’ mental health 🙏

So… I made it to Reddit.
Apparently that means I’m famous now.

It’s crazy how much time people have to mock others online.
And then the same people complain they “don’t have time.”

Imagine putting that energy into building something.
Improving your skills.
Spending real time with your family.
Literally anything other than trolling strangers.

I genuinely don’t mind the negative comments.
They say more about them than they ever will about me.
The funny part…
Every time they talk, my visibility goes up.

So thank you to all the Reddit naysayers.

You’re helping more than you realise 😆

If you’re a CEO, you need to hide.
 
Keep it together. Don’t show cracks. Don’t let them see you doubt.
 
So you get good at it.
You bury whatever you feel and call it focus.
You pour it into work.
You pour it into late nights.
Sometimes, into a drink.
Sometimes, into more work.
Sometimes, into silence.
 
It looks like control from the outside.
But it’s not. It’s just another way of going numb.
Inside, you just stop feeling.
 
No one warns you about the kind of exhaustion that comes from making decisions all day, every day.
The pressure to always know what’s next.
After a while, even small choices start to feel heavy.
So you keep running, because slowing down means facing what’s underneath. And that’s the part you don’t want to look at.
 
But it always catches up.
And when it does, it’s not the company that breaks. It’s you.
 
When you finally stop numbing it, things change.
You start to see things clearly again.
The noise quiets down.
Decisions get simpler.
Direction feels sharper.
You stop leading from fear and start leading from awareness.

And that shift ripples out.
Your team feels it. The company feels it.
You connect better.
You listen differently.
You make space for people to be human too.
 
You don’t lose authority when you show emotion.
You gain connection.
And that’s what actually keeps things standing when everything else feels heavy.

There is one thing 26 years of entrepreneurship has made painfully clear to me..

The biggest damage never comes from mistakes. It comes from the person people are too scared to challenge.

You feel it before you see it.
The silence.
The tension.
The ideas that die before they’re spoken.
The energy that disappears from a team that used to care.

And the UK numbers tell the same story.
45% leave when culture turns toxic.
65% feel burnt out every week.
Only 30% feel engaged.

Stress kills 17M working days a year.
This is not performance.
It is fear.
And fear grows fast when leaders avoid difficult people because their results look good on paper.

One person grows.
Everyone else shrinks.
My job is not to protect outputs.
My job is to protect the environment people work in.
Without that, nothing scales.

At Plumm, I want people to feel bigger, not smaller.
To speak, not hold back.
To contribute without calculating the cost.

Culture decides the outcome long before strategy ever gets a chance 👌🏼

Did anyone else notice how quiet Movember is this year?
 
No moustaches on feeds.
No “check on your mates” posts.
No brand campaigns shouting about men’s mental health.
 
And I don’t know how to feel about it.
Part of me thinks, maybe this is a good thing.
Maybe we’re finally moving beyond performative awareness.
Maybe we’re actually talking about men’s mental health all year round, not just in November.
 
But another part of me wonders if we’ve just... forgotten.
Because the reality is, men are still taking their lives every single day.
Still struggling in silence.
Still showing up to work wearing invisible armour.
 
Awareness months shouldn’t be our only reminder to care.
But they also shouldn’t disappear like they never mattered.
We can do better than both.

Founder & CEO at Plumm | Speaker | Advisor | Podcast Host

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2026 will expose every BAD manager in the UK.


Yes, the law is changing, but the way people are managed is about to face a very different level of scrutiny.

The Employment Rights Bill gives employees stronger protections much earlier in their employment, and it raises the bar on how organisations handle conversations, decisions and behaviour. This isn’t subtle. It will be felt.

Quick recap on what’s coming:
2026
• Day-one paternity and parental leave
• Higher penalties for collective redundancy failures
• A new enforcement body with real authority
• Limits on fire and rehire
• Stronger duties to prevent harassment
• More time for employees to bring claims

2027
• Day-one unfair dismissal rights
• Reforms to zero-hours, guaranteed hours and umbrella companies
The simple summary: employees gain earlier protection and companies get less space for poor practice.

This isn’t a legal issue. It’s about how well managers actually manage.

If conversations are avoided, if documentation is weak, if decisions rely on instinct rather than clarity, these changes will expose the gaps quickly. Updating policies won’t fix that on its own.

Here’s what you should be doing next:
→ Review what really happens in the organisation, not what the handbook says
→ Train managers before they’re forced into situations they can’t handle
→ Refresh contracts and worker classifications so they’re ready for the new standards
→ Communicate early so no one is surprised when the changes land
→ Build the habit of documenting decisions consistently and calmly

What matters the most is doing right by your people.
That means supporting employees and managers equally and creating a fair, consistent environment for both.

This Bill is a good thing. It’s a wake-up call to raise standards and fix issues that should have been addressed long ago.
The organisations that treat it this way will come out stronger. The ones that don’t will be forced to catch up later.

I made a mistake.


I believed HR would be one of the LAST departments transformed by AI.
but… it might be the FIRST.
(Not only thanks to Plumm😉)

Here are the shifts I’m seeing up close:

1️⃣ HR leadership is leveling up
The future role isn’t “HR Director.”
It’s someone accountable for productivity and performance, not just policies.

2️⃣ AI is starting to own results
Onboarding steps.
Compliance checks.
Data fixes.
Tasks that once took days now run quietly in the background.
It feels less like support, more like a co-pilot.

3️⃣ HR silos are fading
Recruiting, learning, comp…
Those borders don’t make sense anymore.
Teams are reorganising around the employee journey, not job titles.

4️⃣ HR is becoming the owner of workforce intelligence
AI is turning people data into real-time insight.
Not dashboards, decisions.
HR leaders will be expected to predict risks and talent gaps before they hit the business.

5️⃣ AI fluency becomes leadership competency
Not technical skills, judgment.
When to automate.
When to intervene.
When trust matters most.

Here’s what I’m sitting with:
HR isn’t being pushed out.
It’s being pulled into the center of the business.

The question I keep asking:
Are we ready for that?

5 HR Predictions of 2026

“Have you ever been fired by a client?”

Yep… that was one of the questions I got asked the other day by Amelia Sordell.

And trust me, the rest get even juicier.

Wait until you hear those.

Huge thank you to NatWest Business for having me.

I had an absolute blast answering the most random questions with my most random answers.

Amelia - thank you for being such a brilliant host.

Hanan Tantush and Ella Mckay - it was a pleasure meeting you both.

You made the whole experience even better.

And thank you for inviting me in the first place.

And btw.. this is just the 1st episode.. brace yourself for the next ones ;)

So now it’s HR’s fault again, right?
 
Because clearly they’re the ones who built systems so complex you need a PHD just to send an email.
 
HR doesn’t need more blame, they need better tools.
Ones that actually make their lives easier, not harder.
They’re already holding companies together - people, culture, wellbeing, day-to-day drama and all - and half the time, they’re doing it with tools that feel like they were built in another century.
 
The least we can do is give them tech that helps, not hurts.
 
(And no, before anyone asks, not one of our clients 😉)

Your company might be leaking money every single day without realising it.


And it’s not coming from the places you’re looking at.
It’s not compensation.
It’s not headcount.
It’s not strategy.

It’s the unglamorous work people do around the edges of their actual job.
The tasks that aren’t in anyone’s role description but somehow take up hours of their week.

Approvals, admin, navigating messy workflows, searching for information that should be easy to find, repeating steps because tools don’t talk to each other.

Every company has this.
Very few measure the cost of it.

The latest research paints a fairly stark picture:
Around $1.7 trillion disappears annually because of this kind of work
• People lose seven hours a week before they even reach the work they’re meant to be doing
• 47% say it pushes them toward burnout
• 58% say it takes them away from meaningful work
• Half say it lowers their job satisfaction
• 72% point to fragmented tools and processes
• Just 7% feel supported by the tech they have

The simple truth is: companies fail because the structure around them makes productive work unnecessarily hard.

It’s easier to blame motivation, culture, or “ownership.”
It’s harder to admit that the systems are the real culprit.

Shadow work has become so normalised that leaders barely register it anymore. But it shapes everything: execution, morale, retention, collaboration, innovation. And it creates a slow leak that compounds over time.

The organisations that are getting this right aren’t the ones shouting about productivity. They’re the ones quietly fixing the plumbing. Reducing complexity. Removing duplicate tools. Streamlining approvals. Automating the parts of work no one should be doing manually. Making it easier for people to get from idea to output without fighting the process.

When you clear that path, people don’t need motivation workshops. They simply have the space to do their job properly.

PS: Stats by Perk & Forrester.
The cost of ignoring it is already landing on your P&L, just not in a line item anyone tracks yet.

Everyone’s scared of AI agents.


“They’ll take over the world.”
“They’ll replace us.”
“They’ll do everything.”

But here’s the funny part:
AI has been running our lives for years.
Quietly.
Every single day.

We’re not scared of Google Maps telling us where to go.
We’re not scared of Spotify predicting our mood.
We’re not scared of Netflix knowing what we’ll binge next.
We’re not scared of our phones unlocking with our faces.
We’re not scared of fraud detection stopping a payment before we even notice.
We’re not scared of autocorrect saving us from embarrassing typos.
We’re not scared of Google pre-filling our search before we type.
We’re not scared of Gmail filtering 99.9% of spam before it reaches us.
We’re not scared of predictive text finishing our messages.
We’re not scared of our smartwatches detecting irregular heartbeats.

All of that?
That’s AI.
Not “future AI.”
Not “sci-fi AI.”
Just… AI.

And around 80% of the apps we rely on daily already run on machine learning.
Recommendation engines. Routing algorithms. Vision models. Pattern detection.
It’s been here the whole time, we just didn’t call it “AI.”

So why are AI agents suddenly the villain?
Think about it.
Agents are just doing the stuff we don’t want to do.
Admin.
Repetitive tasks.
Scheduling.
Data entry.
Information gathering.
All the things we avoid because they drain time and energy.

This isn’t a takeover.
It’s a handover.
We get to focus on high-value work.
Strategy.
Creativity.
Relationships.
Thinking.

Let the agents do the dirty jobs.
Let them give us back the hours we’ve been losing for years.
We’re not entering an AI era.
We’ve already been living in one.
Now we just get the good parts.

More than 100,000. That’s how many therapy sessions we’ve delivered since we started Plumm.

 It still feels surreal to say it out loud.
 Because in 2019, nothing felt this smooth.

 Back then, we were fighting to make 1 video session work.
 Every day was a bug.
 Every fix created another fix.
 We weren’t thinking about 100,000 sessions, we were thinking about how to make tomorrow’s calls possible.

 It felt heavy.
 It felt endless.

 And yet here we are.

 4 years later, those struggles feel distant.
 Almost small.

 That’s the thing about perspective, what feels impossible today becomes a footnote in your story tomorrow.

 What stays with me instead are the people we helped.
 The trust they gave us.
 The impact we’ve been able to create at scale.

 It’s a reminder that our work matters.
 That the hours, the sweat, the setbacks, they meant something.

 I’m grateful.
 For the journey.
 For the team.
 For every single person who let us support their mental health.

 If you’re building something right now and it feels hard?

 Hold on.

 What feels like a mountain today might be the thing you barely remember in five years.

HR gets blamed for everything.

And yet they deal with things no one should.
Someone didn’t reply fast enough on Slack.
Someone’s tone felt “off.”
Someone’s too quiet.
 
And HR has to sit there, nod, and write a report.
Meanwhile they’re juggling burnout, layoffs, and culture politics that would drain a diplomat.
 
People say HR is soft.
It’s not.
It’s trench work with a smile.
 
If you’ve ever been in HR, what’s the most ridiculous thing someone’s complained about?

HR isn’t failing. It’s carrying more than any other function.
 
The skills gap keeps widening.
Wellbeing issues are rising.
Budgets are shrinking.
And somehow, HR is expected to fix it all, without breaking stride.
 
What’s broken isn’t HR.
It’s the way organisations still treat it as a service function.
Every transformation we talk about - AI, hybrid work, productivity, culture - runs straight through HR.
But too often, HR leaders still need permission to lead.
 
In 2026, the real shift won’t come from another policy or platform.
It’ll come when companies finally stop calling HR a “support” team.
It’s the strategy.
Everything else just follows.

Wrote his own eulogy at 23.
Built a 320 million impression LinkedIn presence.
Bought a house as a Shopify employee, then quit the next day.

And still had to prove himself in every new room.

That's what happened to Tobi Oluwole when he moved between Nigeria, Belgium, Atlanta, and Canada.
Not funding.
Not applause.
Not even recognition.

"I attended 11 different schools.
I missed 20 family birthdays.
You learn fast that your resume doesn't travel with you."

So Tobi built something that would travel: a content empire that's generated millions of impressions.

This week on Immigrants Building Companies, our episode is about what happens when you stop waiting for permission:

→ Applying to Shopify 7 times over 3 years and treating rejection as temporary
→ Losing $15,000 on a clothing business and starting over again
→ Writing his own eulogy to map out who he wanted to become
→ Posting on LinkedIn for 1,578 consecutive days while others called him cringe
→ And building 98% inbound-led business by being generous with time, energy, and connections

His approach:
Apply everywhere.
Be kind with everyone.
Don't try to control what comes back.

This is for every immigrant who had to rebuild credibility in every new city.
For every creator posting through the judgment.
For anyone who's been underestimated in every new room.

Full episode in the comments.

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