Team Profile
Chris Barrow (Director and Coach)
Chris combines long experience and deep expertise with the originality and independence needed to resolve the thorniest problems. Naturally direct, assertive and determined, he has the ability to reach conclusions quickly, as well as the sharp reflexes and lightness of touch to innovate, change tack and push boundaries.
Chris spent the first 17 years of his working life in the corporate sector and followed this with 21 years of self-employment. The different dynamics of both worlds have given him the valuable gift of knowing how to operate - and communicate - in both. And at Breathe he is able to deploy the full range of skills acquired along the way.
In 1987 Chris was active in the establishment of the Institute for Financial Planning, an organisation representing the first fee-based Financial Planners; Chris specialised in working with small businesses.
Nothing appeals to Chris like something that looks like a lost cause; he loves to fix what seems broken, rekindle what looks extinguished and bring back to life things (and people) which appear forlorn and lifeless.
As a speaker he is dynamic, energetic and charismatic enough to captivate audiences of any size. His style is casual, open and authentic and - being naturally caring and funny - he's as easy to talk to as he is to listen to. Chris was one of the UK's first business coaches, which means few others can match his 15 years' experience. He spends time in the US, too, where he still mentors a group of coaches.
Ask Chris what he motivates him, and he'll say it's to help people succeed in their lives and businesses more quickly and easily than he did.
Simon Hocken (Director and Coach)
Simon’s objectivity and great ability to listen are a perfect match for his natural passion and enthusiasm. His story is a lesson in how to make change happen, and his greatest skill is encouraging and helping others to do the same.
Following his passion, Simon trained to become a dentist and - bucking conventional wisdom - borrowed money in the teeth of a recession to establish himself. Seeing an unfilled niche, his idea of a private, contemporary 'boutique' practice took off, so he bought a second.
Simon’s energy and enthusiasm was channelled into the success of his two practices, combined with his passion for sailing, where he was winning major championships. Unfortunately, Simon’s health and marriage suffered. Simon hired a coach (Chris Barrow) to help him right his keel and plot a new course. It worked; Simon took control of his life and his businesses flourished.
But something more pivotal happened. Simon had enjoyed the coaching so much that he wanted to train as one. Once qualified, he found another, different niche: mentoring dentists and small businesses. So after 20 years he sold his practices and established 'Jump Coaching'.
Breathe was the next step. Simon brought together a bigger, like-minded team and combined coaching with his abiding passion for the business of dentistry (he still speaks regularly at major dental forums as well as writing and lecturing).
The best coaches have the self-knowledge to apply their expertise to themselves, and Simon is no exception. He lives somewhere he loves – by the water in Devon - with a woman he loves and their young son and where he can indulge his passions for sailing and photography. Simon now has an outlet for his fascination with people and their potential; and he has the skills and experience to help them live the lives they want to live.
Bonnie Mockett (Operations Director)
It would be remarkable enough if Bonnie's skills lay entirely in her prodigious energy, her organisational skills and her ability to keep as many metaphorical plates spinning as she does. But combine all that with a positive, 'can-do' character (and the fact that she says the busier she is the happier she gets) and you'll get an idea of how pivotal she is to Breathe's success.
Bonnie has found each of the three jobs she's had, in the 12 years since graduating in Environmental Science, instructive and enjoyable. As the International Operations Manager for a software development firm, she began to develop commercial acumen and gained the confidence to communicate with many levels of management. She then became an inward investment manager for Cornwall, promoting the county as a viable new place to do business and, in the process, learning a great deal about how small businesses operate.
In her last post before Breathe, Bonnie managed and co-ordinated the marketing, sales and delivery of team training and coaching to dental practices through Chris Barrow's Dental Business School. Apart from learning about all aspects of business support (including client liaison, marketing, financial planning and sales) this was where Bonnie began properly to understand the dental marketplace, to realise how much pressure dental principals are under and to appreciate the value to any small to medium sized business of business coaching.
Bonnie's Cornish and proud of it and - as if to prove it - says she's happiest when sat on the water in any kind of vessel. When she does manage to get away from work she can often be found dog-walking or gig-rowing.
Mike Hutchinson (Finance Director)
Mike doesn't let his expertise with numbers cloud his understanding that business is all about people. Where many see just a balance sheet, Mike looks beyond to people's stories and their potential. His approach to life is that it isn’t a dress rehearsal and that key to achieving a successful business, is to work closely with his team and his clients. And, if it isn’t fun, stop doing it ...
Mike's journey began with a single CSE. From that point it took 11 years of committed hard study, finally qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, and another ten to conclude that people aren’t interested in profit & loss accounts and more interested in themselves.
Mike is now Director at one of Cornwall's largest accountancy firms, and Finance Director here at Breathe. He has focused his ongoing learning towards understanding exactly what makes people tick: he is currently studying Neuro Linguistic Programming and Spirituality. Mike would like to develop his business interests such that they can begin to fund him doing voluntary work and travel across the globe.
He gig rows for fitness (and, sometimes, in races, for the buzz of competition), and loves being in and around water: either kite surfing or playing around in boats. He's blessed with a partner who knows when to level with him, and when to let him fly. When he crashes, she picks him up, dusts him down and points him back in the right direction. Mike says they resonate at roughly the same pitch and share the rewards, challenges and fun of bringing up their 3 beautiful and very different teenage blonde bombshells!!
Alun Rees (Content Development and Analyst)
Alun's strong analytical ability and enquiring mind comes with a complementary relish for in-depth research. Add to this more than 25 years' experience as a dentist and Alun becomes the ideal person to help assess practices and share information on the business of dentistry.
After - in his words - scraping a degree, Alun spent three years holding oral surgery resident posts and then another seven as an associate in several practices 'learning how not to do it'. After starting two “cold squats” in the space of 15 months, Alun's personal and professional life touched the kind of peaks and troughs which would end up standing him in good stead to understand what others were going through. He was forced by his bank to sell his first practice, his first marriage failed and he was - again, by his admission - perilously close to complete financial meltdown. He transformed the surviving practice into an award-winning independent business, which he sold in 2005 before training as a coach.
As the BDA and the BDHF's media rep, Alun has made appearances on local radio, BBC2 and Sky TV.
He's a Welshman with an Irish passport, a secret (not any more) motor-bike habit, a teenage son, and he’s run 3 London marathons since 2000. If all this, as well as his work, leaves him any time to relax, he also enjoys travelling, real ale, live music and “watching Wales play rugby with no fear of failure”.
Caseley Heard (Administration)
As a world-champion gig-rower, Caseley fully understands the power of team work and focus.
Having just finished a degree in Sports Science and Coaching with Education Studies, she is putting her experience and education to good use supporting the Breathe Team and our clients.
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