Split Tech City is a community composed of well-intentioned and progressive companies, startups, associations, initiatives, institutions and individuals. Together we encourage and develop the IT sector of Split and the surrounding region.
Support our communityWe continue to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week by focusing on the importance of wellbeing for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship takes a lot out of an individual – you always have to be at your best. And we all know that being at your best requires you to be healthy and energized. A burned-out entrepreneur cannot give his or her best.
That is the reason why we got talking with one of the internationals living in Split who, aside from experiencing burnout herself, is now focusing on helping others to not reach that breaking point through her work as a personal trainer. That is also the reason why she founded her wellness brand called FIT&FKD.
“FIT&FKD is for those who are feeling physically FKD or mentally FKD and looking for a balanced approach to getting FIT.”
Meet Jess Gillespie who is born and raised in Sheffield, United Kingdom, but chose Split as her destination: “A combination of COVID-19 and Brexit brought me to Split – the best outcome to a tough situation I could have imagined. With all gyms shut down and therefore unable to work, I decided to escape the UK after its first lockdown last year. When the new Brexit rules hit the UK back in January I was in Spain and my 90-day countdown had begun. I had the choice to go back to England or head to a non-Schengen country. Forever the adventurer, it was a no-brainer for me.
I’d heard amazing things about Croatia and to my pleasant surprise, it fell right into the category I needed. Split had stuck in my head from friends who had visited and so I decided to give it a go.”
Jess is a passionate traveler and has been since the age of 17. Her travels took her via most continents and, among the places she called home besides London, are Buenos Aires and New York. She jokingly says about herself that she is consumed by wanderlust. So, for Jess, choosing to move to Split was not difficult. However, now there is also a list of things that make her stay:
“The people, the weather, the sea, the pomalo attitude…the list goes on! Split has all the conveniences of a bigger city but at a scale which allows you to really get to know it and the people who live here.
I was living in London previously and almost every daily task required a minimum 30-minute commute. Meeting up with friends who lived on the other side of the city would often get pushed to a future date – leaving you to feel somewhat isolated. In contrast, in Split, no matter where you are, you’re only a 10-minute walk from whatever you need to do or whoever you plan to meet.”
“There’s also an amazing community of ‘Yes!’ people here in Split.
You’ll always find someone who shares your interest or is interested to learn about it or have a go at something new. Split is a great place to create a more balanced life in terms of personal time and work time. I don’t know if it’s being so close to the sea, the weather, or the pomalo attitude but the city has a calming influence where everything feels possible but without the pressure of it having to happen immediately.”
After living here for some time already, Jess can very well be considered a local, and while learning about life in Split was not difficult for her with information easily accessible on the internet, she has also met and befriended some amazing people here in Split, both locals and expats alike, who have given her all the advice she needed.
She is also an active member of expat and digital nomad Facebook groups that still help her connect with people and ask any questions. Having become Split’s citizen, she couldn’t escape the questions we always ask internationals about life here:
Now that we have gotten to know Jess for a bit, we will let her guide you through steps to achieve wellbeing as an entrepreneur.
What advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs – students, young people planning to start a business, etc. – on how best to prepare themselves for what awaits them?
It’s all about having the right mindset. Taking the leap into business ownership while exciting, can be a daunting thing. Aside from the financial and legal considerations, it’s also important to get yourself mentally prepared. My top tips are things I’m still trying to implement for myself but will hopefully resonate and be helpful:
My personal mantra: consistency and persistence equal success.
What advice would you give to people who are already entrepreneurs and who already have to handle that type of lifestyle?
Through my experience and talking to other more established entrepreneurs, keeping a true work-life balance will allow you to be more efficient and effective in business. And more importantly, will ensure you are the healthiest, happiest version of yourself. There’s a great exercise you can do to ensure you have this down, it’s called ‘The Wheel of Life’.
Imagine your life as a pie where each slice represents the most important aspects of your life e.g. relationships, social life, family, health, career, personal growth, spirituality, finance. Now think about eating each slice according to how much time you dedicate to it. Is there any pie left at the end? If so, you’re not enjoying the full pie and the slices left will get moldy.
Conversely, if you eat too much of one slice, you may get sick. In terms of work, this can appear as severe stress and ultimately ‘burnout’. Although this may seem like a silly metaphor, as someone who has been through burnout, I can ensure you of its importance.
There are several things you can do to avoid burnout. Below are my 10 top tips:
Even though every client you have is an individual with individual needs and a tailored approach from your side, have you noticed a common thread among entrepreneurs that you think might be beneficial for them to pay attention to?
Entrepreneurs tend to be self-driven, confident, tenacious, and ambitious. While these characteristics are essential to getting a new business off the ground and to succeed, these traits also seem to come with a side dish of perfectionism and the need for control. Entrepreneurs find it hard to switch off and are prone to overworking.
It doesn’t matter who you are, everyone has a limit and it’s important to understand what yours is.
Understandably, giving any type of advice without getting to know the person and their background is difficult, but can you give us the top three things you would like any entrepreneur to do for themselves that you think would make their life easier and better in the long run?
We’d like to thank Jess for this valuable insight into the wellbeing of entrepreneurs and invite anyone who is looking to be “more FIT, less FKD” to seek her out!
Photos by: Aaron Truax for FIT&FKD
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