and truly I didn't think I had the dedication or the drive or the work ethic to get there yeah TR honest I be like I was quite a lazy teenager if I'm being [Music] honest welcome back to the nap West business show I'm your host Angelica Bell and this week we're joined by Alice Dearing a Trailblazer in the World of Sports and an advocate for diversity and inclusion now Alice is not only an elite swimmer having represented Great Britain on the international stage but she's also the co-found found ER of the black swimming Association now this is an organization dedicated to breaking down barriers and promoting swimming in underrepresented communities welcome Alice hey hey you thanks for having me no not at all I'm really looking forward to having our chat because I only learned to swim later in life but we'll get to that get to that because I want to start off with a business confession of yours you have to be honest now this could be a moment of failure that became a springboard for success or a mistake that basically turned out to be a master stroke okay so let me have it okay so um it's less raised business I suppose but more of my athletic career right um in 2017 I had a rough season um came so you weren't performing yeah I didn't perform as well as I was expected to I set a specific Target didn't meet the Target and um that must have been stressful if you especially if you got targets yeah trust me TR me and I context as well I was like 20 years old so quite young you know like you feel obviously you feel like you way more mature at that age and you feel like you can you can obviously handle this pressure as you have to as an athlete but yeah of course I wanted to be the best athlete I could be anyway but then also there was this added pressure of being set a Target to finish I believe it was top 15 or top 10 at World Championships and I finished 25th and um because of that I was taken off of funding so I I like lost my money to be able to swim and kicked out of the training group which I was training in at the time and um this wasn't just pressure to hit Targets this was basic pressure for your career money uh your goals yeah it was it felt like my swimming career hung in the balance of those two things being being able to access them basically you know um I got money because to be to be able to swim to be a better swimmer so I didn't have to go and get a job I was at University at the time so um managing education and my athletic career was also something that I had to consider I couldn't get a job on top of that if I like you can't have all three it's like a triangle you need to you need to pick which which two you're going to have um but yeah basically that happened to me I got a phone call telling me that I was out of the training group and then 10 minutes later I got another phone call from another person telling me that I was off of funding and um I just sat in my room at University and just like started crying I didn't know what to do my mom had literally dropped me off that afternoon to start the new season again and I called her and was like I'm going to have to come home and I don't even think she was home yet like she she went home and I was like I'll just get the train like and I'll come back by myself went back and she was like are you going to keep swimming and I was like I don't know like I really didn't know at that point because they were the two things which I put my self-belief and my worth on as an athlete and they were taken away from me uh very quickly and I was just like okay I need to reassess so did reassess very thankfully I did get back in the pool it didn't take me too long to figure it out I knew that I still wanted to swim there was still this fire burning within me that I was like I'm not done with this yet I need to I need to figure this out and honestly whilst it was a decision that I didn't make for myself obviously I wouldn't have chosen to do those two things for myself um I'm very grateful that they did happen because it put me into a training group which I actually started to thrive in um there was less pressure in that group got on really well with the coach and just started to really come into my own and feel confident in myself and also I realized like I wanted to swim because I wanted to swim not because I had these um accolades and um benefits of being a swimmer so I really it it taught me that if you want to do something and you have the means you will find a way and I was very grateful that I was able to find my way and like I had my mom support me as well with a bit of money as well as student loan um to be able to get through the swimming season and then after that swimming season I was put back on funding again so it just yeah I feel like I proved a point Alice I feel like I've been on a journey already I literally was like where is this going I need I need some positivity at the end of this conversation this story absolutely I mean that's a lot yeah it was a lot I think as well at the age of 20 like I just I haven't really thought about it in the context of the age I was dealing with that as well because at the time you know you're whenever you're in the present you're as old as you are like that's if that makes sense you're dealing with it with as much maturity as you have in that present moment and then looking back at it now I'm like how did I do that like like yeah so um I'm really fortunate that I had the right like people around me to support me uplift me and just carried on with my career and managed to make something positive out of it yeah so I guess when you know when you have those moments of failure or weakness it's it's who's around you and making sure that you have the right tools to bring yourself back up massively yeah like I'm sure we'll talk about it again my mom my mom is just such such a gem such a rock yeah was fantastic well let's go back to the beginning um and talk about where this passion for swimming came from so um honestly kind of again from my mom she um so okay we're going through the local L swim lessons I started those when I was about four years old and um me I've got two older brothers um so they all they all did them I did them myself and then when I was 8 years old my mom saw the notice board for local swimming club and she put me and the second eldest brother in for those sessions and I remember just being like why are we doing this I didn't really want to go like I'd rather sit home and play video games it was on a Sunday afternoon I was like I'm not interested so you didn't you so initially it wasn't like my calling it was like I was like why are you dragging me from I was like why are we doing this and she was like you need to get out of the house and do a sport I was like okay did the first session and we both fell in love like it was just the it was fun um I think the competitive element came out in me really quickly it was I realized as like looking back now I was very competitive at school with just little things of like you know want to be on the top table you know all that stuff so having an outlet for that I think has been really um healthy for me like growing up as a child Adolescent and as an adult um but yeah it just I just kind of fell in love with it and um so you would go on Sundays yeah go on Sundays and it very quickly became Monday morning um Tuesday afternoon it very like it just it just progressed so quickly um I was 8 years old when I started it by 11 I was already swimming like seven times a week and then school on top of that and there there's people being like Oh you know she's actually really good she should look at like Elite program so I ended up in Elite Training Program age 11 and then got a scholarship to a uh private school in wolver Hampton um where I was able to swim before school go to school and then swim after school then my mom would pick me up pick me up all the facilities were on site yes yeah it's really good shout shout out to Roy wver Hampton School like really really helped nurture me um had a really good experience there and um then went to University studied politics and then did a master's in social media and political communication at lre University and um yeah education has been like a key part with my swimming career for the longest time because it just it it kind of facilitated doing everything basically you know going to school and then I was like okay well I'll use swimming to get into University and the way I always viewed swimming was um you know let's just take from it what I can get like I I didn't expect to go to the Olympics there was never that aim or goal as a child I looked at the top and thought truly I thought it was unattainable you know you see these why did you think that um I you said you were competitive so I'm quite surprised by that I think I'm just very realistic with how hard it is and sometimes I can be quiet um I think as as athletes are we're very um judgmental of our own performances we Our Own Worst critics and truly I didn't think I had the dedication or the drive or the work ethic to get there yeah TR honest I'll be like I was quite a lazy teenager if I'm being honest like going through um swimming I was I got by on talent for quite a few years but I'm actually quite grateful I did take that approach in the end because I think if I was dialed into it from a very early age that burnout can happen so quickly and you get to 19 20 years old and you're like I don't want to do this anymore like but that that was the point where I started to actually feel like no I'm choosing to do this now rather than just having it supplement everything else so would you say having options is something you would Advocate and you would give us advice absolutely for any athletes out there that are listening um you please don't put all of your eggs into one basket with your sport it is it's dangerous I'm going to be I'm going to be quite blunt and honest um injury burnout um your coach moving something something small that seems insignificant can really have like a ripple effect on your career and before you know it you might have lost your funding or Your sponsorship or something like that and I know it sounds really negative and I don't wish that on any athlete you know we all want be the best and do our best but um even if it's just like a coaching course or I don't know a photography course or something something that you're interested in outside of your sport nurture that as much as you can within reason and um just keep options open for yourself ADV okay now you were the first black female swimmer to represent team GB it was in 2021 yes yeah take care um at the Olympics then um can you pinpoint a particular moment that it felt like your defining moment of success I think when I touched the Finish pad to qualify for the Olympics that was just like oh I can't believe I've done this like I can get emotion about it um just like I said I really never thought I'd get that far to um you know be swimming at World Championships European championships swimming for Britain and then really finally have that opportunity to qualify for the Olympics especially after everything that happened with co and Will they won't they happen the Olympics it was just it was a crazy time so when I fin finally got the opportunity to qualify it was only about 6 weeks before the games itself actually it was a very short um window to actually turn around and then go to the games but touching that finish pad and um knowing that I i' had been able to achieve that and help create history hopefully show that more people like us can do this sport we should do the sport it's a life- saving skill um yeah just like hopefully representing um Britain and my Community as as good as I can yeah because for someone like me who I've always watched the Olympics I've always watched the swimming as well but always thought I'm not getting in a pool I you know someone who didn't have was encouraged to swim and I only learned to swim as an an adult um to see someone from my community doing it's a it's like oh my gosh oh thank you it's massive yeah you know and you must have felt that and known that I did yeah I tried not to think about it too much as like it was like it was something that drove me and I was like how can I lose with all these people on my side like a CO like kind of a confidence thing but then at the same time I was like you need to stay grounded because you still need to work like this is this is not going to come to you easy no one's going to give you anything you you have to work for it um but having that that upliftment and that power from so many people who um I think just wanted to see me do my best and shine was just been really special yeah amazing well again we'll touch on this but I want to just explore a bit more about you moving on G from swing and retirement because you have said that it was a bit of an anxious time yes yes what happened you know when did you say that's it I'm moving on from this you know how did that process happen so I've always known that Paris 2024 was going to be like my my at the end of my swimming career as in that guys um I unfortunately didn't qualify for it um in December just qualification didn't go my way I've always been really fortunate that it did go my way like every other time before that it's has been a positive experience qualifying but um this one time it didn't and Sport that's the beauty and the ugly side of sport it's just some it was someone's great day and for me it was one of the worst days in my career and you just have to take that you have to deal with that so um in that moment I decided okay there's nothing else that I want to get from swimming um in this like currently in this like as a competitive athlete La is too far away I've got other things that I want to do with my life the Olympics I felt like was the only anything really driving me there's World Championships and European championships which are absolutely amazing achievements to swim at but that wasn't my driving goal the Olympics was um so decided to call it and so you decided to make the announcement in that April and then how did you feel then did you have did you have a plan did you think right or right what am I going to do it's out there yeah no it felt it suddenly felt very permanent making that announcement it like it really dawned on me like oh wow it is actually over now like at least had those few months where I was like I was still living my life but there there wasn't a like people could tell because I got braids people can tell cuz I got braids I got my hair done I was I was I traveled to Tokyo I was enjoying my life and um what do you mean they just thought she's not swimming anymore yeah it's cuz um cuz you got braided yeah noly yeah yeah it's one of those things like um it's just I wouldn't swim with a hairstyle like this personally like not 10 times a week I'll get in the water like once or twice week with my hair like this I'm just saying girl ladies do not let that stop you honestly I will get I will swim with hair like this but we're talking like professional athlete 10 times a week it's it's too it was too much so I'd always have like natural hairstyle Stitch braids or something like that but um yeah like when it it was for me I felt like it was obvious that I ID retired or or finished swimming or like was taking some kind of break but then I I made the announcement and I had a lot of positive energy from me it was really nice and um yeah just being able to move on in a healthy way and like I I getting asked questions like how's things going I'm like I'm absolutely loving my life like I genuinely really enjoy my life and getting to meet really cool people um exploring the world having time to do all the things that I'm like okay not now I've got to focus on swimming so it's it's nice to have those options and opportunities yeah so did you have a plan did you know what you was going to be next for you truly in December not really it happened and there were ideas that I had in my head that I was like okay well let's start executing these now let's start making these happen now because I obviously intended to qualify for the Olympics so I was kind of like I'll deal with that once I've qualified and then we can start having those conversations with myself and my agent my mom my fiance um but then it happens in December and I was like called my agent called deji and was like you know we we need to it didn't happen for me and he was like okay don't worry I was like we need to Pivot right now and so having conversations um the idea of swim which I'm sure we'll come on to in a moment um was kind of born from those conversations that there's something that I've wanted to do in swimming for a long time well this is a great PR to bring it in because you're a big part of both the black swimming Association as well as swim which you've just mentioned explain to us what they both do okay so the black swiming Association the BSA is a charity which is which I was a co-founder of it is to advocate for the water safety and inclusion of black ethnic minorities in well in Aquatics I was going to say in swimming but in Aquatics because swimming is one small part of Aquatics and it's basically to raise awareness have research partnering with national governing bodies to get more of our community swimming but mostly about the safety because there are some very sad um drowning statistics which surround our communities and um just making sure that everyone is safe in and around water that there is equal access and that people know that they can swim and that it is actually like it is something we are physically capable of there is there shouldn't be anything stopping you from doing that um so that's that's the BSA it's going really well it's um four and a half years old now which I can't believe we have employees which is like a crazy thing to say like there people who like we we employ just um and it just came from a WhatsApp group of four um disgruntled black people who were looking at the swimming um the shape of swimming as as it was happening for our communities and just needed something to change and we were like well who not rather than us so um it's going really well and then swim which means swim with your meaning is um a new commercial project which I have just founded in the past few months and um it is to bring swimming to people in ways that it's meaningful for them so I think in some instances swimming has been seen as as something inaccessible or not not for us like it's not it's not brought to people in a way in which that they can relate to it and so I just I think there's an opportunity around the world in every city to have people Embrace water Embrace swimming in a personal sense and help them discover what it means for them personally okay so swim is a business yes swim is a business yes for profit yes and obviously the BSA charity um to spread the word let's talk about the BSA and I mean you touched on it there and it's interesting because I I remember um I've been told in the past oh you won't be a very good swimmer because you're black and you know you know your bones are dense all this quite a lot of you know I heard all these sort of things your bones are dense so you're going to sing yes you're not going to fly in the water so I was like okay fine yeah and you just with the hair and all this I was like I'm fine I'll just stay out of it and then it was like actually I need to do a bit of research myself especially having children and wanting to to do fun things with them and encourage them to take on new sports well I guess you've got that sort of social responsibility aspect with that um and like you said to get that out there in the community absolutely and the BSA is literally working on Research starting this month on disproving the whole bone density float thing yeah if if you want I could try and put you in on it if if you'd be interested in helping out our calls but if obviously there's no pressure but um seenit me it you come the like recruit you I'm you Alice oh thank you though honestly CU um yeah it's it's just letting letting people know that we can float and that we can swim and honestly I you know I've swam at the Olympics I swim the longest event and um just looking to debunk all of that basically so what are the barriers between people of color and swimming let's list you know list them so why people think we can't do it okay so Financial is a big one um obviously this affects more than just people of Co affects it can affect anyone any Community but um as we see like statistically certain of our communities are potentially more impoverished and so access to swimming pools can be difficult getting to a swimming pool in the first place if you got to pay a bus fair or if it's like a 5 Mile walkway you know and also families as well if like if you want to go to the cinema if you're picking Cinema women you might pick Cinema and that's that's understandable so Financial ones there too hair as you've touched on for black women um it is difficult and um it's it's often been something that's kind of been like laughed out or ridiculed and like put down because of of vanity and things like that but it's a very valid issue because um it's part of our identity it's part of our pride it's who we are we own it and it's absolutely beautiful to see the like pleora of ways in which women wear their hair I love it absolutely love it um but it can be difficult to swim with it and let's not lie so um for me I was you know like I said I was swimming like 10 times a week I always had my hair natural just made it easier that way like cornr Stitch braids kept it simple but I promise you if you're out there watching this and you're thinking I don't want to swim because of my hair please you can find a way to do it it is possible it is achievable um I really want to say just don't let that hold you back because you you what you can get from swimming is so positive and so nice that um I think it will be worth managing your hair in a different way once a week I promise you it's worth it yeah Alice is there a space in the market for a product or service to help bridge the gap this big gap for people of color I definitely think there is um so for example we've seen a growth in large hair swimming caps and there's a brand which I collaborate with um who create hats for longer hair for thicker hair which anyone and everyone can use because there are Caucasian people white people who still needed bigger hats as well and it's it's still very useful for everybody um in terms of me myself personally will I be venturing into that probably not anytime soon I'm definitely looking at I suppose more service side of things product um it's not something that I'm like super like interested in at the moment I think there's a lot of amazing stuff out there in swimming which um I'm not I I don't want to venture into yet there it's complicated it's there's a lot of stuff in there but Services definitely um making things curated to our communities is the main thing and that's what swim swim swim with your meaning is looking to do to take it to people how they will want to engage with it Alice we're going to uh change tact now because we're going to have a little section called trending takes so I'm going to hit you with some statements that are out there online line and you've got to tell me if you agree with it or just give me your viewpoint on it okay so number one public figures have a duty to represent their Community okay yeah I would say honestly I think no I don't like I said a duty it's a lot of pressure on people if you want to speak about these topics go for it have those conversations but at the same time it's hard you know you're putting yourself out there you open yourself up to criticism to trolls to potential hate of course you open yourself up to love and people to um uplift at the same time and yes we do need people to have these conversations otherwise nothing moves forward but um I'm just trying to say it's okay to protect yourself athletes should stay in their Lane I didn't write this I just say I love that yeah no I hear this is this was really interesting because I I do hear it a lot and I'm just like but I don't know I just like I don't get it like I I don't know if I don't know if I'm staying in my Lane but I'm talking about swimming but then I'm talking about like I suppose a a social political context of black people and swimming and the cultural issues that we're facing and God forbid I ever stayed in my Lane because the thought of um the thought of that just doesn't sit right with me with me as I am like I if I see something wrong I feel like I need to speak about it if I get the opportunity to speak about it I'm good going to speak about it so yeah personally for me absolutely not you can't make a profit and help a cause no that's not right is it surely not I well there will be many many companies out there that have turned profits and helped causes but um I have it very much in my mind that I will be turning a profit and making a positive change to the world with it I mean they're quite debatable yeah they are aren't they like this is a yeah in fact if you're watching this podcast on YouTube please do get involved um just put your comments down because we'd like to know what you think of these trending tapes let's talk about the vision of swim now and talk us through the importance of it being based in Ghana yes um and the ambition to make it Global because yes you yeah yeah I've got big aspirations um yeah so swim um it has been launched in Ghana it's the birthplace of my mom so she's um G and born in acara she used to swim in the sea a lot and um I've always I've never been it was my first time going actually I've always wanted to go when was that when was your first time um may just gone very recent yeah and um always wanted to go and I've always felt like I needed to give something back to swimming but also to Ghana because it's given me my mom she's done everything for me and you love your mom I love my mom so much I really do I had to say bye to her today and I was like waving for the taxi Bye Mom she's so sweet um she really really has done the most for me and um it's going to see her people see where she was brought up um was really nice like homecoming moment for me I'm getting a bital sorry sorry um and I was texting her like I didn't feel like I could feel closer to you but I do now because I've got to see how you were um yeah like your people your people how you grew up lit um and my uncle actually he I I didn't really reach out to any family over there because it's just been a bit disconnected but um he actually saw me on the TV cuz I was doing like so I was doing like a press tour and um he saw me on the TV and came out to the launch day of swim to just support me and he's been texting me he's been absolutely lovely and it's just it's nice if I had that reconnection with um with a home that I didn't realize was a home basically until I went there and was like actually no this this feels really natural to me and really special it was it was different layers personally you got something from it yeah your business yes yeah being able to start swim there's been absolutely amazing I'll just detail what we're doing there at the moment so um we've partnered with a school called aim motor school um we are paying for 15 students and five members of staff to learn to swim over 10 weeks and two swimming teachers from Acra or from Ghana are providing those swimming lessons for us and we've been getting updates from them they're absolutely loving it the smiles that we see from these people in the water it's absolutely beautiful and um this is kind of one essence of swim where it's going to have this land to swim and um in certain communities this is going to be much more relevant so whilst we still need learn to swim in London and in the UK in Acra and in Ghana specifically there's like quite a big gap where we just need more people to know about swimming to know that they can swim to get access to pools to have swimming costumes swimming hats and and and that available to them so almost like the basic things exactly yeah so we star with the basics in Ghana but then also in London we're looking at launching a swim London and that's going to take different shape where it's going to be more of a holistic based um exercise where um it'll be like a shorter time frame but um still getting people in the water experiencing what it is like to swim and um having those opportunities but also bringing nutrition into it breathing workshops um snc so like uh basic like what you can do on land to keep yourself fit basically to show people that there is time in their week to carve out something for themselves and hopefully it can be swimming for them and giving them that opportunity to discover that swimming can be that thing that they can invest time in to invest back into themselves yeah I mean you've got plans see there's loads of communities around the world globally that need could benefit benefit from this so how are you finding integrating this social responsibility and you touched about really passionately and emotionally about about giving something back with you know growing your business and having that business practice and focusing on making a profit yes yes so okay this is the thing it's um of course need to make a profit um we love to uh partner with people to deliver these programs around the world and um be able to just uplift communities in a way and touch people that wouldn't have had these opportunities otherwise but so soci responsibility I think is just maybe a Nate in me it's just like naturally how I I I've B I've benefited so much from swimming has given me like basically everything in my life that I can call my own and the fact that there are people out there who haven't had access haven't had opportunities um just like it just doesn't seem right to me because I've been I've been able to benefit from it so much so I'm like other people surely can get like if it's just a fraction of what I've been able to get and that's amazing even if it's just learning to swim so they can go to the beach with their family or go in the pool and not feel terrified of going towards the deep end those are little wins which I really think can help change someone's life and give them something more from life and I want to be able to help people access those opportunities and I think the way that business is going in the world at the moment there is more social responsibility conscious Minds out there looking at opportunities and seeing what how they can enrich someone 's life but also of course make a profit and keep the world a happier place because of it I guess also this links and ties into sort of like your education the ideology where social policy did you do or yeah I did uh politics and then um political communication so I guess all those you can bring all those elements in and see the benefits and has knock on effect now being a co-founder is challenging we know that but how are you finding working in a team as a co-founder when swimming in such a solo Pursuit I think I'm adapting well to it yeah um it's it has been interesting I've I've learned a lot like I've never been good at reading between the lines with things because um coaches for example in I think most sports it's it's a blunt it's a blunt environment you know if something's not good enough you're told it's not good enough there's no oh we'll do a performance review there's there's there's none of that there's no like corporate business talk you know it's it's it's ugly and it's straight to the point and um I've just been learning to read between the lines of um conversations and stuff and um I picking up on tones and stuff like that and I'm not saying it's not it's not all negative at all like it's just my naivity basically especially coming out of Elite Sport um but it has been really good I think working in a team getting to learn people's different perspectives where they've came from why they think like that it's it's always so powerful no I've always said a diverse table with different thoughts different different opinions different walks of life you're only going to get like a more positive result because not everyone has lived the same life even twins have not lived the same life so we we can all learn from each other and i' I've been really fortunate with that with the BSA so how would you what would you say to people who feel pressure to represent people who look and sound like themselves um because you talked about how when you know you got into that pool and you you know you qualified in 2021 you're like oh my gosh there's so many people from different walks of life for different reason supporting you that's a lot so how can one deal with that pressure I'd say if you don't want to deal with that pressure I don't think you should have to deal with it it's okay to take a step back you're a human being you need to look after yourself um in a very blunt way you you don't ow anybody anything um I felt like I wanted to do this and have these conversations and I initially no one came and was like questioning me about being a black swimmer I initially went and started having these conversations in public and um very fortunately had a really nice response from it that people wanted to hear more and I took it upon myself because I felt like I wanted to try and change something not everyone has that in them and that's fine that's not a criticism on these people it's it's it's okay it like first and foremost I I was an athlete the first thing I should be thinking about was my performance and it always was but at the same time I thought well if I can help change swimming and my communities for a more positive whilst I whilst I go I might as well try and I have to say that phrase standing on the soldier of giants is really true and relevant to my story because um there have been so many uh black sping icons who have spoken out about issues in the past both in their career but also afterwards as well I think U Dame Kelly Holmes is a very good example of that and um having those people who have kind of broken through those kind of uncomfortable conversations and controversial topics in public really allowed me to be like okay people are having these conversations I can put my voice in I can hopefully help create positive change so with this Mission because I'm going to call it a mission yeah it's a mission oh it's a mission yeah where do you where do you see yourself as a as a businesswoman 10 years time do you want swim to grow and also your work with the BSA um do you to grow yeah yes massively I mean I have this aspiration it's not going to happen in my lifetime um but I want everybody be able to swim around the world and I think everyone should have access to be able to learn to swim is a life-saving skill um the sea levels are rising you know floods there are a lot of sad reasons why we should learn to swim besides the fact that it's a beautiful sport and it can help you access so much more in life so um that that is my goal with it with swim with swim with your meaning that um I mean I've got aspirations of like having swim pools having events around the world having a community in which you know you can hop to another city and there'll be a swim swim event on there that you can meet other people from that community and area and learn what they're doing learn how learn what swimming means to them in that Community because every city has its own Vibe its own culture and um I just want to emulate those cultures with swimming in this in those cities if that makes sense yeah so you've got goals got your goals for your business you're starting out and you're just going for it I'm going for it yeah it's very young it's like oh my god I've only just Incorporated the business like one week ago so it's like it's literally like it's a baby like it's like fresh out the wom business podcast we're loving it yeah I'm I never thought that this was the way my life or career was going to go like the word entrepreneur I'm just like oh that's a heavy word like it's a heavy heavy word but um it's I don't know I just think I want to do this and if that's what it means then I'm going to I'm going to try and take it on and I'm going to go for it yeah any fears doubts that you um it is yeah like I I yeah I'm scared I'm not going to lie it's it's terrifying you know I've put I put my name out there I've put I've been like I I want to do this I'm putting my money out there I've invested in this personally myself um it it is a little bit terrifying because you know what what if people are just like actually Alice this is not a good idea or something like that I think it's a good idea so I think it's a good idea and um even you know just I always say if I'm helping a few people then that's amazing and that's why we started quite small with just 20 participants in Ghana because um I don't want this to be something where I was like yeah here's here's all the money that I can throw at it and then it's unsustainable and then unfortunately the next year we can't do anything else like I want this to steadily grow I'm taking the very kind of um base level mindset at the moment start small and just grow out and hopefully find meaningful Partners who want to support this and see the worthiness of this cause so have you got people helping you at the moment you know what's your setup just yeah so it's but basically myself and my agent he's been and and the agency at Gateway um they absolutely amazing like shout out to Dei out to Gateway my fiance is absolutely amazing as well he's um in private Equity actually so I'm just kind of like all of the finance stuff I'm just like babe help me out with that help me out yeah just give me some advice um I like the foundations of what I have um is like fertile ground like it's I really have some of the best people surrounding me that I really I could have ever wished for so um I'm just going to take it as it comes move of every opportunity and um hopefully in like 5 10 years time you'll be like oh my God look at it go look at it go be like would you like to come back and um tell us about it you like I'm too busy I know abolutely not I always have time always have time okay it's time to forgive regret or forget so thinking back to your original confession and now we've gone through your journey do you want to forgive yourself do you regret it or wish to forget it oh man I forgive I think forgive but if I could I'd hug her like I that little girl that was sat like at her desk at University I'd wrap my arms around be like babe it's okay like don't you worry about it this is how this is this is part of your journey it's part of the law it's part of your story like it's who you are it's it'll be it's one of those things you don't realize it actually be a foundation of the mindset which you take into adulthood and I think mindsets change often and you develop and you change into different people and that's okay like it's I'm not the same person I was when I was 20 I'm 27 at the moment I probably will change by the time I'm 37 and that's absolutely fine um but forgive um definitely because um she could help swimming bad she tried her best at the time and um one thing I'll actually say real quick is that my whole aim for my swimming career was never to have any regrets when I finished um never any big ones anyway and I'm I'm in a place where I really feel like I can say I don't regret anything you know things turn out how they do and that's life and you just roll with it and I've I've had an amazing career from it boom We have got some rapid fire questions for you let's go just keep me on your toes yeah thing is I I'm as a marathon athlete there's nothing rapid about me I'm just like you're going to have like a like a good paragraph answer here sorry I'm going to take it because um Marathon swimming is not easy so I'm going let you off who is your business inspiration right okay this is so like oh so cliche cuz she's like the um athlete inspiration for me as well but Serena Williams cuz I just like what a boss like I've looked up to her for so long and um do you know this show my wife and kids she did a camo in my wife and kids like back in like 2002 and I remember seeing it on TV and I was like Mom is that Sita Williams and she was like yeah it is actually yeah and I was like oh my God like that was the first time I'd seen a woman athlete having like a moment on TV like that but not as herself as like a character and a show and I was like oh my God this is like mind-blowing so I think everything that she's built as an athlete and then into a sports woman is just like so aspirational or inspiring and she knows how to reinvent herself and just be or not even reinvent herself because I think she's being her legit legitimate self yes it's just different different sides to her that like she's willing to show us and she's willing to see and I think it's just I think she's just so powerful she's so amazing what advice would you give your younger self you sort of touched on this yeah I'd be like just just ride the wave as cliche as that sounds ride the wave you know you move through it um hold on to hold on oh one thing I definitely will say is try not to waste time with people who you can tell aren't vibing with you there's nothing wrong with just being like okay this isn't working for me um I'm I'm good but then you'll find those people and I've I've realized over the past like three four years I've really found people who were drawn to me and who genuinely like me and um it's really special to see when you know people actually rooting for you and it's really like oh okay yeah when you connect yes you just got that like that Vibe and that energy yeah I love that what do you most enjoy about business I enjoy the fact that at the the moment it feels very open to me it feels like whatever I can do I want I I will go and try and I'll make it happen if the creativity and the ideas and I'm trying to find the right word I can't find the right word it feels like there's there's a universe open to me at the moment and I know it might not be like that all the time sometimes it'll be very constricted and tight and it'll be like you have to do this this and this I'm like okay that's cool that's how things work but at the moment as I'm just discovering it um I feel like there's loads of opportunities basically what I'm saying yeah favorite work hack oh oh my God take a nap really yeah that's my favorite work honestly take a nap take rest rest yeah you got a good I never na I feel like I heard you talking about this before you were like I don't nap maybe that's why it's in my mind cuz I always nap I maybe I'll maybe I'll startop napping because then I'll be able to swim like you and be more productive one tip on how you stay motivated during tough times or setbacks so when I was an athlete it was definitely like the fear of regret when I finished I was like baby you need to work like he just needs you need to get in and do it and it was even little things like sometimes you don't want to go to a training session and you turn up and then I swim and I'm like oh I did it I at least turned up like take the little wins I think maybe maybe that's it yeah learn to take your little wins and sometimes they'll be massive and they'll feel like yeah okay you sent that email like good job but that's okay it's okay to just celebrate those small things brilliant what's your favorite part of being an entrepreneur entrepreneur oh do you know what it is at the moment telling people I'm an entrepreneur because they' be like what are you doing now i' be like I'm an entrepreneur it's got that you know what I mean it's got and they're like yes but what does that mean and I'm just like you'll see keeping it very vague at the moment but no honestly it is I think it's just having that freedom that that true freedom of um even the title of like I'm an entrepreneur and people hear it and they're like oh okay and like you'll see you'll see yeah you'll see watch this space yeah watch this space and finally where can people follow you online to know more about you and your amazing business thank you yeah you can follow me on Twitter Instagram uh both of those are Alice daring X like during yeah and then um on LinkedIn as well Alice during o y amazing Alice you are incredible thank you good luck on the next part of your journey and obviously I'll be hearing more from you because you you've recruited me already no pressure though no no it's not but it's true though you know I feel now that I can get into the pool and swim I feel free it's a bit lot what you said amazing I love hearing that this thing I love hearing about so many people's experience in water it's so important to have those conversations cuz um that's how you get more people into it Alice you are amazing thank you so much and thank you to those of you who are listening don't forget to hit follow And subscribe so you don't miss out on our next guest whose story is something you'll want to hear or equally head over to the NatWest website for information and tools that help you take those next steps to success [Music]