Sep 14, 2026 · 11 min · 7 segments
**Who are the people beside you when everything gets busy, messy and overwhelming?** In Early Years, we spend so much time looking after everyone else, leading teams, solving problems and keeping a…
It's, uh, it's never been about just the workshops, the speakers, the activities, the tents, the Play-Doh, or even this year, Willy Wonka or Dolly Parton, or actually quite a lot of purple, if I'm honest with you, this year.
And this weekend reminded me of something that I think sometimes we forget when we're running, uh, businesses, leading our teams, looking after everyone else, and trying to keep, and juggling, keeping all those plates going and spinning.
And so the purpose of this podcast is about when you find your tribe, stick with them.
Hold on to the people who get you, um, and the people who don't need you to explain why something matters, and the people who always turn up, and the people who always muck in, and the people who laugh with you when it all goes slightly wrong, or even cry with you or listen to you when you are crying.
Um, uh, but, but it's about the people who stand back at the end of, of the day and say, "Bloody hell, we, we did that." Um, because that's what EPOP has given, given me and given our team is a tribe.
I don't think your tribe is necessarily made up of people who are exactly like you.
God forbid if there were, uh, all those people that were like, like me [laughs] the world would be a different place.
This is still what they say research says, and absolutely no idea where we put the extension leads and stuff.
And your, your, your tribe, it made up of people who believe in the same things that you do.
Your people who, uh, understand your values, who challenge you, who support you.
People who let you become completely yourself, and sometimes people who know what you need before you even said it.
And I can truly say that about, um, the Jigsaw Tribe, because that's what it is.
But EPOP has brought together so many of those people over the years, and people who believe that early years really does matter, and who know that play matters.
And people who understand, uh, what we do with young people isn't just playing.
It's, uh, it's never been about just the workshops, the speakers, the activities, the tents, the Play-Doh, or even this year, Willy Wonka or Dolly Parton, or actually quite a lot of purple, if I'm honest with you, this year.
And this weekend reminded me of something that I think sometimes we forget when we're running, uh, businesses, leading our teams, looking after everyone else, and trying to keep, and juggling, keeping all those plates going and spinning.
And so the purpose of this podcast is about when you find your tribe, stick with them.
Hold on to the people who get you, um, and the people who don't need you to explain why something matters, and the people who always turn up, and the people who always muck in, and the people who laugh with you when it all goes slightly wrong, or even cry with you or listen to you when you are crying.
Um, uh, but, but it's about the people who stand back at the end of, of the day and say, "Bloody hell, we, we did that." Um, because that's what EPOP has given, given me and given our team is a tribe.
I don't think your tribe is necessarily made up of people who are exactly like you.
God forbid if there were, uh, all those people that were like, like me [laughs] the world would be a different place.
This is still what they say research says, and absolutely no idea where we put the extension leads and stuff.
And your, your, your tribe, it made up of people who believe in the same things that you do.
Your people who, uh, understand your values, who challenge you, who support you.
People who let you become completely yourself, and sometimes people who know what you need before you even said it.
And I can truly say that about, um, the Jigsaw Tribe, because that's what it is.
But EPOP has brought together so many of those people over the years, and people who believe that early years really does matter, and who know that play matters.
And people who understand, uh, what we do with young people isn't just playing.
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