Only Human
Can the darkest of times shine the brightest of lights on our ideas? Tom Pattinson, Founder of Dimension Coaching believes so.
He tells us how the death of beloved family members brought about the birth of a business he’d dreamed of for years.
In 2023 my dad was diagnosed with cancer and a week after that my grandma died.
Six months later my uncle died and then we lost my dad. In the space of just ten months, three members of our close-knit family were dead and our lives were unrecognisable.
It was a huge wake-up call for me.
It brought into sharp focus the fact that our time here is short and made me think about how I really wanted to spend mine.
I thought a lot about life and death. It sounds morbid but it was actually very liberating. It breathed new life into me.
I’d always had a business idea in the back of my mind but kept putting it off. It had never seemed the right time to do it.
But when my uncle was on his death bed, he told me not to wait around for life to happen – to take the chances while I can. It became clearer than ever to me that the time was right to start it now.
And so, alongside acting as executor of my dad’s estate, supporting my mam, sister and wife – while grieving myself – I launched a new business.
People – understandably – might wonder how sensible it is to start a business in a time of grief. And they’d be right to ask!
I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders at some points. It was a steep learning curve – and though I was supported by my BIC Business Advisers Hina and Nham – for some people, it might have been the worst thing they could have done.
But for me and my unique set of circumstances, the timing was perfect. It was a very healing thing to do. It felt like closing one chapter and opening a new one.
My dad Allan was a respected member of the fire service and helped anyone he could. He did lots of charity work, and I looked up to him as a leader.
My idea for a Community Interest Company was to make coaching accessible to people who might not otherwise have had such opportunities. It was my way of carrying on my dad’s legacy.
He ran into burning buildings and while I can’t quite do that, I can help people in a different way.
Honouring my dad and the thought of making him proud was more than enough reason to get out of bed on those really tough days.
My background in leadership over the past 13 years has involved roles in retail management, in employability and in operations.
I’ve always had a bit of a knack at getting the best out of people – possibly from learning about myself having gone through burnout and depression.
I am good at motivating, inspiring people and helping people to achieve personal success both inside and outside of work and I wanted to do that more. That’s where the idea for Dimension Coaching came from.
There are lots of coaches that work with high ticket individuals and that’s what people often think coaching is all about.
But I wanted to bring high quality coaching to the community to help people achieve what their success is, whether that’s employment, health, or personal progression. I knew there was a gap and a need there.
I’ve seen a lot of people in hardship in my previous roles and I wanted to do something about it.
I’m currently working with unemployed people to help them move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset and it is incredibly rewarding work.
I feel the difference in my clients before I see the results and it’s so exciting.
When I can feel things starting to click with people, they then get a taste for it and want to do more and we get a lovely snowball effect. People surprise themselves and it’s lovely to witness.
Clients have secured job interviews; some have got into work or are considering self-employment. Success is so different for everyone.
I do genuinely feel like the past 18 traumatic months have led to my life taking a turn for the better. I feel like I have a purpose in life that’s come from death.
As much as we are scared of death, if we embrace it and face it as a culture, it helps us make the most of our lives while we have the opportunity.
I feel like I have the privilege of looking at life differently and now I’m sharing that with others to help them.