We recently connected with James Crow and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, James thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Setting up an independent practice is a daunting endeavor. Can you talk to us about what it was like for you – what were some of the main steps, challenges, etc.

Twenty years ago (we’re talking last century, folks!), I was a successful project manager for a large IT company.

I won several awards for my hard work, and yet I didn’t really enjoy it. My personality wasn’t particularly well suited to it. Sound familiar to your early roles?

I was left to my own devices, with a laptop, working from home for much of the time. And over time, because of poor ergonomics (by which I mean a bad desk set up), my arms started to hurt. Then they started to really hurt!

They got worse and worse until finally I wasn’t able to work anymore. A double-whammy combination of pain and stress was causing my life to be miserable and unproductive.

So I tried all sorts of things to get better, from Physical Therapy, Chiropractic, Osteopathy, Acupuncture, Yoga, weight training and so on. But the only one that helped me was a little-known technique called the Alexander Technique.
Haven’t heard of it? The Alexander Technique teaches you to be much more aware of your body. Think of it as body mindfulness. I learned to apply it. Over time, gradually, my pain started to go away.

I knew I didn’t want to carry on working as a stressed out project manager for a large IT company so I quit. Like many people who burnout at an early age I chose to specialise in the thing that had helped me recover, in this case the Alexander Technique. Over time I built up a highly successful practise which was making a good living for me, supporting myself my wife and two children.

Until along came COVID.

COVID trashed my practice. It picked it up, tore it to pieces, and flushed it down the drain. Here in the UK, I wasn’t legally allowed to work, even while many of the other therapists were, such as Physical Therapists.
When I was finally allowed to work again, many of my clients were elderly and were too afraid to come back, fairly enough, because of worries of infection and risk to their health. And because of the long periods of time during which I hadn’t seen any of my clients, many of them had just drifted away.

So I was faced with a conundrum: should I try to build up my practice again over many years, as I had before, or should I try something new?

Life is a bit like cake. You know, you can eat one great big massive cake (one career) or you can enjoy many slices of different cakes (many careers). I have enjoyed over my years many slices of different cakes. I recommend it whole-heartedly. Are you still eating the same old cake?

So, it wasn’t a difficult decision for me to retrain into a new industry. I saw how poor my clients home-working setups were, and how it was affecting their posture and causing so much pain.

I realised that learning ergonomics (which you can think of as getting the best working setup for your body) would fit well with my existing skill set. It would open up a whole new area of expertise for me to learn, to explore, and to enjoy. So that’s what I did!

Well-being as a whole is becoming more and more popular for many companies, and so it proved relatively straightforward for me to start to earn an income helping companies make sure that their employees didn’t end up in the same ruined state that I did!
And so, my ergonomic practise built, and now I employ my wife as well. It’s a lifestyle business that suits us very well.
We are able to walk the kids to and from school, which I really love (much to the annoyance of an irritable elderly neighbour who has yet to realise the advent of the internet and flexible working).
We maximise and enjoy the many benefits that being your own boss can bring to people who want to enjoy a lifestyle business like this.

Now that my company is growing, I have no desire to employ people and end up having to manage them in the same way that I did as an IT project manager. The advent of AI and the many advantages that taking advantage of it can offer gives me an opportunity now to build my practice using the technical skills I had learned as an IT project manager, the interpersonal skills I had learned as an Alexander Technique Teacher, and the business skills I have learned over the past few years simply by trial and error (and a lot of great advice!).

Our future looks bright!

James, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As for me, I’m an easy-going guy who doesn’t particularly like hard work.

I’m not into the hustle or the grind and I have no intention of owning a jet, a yacht, or my own private island. I get my happiness from the moments of peace, calm, and quiet that I can enjoy in my day, as a result of the hard work that I put in to support myself and my family.

I really enjoy helping my clients avoid the pain and discomfort that can cause their days to be miserable. I think they really appreciate that I do so with a lack of “corporate rigidity”. Being a small, agile company means that we can react quickly, and we can add a personal touch that many of the larger companies are simply unable to do. Our clients enjoy staying with us and we’ve built up great relationships with many of them which always makes me feel happy.

I think, because this is a lifestyle business, it’s really important to me that it’s a role that I enjoy.

Life is short, why would you want to spend your time doing something you don’t enjoy? Putting off the pleasure to a time sometime in the future, when you may be too old or too ill to enjoy it anyway. The joy of work needs to be in the moment, knowing that the efforts you are putting in are working towards a happier future whilst you also enjoy the moment here and now.
I guess this fits very well with my interest in meditation, mindfulness, and self-actualization. I can’t imagine working for another company now, and to be fair it’s been over 20 years since I have so I’m not sure anyone would take me even if I wanted to!

I’m really proud that I’ve managed to forge my way through life for the last 20 years supporting myself and my family all through my own efforts, without having to rely on a pay check at the end of the month. Sometimes I miss the safety that comes with a monthly pay check, but when I choose to go for a lunchtime walk because I feel like it and I can, it all makes sense. Perhaps I’m a bit of a lone wolf, and that’s why I have no intention of employing any more humans to grow my business!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’m not naturally an entrepreneur – I’m afraid to ask for the sale, I have yet to make a single cold-call (and have made only a few warm-calls!), and I guess I grew up with a mindset of money-scarcity.
I recognised this as I set up my new practice, so I joined a mentoring club in the UK, a business community called the One Percent Club.
At first I was worried about spending the monthly fee, but now it’s a no-brainer. I’m surrounded by like-minded individuals and constantly receive support and advice from the three people who run the club, and the many business owners who are in the same boat as me.
Apparently even this old lone wolf likes to run with the pack now and again!

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

Despite my success in the many careers I’ve taken, I think if I could start all over again, I’d get into the restaurant business. I know this is madness, I’ve seen the bad hours, the hard work (often thankless) and the harsh financial conditions that the industry has.
But I do love to cook – pretty much everything I eat is cooked from scratch (and tastes amazing!).
And you know what? I rarely eat out now, because every time I feel like I could have cooked a better meal than the one in front of me! What a big-head!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://posturestars.com
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