This lockdown hero knows what you’re thinking
Our next lockdown hero is Alex Crow Ltd, an entertainer and stress management coach.
Alex has two strands to his business: he is a professional mindreader, working predominantly in the corporate market and performing at awards events, conferences, wedding and private parties, and a few cruise ships every year. He also leads workshops on managing stress and building resilience in the workplace.
When lockdown happened, his diary was literally cleared overnight. All stress workshops were cancelled or postponed indefinitely, five cruises for which he had been due to perform had been cancelled, as had all of his corporate events.
He went from having a full diary to having no work at all.
Within a few weeks, he had adapted his stress and resilience workshops so that he could lead them online. He then turned to creating a virtual mindreading show.
This was a much bigger challenge, which required developing brand new material that worked in an online environment. By May his show began to take shape and he began offering showcases, which received great reviews.
By December, Alex had the busiest month in his 22 years of being in business. When asked what advice he would give to others, Alex says:
“...Be creative, be flexible, don’t give up and if you can’t do what you have always done, then try something else. It is not the challenges we face in life which define us, but the way we respond to them.”
What an inspiration Alex’s story is, not only during a pandemic, but during any time and for any business that must adapt and pivot in the face of adversity.
Thank you for sharing your story with us!
Everything you need to know right here:
Virtual Showreel: https://youtu.be/5FqyFQn3S30
2019 Showreel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YXZqCwsOeo&authuser=1
Get in touch:
Follow, like, share:
Facebook: @stressboffin @mindreadingandweirdstuff
Twitter: @darkerside1
We asked Alex a few additional questions that we think will be helpful to any business looking to expand their product or service offering. Here’s what he said:
What were your greatest challenges? (Technology, engagement, supply chain, etc.)
I had to invest quite heavily in new equipment (a more powerful laptop, new cameras, lighting etc) and my office now look more like a TV Studio! I also had to learn and master various programmes to enable me to present a show in a professional and interactive way.
Everytime I thought I had all I needed, I found another way to enhance my show which invariably resulted in me buying more equipment. However it was all worth it as I am very pleased with the show now and the feedback from my clients has been superb.
One of the benefits of performing in a virtual environment is that I can travel the world without leaving my office - on one week I had an event at 1.30am for a client in the USA, the following night I performed at an event in Poland and the next night I performed at an awards event in London and then a show in America!
During various awards events I performed my mindreading on a few celebrity hosts, including Charlie Stayt from BBC breakfast and impressionist Rory Bremner - all from my home and whilst in my slippers!
If you could do it over again, would you do anything differently? What would you do?
I was a little late off the mark and the learning curve was fairly steep and I think if I had been able to get my show up to the standard that it was by October even earlier I would have done even better.
What did you learn about your customers, your community, your business, yourself?
I am a member of Royal Windsor BNI and their support throughout all of the pandemic has been brilliant - not only with encouragement and a willingness to be “guinea pigs”, but they also booked up many shows and recommended me to their friends and families as alternative to family zoom quizzes which was really helpful, especially when I was just getting going. My customers have been brilliant and really embraced this new way of performing and I am very grateful to all my clients who have recommended me.
With the stress workshops, my customers have said that the techniques, exercises and strategies shared have helped their workforces in this very difficult time which is brilliant.
If you could give words of advice or encouragement to others, what would you say?
I think the key to any successful business is the ability to be flexible and adaptable and this last year has certainly pushed us to the limit. I know many entertainers who have “pivoted” and created a very successful business online, but equally I know a few who have stated that they can’t do anything unless it was to a live audience and just given up. As a limited company with just me in the business, I had no help from the government at all, but, in any case, I can’t just sit still and do nothing and although it has been challenging, it has also been great fun creating a new show and pushing myself to the limits.
So, I would say to anyone else - be creative, be flexible, don’t give up and if you can’t do what you have always done, then try something else. It is not the challenges we face in life which define us, but the way we respond to them.