April is Stress Awareness Month, making it the perfect time to launch our new series of networking events aimed at highlighting the pressures faced by sales professionals.
Our first event was held at our Colchester base in the Innovation Centre, Knowledge Gateway. We were delighted to welcome so many attendees, all eager to offer support and be supported in navigating the challenges of their work environments.
This initiative was spearheaded by our Client Relationship Manager, Nick Brown. Nick opened the event by sharing his deeply personal motivation for bringing this series to life. He told the story of his former colleague and close friend Chris — a charismatic, hilarious, and highly successful salesperson.
Sadly, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Chris’s thriving career was derailed. The resulting impact on his physical and mental health went largely unseen by those around him. Earlier this year, at just 47, Chris tragically took his own life.
Deeply affected, Nick shared a heartfelt tribute on LinkedIn, intending to honour his friend and raise awareness. What he didn’t expect was the overwhelming response — countless people reached out, sharing their own experience and struggles. It became clear that there was a real need for a safe space where sales professionals could come together for support. From this realisation, our Sales, Stress & Support – Networking for Sales Professionals events were born.
The Innovation Centre was a fitting location for the launch, as Centre Manager Georgina Watts pointed out. The Centre’s ethos is to foster a strong sense of community, ensuring individuals and businesses alike never feel isolated in their daily work lives.
We were honoured to be joined by Joe Denham, Chairman of our Board and serial entrepreneur. Joe, an accomplished businessman, spoke candidly about the toll that decades of hard work, stress, and sacrifice have taken on him personally. While acknowledging that some thrive under pressure, Joe shared that unchecked stress can have devastating consequences — including a stress-induced heart attack he survived at age 50, as well as other periods of severe burnout.
“Judge your success by what you had to give up to get it.”
He reminded attendees that sales professionals often bear the heavy burden of their company’s success. With all of this pressure it is easy to see how the role can become all-consuming to the point where people are unable to take care of themselves. Joe emphasised to attendees that “No sale is worth more than you.”
Finishing his talk, Joe commended Nick for his bravery in opening up and sharing his personal story, and for creating a safe, non-competitive environment where sales professionals can simply connect and support one another.
We were also pleased to welcome Natalie Britt, Mental Health Education Lead from Mid & North East Essex Mind — our Charity of the Year. After running her own business for 12 years, writing her own training programme, Natalie made a career change after attending a Mind Mental Health Toolkit workshop, joining the charity to train others.
Natalie introduced the concept of the Mental Health Continuum — a sliding scale between wellbeing and poor mental health. Everyone moves along this scale depending on external factors and experiences. She highlighted physical warning signs such as poor sleep and changes in diet and explained that stress is often the biggest contributor to the deterioration of wellbeing.
She encouraged sales professionals to use their natural drive and resilience to take proactive steps towards managing stress in healthy ways, and to seek help early when needed.
The Chambers remains committed to supporting our sales community, with planning already underway for the next session in July.
If you would like more information about our events or would like support signposted to you, please don’t hesitate to contact our team.
To find out more about upcoming opportunities — including our Network with Wivenhoe House Hotel event on Wednesday 21 May — please visit our website.
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28.04.2025
