Episode 04: Mark Briant – Co-Founder, That Day, Workplace Wellbeing Consultancy
I have known Mark for 5 years as my personal trainer and friend. Mark and his business partner Rob started their health and wellbeing workplace consultancy 6 years ago and it has been so interesting to see how it has evolved over the years.
Mark had no career in mind when he was at school, he was always into sport and food/nutrition so he studied GCSEs and A-levels that he liked and was good at, he was very keen to share he had obtained 100% in his history paper! From this point, he knew he wanted to go to university but not what he wanted to study, resources for this were a challenge also. In the end he decided that his interest in animals, the fact he enjoyed working with data and that his good mate Steve was doing Zoology that he would do Zoology too. He really enjoyed the course except for the bit where he had to do a foundation course at uni in his first year and meant he had to work harder than all of his peers.
After his zoology degree which he enjoyed Mark decided he wanted to move to London and he needed a job that would pay for this privilege. Zoology wasn’t really an option due to location and pay. He knew that banking had a certain prestige and that it paid well so he applied for roles and was successful in getting a role in a data team at JP Morgan.
Mark did well in his role and was offered promotion fast track opportunities but in his gut, he knew there must be more to life than turning up to work in a stuffy suit and working with spreadsheets all day. Mark had always been a fit person and really enjoyed sport. At uni Mark and his friend Rob ran training practises for their rugby team and were always trying to get people out of bed at the weekend to go and do some form of exercise. They joked about one day owning a gym where Rob would run the exercise classes and Mark would be in charge of the delicious nutritious snacks in the adjoining café.
One day whilst staring at his spreadsheets Mark got procrastinating on LinkedIn and decided to message his pal Rob to see if he was serious about starting ‘that gym’. The rest as they say, is history! Between the 2 of them, they transitioned out of their current roles/ companies and started running bootcamp and PT sessions. Over the years this has changed into them offering fitness classes and nutrition talks to their current business which has 4 main pillars:
1. Fitness
2. Talks/workshops/ courses
3. Private therapy/ coaching
4. On site studio solutions
We hear on the podcast how Covid was a catalyst for their business, driving it online and how Mark’s career highlight took him to Dublin. Mark also shares his favourite way to start the day with a delicious breakfast.
Here is the recipe for you to try yourself:
Here is a link to the That Day weekly cookalong:
I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I enjoyed speaking to Mark.
For more information on what Mark and That Day do, please get in touch with mark@thatday.uk or follow him on @thatday.uk or @marksmunch
Please DM me @the_career_couch with any questions or suggestions