This time we are joined by everyone’s favourite Scottish duo – the Dalziel’s!
So, to start, what do you do in your roles? What does an average week look like for you?
Margaret: Busy! Lots of meetings with clients and staff online and in person – those are the best because developing relationships is, I feel, the most important thing I do. Making sure I am looking after our clients, supporting them throughout, and ensuring the smooth running of our programmes here in Scotland. It’s a lot of work on my laptop from admin to emails, and compiling information for reports. Generally, trouble-shooting and problem-solving whilst maintaining and raising the profile of IH. Looking after my team even though it’s small, making sure everyone is happy, and that I am supporting them in their roles. Visiting schools, local councils and other organisations. Constantly talking about and promoting Beat the Street endlessly to anyone who will listen!
Craig: Since June, I now work across 2 departments – Business Development and Engagement. For part of the week, I will attend the sales meetings, and then on the engagement side, I am working with clients, engaging schools and communities, and getting out and about meeting people.
What is your favourite aspect of your job?
Margaret: Getting to meet Beat the Street players when out and about during events. I love to hear their stories and interact with them.
Craig: Still doing the engagement work and talking to people about the game. Plus, seeing people be enthusiastic about it as well as explaining Beat the Street to people who have never taken part before.
What drew you to Intelligent Health?
Margaret: The uniqueness of our company product and the work it carries out and delivers, also the flexibility of the working day it offers. After being made redundant from my role in new house sales due to the Covid crisis, even though this was a shock at the time, allowed me to look for something different and as I have always been drawn to the health sector and its importance, I decided to apply for the post of Engagement Coordinator. I felt this combined my sales background but gave me a complete change of direction, alongside a challenge for me to do something new and different. I also felt that this would allow me to make a tangible difference to people’s lives and I loved the prospect of that.
Craig: I had heard about Beat the Street through East Ren council, and I said to my colleague in Renfrewshire Roads Dept, Linda, that we should try and get funding to run it there. Linda was able to obtain funds and then personally recommended me to IH for the job as Engagement Coordinator and it all started from there!
What advice would you give to someone entering the industry?
Margaret: Remember that people are the most important aspect of our industry. Always be careful to listen to what they have to say and remember that they are unique and it is never a one size fits all approach. We are all different, so be prepared to be flexible in your planning and be prepared to adapt your thinking if required. I would also say that it takes time to make a change and a difference in our sphere so you must be both patient and resilient. Plus, be prepared to be in it for the long haul if you want to make a difference and get the most from the industry. I would also say to learn from those who have experience in this field as that will always be invaluable.
Craig: Try and broaden your skills whether that is practical skills or interpersonal skills. Try and attend events, such as conferences or training events as you always pick up some new information and have a chance to network with people. Also, try and do some volunteering but make sure this leads to paid work.
Who inspires you?
Margaret: Foremost, my family but also strong independent women. Be it in business, politics, or show business, who are not afraid to stand up to what they believe in and challenge the status quo – Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Tina Turner, and Michelle Obama are a few examples.
Craig: Barack Obama, anytime he is on TV I stop and listen to what he has to say.
What was your very first job?
Margaret: I was a Sales Negotiator and Administrative Assistant in a very small and independently run Estate Agency. As there was only me and the 2 Directors, I was asked to do a bit of everything. So I answered phone enquiries and was front of house dealing with prospective customers, visited prospective sellers in their homes, preparing and typing schedules and missives, preparing the ads for the local papers (yes I am that old……that’s how you found a house, there was no internet back then!) to carrying out inventories, and even using the accounts I studied at schools to make up a profit and loss account from only cheque stubs and bank statements for a customer who wanted to buy a house and needed a mortgage – that was vetted by the Company Director mind! Oh, and I also made the tea! It seemed that set a precedent – not the tea-making! Although I did other work, I settled working in Estate Selling and Marketing for over 25 years so it must have been fate.
Craig: The first job I was paid for (other than a paper round), was to survey wild Geese on the Island of Bute. It came about through the Agricultural College, and the landowner was looking to build wind turbines on his farm, but geese migrated there every year, so surveys were needed to assess the potential impact of their construction. I made several trips over a period of months, and I eventually wrote my dissertation about this.
Did you go to University? If so, what did you study and where? If not, what did you do instead?
Margaret: I did not go to University. Instead, I immediately started in the job above in the local Estate Agent when I left school but ‘The University of Life’ has served, and continues to serve me well over the years, safe to say I feel I graduated with 12 honours.
Craig: I have a BSc Honours in Countryside Management (HNC in Countryside and Environmental Management, then I opted for Countryside element rather than environment for the next 3 years). I studied at Scottish Agricultural College, in Auchincruive, Ayr, and my degree was awarded by Glasgow University. Auchincruive was a lovely countryside estate, sadly mostly gone now as the College shares with the University of West of Scotland in Ayr town centre.
What is your decision-making process at work? How do you face challenges?
Margaret: When making a decision I look at what the best outcome will be for whatever I am doing. This may be both in the short and long term, and I always look at the pros and cons. I try to be realistic when I face a challenge, and I then devise a strategy for what is achievable. This sounds like a good plan and is what I do, but in reality, I will always just want to make sure that I have overcome whatever the challenge is.
Craig: I always think 3 or 4 steps ahead and say to myself what would I do if this happened or that happened? I feel I am a “belt and braces” person which can sometimes hold you back, but I have tried to get over this more recently.
How do you motivate yourself? How do you motivate your colleagues?
Margaret: I think of every day as a new one with new things to learn and achieve, I find that motivating. I also like a target. I always think of how I would like to treat others and how I’d like to receive the same in return, being kind and appreciated and being approachable so that I can be trusted. I also hope I am observant enough to try and gauge how my colleagues are feeling so that way, I can see where I can help and support them if they need it. Remembering to praise people is very important when something is well done. I think that is appreciated and motivates. I hope too that my colleagues see that I want to give my best and that motivates them to do the same.
Craig: If I have a target, I always want to meet it, whether it’s the number of players in a game or the number of schools taking part in Bikeability. I am enthusiastic about everything I do, and this rubs off on colleagues.
What does health mean to you?
Margaret: Absolutely everything. I don’t think of it as just being free from illness but also the feeling of wellbeing physically in the body and also in the mind. Mental wellbeing I think is a key to health in all forms. I am also really interested in what William (our CEO) has been saying concerning social wellbeing and how that is also a powerful influence on health.
Craig: Being happy and energetic and being able to take on what life brings.
What has been your proudest moment working here?
Margaret: That’s a hard one! Can I have 2, please?! When I was given the step to ‘Senior Sales Negotiator’ it made me feel very proud to be asked, but also when we – IH- were invited to come to the Scottish Parliament to showcase Beat the Street. That made me very proud.
Craig: Running the South Ayrshire project in February 2024, it was our own area and we were desperate to have a game here. We held the launch event at my old primary school, and we managed to get 2 MSP’s and an MP to attend, which then directly led to our Scottish Parliament event planned for February 2025.
Fun facts
Do you have any hobbies?
Margaret: Yes loads! Dancing, driving, going to the theatre, eating out, reading, gardening and most of all spending time with my family around me, sometimes doing absolutely nothing in particular!
Craig: I have a season ticket at Kilmarnock Football Club who play in the Scottish Premiership (same league as Rangers and Celtic) my Dad and I go to every Home game and to some away games. I passionately follow Motor Racing. I watch every Formula 1 race and the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) Race every year. This year I managed to get to 3 BTCC events at Knockhill in Fife (our local track we go to every year since 1997), Croft in Darlington and Silverstone. Also in 2024, I met loads of drivers for autographs and photos, I even managed to get every driver at Knockhill! One of my other passions is birdwatching, we have loads of feeders in our garden, and I enjoy walking in our local woodlands and on the seafront looking for different species, sometimes you never know what to expect. Recently we have seen Kingfishers in our local woodlands which was a real highlight.
Tell me a fact about you that no one will know…
Margaret: I need to be very relaxed to do this but if I concentrate I can direct heat to my hands and when placed onto someone I can radiate it to their pain and can help to relieve it.
Craig: I have passed an ARDS test which means I am a qualified Racing Driver and can enter races. I also have a qualification from Oxford University in Wildlife Surveying.
If you were a biscuit… which, would you be?
Margaret: Scottish Shortbread – small and sweet!
Craig: An Orange Club as I like to be part of a Team.
If they made a movie about your life, who would you want to play the lead role?
Margaret: Doris Day………unconventional I know but I do love her!
Craig: Tom Hanks, I can identify with a lot of his personality and he is lucky enough to share the same birthday as me!
What 3 items would you take to a desert island?
Margaret: Sunscreen, lipstick/lip balm and matches – I am no use at making fire unaided!
Craig: Personal radio with a never-ending charge, a wind-up torch and my pillow.
Anything to recommend – whether it’s a good podcast, book, film, or app you’ve loved recently?
Margaret: Recently, I have been rewatching “Frasier” and remembering how much I loved it. Also “3rd Rock from the Sun” which I find hilarious. I recently read “The Revenge Club” by Kathy Lette, this is definitely one for the ladies, and “Surrounded by Vampires” by Thomas Erikson. I could see lots of people in there I knew………especially the Energy Draining Vampires.
Craig: A bit of a silly app but I have recently discovered “Futbology”. You can tick off all the football matches you have attended, and it records the number of times you have seen your team as well as all of the football grounds you have visited. A book I have read recently and enjoyed was the autobiography of BBC Grandstand and ITV Sport presenter, Steve Rider, about his career covering Motor Racing. I got to meet him in the summer at Brands Hatch Circuit and I took along my book for him to sign. He said to me he had bankrupted the publishers with his book!
How do you keep active?
Margaret: Dancing, even if it’s just in the kitchen, walking now instead of running, and yoga when I can.
Craig: Despite being a Bikeability Coordinator in my other job, I don’t actually cycle much so usually walking here in Troon.
