NICHE FEATURE
Living with high functioning anxiety
You might not think it, but this award-winning, public-speaking company director who oozes confidence, actually suffers from anxiety WORDS BY KERRY SMITH
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t’s been a whirlwind of feats for Digital Ethos of late, having acquired two extra businesses, launched their brand in Canada and Germany, and taken on new clients such as Co-op and the NHS – and that’s just in the last two months. They’ve hired 25 new recruits, 15 of them from Leicester, and are on their way to closing yet another year from which they can say they achieved a 100% annual growth rate. It’s all most likely why Luke Tobin, the founder of Digital Ethos, was named Service Industries Entrepreneur of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2020. More recently, the company was featured in the Ones to Watch list, as part of the LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders for 2021, in association with The Times. But as you know by now, we’re not here to talk about Luke’s accomplishments. Here he shares with us the things he knows he should talk more about. “I get terrible anxiety around
public speaking, which people wouldn’t expect from me because I do it so often. I have a two-week build-up of feeling very ill about it. That element of anxiety has been with me since childhood.” Trying to figure out where his anxiety stems from, he says that his upbringing was a complex one with parents divorcing when he was two years old, going to live with his grandparents for some years, and then back and forth between his parents’ homes before his mum sadly passed when Luke was in his early twenties. Luke’s had a couple of counselling sessions in the past, but having high functioning anxiety, he’s no doubt cursed with the gift of being a high-achiever while being consumed with worry. “People often take my calm exterior for granted, but inside it can be a whirlwind of anxiety. Oftentimes, I’m looking for the door but trying to stay planted in the room.” Luke employs 55 people at Digital Ethos. He said: “Until about
I DON’T TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS WITH MY MATES, IT’S JUST BEER AND BANTER
six months ago, I didn’t have a leadership team around me. But it doesn’t matter how many layers you put in the business, the buck eventually stops with you as the owner.” It’s a stressful position, but his anxiety has made him a more understanding employer. He pays for therapy for his staff when they need it. “Some of my team have their own mental health issues and I should be more open with them about my own, but I don’t want to seem like I’m layering that onto them.” When it comes to looking after himself, he plans to get back into the gym and work on paying attention to all aspects of his life and not just the business. “I don’t talk about these things with my mates, it’s just beer and banter – but I should be more confident to open up about things like this that I’d probably only vent to my partner.” To find out more about a day in the life of Luke, go to digitalethos.net/commercialdirector-interview. NICHE | 57
