A little bit about who we are …
Hello, we are Charley and Colin from Brave Your Day.
Brave Your Day was born in 2017 as a mental health and wellbeing practice to support people to lead mentally healthier and braver lives in uncertain times.
Never did we imagine how ‘bravery in uncertain times’ would ring out as a 2020 mantra during an unexpected global Coronavirus pandemic.
For years we’d played around with a secret ambition to work for ourselves.
Then in our middle years we literally braved our own day by taking a leap of faith from our paid jobs to support people, communities and businesses to ‘brave their day-their way’ by offering affordable counselling, coaching and workshop learning to anyone struggling with problems in living.
'Stimulating'
It was so essential to find a home for our bravery movement that offered us a natural, collaborative and stimulating environment. We found it in the Hidden Lane in Finnieston.
Stepping off the busy main Argyle Street, the Hidden Lane is as its name suggests, a labyrinth of hidden cobbled ways hosting around a hundred studios, garrets and galleries, each brimming over with independent thinkers, artists, designers, musicians and more, each with a brave inspiration and dream.
It's a fertile environment for alternative ways of creating business, with vivid painted brickwork, lofts and stable buildings that amplify a mood of possibility, and a transformative spirit of people.
Along with the stained-glass windows and eclectic, washed out signage, it feels like a cross between the Parisian Left bank and a colourful Brazilian Favela.
In a city like Glasgow, infamous for its rainfall, these sunshiny colours are fabulous for feeding a brave soul any day of the week.
We fell instantly in love with the sights and sounds of the Lane.
'Stepping off the busy main Argyle Street, the Hidden Lane is as its name suggests, a labyrinth of hidden cobbled ways hosting around hundred studios, garrets and galleries, each brimming over with independent thinkers, artists, designers, musicians and more, each with a brave inspiration and dream'Charley & Colin Gavigan
Our Brave Your Day studio is tucked away in a walled, magical mews garden, alongside other artistic West Enders and families of birds nesting in the foliage.
The studio gives us the space to imagine ourselves as ‘bravery gardeners’ planting seeds and nurturing the sustainable growth of peoples’ pluck to embrace change.
We feel we are well-placed to understand and promote bravery, with more than 65 years combined experience in therapeutic practice, educational leadership and charity management, plus living through profoundly traumatic life events, we grasp what it takes to keep being courageous and resilient in the grind of everyday life.
Having guts is not a given, there are times when being brave can feel impossible. The world can be a daunting and scary place, and life can throw unexpected curve balls at any of us, at any time.
But everyday bravery is possible. And our intention is to be a positive force to support people to thrive to find, acknowledge and keep building up their bravery muscles.
Music in the Lane
Adapting our business in lockdown has meant temporarily shutting our studio door to shift from in-person sessions, to online and over the phone meets from our Southside tenement.
Thankfully the recent easing of rules has allowed us to venture back to our wee studio to give us a boost and fresh perspective.
Colin also got some much-needed tenor sax practise for a few hours without worrying about annoying the neighbours. Always a consideration when living in a Glasgow tenement.
Mental stamina
That visit inspired us to kick-start partnerships with local clients looking to fuel their mental stamina and flourish beyond lockdown.
No one can predict which businesses will survive in the coming months ahead in the Lane or Finnieston strip.
What we do know is that by the very nature of how these businesses were conceived, the personal dreams embroidered into them and the innovative ways they continue to adapt to customer and community needs, means they will have far more chance to thrive in the strangest of times.
Our bravery mission is to be ready with our watering-can to support any small business owners and creatives that want to grow and sustain grow themselves further.
* You can find out more about Charley and Colin's work at www.braveyourday.com. Or you can follow Charley & Colin on Twitter/Instagram - @BraveYourDay. A Brave Your Day podcast produced by @thebiglight_ is also available to download.
