Reflections on 2022 – by Tom Kirkpatrick

The end of the calendar year feels a natural time to reflect and take stock of the events of the past 12 months. Here are some of my musings on events that have shaped me in 2022. 

Working fully remote – not for me.

We spent a good chunk of 2022 without an office to call home. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I need office interactions. Those conversations you don’t have when you’re fully remote – how was your weekend, who’s getting the coffees in (hint – never Andrew), a militant stance on Christmas songs recorded after 2005 (just me…) – those interactions breed essential bonds, and those bonds breed culture. Gleefully, we recently moved into our new office in Newcastle, there are plenty of spare desks to be filled in 2023!

Wonderful Chaos

If the time between starting a business and gaining your first paying client is the Valley of Death – we traversed that valley fairly painlessly… and swiftly entered the Crevasse of Doom. We negotiated a brief period of start-up chaos early in the year, but I wouldn’t change a thing. We live by our values and we are building something truly special here.  

Instincts Matter

With the FDA’s recent approval of microbiome-based therapies, harness the power of your own microbiome, and trust your gut. I’ve kicked myself on a couple of occasions this year where I should’ve trusted my gut, and for various reasons I’ve gone against a bad feeling. I’m still shaking off a couple of decades of self-doubt, and my advice to anyone (including me) is almost insultingly simple – if it feels weird, it probably is.