- What is your name and what is the name of your business?
My name is Jude Gardner and I am the founder of WhenI’m. Check us out at www.whenim.co.uk
- What does the business do and who are your customers?
WhenI’m runs friendly expert-led classes to help people make sense of their pensions, plan their retirement and navigate the general midlife muddle. The classes are for people in their 40s, 50s and early 60s, at the stage of life when pensions and retirement start to feel real but often still feel overwhelming.
It’s based on the concept of NCT classes or a friendly gym, bringing together a group of people at a similar stage in life, meeting others in the same boat and, with expert help, finding a way through. The focus is on the sandwich generation, people who are so busy looking after their children and/or their ageing parents that they rarely find time to think about their own financial futures.
WhenI’m gives people the time and headspace to focus on themselves, and helps couples look at their pensions and retirement together. You often save separately into pensions through work, but you retire together. We all need to invest in our futures, so we can have the best retirement we can.
- What’s the history of the business and what’s your role within the business?
My background is in financial market research, and I spent ten years at The People’s Pension in Crawley as Head of Research. So I really understand where people are coming from when it comes to pensions.
Then in 2023 I was diagnosed very late with leukaemia. I took myself to A&E and within 24 hours they’d put me in an induced coma because I had sepsis and pneumonia. I spent several weeks in ICU, had four rounds of chemotherapy, and lived at the Royal Sussex County Hospital for eight months. After some time at home recovering, I returned to work, but following internal changes I was made redundant last May. I realised this could be an opportunity, and used it as the catalyst to turn my idea into a business. And so here we are.
WhenI’m is a new way of helping people sort out their pensions and plan for retirement, and I know there’s a gap in the market that many will recognise. Right now, the options are limited: providers who can only talk about their own products, government websites that offer no personalised guidance, or financial advisors who can feel out of financial reach. Too many people are postponing their planning, with damaging consequences. WhenI’m gives you the education you need and makes sorting things out more sociable and less of a chore.
For now the whole business is just me. I’m the marketeer, the educator, the administrator, everything. But I’m enjoying the freedom after working for others, and hopefully the business will grow. I already have plenty of ideas for other ways to help people through the midlife muddle.
- How long have you had a virtual office here at Freshmill and why were you looking for one?
After I was made redundant I did what any newly redundant person would do, some DIY. I was popping into Brewers over the road when I spotted Freshmill. I came in to have a look and was welcomed by the team, who were kind and enthusiastic, gave me lots of information about local business associations, showed me the meeting space and explained how the virtual offices work. It was lovely seeing all the small businesses in their various offices, and made me wonder what it might be like one day if WhenI’m has a few members of staff. For now a virtual office is the right fit. I can work from home, but I didn’t want to use my home address for the business, and having Freshmill gives me the professionalism I’m looking for, plus access to the social events and networking.
- Does Freshmill work well for you and your business, and do you use any other services we offer?
Freshmill is a great community to be part of. I’ve been to many of the Freshmill Forum events, as well as HHBA events held here. Freshmill introduced me to Sue at HHBA and the team at the FSB, which all helped with the initial set up.
Coming to Freshmill is a great way to get out of the house and meet people. Having spent eight months in a hospital room on my own, I really appreciate seeing people face to face. WhenI’m classes are all in person, with local people. Freshmill’s customers understand the value of getting out and doing things in person. So much financial education is online these days, and that has its place, but I believe people learn better together, with real help from real people who’ve been there too.
- What is the most important lesson you have gained from your career so far?
What I’m really enjoying about being my own boss is that everything, the branding, the logo, the business model, the ideas, is mine. I can make my own decisions, which is very liberating, though a little daunting. As a market researcher you spend your life gathering other people’s opinions and feeding them back to clients. Now I get to make the call myself, and that’s refreshing.
- Where do you hope to be in 5 years’ time?
I hope WhenI’m will be an established business, growing through customer recommendation, so it becomes a must-do for those planning or approaching retirement. Just as expectant parents rush to book onto an NCT course, taking a WhenI’m pre-retirement class will give you the education, support and friendships you need for this next stage of life. I’ve got loads of ideas for the future, expanding into other areas where people in midlife need help, and growing the network of classes.
- What advice would you give your younger self just starting out?
Probably to have more confidence in your own abilities and opinions. One of the things I’m learning now, running my own business, is to value my own judgement. As a researcher you spend all your time asking other people what they think, but now I have the final say, and that’s refreshing, exciting and scary in equal measure.
- What is your favourite quote or mantra?
It’s important to be kind to ourselves, we’re all just trying our best to navigate this world. But after everything I’ve been through in the last few years, my attitude is very much about seizing the day. WhenI’m is all about planning for the future, but you also need to live for today. One of my resolutions when I came out of hospital was to drink more margaritas, and I’ve been working hard on that one!
- If you could, who would you switch places with for the day, and why?
From a business perspective, I’d quite like to be Trinny Woodall for the day. She’s a fantastic entrepreneur who’s built an amazing makeup and skincare brand, and her staff seem to love her. She really knows how to create a brand by treating both her team and her customers well. She’s also been doing a great job demystifying AI for women, which I’ve found really useful. And she has fun at work, which is inspiring.
