Helen Bullen is a business mentor, speaker and award-winning author who works with solo business owners who want to make a living doing what they love. In 2020 she retired from clinical practice as an osteopath, having single-handedly built Fine Fettle Multi-Healthcare, a large, multi-award-winning clinic with over 20 practitioners and a full reception and admin team. In June 2021, following a routine mammogram, Helen was diagnosed with stage three triple negative breast cancer. After nine months of intense chemotherapy and surgery, she was given the all clear, completing treatment and reconstruction in 2023. She kept a diary throughout, which informed two deeply personal books about her experience. In this episode, Helen shares the full story of building two clinics whilst raising her children through divorce, the moment she decided to close her practice just before her cancer diagnosis and how humour, resilience and a refusal to dwell for too long in the hard moments have carried her through every chapter. It is a wise, funny and genuinely moving conversation about doing business and life, entirely your own way. 💡 "You have to think of your business like a shop on a high street. If the blinds are down and there's no open sign, why are you expecting somebody to buy from you? You have to put yourself out there." — Helen Bullen In this conversation, we explore: ✨ How Helen built her first osteopathy clinic from nothing, learned to embrace marketing despite hating it, and went on to found Fine Fettle Multi-Healthcare, a business she remains deeply proud of to this day ✨ The reality of building a business through divorce as a single mother with no financial support, including the honest and moving story of air beds, a bucket for a fridge and the moment her daughter's too-small shoes became the motivation to find two or three more clients ✨ Why necessity became one of the most powerful drivers of her success and how she looks back on that period with pride rather than regret ✨ The old-school marketing that built her business before social media existed, from community involvement to genuine relationship building, and why those principles still matter today ✨ Why authenticity beats perfection every time and Helen's refusal to pretend to be anything other than exactly who she is, on stage or on camera ✨ The decision to close her clinic just before lockdown, the negotiation that got her out of her lease with no penalty, and why the timing turned out to be extraordinarily fortunate given what came next ✨ The full story of her cancer diagnosis, the humour she found even in the hardest moments, and why she named her chemotherapy line Percy and her reconstructed body parts Agnes and Bea ✨ Her philosophy on emotional resilience, giving herself permission to have a proper meltdown before deliberately choosing to move forward, and why this is not about suppressing emotion but about not staying there too long ✨ How motherhood evolves through every chapter, from nappies to sports days to becoming a granny, and why ring-fencing what matters first and building your business around it is the only sustainable way to do this ✨ Her current mission to get on more stages as a midlife woman in business, the frustration that sparked it, and why she believes we should all lean into the things we are naturally good at rather than hiding them About the Guest: Helen Bullen is a business mentor, speaker and award-winning author who helps solo business owners build sustainable, profitable businesses around the lives they actually want to live. Having built and closed two successful osteopathy clinics and navigated a stage three cancer diagnosis with characteristic humour and resilience, she now focuses entirely on mentoring through her membership community, mastermind and retreat programme. Known for her trademarked Kindly Blunt approach, she is also the author of four books and host of the podcast Exactly That. Helen is a mum of two grown-up children and a stepdaughter, and a proud new granny. You can connect with Helen on Instagram and LinkedIn or via helenbullen.com. About The Host: I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️ I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis! I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It's a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams. Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes. I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
