The Good Listening To Show: Stories of Distinction & Genius

Founder Story: Backs, Posture & Sitting Better. Bums on Seats with Alex Prince, Osteopath & Inventor of the Z Chair! He's the Bloke Who Helps You Sit Better!

• Chris Grimes - Facilitator. Coach. Motivational Comedian

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Alex Prince is a Bristol based Osteopath and Inventor of the Z Chair by Sit Straight, an ergonomic chair to promote better posture and better spinal health.

I'm sitting on mine now! You can get YOURS at https://www.sitstraight.co.uk or simply Google the Z Chair!

Alex and I have engaged in a perfect bit of reciprocity: We've exchanged a Show for a Z Chair! 

Alex gets to tell you his Story and I'll be sitting very upright as he tells it!

Get you hands and your bottom on a Z Chair! 

And Alex will tell you why and how! Your chair might be coaching your spine into pain. We sit down with osteopath and Z Chair inventor Alex Prince to unpack why most seats flatten the spine’s natural S curve, switch off your core, and quietly load your discs through the workday. Alex shares the story of turning years in clinic—treating the same avoidable injuries—into a simple, affordable design that makes good posture the default: a sloped seat that drops the knees below the hips, cues a gentle pelvic tilt, and helps you sit tall without trying.

We trace Alex’s path from rugby pitches and a near-miss with medicine to osteopathy’s more holistic lens. Mentors who shaped his practice, the clarity he finds in long runs and open landscapes, and a family thread that frames resilience all feed into a clear mission: prevention over firefighting. You’ll learn why “active sitting” matters, how microbreaks every 20 minutes protect tissues and sharpen focus, and the counterintuitive truth that backrests can become crutches. Alex’s favourite reminder—give the body a crutch and it will lean on it—lands with practical steps you can use today.

Expect grounded, useful ergonomics: raise the hips above the knees, keep screens at eye level, plant your feet, and let posture breathe. We also explore how a sloped seat can improve presence on video calls by naturally bringing you forward, and why graded movement beats total rest when pain flares. Whether you’re dealing with back pain, managing a team, or just trying to stay sharp at your desk, this conversation offers simple changes with outsized impact. Sit better, move more, and let your environment work for you.

Enjoyed the conversation? Follow for more founder stories and practical wellbeing insights, share with a friend who slouches, and leave a quick review—your feedback helps others find the show.

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'. If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

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Thanks for listening!

Chris Grimes:

Welcome to another episode of The Good Listening to Show. Your life and times with me, Chris Grimes, the storytelling show that features the clearing, where all good questions come to get asked, and all good stories come to be told. And where all my guests have two things in common. They're all creative individuals and all with an interesting story to tell. There are some lovely storytelling metaphors. A clearing, a tree, a juicy storytelling exercise called 54321, some alchemy, some gold, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare, and a cake. So it's all to play for. So yes, welcome to the Good Listening To show, Your Life and Times with me, Chris Grimes. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin. Boom, which is the clapperboard version of saying Bosch, we're in. A very, very exciting day. You'll notice, uh, if you're watching carefully, how uh sitting up straight uh me and my guest are, uh, because um also very excitingly, uh dual excitement, uh, we're in podcast Virgin Land. Thank you. And Alex Prince, as we're about to find out, is one of the gentlemen of the world who actually is one of the most important numbers you can have in your phone book. Because, ladies and gentlemen, min min min, Alex Prince is an osteopath. Come on. And we're sitting up straight. Tell us why we're sitting up straight, Alex, because this is what this is all about.

Alex Prince:

First of all, hello and thank you for having me. I'm very excited about that. Uh, we're sitting up straight because I'm an osteopath that's passionate about people's back health and posture. And I designed a chair in lockdown called the Zed Chair, and uh we're both sitting on it, and it's a natty little design, but actually it's helping us sit in a nice ergonomic position, which is gonna hopefully help our back health and prevent further back issues.

Chris Grimes:

And this is a podcasting first in two ways. It's podcast number one, please. Ding ding ding for you, but also this is podcast number one where we're actually sitting in the ergonomic Z chair at this show is all about. Very excitingly, this show uh also uh brings you into the UK health radio show space, the world's number one talk health radio, and this is gonna give you the opportunity to talk to uh about 1.4 million ple people or people, as they are otherwise known, across 54 countries. Um so it's really, really exciting to have you here. Um I mentioned Alex being one of the most important uh numbers in the phone book. My my my my usual uh osteopath was out of town, and then this lovely man uh was there for me to have you know number two, please. And he's now become an equal number one. And uh we did the most perfect bit of reciprocity. Reciprocity is my favourite word. It's a good word. We had uh you you helped me and cured my back, and I couldn't help notice I was sitting on one of your Zed chairs as I was waiting to go in, and by the end of the treatment, we'd arranged the perfect deal: a show for a Z chair.

Alex Prince:

And how better to uh represent this. Great, thank you.

Chris Grimes:

And where we're podcasting from is called Future Leap Studios. And interestingly, Alex, as as this is a best of Bristol, but also a founder story. So we're based in Bristol, and Alex knew that two people upstairs were sitting on Z chairs potentially, so we've managed to emancipate them from their chairs. It's not as cool as it sounds, because one wasn't here today.

Alex Prince:

No, um yeah, bl bless him, Duncan. We were able to just uh swipe it uh from his um his individual person that is actually somewhere else today, so that was great. That's good. And actually, future leaf have been brilliant because they've been helping promote it. So we've uh we've planted a chair up there. So yeah, handily there were two for us to uh sit.

Chris Grimes:

Lovely. You also told me a really wonderful comic story before we got going here about how you've got a very special arrangement with your fishmonger next to where you practice. Would you please tell us that story, please?

Alex Prince:

Talking of reciprocity.

Chris Grimes:

Yes.

Alex Prince:

I got that right, didn't I? Yes. Um my fishmonger, Matt the Fish. He's brilliant, Matt Smith. Um, give them a little um black the best uh little um uh little support, the best fishmonger in Bristol, I am certain, uh, on Northview. Um Smithfish. Um anyway, Matt, um he uh he he comes to see me and uh can't always afford to and would quite happily uh go without, but he he really needs to get uh regular work done and uh so uh he comes laden with fish for me. So that's one.

Chris Grimes:

So if I may, whenever you get slapped about the jowls with a halibut, uh you get the sort of signal slap, which is like the Monty Python fish slap dance as well.

Alex Prince:

I must reassure listeners that I don't keep the fish in the tree murum.

Chris Grimes:

You don't. It was very fragrant, may I say, when I came to visit you. What salmon? No. Well, I think you can get different coloured fabric for the chairs as well. I don't know if salmon pink is one of your things.

Alex Prince:

Salmon pink's definitely one, yeah, and we got turbot grey or something like that, yeah.

Chris Grimes:

Turbot grey, so there is a fishy theme. I love that. No, no, no, there really isn't. There really is. Just playing on that. Wonderful. So um sit up straight, we're going to amplify at the end because that's your company that's there to help you.

Alex Prince:

Sit straight, not sit up straight, but yes, yes, we want people to sit up straight.

Chris Grimes:

Yes. So it's really exciting. You're my first osteopath in this show. Um this is the show, What's Your Story, where I invite movers, makers, shakers, mavericks, influencers, and also personal heroes into a clearing or serious, happy place of my guests choosing as they all come along to share their stories of distinction and genius. And as I mentioned at the beginning, this is a bit of a best of Bristol, Bristol voices and a founder story uh hybrid. And I love the fact you've already given a shout out to Matt the Fish. I love that. I'm not sure it's appreciate Matt the Fish. Matt the Fish. We're gonna do. Yeah. Great. So it's my great joy uh to curate you through the structure of the show. There's gonna be a clearing, a tree, a lovely juicy storytelling exercise called 54321. There's gonna be some alchemy, some gold. Uh no fish, but there will be a couple of cheeky squirrels. A gold turbot. A gold turbot, and there'll be some some Shakespeare, a golden baton, and a cake. Lovely. So it's absolutely all to play for. Can't wait. Lovely. So um this is about from osteopath to Zed chair. Any questions before I curate you through the journey?

Alex Prince:

No, no, you carry on. I'd like glad to be led.

Chris Grimes:

And you go where you like, how you like, as deep as you like, and then obviously at the end there's a very exciting bit called Show as your QR code, please, where sitstraight.co.uk will be at the uh amplification we give you. Indeed. So uh first of all, energetically it all takes place in a clearing or serious happy place of your choosing. So where does Alex Prince, osteopath, go to get clutter-free, inspirational, and able to think?

Alex Prince:

Well, um, probably like a lot of people, it's outdoors, it's outside, and it could be in many different places. It's not just one place. Um, but it could be it has to be countryside, it has to be open space. Um it could be mountains, love the mountains, it could be seaside, even better, seaside and mountains, um, rivers. But open, clear space, but it's not that's not the only uh thing that d builds the whole picture. I uh found this when I was doing uh training for endurance sport, and I found that when I was doing some exercise over a longest period of time, and and back then it was running steady, not puffed, not uh not so your heart's gonna pound out your chest, but just steady running when you're under control and or cycling for long distances, uh, which I love to do, um, or even walking. Um but I found that when I'm doing exercise in the open in the in the in the open space, then then I find my mind wanders, uh I problem solve, stress relieve, everything. But things I get clarity and that's in that in that environment. So that's my clearing.

Chris Grimes:

And there's that lovely Nietzsche quote, it's the best ideas happen outdoors. And if you're walking, it sounds like it'd be quite a brisk walk because you're wanting to sort of make sure that you're moving and exercising.

Alex Prince:

I think generally I go things go to go to go things at uh briskiest pace. So yes, if I'm walking, I tend to uh I tend to get a hoof on a little bit. But um and perhaps uh perhaps if I'm to be self-critical, I need to sometimes just stop and look a bit a little bit more. But uh but when I get into that rhythm, yeah, that flow, um, whether it's walking, running, or cycling, then that's when the mind just goes.

Chris Grimes:

So I love the fact that the clearing is ostensibly the the big outdoors. Is there any particular geography that you'd like to be able to sort of stick a mast in the sand of?

Alex Prince:

Oh wow. Well I mean locally, it's really lovely to go up onto the Mendips. I live in Ringdon, a little village uh not far from the Mendip Hills, and getting up on there and walking, jogging, cycling up there is is is wonderful. But my real, real love is the mountains, actually. So I get uh I get real buzz from being up there.

Chris Grimes:

So let's just go on the mountain side and people can decide where they'd like to think of you being, as we now move on to me arriving with a tree in your clearing. And this is a bit deliberately existential, a bit waiting for goddo-esque because of my acting background. And I'm gonna shake your tree now to see which storytelling apples fall out. How do you like these apples? Which reminds me of Sam the Fish. What are you gonna do? So Matt the Fish. Matt the Fish, not Sam the Fish. Awkward. Um so yes, this is where you're going to now go through 54321. Five minutes, or since we've met, you've been thinking about four things that have shaped you, Alex Prince. Yes. None of this is a memory test. We'll go back to the beginning in a second. Three things that inspire you, two things that never fail to grab your attention, which is where the squirrels will come in, and then a one is a quirky or unusual fact about you. Okay. So over to you to interpret the shaking of the canopy of your tree. Yes. Wow. Amazing. So four things that have shaped you, first of all.

Alex Prince:

Four things that have shaped me. But I think I have to start with school. Um I went to a public school in a boarding school in Sussex called Hurstbier Point College. And um look, lots of stories about going to boarding school and centre way to the public school, and some positive and some negatives I've heard over the years. But for me, it was uh almost completely a a positive. Um I fitted in, I worked well there, it worked for me, and I worked for it, and uh I learnt well, but it was big on I'm not huge on academic, but it was big on um sport and it's big on performing arts and that kind of stuff. And and I just really loved that. It was just brilliant and and I and I thrived there. Um and I think that helped shape me in a very positive way. Um and I played rugby to my heart's consent and was luckily had the honour of being the rugby captain and ended up being head boy. Um but that's um I don't want to blame the trumpet, but that that that was that was a side issue. But actually the the school and myself, I became I i it became a thing that had a profound influence on me um as I grew through my teenage years.

Chris Grimes:

And are you still in touch with the school as a sort of an alumny, numney, num dum number?

Alex Prince:

No, numney. Uh loosely, I I haven't I haven't been very proactive in going back to Hearst, and I keep thinking I should, and maybe geographically it's just a a little bit of a hoof over there. But I've I've got very fond memories of it, and I know it's uh moved on uh considerably since I was there and uh in a really positive way as well. So I I see and I get all the reports and and newsletters and stuff and love it. But uh I think uh I I've been meaning to get in touch with them and see if they're interested in the Zed chairs for their students. Yes. The white rape two. Some awful, awful chairs in schools.

Chris Grimes:

The very small ones in infant schools are the ones that I always struggle with, the ones that are absolutely tight.

Alex Prince:

Well, it's interesting you should mention that because to without diverting too far, um we have uh babies and and toddl have perfect posture. Um it all goes wrong for us when we start sitting down. Yes. Because chairs are a crab. Yes. Most chairs are crab. Yes. Um and so we have got this wonderful posture, we've got great natural core stability when we're when we go from um crawling to standing and we're moving around, and you watch children, they're moving freely and at ease. And then um then we sit and in and and I go to primary school, my daughter's at primary school, and and you see them and you sit on these chairs, and um that's not the school's fault in any shape or form, but um I just see the the unwinding of this perfect posture and core and everything else, and then we wonder why teenagers do the slouching bit. Okay, you know, well we've we've actually taught them or we've untaught them all the good stuff. Yes. And then we get into our twenties and thirties and people have knackered bags. Um but it's actually because we've been um doing something that we do a lot of the time, sitting we've been doing it really badly. Yes. Anyway, that was a rabbit hole, you might want to ding your dinger.

Chris Grimes:

Yeah, sorry. No, that was a great rabbit hole, and uh and an important one as well, which we're we're going to keep amplifying and resonating with. Um do you have any siblings as well that would have joined you at the same school?

Alex Prince:

No. I I well I've got two siblings. Uh my sister's uh three years older than me, and my brother two years older than me. My parents, and I think quite wisely, wanted us to send send us on different academic journeys. Yeah. Um so that and I was the youngest, and I think they very felt very strongly that I shouldn't be Justin's younger brother or Joanne's little brother. Yeah. But actually I could develop him and and I I got my parents to thank for that. I'm very uh thankful for that opportunity and that insight, I think.

Chris Grimes:

Aaron Powell And the first thing you said was it gave you freedom, it gave you autonomy was what I heard uh because it suited you. Uh as you said, it doesn't suit everyone a boarding school life early uh early in in the formative years, but for you it worked.

Alex Prince:

Interestingly, I did have a couple of years where um uh my brother had gone off to secondary school and I was just finishing my primary education and uh I did a couple of years at a prep school and my brother had been there. Yeah. And I came in just after he'd left, and all I heard for a year was, Oh, you're Justin's brother. It did serve me quite well because I'd only played football up to that point, and it was a rugby school. My brother was a good rugby player, and uh so they just chucked me into the first 15 uh unwittingly because I didn't never play the game in my life. You had the right surname, you'll do. Yeah, exactly. I picked it up okay, so that was alright. Yes.

Chris Grimes:

Great stuff. So that's that's a lovely shape itch number one, shape itch number two, please.

Alex Prince:

Number two. Well, I was gonna leave this till later, but since we touched on family, I think family is a massive thing. And of course, family is very broad. I'm very fortunate. I've got a a large and really what I call close family, close not in distance uh in or geography, but actually we all kind of get along and we rub along quite nicely. And I hear horror stories of you know family uh feuds and things like that, and we're so so lucky. But my uh it probably starts with my parents and and they've been a they've offered me the the the foundations and and I've felt that support all the way through to my probably my thirties and you know um and um and for that I'm really really grateful. But uh but uh the the family unit as a whole has been a really um wonderful way to to build inner strength, I suppose, you know, and and and build confidence in in oneself. And more latterly, I I met my wife just over ten years ago, Suzanne, and and she and now I have a lovely daughter, and um and they've now encompassed what also shapes me, which is this lovely rounded and it's it's i i getting married, having children is then the next step in that journey of of of family support and strength, I guess.

Chris Grimes:

There's a lovely analogistic idea of core strength coming from family, and of course, core is all about back problems as well, or or how to solve them. Very insightful. Thank you. I'm here all week. Um so uh shapage number three. Yes. Um I meant to ask you how big is the whole squad in the side. The square of the princes uh alive.

Alex Prince:

Oh well. I've got a brother and sister, uh they've my sister's got four kids, uh my brother two kids. So that that in itself is you know kind of a decent immediate family. Yeah. We got a my my my um mum and dad had quite a lot of siblings who have now had offspring, who are now having offspring. So uh and every so often we have a gets get together. They're usually in France because we've got a load of relatives in Europe. Yeah, and uh the last I think the last gathering we we topped out at about 60 something family members, and they're they're you know, family members, indoors, yeah, kids of um second cousins, even so yeah, but it but it's lovely because we all get together and just have a have a lovely time. Splendid.

Chris Grimes:

So shapage number two or three, three. I think sorry that it's my show, but I can't remember where we are.

Alex Prince:

No, I lost my trail as well as well. Um I think sport stroke leisure. Uh sport's always been a core core part of me uh and my development, my shaping and my growing up. And I think um um probably from my parents again, it it all links in, but uh and and then schooling, um but but but uh I've always enjoyed and got so much out of sport in terms of it's I feel it's really developed um uh myself and in as a person, but also of been able to have the joy of working in a team with people, playing on a team. My work in osteopathy, you know, I I can be quite, you know, I'm helping people, but I'm you're very much in a in a room on your own sometimes.

Chris Grimes:

Yeah, very one-to-one.

Alex Prince:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um was um, you know, I come from a rugby competitive rugby for years, and uh this this this team atmosphere was just wonderful, and I really felt uh that that was a massive important part of making me me.

Chris Grimes:

Yes. And do you still I presume you don't play well, I'm assuming you don't play rugby still, but maybe No, I still miss it.

Alex Prince:

I haven't played I haven't played rugby since 1999, I think. Um and I think um I loved it, really did. I would have carried on playing, but um I just qualified as an osteopath. Yeah. I was hurt stu things were starting to hurt. And sometimes I'd be sometimes I'd be uh um tending to a patient, and I think I was in more pain than them. I was trying to sort out the the collarbone that was uh just a bit subluxed and the fingers taped together and the the black eye, and I thought, well, hang on a minute, maybe, maybe it's time to to knock it on the head. And actually uh I had a knock on the head and uh and a and a bit of a nasty neck injury, which thankfully was not so severe that I you know it's it's not permanent, yeah. It's not left me any permanent disabilities. Um but uh it was enough for me with my knowledge to go, ah, I think it's time to stop. Yes. At which stage I then decided, well, I've I love sport, I've got to carry on. And I got in some less team sports, but m but uh more things that were gonna keep me fit and healthy. And I started running and got into triathlons and and then and then on to sort of endurance sports and things. Which I wish I've also had incredible uh that's more kind of like mindful solo stuff. And you were talking about the clearing. That's where I found my clearing.

Chris Grimes:

Lovely. And you do sports osteopathy as well. So I know you've cranked a few uh rugby players about, haven't you?

Alex Prince:

I yeah, a few, quite a few athletes over the years. I won't name drop any particularly, but you can. Yeah. They're going, come on, come on. Well, yeah, funny, as soon as you say that, I'm like, oh, you know, um, but um no, we've uh I've I've treated um um a few pro rugby players. Um I play rugby on the fringes of professional rugby. So uh um I was kind of uh second team at London Scottish for a couple of couple of years. Yes. I did a couple of seasons at Roslyn Park, which which those teams in the in that back in those days were were uh quite useful still are quite useful signs. Um but um from that uh uh I was uh able to look after some of the some of the uh sportsmen and women uh um athletes as well um and through triathlon and stuff I've come across uh some some wonderful athletes uh really inspirational ones as well. Fantastic you're still not saying exactly who oh okay I'll I'll pluck one out of the air very dear friend of mine Chrissy Wellington. Do you know Chrissy Wellington? Not personally no she's well she she she has uh she's an amazing lady um local to us but uh she was world champion Iron Man champion for years and years and years I had the world record for years she uh someone else has now got it but um she in terms of probably female sports people um she's right up there with some of our our very very best and most inspirational and she's she's a wonderful lady and very modest um but because I think Iron Man is a fairly minor yeah uh sport and you only really know who she is if you do triathlon. Yes but if you do triathlon she's um goddess you know she's just saying her name one more time Chrissy Wellington she's written a couple of lovely books yeah uh oh gosh um they'll come to me we can get people to write in on a postcard if you know I know yes ask a friend photo friend yeah um so now it's shapage number four finally oh yes hang on what have we done or I might have got lost if you feel you've done enough shaping we can go on to I haven't at all I haven't mentioned one that's very important to me and that's osteopathy.

Chris Grimes:

Oh how could we avoid that? So yes how has osteopathy obviously shaped you?

Alex Prince:

Well how I came into osteopathy shaped me a little bit because I I had a bit of a false start in my sort of tertiary education and I wanted to be a doctor desperate to be a doctor and I didn't get into medical school and I thought that was the the end of the world and so I leapt into a microbiology degree at Imperial College and it was not for me. It was way too academic way out of my league academically but also I was looking down mic microscopes and looking at molecular molecular stuff which is fascinating. Yes but it is not me at all I I need to be macro I need to so I I I I dropped out of that course um in fact I stayed probably a year longer than I should but that's because I was enticed by the election of rugby captain there as well so I thought just stay on but did that succeed you became rugby captain. Yes that is yes um there's what's meant for you won't pass you by as a recurring narrative I know and and that was that was tremendous but uh but ultimately I didn't didn't come away with a glorious degree from Imperial which I would have loved to have done but didn't quite but I I I dropped out of that and and took a year out and travelled and worked and then um my parents said really you should be thinking about what you want to do next and I knew that I wanted to do something to help people medically based muscular and they said what have you thought about physiotherapy and I thought well yeah but I'm not sure that's quite for me not sure and um it was one summer I took myself off to um Southampton Library where near where my where my parents live and I I never go to the library and uh and um and I looked up um chiropractic medicine because someone said oh if you don't want to a physio you thought about chiropra being a chiropractor I thought what's a chiropractor I've got no idea we're talking mid um early 90s now so um and so I went along on and I started reading about chiropractic medicine oh that's very interesting and you click and you realign and this and the other and it kept on mentioning osteopathy. I was like what on earth is osteopathy so I then read up about osteopathy and I remember opening uh a book that had the basis of what osteopaths do and their principles and stuff like that and it you know penny drop time you know I was like oh that makes so much sense that's what I want to do so I came back from the library and said to my parents they said how's your day I said I went to the library and once I once my dad had got himself off the floor they said whatever exactly I've discovered I want to be an osteopath they're like what's that so I then told them all of them they were so enthusiastic and they said well I think you better get on and do it. Anyway um fast forward uh did four great years at osteopathic uh college in in London the British School of Osteopathy um and then qualified in 96 and I've been an osteopath well next year will be I'm in my 30th year so next year will be 30 years in practice. What a great time to do a founder story 30 no just founding myself at 30 years. And it's been the most rewarding profession um and it's really opened my mind the osteopathic approach is very um holistic in its attention and and I think before that I've been quite sort of reductionist in the way I'd looked at things. And what it's done for me is really broaden that's that way I can look at the world yes not just at the patient.

Chris Grimes:

There's sort of an obvious analogy of alignment in terms of direction and a sense of self. Yes and core beliefs core yes and I'm just resonating with that. No it's great what you're making me resonate with. So that's that's your four things that have shaped you. Now three things that inspire you and if there's any overlap that doesn't matter. So three things that inspire you now. And we're going down the tree trunk of 54324.

Alex Prince:

Yes now absolutely now um I'm gonna since we're on the osteopathy uh theme I'm gonna start with my mentor um he's a chap that taught me at uh taught me osteopathy or one of the many people that taught me osteop osteopathy and I owe I owe lots of people mentions but I can't do that all but he then took me on as his uh his uh uh apprentice at his at his osteopathic clinic when I when I qualified lovely lovely chap called Vyan Neville Toll fantastic name as well now very sadly uh Vyan uh fell ill and passed away a few years ago and um gosh it was it was wonderful going to his one not wasn't wonderful going to his funeral he was amazing going to his funeral because everyone came with these amazing stories about what an amazing guy this was but for me he really touched me he helped shaped me as an osteopath but also me as a person we used to sit down over lunchtime at his practice and we'd just you know chew the fat talk a little shit proverbial am I allowed to swear I can't remember yourself um um but but um he was a mentor in so many ways but not just osteopathically and lovely lovely guy with a lovely family um so philosopher as well as osteopathy mentor I wouldn't say he wouldn't he would laugh if he philosopher you've got to be joking but actually uh in terms of life yes school of life and he he is we always talk about people being just the loveliest person yeah kindest person um you know and but he was one of those he just say his name one more time Vyan Neville Toll Google that monkey as well yeah yeah absolutely yes and uh he's a wonderful teacher and uh a wonderful inspiring person. Lovely and inspiration thing or person number two um sports men and women that's pretty general isn't it no great um I when I'm when I'm watching appreciating or even playing sports and you see people doing amazing things and it might be the elite athlete breaking the world record it might also be the person that comes in last and and is dragging themselves across the finish line on all fours. You see those those those amazing pictures of people trying to finish the London marathon and someone's carrying someone else and I just it just tugs on my heartstrings and I just think wow that's amazing. So uh for me because I love sport and I know what it takes the commitment to do your best.

Chris Grimes:

Yeah.

Alex Prince:

And we always do our best I think I believe um but um you know the the commitment for any individual to do that. Yeah. And so inspir I draw inspiration when I see something that is amazing in terms of sport.

Chris Grimes:

Yeah and there's a parallel of overcoming adversity in all its forms as someone struggles across the line but they get there. Yeah they finished. I know and it's the completion.

Alex Prince:

Yeah yes I know and and and um uh and sometimes it's the it's the getting there you know and and I see people who are coming in to see me in the clinic yeah and they're trying to get there. Sometimes they're trying to get there too fast. Yes. Um and they they're broken. You know they've they've they've hurt themselves and you can see how disappointed and disillusioned people become when they when they feel that they can't reach their target or attain their goal. Whatever that target is of course you know the injury is set there for a purpose. They've been trying to do something too fast or too quickly and and it's the body saying way of saying slow down a little bit you know you you're trying to push me a bit far but um but when you know one of the joys of what I do is then you can set them back on that road to recovery.

Chris Grimes:

Again another parallel in the hero's journey how we overcome obstacles to get where we're trying to get to the human condition.

Alex Prince:

Absolutely all in an osteopathic uh uh patient room yes treatment room yes yeah yeah yeah yeah yes that's lovely and then the third inspiration third inspiration has gone clean out of my head so inspiring but um but I I think it's gonna no it it it hasn't actually at all it's come back has come back just plug your brain back in here we go and actually it's actually my daughter love that Effie she's just turned ten years old um she um she's just an amazing individual um all kids are aren't they especially when they're they're they're your own but um I met Suzanne uh my wife uh just over ten years ago and we were both in our early forties and the first thing she said was I'm really sorry Alex but if it's kids you want I'm afraid um that's not gonna happen um of course 18 months later uh this ball of wonder pops into the world and um it just the inspiration you get from watching kids but particularly young kids when they are fearless and they go and guess and they just do um and um I've watched her doing sporty things oh that's my girl it's brilliant um and probably more recently she's she loves musical theatre she's dances and sings and stuff like that and uh she's having a very positive influence on me at the moment as well because she's dragging me into the fold as well which is uh which is great fun and very exciting but watching her doing stuff and she'll watch Strippy come dancing and watch some complicated jive and then just stand up and do it. Wow I know and I'm just like inspirational wow if I could do anything even quarter that then wonderful so my my dear daughter Effie is just a star and I'm assuming you never say how the effie have you done that we we try and stay we try and stay away from that one.

Chris Grimes:

That was an example of bad parenting don't try that at home and um I'm assuming um how are we spelling Effie? I was going to guess there E double F I E.

Alex Prince:

That's that would have been my guess yes could have been one of those and it's not a shortening a lot of people sort of say oh is it a shortening of something and I think when we look to Effie uh I think you can euphemia and things like that. But anyway uh Effie comes from um a near neighbour of my parents who um Effie Bowdler I'll give her a little mention she's probably listening but she is ninety six she just turned ninety seven I cannot remember she may qualify for a legacy life reflection is just putting it out yes absolutely and she's a wonderful lady and I always knew her as Mrs Bowdler from down the road and take some flowers down to her at Christmas time and she was just a lovely lady and she had her husband Jim who died of a number of years ago but he was a he was a bit of a jack the lad but great fun. Yeah um anyway I took um took Suzanne uh down to see um Effie when uh when we were down one Christmas and um and she introduced herself as Effie and I was like oh that's the first time I first time I knew that she was actually called Effie I've never known of an effie before that is a really unusual name. And uh anyway Suzanne who was then um several months pregnant with Effie um uh said I think that's a nice name isn't it and we both agreed unanimously that if it was a girl then that's what it would be.

Chris Grimes:

Lovely and the comedian in me can't resist saying if you had a son you could call him Jeff and then you'd have Effie and Jeffy which would be fantastic. Bad parenting don't try that at home.

Alex Prince:

Well I was all over Freddie Freddie was always going to be my number number one number one name um largely because I Freddie Mercury for me is one of my Freddie Flint off for a minute. Freddie Mercury sorry it's your story and maybe he should have been one of my inspiring uh people because I I've definitely been inspired by him and in in terms of um what he achieved and his amazing things and how he dresses and when I've pulled off a couple of fancy dress out um lookalikes of of Freddie Merker as well which is great fun to uh to Google as well um but no Freddie and if it had been a girl it would have been Winifred or something like that anyway and then until until we met Effie Bowdler and then it became Effie very quickly.

Chris Grimes:

Love that that's the three inspirations. So now we're on to the uh squirrels this is borrow can I throw a squirrel at you squirrel um that's just a bit random it's borrowed from the film Up in how I've constructed this love love up I'm away great great where the dog goes oh squirrels so this is we've all got two shiny object syndromes we've got many more probably but what what would you say your two monsters of distraction your two squirrels I only allow two that's really tricky squirrels as you like but but two squirrels is two.

Alex Prince:

Two squirrels okay uh my first squirrel's got to be sport. Squirrel yep yeah um and that might be the sports results yeah it might be my fantasy football courtesy of the NCT dad's group we still do our fantasy football I know women boys I'm gonna win this year anomaly bottom but uh and that's good and that and with seven of us the bloke that comes fourth has to has to buy the curry. Nice yeah that sounds fair enough to me exactly yeah um so sport yeah it could be the sports result is uh uh report it could be uh some people playing but I I just am drawn into watching enjoying or playing partaking you know if someone says do you want to have a game or something yeah yeah of course yeah I'll I'll the last time I cried at sport was when I saw the Scotland qualifying goal that went over the goalkeeper's head to finally finally finally qualify after all these after all these years that was majestic. I was I was very very fortunate to be at Super Sasday at uh uh in 2012 at the Olympic Games and uh I'd been very frustrated trying to get tickets and finally managed to get a couple of tickets I myself and my my buddy John John Meadows wonderful osteopath um you're doing very generous mentioning it's great no well he's uh he's an amazing osteopath in Billingshurst in Sussex so we probably can't refer to many patients but you bet if anyone's in Sussex uh go and see John if you've got sore back. Um say his name again so they'll read John Meadows at Meadows wellbeing there we are back anyway we went along uh John and I are bestest buddies uh he'll very much appreciate that I'm sure but um uh we went along to this this evening of entertainment and we weren't quite sure what we're gonna um see because we hadn't really thought about that Saturday as being a particularly big night and then suddenly I was like oh Mo Farrh's running and oh um the final of the heptathlon to the send this oh and um we hadn't even thought about long jumping Greg Rutherford but anyway it all happened and that was just incredible and those listeners that uh were there um were it was just I mean the hairs the hairs on the back of my neck stand up just just talking about it.

Chris Grimes:

Lovely yeah I'm glad we got onto that as well. Wonderful and now uh there's a second squirrel I believe.

Alex Prince:

Oh yes yeah um um my second squirrel um I think it has to be food. Nom nom nom funnily enough I was listening to your one the other day and yours was food as well. But if you definitely but if there's if there's a if if I go to a party and there's a there's a some nice nibbles or something like that I can't hold a conversation and not be over there you know stuffing my face.

Chris Grimes:

And yeah I buffet is a tragedy for me. Nom nom I can never eat just enough I've just got to keep nombing on the buffet.

Alex Prince:

Yeah no I absolutely love food and because I've always done a lot of sport yeah my appetite's always been grotesquely huge yeah um and that's all very well and that's all fine until you actually do a bit less sport and then you have to just watch out what how you're doing it. But anyway very very distracted by food. I'm a celiac actually so I can't carry gluten um so as a child I went to I was frustrated this is probably where it comes from actually I was frustrated I used to go to birthday parties couldn't eat the the the burger and the bun yeah and I couldn't eat the cake and you know those I could often have the pineapple cheese things on a stick. Yeah yeah now I'd stuff myself full of those um but anyway um you know my from that I eat what I would eat what I what was I was allowed to eat but I but I appreciated and gained a huge love for for all flavours manners of food. Love that favourite probably Mexican I think so you like a bit of spice as well? Like a bit of spice and I've done a bit of travelling over my years. Travel's been a big passion of mine and uh and um it's amazing places but Mexico the food oh wonderful home cooked as well you need street food proper street food and I what's your signature dis are you a good cook as well? I'm not sure I say I'm a good cook but I have a have a good go. Well actually doing a doing a tra having a go at a a nice little bit of Mexican is good. So try and do some uh tacos or enchiladas and that kind of stuff I know shuffle that recipe off in particular but I'm not sure I do it to any you know you probably Mexican would look at it and go I'm not sure that's I'm not sure that's great or authentic but hey I love it.

Chris Grimes:

And the one now is a quirky or unusual fact about you Alex Prince we couldn't possibly know about you until you tell us.

Alex Prince:

Okay well um we mentioned travelling uh I was very very fortunate in my uh younger years to do quite a lot of uh travelling through all continents of the world and all continents I mean and so the one thing that I think probably most people might not know unless you're very close to me is that I had the wonderful opportunity of travelling to uh Antarctica I know and it to this day it was the most amazing awe inspiring experience the wildlife um the geography the climates it was wonderful and it was it was and it was a it was a complete surprise as well wasn't planned I was um uh backpacking backpacking for with a friend through um South America and we got to can't even talk Tierra del Fuego which is the very tip of uh um South America and um I was chatting to a bearded guy that looked a bit like um Captain Birdseye in the bar and um and uh and I said what did you do? He said oh I work on that ship down there I said well what do you I expect him to say I catch fish but um he said no I'm I'm a I'm a geologist and I I guide go on guys it's a it's a it's a tourist boat and it goes down to Antarctica on ship trips. I said oh that's amazing I'd love to do something like that. He said well you know very often um there's the odd berth that's goes going spare and they go quite cheap when if it's a day before you know I said when'd you go then he said well tomorrow so I literally went round to the to the off of the booking office and you got any any any berths of tomorrow and they they said yeah but it's going to cost you and they started off at a number I think probably at that stage it's probably ten grand or something like that. I was like well yeah pie the sky I said well and anyway we did a bit of haggling and then got it down for a a two person berth for um I think it was about fifteen hundred pounds or something like that. Fantastic I know so so which which back then was a lot of money um but now you know The experience was so so great. Yeah. Anyway, the the the trip was was incredible. And I also discovered my love of uh cold water swimming, which is something I do regularly now. Okay and I and I do it for well being, the buzz of it. Yeah. Great fun. But I I first swam in cold cold cold water in uh in Antarctica.

Chris Grimes:

Wow. Yeah. We have shaken your tree majestically, if I may say. Now we're gonna stay in the clearing, move away from the tree, and next we talk about alchemy and gold, which is when you're at purpose and in flow. You've been giving me this alchemy and gold by the bucket load anyway, but what are you absolutely happiest doing in your purpose and what you're here to reveal to the world?

Alex Prince:

Hmm. Oh gosh. Um well I think it has to be to do with my work and my mission, and that is helping people. And and because I have this skill to be able to help people with musculoskeletal issues, that's where my purpose lies. And then my passion through osteopathy has led me to this whole idea that posture is so important to us and how chairs serve us so badly, and so developing the Z chair and things like that. It's been so my alchemy and gold is is is marching on this um uh road of um making people aware of how to look after their backs better, how to prevent back problems in the first place, and to help those that sadly already suffer. And and and moving along that it's treating people, it's also but it's also informing people. So this for me, this is wonderful. This is alchemy and gold, because I get to um talk to you, but also hopefully a few people will take note of the Z chair and go, ah, and let's I was gonna say this is the perfect moment to really plant the Z chair in the clearing and talk about it.

Chris Grimes:

So, how did it come about and and what exactly is it? And feel free to sort of hold it up for those that are watching.

Alex Prince:

Yeah, well I'll hold it up in a minute, because if I hold it up, I'll lose the mic. But um but uh it all came about because for years, literally years, let's say 20 years, I've been really ha unhappy about how people sat, particularly at work. And we are in society, we do a lot of sitting. We get up, we sit down and have our breakfast, we sit in our car to go to work, we sit a lot of us for eight hours a day at our doing our jobs, and we come home and we sit and watch um and have our dinner, and then we sit and watch some telly. We probably do more sitting than we do sleeping. Yeah, yeah. And um and if we're doing it badly, then we're doing something badly a lot of the time. Um and that's very, very detrimental to our our health along the way. Um so um very unhappy about that. And uh there are various, very good ergonomic chairs on the market. I'll mention back in action actually, um Bosmo Park Street and Brix, Bristol. Yeah, wonderful shop, does amazing ergonomic furniture, and I love them. They get I get on very well, they're really super helpful, really good. Um but um the only part is I send patients down there and they come back and go, Oh, it's quite expensive though, isn't it? And what I discovered is that ergonomic furniture is very expensive. Yeah. And I thought, well, actually, surely there's a way of doing things a little bit more cost effective or a little bit cheaper. So I set about designing my own um simplified basic chair that I thought would help people. It's not perfect. Yeah, I would never say it is, but it helped people uh promote posture and promote their well-being. So I with a business partner, um we sat down and worked out what I thought was the the requirements for that and um came up with the Z chair. And the Z chair is a kind of a natty look and design, but the but the basis of it is that we sit on a slant. So you're sitting on a slope. Um I'll hold it up quickly. Yeah, sure, sure. So in fact. Putting it on there, yes, absolutely. I don't know if hopefully the people can see that a bit, but uh but there's a slope down through there. And um I'm gonna sit down, otherwise the uh the microphone won't work.

Chris Grimes:

And what I've noticed in since I've been on it for the last three or four weeks is it it's very correctional. And what's intriguing about the nature of gravity, you can actually you sit brilliantly, but that if you're not careful, you can also slump into it too, which I I've and it makes you fight against that. So that's something I've experienced, because I'm a I'm a I'm a slumper, which is where my back I probably went wrong.

Alex Prince:

You hit the nail on the head. Um so so the idea is your knees are below your hips, and what that does is it just rotates your pelvis forwards just a little bit, and that allows you and encourages you to sit up tall and helps you in prompts your core muscles to engage. So what it's doing is trying to get you sitting as if you were standing up. So we talked about the youngsters in their perfect posture. We uh when we stand up, we got this really nice posture where we have a lovely curved spine, and the um spinal curves are designed by whoever designed them up there or whoever, whatever you believe. But um they uh spinal curves act as a spring, they they they absorb shock yes really, really efficiently. Now, what you'll notice, um, and listeners, um, when you sit down on a on a standard chair is that we sit down, yeah, and the first thing we lose is that natural curve. Yes. And uh oh and and and if we slump we go into a C shape. Yeah. And that and that is really detrimental to our discs and our back and our muscles, and that's where the back pain. There's a sort of concaveness to slouching uh in the case.

Chris Grimes:

Yes. Yeah, yeah.

Alex Prince:

Yeah, it's a kind of a C shape. Yes. But actually, what we want to maintain is the S shape, which is the natural curvature through there. Yeah. And you're absolutely right. Um there is it you can slump on the Z chair, but it's uncomfortable to do so. Yes. And so, yes, it's cueing you to sit better. And I've and I've uh my my my strap line is sit better but move more. I get all my patients to um I recommend to all my patients that they microbreak. We get up, we move little and often through the day, ideally every 20 minutes or so. Yes, um, because that allows your body to move. We are designed to move, we've got all these joints and muscles, um, and they're designed for movement. Uh so sitting still is a very counterintuitive and counter evolutionary thing to do. Yes. So sedentary is bad, and we know that, yeah. Absolutely. Well, short periods, fine, yeah. And and sedentary sleeping when gravity is not compressing us is actually very very therapeutic and essential. Yes. Um but sitting uh and sitting poorly, what I would call poorly, um excuse me, um is is is is super detrimental. So um my my uh my mission is to produce something that is um is is simple to use. You just sit on it and uh it promotes your posture. And it works for most heights of people. Not uh we haven't yet done a kid's one, but you know, it's uh anything anyone from between uh five foot two and six foot two. So apologies for the very tall and the very short. We haven't yet got to the got to the point at which we can develop large and small ones yet.

Chris Grimes:

I can imagine there'd be a large, medium, and small version of the Z shape because it's a very um it's a very obvious shape to copy from that point of view or to regenerate at that point.

Alex Prince:

Yeah, no, absolutely. And it might it might be with time that we you know come up with other designs. But the the sim the but the but the simple essence of it is you've got to sit sit on a slope. Yes. And and if you're at home and you want to get a Z share, obviously buy a Z chair. But if you're um if you're reticent to do that or can't afford to or don't want to for whatever reason, then rig yourself up so that your knees are below your hips. If you do that, you're one step closer.

Chris Grimes:

Yes. Um and I've noticed also how curative it is because I had a bad back for a while, and then this was helping me correct uh partly because of the wonderful therapy I had from you directly, hands-on, and then combining that with then getting the right chair. Yeah. Because roundabout every three years, my own back habit is I'll I'll have a sort of some sort of mini prang in the lower back because of just habit and defaulting back to old habits.

Alex Prince:

Yes.

Chris Grimes:

Um but anyway, it was it it has been fantastic, and I'm sitting on it now and I'm I'm I'm happier to do that.

Alex Prince:

And and it's comfortable as well. Most people look at it and go, Well, um no, my my uh my health um um requirement at work is that I have a chair with a back and with arms, because they've got to support you.

Chris Grimes:

Yes.

Alex Prince:

But beware, my mentor used to say, give the back a crutch and it'll lean on it. Yes. I.e., we decondition when we're leaning on something. But um the idea behind the the Z chair is that actually engages you. Yes. And uh it's active sitting almost. Active sitting. Yeah. Um yes. And and and the the um the thing about not having a back, um, because a few people said, Oh, it doesn't look very comfortable, but actually, because you're n sitting in almost a neutral position as if you're standing, you don't think about it too much in the same way you don't need a back when you don't need a back support when you're standing up.

Chris Grimes:

And the other thing to affirm about it, because of the work that I do in communication skills training and about crossing the line to connect and leaning in, if I'm doing anything online down the camera, the chair, because it's on a lovely sort of slant, makes me cross the line to connect and lean into the camera more. Yeah. So for anyone working, if you have to deliver training online, that's another added benefit that you may not even have appreciated, but it works really well.

Alex Prince:

Absolutely. And mind the body work you know, synergistically. They're one of the same in my book. And so if you're activated here, you're activated here. Yes. If you're deactivated here, then you're going to be deactivating here pretty quickly. Yes. Uh and and it's reciprocal. Um, so you know, activating here helps, you know, so it works both ways. But you know, if we can get the posture right, then actually we're more productive.

Chris Grimes:

Yes. And and to your point, uh there's so much of online activity that sort of sucks the energy and drains the vortex of all. So this is a way of keeping active.

Alex Prince:

Yeah, and we all get we all get sucked into that. You know, you go down rabbit holes on social media and all sorts, and before you know it, you've spent, you know, spent an hour fiddling around with my fancy football team or something like that. No. Would I waste my time like that?

Chris Grimes:

There's a very exciting moment coming up shortly, which is overtly for you know, show is Yukuarko, which we'll do in a minute, which is about finding out where to go and find it. I'm going to award you with a cake now. So um Is it gluten-free? It certainly is. It's whatever cake you like, so it's got to be gluten-free. This is a doggy toy, which you can have. Thank you. Got it. Got it. Uh, and so now you get to put a cherry on the cake with stuff like. So, first of all, do you like cake and what's your favourite gluten-free style of cake?

Alex Prince:

Yes, I I love cake. I love gluten-free cake more. It has to be uh a chocolate brownie. But, but, but, but, but, but not one of the dry, slightly overcooked ones. It's gotta be the gooey one. Gooey of the better. Um, my wife does a love, very lovely chocolate brownie, and my sister-in-law does the gooeyest ones. So, and um they are both my favourite chocolate brownie expressions.

Chris Grimes:

If you had to choose between your wife's cake and don't do that, don't do that, my wife, of course. Of course. Yes. So now you get to put a cherry on the cake with stuff like what's the favourite inspirational quote that's always given you sucker and pulled you towards your future, first of all. Oh wow.

Alex Prince:

Wow. I mentioned one earlier Give the Body a Crutch, and it'll lean on it. That I almost use on a daily and I apply it to physical but also mental. Love that. So it's such an important attitude to life, I believe.

Chris Grimes:

Yeah. And just say it one more time, deliberately reincorporating.

Alex Prince:

Yes. Um what was it?

Chris Grimes:

No, no, no.

Alex Prince:

Give the back. If you give the body a crutch, it'll lean on it. Metaphorical crutch, it might be something within your brain, or or it could be something that is uh supporting us, you know, and people often say, Do I need to wear a knee brace for my knee injury? Well, that depends on what you're gonna do and what you're gonna do to rehabit and strengthen it. You know, it's not necessarily a good thing to have that support there.

Chris Grimes:

With the gift of hindsight, there's an invitation now to go back in time and give yourself some help or advice from your future. So, how old would you be? And when you holographically appear to wrap your own arms around yourself, how old are you and what would you say?

Alex Prince:

I think it's gotta be around my sort of late teens, early twenties when I didn't manage to become a doctor, and I was pretty down about that, and I was searching for something else, and osteopathy was there or sort of became an awareness there. But I think it's it's my advice I would give to myself is like don't procrastinate, just do it. What's the is it Nike that say just do it or something like that?

Chris Grimes:

Well, it's the great it's the greatest strap line of sport ever.

Alex Prince:

Well, it is, you know, and I so I think I think uh and and that's more also the sort of advice I give to my daughter. I say, if you're thinking about just do it, you know, just not not hopefully not in a frustrating way. But no, just just do it. And um, you know, it's very easy to say and sometimes harder to do, but yes, that's that's what I would say to my myself, is that no, don't don't don't hold back, don't procrastinate, just if you've got something, then go for it. And um something like the Zed chair, um I probably you know could have done earlier had I not, you know, because it's been winding around in my brain for quite some time. And it actually took a friend of mine to say, Well, why don't you do something about it? And then then then we did, you know. So that's good.

Chris Grimes:

We keep mentioning the Z chair, so now is the time. Why don't we show us your QR code, please, at this point. So if you've been listening and intrigued by the nature of hmm, what is, how is a Z chair, um our wonderful assistant Joe in the background, if you could just show that up now. This is show us your QR code, please. So where can we go? The audience can see it. Yes. And if you're if you're listening but not watching, just tell us the URL to go and find out all about the Z chair as curated or actually invented by Alex Prince.

Alex Prince:

Yeah, um so the Z chair is online. We largely sell online unless you live very local to Bristol, in which we we have a few dotted around in uh various clinics and things like that, it'll support us. But um uh if you go to sitstraight.co.uk, you'll find us. You can find us uh and me on LinkedIn and Facebook and Insta as well.

Chris Grimes:

Lovely. So sitstraight.co.uk.

Alex Prince:

Sitstraight.co.uk. If you googled the Z share, you might well ping up. If you Google Alex Prince, osteopath, you might find me and the Z share. So if you've got a bad back and you're in the locality of Bristol, then I'd love to help you out.

Chris Grimes:

An Alex Prince psychopath, don't Google that.

Alex Prince:

That's a different psychopath, that's not me.

Chris Grimes:

That's somebody else. Quite alter ego, yeah. Um we're gonna ramp up now, so that's where to find you. Um we're gonna ramp up to Shakespeare in a minute. But just before we do that, this is the pass the golden button moment, please. They don't lock it up by Mr. Menring. But um, now you've experienced this from within, who might you like to pass the golden baton along to in order to keep the golden thread of the storytelling going?

Alex Prince:

Firstly, I love the golden baton. I always love a relay at school and university. Running the relay was just brilliant.

Chris Grimes:

Did you know I've had Roger Black in my clearing and I passed him the golden baton, which was ironic because there's only one person on the planet that could have run past him on the day that he did and only got silver. But all thanks to me, Chris Grooms, here all week, I gave Roger Black the Golden Bat. How he laughed. Ha ha no, he did. He thought it was very funny. But anyway, it was it was great, but he's now got a golden batter.

Alex Prince:

Uh the golden batten, dear friend of mine, um, was an osteopath, now moved on to bigger and greater and more wonderful things. His name is Nick Hounsfield, and some of you, many of you in Bristol might have well have heard of Nick. So he was an osteopath, but he followed his dream. And he is the founder and built the dream of the wave, the Bristol Wave. Oh gosh. Yes. So Nick has been a dear friend of mine for years. I was very, very honoured to be his best man at his wedding. Lovely. Him and his wife Juliana, who is also an osteopath, wonderful, the family practice Gloucester Road. The family practice Gloucester Road, also very good. Um if you can't get hold of Alex Prince osteopath, then go. And other osteopaths also available. Wonderful. But um Nick is uh an inspiration, he could have easily been on my list. Um he's a wonderful uh human uh human being, and he's got uh an amazing story of highs and lows. And I it would be wonderful if you got to chat to him. He's a he's just a dear, dear, dear chap. Wonderful.

Chris Grimes:

Thank you so much. And now, inspired by Shakespeare, all the world's a stage with all the bedded wibbered billy players. This is an invitation borrowed from the seven ages of man's speech now. Um Alex Prince, when all is said and done, how would you most like to be a remember red? Yeah.

Alex Prince:

Um I'd love to put it on a personal note, I'd love to be remembered as really nice bloke, great fun, great to be on his team. Um perhaps on a more professional note, I'd like to be remembered for the bloke that helped me sit better and helped me improve my back health.

Chris Grimes:

I absolutely love that. There's one more question coming up in a second, but just a couple of announcements from me. If you'd like to talk about being a guest yourself, uh the website for my show, there could be some more QR codes coming up at this point, is the goodlistening to show.com. There are a number of different series strands, of which Best of Bristol is one, founder stories are another. Um, and then there's very excitingly uh and and personally important to me What's your story? is LegacyLifereflections.com. My own father, Colin Grimes, who was a very willing guinea pig to me experimenting on him and with him with this about five years ago. My dad died a year ago. There's no morbid intention to Legacy Life Reflections, but it's to record either your own story or the story of somebody that you love for posterity, lest we forget before it's too late. As we know, uh research also shows that when we lose that precious someone, what we miss the most is what they sounded like. And self-evidently the the film and the podcast and you know the sense of my father I have uh is very important. So legacy lifereflections.com is out there as well. So um Alex Prince, uh osteopath, this has been your moment in the sunshine in the Good Listening to show, Stories of Distinction and Genius. Is there anything else you'd like to say?

Alex Prince:

Well, firstly, thank you so much, Chris. And uh and I highly recommend people coming on the show. It's been it's been wonderful in many respects, but actually it makes you take stock and think yourself about what's inspirational what's uh what has shaped me, because sometimes we just take it all for granted, don't we? Um anything else I'd like to say? Look after your backs, look after your bodies. We've only got one of them. Absolutely. If you're not sure, seek an osteopath, myself or other osteopaths are available. Um and if you spend time sitting, think about how you're sitting, sit well, move more, and get a chair get a Z chair.

Chris Grimes:

So Alex Prince, inventor of the Z chair and osteopath, strangely available in Bristol at Alexprinceosteopath.co.osteopathy.

Alex Prince:

But if you Google Alex Prince Osteopath, I will ping up.

Chris Grimes:

Lovely job. So thank you very much indeed. I've been Chris Grimes. This has been Alex Prince. Thanks for watching on the old worldwide interweb. Thank you, Joe, our gorgeous assistant too, and good night. Thank you, Chris. You've been listening to the Good Listening to Show with me, Chris Grimes. If you'd like to be in the show too, or indeed gift an episode to capture the story of someone else with me as your host, then you can find out how care of the series strands at the Goodlistening2Show.com website. And one of these series strands is called Brand Strand Founder Stories. For business owners like you to be able to tell your company story, talk about your purpose, and amplify your brand. Together we get into the who, the what, the how, the what. You do what you do, and then crucially, we find out exactly where we can come and find you to work with you and to book your services. Tune in next week for more stories from the clearing, and don't forget to subscribe and review wherever you get your podcasts.