My Passion: Helping Others Succeed

By Martin Munro, TAB Franchisee, West Hertfordshire

At my core, I just want to be useful.

That’s really what drives me. Helping people, making a difference, doing work that matters. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember. I grew up being told two things that have always stuck with me: the world doesn’t owe you a living, and if you want something, you have to work for it.

Simple, honest values. And they’ve shaped how I show up in every area of life. Family, work, and everything in between.

I’m a family man, through and through. My family (and our dogs) are my world. So when my daughter Chloe asked if I’d run a marathon with her, there wasn’t a second thought. Of course, I said yes. We planned, we trained, and then just as we were getting into it, she told me she was heading off to Australia. I had a choice to make: bin the plan or run it alone.

That’s when I thought about Jamie Andrew. If you don’t know his story, look him up. He lost his hands and feet to frostbite after being caught in a storm on Mont Blanc, and yet still ran a marathon. Still climbed the Matterhorn. He chose to live. That story stopped me in my tracks and reframed everything. Limits are rarely where we think they are.

With a bit of encouragement from my colleagues at TAB, I kept going. I trained, ran the marathon, and raised over £3,000 for Multiple Sclerosis research in memory of my younger brother. A deeply personal cause.

Eventually, Chloe came back from Australia, and in 2024, we finally crossed that start line together at the Newport Marathon. She finished two hours ahead of me. But who’s counting? What mattered was standing on that line together and helping her achieve something incredible. The experience made me stronger too — physically, mentally and emotionally.

That mindset, help others succeed and you grow yourself in the process, has shaped my entire career.

I’ve been lucky. Early in my journey, people took the time to invest in me. Mentors, coaches, colleagues. They helped me believe in myself, clear out the head trash, and push through the self-doubt that so many of us carry. At a few critical points, I worked with a coach who helped me see the difference between what I thought were limitations and what was actually possible.

Later, I was asked to lead a project around building a coaching culture in my part of the business. Not just managing people or measuring performance, but actively coaching them. Giving them the tools to succeed, rather than watching them sink or swim. That was the moment the switch flipped for me. I realised coaching wasn’t just something useful. It was something I loved.

So when I retired from KPMG, I knew coaching would play a part in whatever came next. That path led me to TAB.

Now I get to work with business owners and leadership teams across West Hertfordshire, helping them navigate a whole range of challenges. Every day is different, and every day is a learning day. I analyse, problem-solve, ask questions, listen hard and support others to grow, personally and professionally.

The satisfaction I get from that? It beats any paycheque. Genuinely.

I’ve spoken to so many people over the years who are deeply unhappy in their work but feel stuck. Trapped by expectation, habit, fear. My advice is always the same. Life is too short to stay in the wrong place. If something’s not working, you owe it to yourself to change it.

If there’s one thing I’d like people to take away from my story, it’s this:

When you focus on helping others succeed, you’ll be amazed at how much you grow yourself.