I went from washing cars to make money to owning a £20m business – it's all thanks to my '20-minutes-a-day' tip

A millionaire from Stockport, Sam White, has shared her secret to vitality, and it won't eat in to your day.

The busy mum-of-two makes sure she priortises her 20 minutes a day of exercise and says it has the world of difference to her health as she has slimmed down from a size 24 to a size 12.

Sam with her wife Jennie Guay and their two children Credit: David Harrison

So, how do you juggle your time when you are a mum, a working millionaire, and want to look after yourself too?

Speaking to Manchester Evening News, the CEO explained: “When I have the children, I will scale down my work meetings.”

However, Sam also realises that she is in an extremely privileged position to be her own boss who can manage her own time and can choose what she prioritises.

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She also has a great support network, including her own PA, who help her manage everything in her busy life as a working mum.

Sam argues that prioritising just 20 minutes out of your day to exercise will give you more energy to do the things you love, even if you feel you are just too busy to find the time.

As for how her journey to CEO began, Sam says: “Because my childhood was so unstable, I always wanted and needed to be independent and I didn’t feel like working for someone else gave me that, my future would still rely on someone else.

“I was washing cars when I was 14/15 to make cash, I always needed to have that feeling I could take care of myself and no one could take it away from me.

“That drive has stuck with me.”

The 46-year-old now owns and runs a £20m motor insurance claims empire, working from her own office in a converted barn, in the lush Cheshire countryside of Lach Dennis.

It wasnt always so idyllic as 20 years ago, Sam was having five panic attacks a day, working from her sister’s conservatory in Stockport at the age of 24.

“I suffered badly with panic attacks, four or five a day, it was a full-blown panic disorder.” She said.

“It was a vicious cycle of me wanting comfort in junk food; anything that was bad for me and anything to do with exercise I was horrified by.”

Sam found she couldn't buy her clothes on the high street anymore and even broke her leg during a water fight in the kitchen, which she believes was because she was too heavy.

She had been to her GP about her panic attacks who referred her to many different types of therapy but nothing seemed to work for her.

“I was eating to suppress those feelings,” Sam realised.

Sam found work was her safe place as she climbed the ranks with consistent promotions and managed to set up her first business, Action365, a motor claims management business.

But at a dress size 24, the idea of any form of exercise ‘horrified’ her, she smoked like a chimney, and binged on junk food, her health was suffering.

It was when she was travelling that health became a priority as in each country Sam visited she would try out a new exercise, starting with swimming.

When she came back to England after 1 year, she was four stone lighter, and a dress size 12.

She lost so much weight that people thought she’d had surgery.

The businesswoman now has her own home gym, and says her panic attacks completely disappeared once she introduced exercise into her daily routine.

She said: “It took me a good few years to nail this down but I realised there was a direct correlation with exercise and reducing my anxiety and panic attacks.”

She now works out not just to manage her weight, but to benefit her mental health too.

Despite the epiphany while travelling it took her a few years to make exercise a consistent habit.

“It doesn’t have to be major, just something to get the blood pumping around the body.” Sam explains.

She said that when you exercise to lose weight, it’s always for short-term results but if you focus on exercise with your goal in mind, you’ll jump in and jump out.

“The real shift for me was properly focussing on how I felt, really making a conscious effort to sit in that moment after exercise and ask myself how I feel, and knowing I feel calm, happier, it just locks that memory in for me.”

But today, Sam prioritises her health, her wife Jennie Guay and 2 kids and her 20 minutes of movement a day.

As for her top advice, Sam says: “Get yourself out the door, put your trainers on… I will put my gym kit out the night before so I can put it on first thing, and I train first thing in the morning so it’s done.”

Sam finds 20 minutes everyday to get her body moving Credit: MEN Media

The CEO's health journey has changed her life Credit: David Harrison

Sam struggled with panic attacks but found exercise to be the cure Credit: MEN Media

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