Kaz Aston - Thriving with Multiple Sclerosis

Full transcript: Kaz Aston on London Real

4:13 Brian Rose: This is London Real. I am Brian Rose. My guest today is Kaz Aston, the disability rights campaigner who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 21 years ago. Despite your disease, you picked up sports like drag racing, cannonball races, and sailing to raise funds and the public consciousness for people who suffer from MS. You work extensively in public relations and are the editor for the British Medical Journal, Open Heart Online, and Oyster Healthcare.

5:42 Kaz, welcome to London Real.

5:44 Kaz Aston: Hello, Brian. It’s great to have you here. Thank you very much. It’s great to be here.

5:49 Brian Rose: I really want to learn a lot about you. I want to learn a bit about multiple sclerosis. I don’t know enough about it. We were talking a little bit about it earlier. And of course, I need to hear about the drag racing at some point.

6:00 Can you tell us, do you still remember that time 21 years ago when you got the diagnosis? I know you were saying today back then, it wasn’t a lot of information. You couldn’t really go to social media. You probably couldn’t go to YouTube and find other people that were living with that disease. Was that a kind of thing that really kind of stopped your life short at that point?

6:21 Kaz Aston: Well, it was a bit of a shock. In some respects, it was very good news because I thought it could have been worse. You’re thinking, oh, gosh, what’s wrong with me? But it was sort of like, okay. And I was working on a neurological unit as a nurse, so I was seeing all the worst-case scenarios.

6:39 So I was thinking, okay. But also, because I was training as a nurse at that point, I could actually look at it a little bit more objectively and think, well, what’s this all about? So it was a bit of a shock. I knew that it could mean a lot of things in my life, but I was determined to think, well, okay, I can’t change this. I’ve been given this card.

6:59 This is what I’ve got to live with. So let’s make it the best way I can to make my MS happy.

7:05 Brian Rose: And did you go right in and start researching the disease itself, like different types of treatments or different people that had experienced the disease? Or what is the next step when you go?

7:17 Kaz Aston: Well, for me, I wanted information.

7:19 And MS and information go hand in hand. The more information you’ve got, the better. I mean, everyone goes, knowledge is power. And I believe that because the more I learned about my MS, I was a bit scared. Some of the stuff I thought, hmm, you know, I read some controversial stuff about MS with, you know, whether it be having children, whether it be new treatments that were kind of looming.

7:40 But now we’re in a different place. When I was diagnosed, the treatment options were limited. There was a new one coming out, and I thought, I want that. I’m going to get that drug. I don’t care.

7:49 I will fit the criteria. Whatever happens, I’m going to have it. And I did actually fit the criteria. And I did get the drug when it came out. And I did that for 10 years.

7:57 But at that point, it was limited. So it was scary. I was thinking, OK, children, marriage, oh, OK. So lots of big decisions. And so you’re craving information thinking, well, perhaps I’ll go and have hyperbaric oxygen therapy because I trained in Portsmouth.

8:15 So I was there with the Navy. And we had a hyperbaric oxygen chamber with an MS Society. So there was all these options. And I was thinking, right, vitamins take handfuls every day, take everything that can make your life better with MS. So I was trying everything.

8:30 I was looking at opportunities every step of the way. And I think probably I still am, but not quite. Maybe not quite. I wouldn’t say aggressively, but I was just looking for solutions. I was looking at, well, if that happens.

8:44 And when I was diagnosed, I had optical problems. So it was visionary, eyesight things. So I didn’t really have any other symptoms, apart from tiredness. And tiredness is a big thing. Yeah, I don’t want to talk about that.

8:56 Brian Rose: When it comes to people seeking out information, I mean, you worked as a nurse for so long. So I’m sure you see equivalents like people who get cancer. And then they’re obsessed with the latest treatment, going holistic, going Eastern medicine, not Western medicine. And I guess, in a weird way, the disease like that can almost consume your life in the wrong way, where you end up trying to seek out all of the solutions. Whereas it seems like you’re all about trying to live the most fulfilling life you can live and still continue with that disease.

9:26 I mean, is that things that other people can learn when they’re diagnosed with something so serious?

9:31 Kaz Aston: Well, I think the thing is, there’s so much information. In the UK, we’re very fortunate, because we’ve got several MS charities, the MS Society, the MS Trust. Sorry if I don’t mention anyone here, but there’s some big charities that do some great work. And they’ve got some good publications that you can read online.

9:47 Because sometimes, when you’re diagnosed, there’s lots of questions. And I always used to say, when I was a nurse to my patients, write them down. There’s going to be lots of questions, different times of your life. But position yourself so you can access people that can help you. It could be an MS charity.

10:01 It could be an MS nurse. But most importantly, your MS team are the people that are there to help you and to answer some of those questions. And they’ve got lots of information booklets as well, which the charities also produce. So that’s helpful, because you just want answers. Sometimes, you don’t want too much, because you’ve got to digest it and think about the consequences, about how that’s going to pan out in your life.

10:23 And you don’t know. You really don’t know. And it’s like neurologists are looking into the future. It’s like, well, you’ve got to have two episodes for it to be MS. So they’re having to look into the future and think, well, that could go like this.

10:38 This could go like that. But with MS, you could have a great day. You could be up here, or you might be absolutely exhausted and not be able to get out of bed. Right, right. I have a 12-year-old daughter.

10:49 Brian Rose: And I’m curious, if you had to explain to her what MS is, what would you say? And I guess on that same note, what do you say to most people when they ask you and just don’t know enough about it? How can you describe to them what it’s like, what the future looks like for you?

11:06 Kaz Aston: Well, I think for me, Brian, it’s actually factual information first. Well, MS is a neurological condition.

11:12 It affects three parts of the body, the brain, the optic nerve, the nerve from the eye. So your vision, which I said to you, I experienced inflammation of that. So my eyesight went wonky. I thought, I’ve been partying too much. I’m thinking, I can’t see properly.

11:24 Brian Rose: That’s a little scary, right?

11:26 Kaz Aston: Yeah. In your nervous system, these are the parts that it affects. It’s unpredictable. It’s a neurological condition that affects three times as many.

11:35 We just found that out. It was two times. But now three times as many women as men. It tends to be diagnosed quite often with people in their 20s and 30s. But it can be diagnosed later in life.

11:48 You need these incidents where you’ve had two episodes. You’ve got two parts which are showing problems with communication with the brain. So it may be that you’re tired. It might be that you’ve got a tremor. It might be you’re walking.

12:02 It might be the fact you’ve got a problem with your bladder. You might want to go to the toilet a bit more. Or you might just feel a little bit dizzy because you can’t balance. It could be so wide-reaching. There’s so many different symptoms with MS that are unpredictable.

12:17 So explaining it to someone is, well, it’s a neurological. So it affects the brain. It can be quite bad in some people. But that’s only a small proportion of people that it can be quite bad. A lot of people tend to carry on and they manage it.

12:32 Brian Rose: And what’s the best way of managing it with a disease modifying therapy?

12:37 Kaz Aston: And looking at your lifestyle to make sure that you’re not overdoing it, that you’re balancing your lifestyle right. So some people don’t like MS treatments and they won’t take them. Fair enough. Some people manage their MS with diet.

12:51 But for people, MS is a little bit of an enigma because it’s so different with everybody.

12:56 Brian Rose: But it can be life-threatening, right?

12:58 Kaz Aston: It can. It can cause symptoms. MS won’t kill you, but symptoms of it can give you some difficulties.

13:04 And people sometimes can die earlier because of problems that they have. They may not be as mobile, so they’ve got problems with mobility, which then leads to problems with their heart and their circulatory system. There’s lots of different systems it can be involved with. And that’s your brain as well, your speech, your eyes. Every system in your body can be effective, like it can with any illness.

13:26 Brian Rose: OK. Now, you got sick eight years ago or so. Was it MS related to something that happened?

13:31 Kaz Aston: Well, I had a really, really bad reaction, which is the law of averages, isn’t it? Someone’s going to be the one that has a reaction.

13:38 I had a reaction to it. It upset all of my blood levels. It really upset my MS, to be honest. My balance was not right. It affected my mobility and my walking.

13:50 And I was thinking, wow, and I had a really good job. And I was trying to perform, to work, to live a normal life. And that, for me, was a big challenge. So yeah, it was difficult to take all of that on. But then I had to stop because I had to get the upset in my blood system out.

14:10 So it took time. And then I had to learn to do some of the things again properly. So I’m not grabbing hold of equipment. You’re improving your balance with exercises, with physiotherapy, and lifestyle. OK.

14:25 Brian Rose: Because you seem fairly healthy to me now. And when you’re walking around fine, you’re talking. If I met you on the I would never know. And that’s because you know how to manage it and because you know how to not overwork yourself. Yeah.

14:39 Kaz Aston: And that is the key. And I think concentration. We were talking about that earlier. For me, concentrating for 15 to 20 minutes, stop, pause, is great because the more I concentrate, the more I keep trying to go. And sometimes they call it brain fog or they call it.

14:56 And it’s like, whoa. And it’s almost like, timeout, stop. And that’s how I have to do it, to make sure. Because otherwise, it’s not good. And I think actually, probably people with MS are so hard.

15:09 They’re so committed. They want to do well. But for example, getting into work, as we know, commuting on the tubes, on the trains, that takes up so much energy. So before you’ve even got to work, you’re exhausted. So again, it’s looking at different ways of working.

15:24 I think, Brian, it’s a key thing for me, just managing it better.

15:29 Brian Rose: Why three times as many women as men? Do we know why that is?

15:33 Kaz Aston: Well, to be honest, I haven’t been given a definitive, I’m sure there is. Apologies to the neurologists and everybody in the world.

15:43 But a lot of men are diagnosed with MS. Don’t get me wrong. There are men out there with MS. But maybe that’s something I can come back and give you the latest cutting edge research on. Because research is coming out all the time.

15:57 And we might have some more information about it. Because it’s a relatively new condition, really. So we’re finding new drug treatments. The MS landscape, treatment landscape, is brilliant at the moment. It’s like, which one do you want?

16:09 Before, as I said to you, when I said it was like, well, steroids, if you’re really bad, and maybe that one, possibly. But now, there’s so many different treatments. There’s different natural treatments as well, lifestyle things that can help. Even losing a few pounds, I know when I dropped some weight, I felt much better for it.

16:26 Brian Rose: Really?

16:26 Yeah. You feel better? OK. Fascinating. And there are some lifestyle issues that can make it worse.

16:34 Kaz Aston: I think, yeah. Absolutely. Going back to that management of time, work, work, work, work, work, which we live in a culture of work. Business is business. You’ve got to perform.

16:45 You’ve got to do well. But if we take it back to the olden days, people used to work and pause and work and pause. And I think that’s a good approach for MS, really, is managing your time and actually balancing it. Because then you can work. And maybe you can work just as long or even harder than someone who hasn’t got MS.

17:04 So I think, possibly, if you put the right elements into your lifestyle and take care of your diet, because there’s certain foods that help your brain to function and your nervous system, supplements and vitamins as well. Right. And 110,000 people in the UK suffer from it as well. And children. And children.

17:22 Brian Rose: Yeah, children are diagnosed. I mean, that breaks my heart. That really upsets me when I get an email from someone that’s a mom or someone, and they’re saying, oh, I fed her everything. Well, I’m saying, I know my mom said that to me. Well, we fed you nice things.

17:34 Kaz Aston: We did this. We did that. But you can’t change this. Diagnostics are much better these days, so they can diagnose you quicker. But yes, children can have it.

17:43 And you know, 110,000 people in the UK. And there’s some people that they’re not quite sure of, so it could be more than that. Statistics are changing, but that’s on average.

17:54 Brian Rose: How do you think we treat our kind of disabled and sick in this country?

17:59 Kaz Aston: I mean, I read one time that a society is almost judged by how well they look after the people who aren’t as capable as everyone else.

18:08 And if you look at some societies, it’s just like impossible. And some really go out of their way with handicapped spaces, with looking out and trying to be aware.

18:15 Brian Rose: How do you think we’re doing right now?

18:17 Kaz Aston: I think we’re doing really well, actually. I think we are, because I mean, from a patient experience, I mean, it’s down to where you live.

18:23 And then you counsel, and your health care team, and everybody looks after you accordingly. And of course, some areas do things differently. Some areas might have other priorities. But on the whole, I do personally believe the treatment opportunities are good for people. The lifestyle support mechanisms with the councils, with the health care, because you’ve got health and social, it’s the whole landscape that you’ve got to think about.

18:50 It’s working together with these people to get the balance right. You might need a bit of extra support. Sometimes, as I did, you had a bit of a reaction to something, or you’re having a tough time. Whatever’s happened, I mean, having a cold can upset my MS. You need a bit of help.

19:06 So sometimes, it might be help to manage your kids, not to manage your MS. You just need to get that balance right. So it’s looking at your whole lifestyle and what can actually, and I knew that as a district nurse, you’ve got to look at what’s missing. What could help you get through the day better? What’s going to make you happy?

19:23 Because I think that’s really important. I always say when I’m working on projects these days, I’ve got to have fun as well. And I think that’s a big thing for people with MS to enjoy their lives as well. That’s important. But the services are great.

19:37 Brian Rose: And like you said, there’s a lot more facilities for disabled people. There’s a lot more engagement with disabled people on any level, really, that they’re getting involved with various things. And access, I think, is pretty good in certain areas for vehicles, for wheelchairs, for whatever equipment that you need. It might be a stick. Well, you might just need to sit down a bit more.

20:00 So you’re happy with the government. You’re happy with the NHS.

20:04 Kaz Aston: I was a little bit stressed when it came. And then I stepped up to the plate when I, with all the disability, changed. And I said, whoa, stop.

20:13 And I went on News Night and fought the corner on that because it was too soon. And push, push, push, push, push. And it’s like the consequences. Let’s look at this properly. And I’m glad that they delayed that.

20:23 Brian Rose: What didn’t you like that they were doing?

20:25 Kaz Aston: I just didn’t like the fact that they were rushing it without thinking through the consequences, without giving people an opportunity to think what it means for them. A lot of people were going to lose a lot of money, which then could affect the way that they lived their lives, the way that they managed their MS, for me. But also, I just think it was not well thought through. It was an idea.

20:48 It was like, quick, let’s do that. And I said, whoa, no. Because you can’t just do that. You need to think about the consequences. You need to think about how the country’s going to pay for all of these things as well.

21:02 You’ve got to think about, well, if people can’t get that support anymore, what’s it going to do to their health? That’s going to cost more money. There are falls and against for everything. So I’m glad that they stopped that. And I’m glad, actually, that they’re thinking it through properly because that’s, to me, what was missing.

21:19 It was a rush, rush, rush, quick win. Let’s get the disabled bit sorted out.

21:23 Brian Rose: Right. And again, do you think you’re going to always have to make sure that they remember disabled rights and remember some of these funding issues because it’s easy for that to get ignored, right?

21:34 Kaz Aston: No, I think so.

21:35 And particularly with something like MS, because you can look at someone and you might not even know that they’ve got anything wrong with them. And that’s just MS. There’s lots of other conditions where people look the same. They look perfectly healthy. And they might just have problems that you don’t see.

21:48 They’re hidden sort of illnesses or problems that they’re having. So yeah, I think, particularly, to get change in any situation, you’ve got to keep vocal. You’ve got to keep on it. And you’ve got to keep your eye on things because things can just sometimes be pushed through and, you know, and I always say, well, I won’t work for a charity. I won’t, I work with all of them because I don’t want to be deemed as biased to one area.

22:11 I’m like, well, this is me. These are my choices. I don’t want to be in one team, which is going to make me think not about other opportunities or other areas in my life. So I think you’ve got to be balanced with it. Yeah.

22:26 Brian Rose: No, I was just thinking about how we do kind of interact with our disabled and how we treat them and, you know, do we give them the parking spaces they need? Do we give them the ramps? Do we allow them to participate in the social events and the sporting events? And I think that really says a lot about us as a society. When I was 10, my grandfather had a stroke.

22:45 And so this big strong guy that I knew all of a sudden was in a wheelchair and he was the kind of guy that kind of used that a bit like you to kind of put his foot on the gas pedal. And so all of a sudden he was almost more active and he was like, you know, driving around and like in the golf cart and like moving, moving, doing business. And so for me, he set an amazing example as a grandchild to see, okay, this didn’t stop this man. And then we would just take a little longer to get grandpa into the car, but he was almost more active.

23:14 Sometimes outworking the rest of us.

23:16 Kaz Aston: Well, that’s the thing, you know, because you’ve got something to prove because people are thinking you can’t do that because of that, yeah.

23:23 Brian Rose: Right, is that, now talk to me about your drag racing. Was that part of you to say, I want to prove this? Or do you just love PR or what was that all about?

23:30 Kaz Aston: Well, I actually really love cars. And I was watching, I went to watch because I’ve never seen it. I just thought they did it on the traffic lights in America. I just thought they were, they were drag racing was just kind of like who could get there the fastest, which is what drag racing is all about. But I didn’t realize, and my friend took me to watch some drag racing.

23:48 And I thought, wow, I want to go at that. And I want to go at that to see what it’s like. Cause you could go in this two-seater dragster. Okay. And I’ll try and do it for some fundraising.

23:59 Yeah, I’m going to have a trip in it. So that’s my privilege, but let’s use it. Cause it’s the fastest motor, drag racing is the fastest motor sport on earth.

24:08 Brian Rose: Yeah, they do a quarter mile from stop to what? 200 and something miles an hour.

24:12 Kaz Aston: 300 plus, I mean, honestly, it’s like, ooh, you know.

24:14 Brian Rose: I’ve seen it, it’s big in America, right? Yeah, absolutely. Are you here to a certain extent?

24:19 Kaz Aston: Yeah, across the whole of Europe.

24:20 Brian Rose: I mean, you know, I, I’d heard about it, you know, when I was then in the home of drag racing in the UK, which houses the European championships, lot of American drivers, you know, riders, if they’re on their bikes and, and it’s fantastic. It’s really interesting. And did you get some extra access because of you and your condition or?

24:41 Kaz Aston: You know, I went there. I did this, I did this two-seater dragster, which actually turned out to be a really top, John Webb’s a top British drag racing person.

24:51 I didn’t know that. I got in the car and it was amazing. And I just wanted it to keep going a quarter of a mile wasn’t far enough. And I thought-

24:58 Brian Rose: Were you scared? Because it’s quite an acceleration.

25:00 Kaz Aston: Well, it’s a big kick up the, you know, on the start line when you, when you’re actually pulling, which in some of them, the top, the, you know, the full blown top fuel cars, they’ll pull about six or seven G, I think, off the start line or boom. It’s like a rocket launch. I just thought, wow, wow. I did this and I’ve got MS, yay. And I just really liked it.

25:21 Then I got onto, they did a radio interview and then I ended up doing radio interviews with all the racing drivers cause I just learned how to do it. And I, and I was fascinated by it. And, you know, that’s what opened up that door. And we were then supporting all the charities with the radio station, with Nitro FM at Santa pod. And it was great.

25:41 Wow. It was really good. And I’m like, tell me how it, you know, and they showed me how to sort of, how all the engines and everything were different cause there’s lots of different classes. You know, you can go in there in your street car. We could go and do it in our cars.

25:54 You know, it depends on what class you’re racing in, but I, I was fascinated by it. I was absolutely, wow. 8,000 brake horsepower. Yeah. There are these huge beastly machines with the huge back wheels and the tiny front wheels.

26:08 Yeah, they get bigger and then the traction and then I was thinking, right. And then I, I decided to do some, which I did. I even went over to America. Okay. And when I did my-

26:19 Brian Rose: Where in America did you show?

26:21 Kaz Aston: I went over to the Frank Hawley drag, school of drag racing in Gainesville. Oh, okay.

26:27 Brian Rose: North Carolina or something? Yeah. Not far.

26:30 Kaz Aston: Yeah, Gainesville. I should know what’s in it straight. Well, we’ll check it out. Okay. Yeah, so I went there and I did the course, you know, and I was like, oh, you know, and it was like, I did this freedom flight seven seconds or whatever.

26:38 And I’m like, right, that’s it now. I’m retiring.

26:42 Brian Rose: You drive solo? Yeah. Really?

26:44 Kaz Aston: And I got told off as well. I’m sorry, Frank, for that, but I just went too far because I was just like, whoa, this is great.

26:49 Brian Rose: You went past the quarter mile?

26:50 Kaz Aston: Well, I just drove to the end of the track. It was the one of the longest tracks and I just, you know, I was in control, but I just-

26:55 Brian Rose: You can wreck those things too.

26:56 Kaz Aston: You can and yeah, you can and they can, yeah. But I listened to all my training. It was a great experience and I thought, wow. But it’s quite an expensive sport. And I thought, how can I be supporting charity when I’m doing something that, because they wanted me to drive a top fuel car.

27:11 Okay. And I was like, whoa. Because there’s lots of females now coming into the sport, which is great as well. Because it was one of those where there was only a few drivers, so yeah. Especially with someone with MS, you know, and I was like, said to my neurologist, I was like, Dr. Nicholas, can I do this?

27:27 Well, let’s go through it. Yep, okay. And you can? Yeah. And this is the thing that I want a message to get off.

27:33 Don’t let MS stop you doing anything. Talk to your MS team. See how you’re feeling. Some things are going to be a little bit unachievable as they are for me to do. But, you know, don’t write yourself off until you’ve got more information about it and you see if you can try.

27:49 And you might need to do it in a different way, that’s all. I searched YouTube for multiple sclerosis and there’s like lots of these vlogs by these young women that are like, I’ve got this and I’m continuing with this business. And I’m guessing there’s a lot of women out there that you need to get this message to. Yes, absolutely. And I think that’s the biggest thing.

28:07 Don’t give up. It’s a bit of a shock to the system, but don’t let it stop you doing anything, you know.

28:13 Brian Rose: It’s strange because so many of us wake up in the morning and have a hard time dealing with life in general, let alone our multiple sclerosis diagnosis, which might mean, I don’t know, reactions to, you know, to anything, drugs or tiredness or that kind of thing. What do you think we can learn from you when it comes to how we live our life? Because for you, I mean, of course, none of us are guaranteed another day in this world, but some of us forget that truism very quickly.

28:41 I’m guessing you’re kind of constantly reminded about that. But in a way, maybe that makes you live a different life.

28:47 Kaz Aston: Well, I think I have this kind of philosophy. Live for today, just make sure you can afford to get through tomorrow if it comes. So that’s my, my sister’s a banking person and I always try to be a bit, bit kind of like, well, don’t be so ridiculous.

29:00 But no, I like to enjoy every day. I mean, you said that with the beginning and I just think, no. And if I can’t do it, then I’ll find out I can’t do it. And because I’ve got a great MS team and great support network, they will tell me, you know, maybe that’s not the best, but, but also as well, they’ll encourage me to try it and to find out. And I think sometimes you need to try that maybe it’s not the best option.

29:22 Brian Rose: Right. Do you have other people that connect with you that are, just have different diseases, not MS that say, wow, you’re empowered with that. Maybe I can be empowered with, you know, living with cancer or these other types of things where, you know, they just see there is life after diagnosis. So many people, I’m guessing HIV and all these things that, especially something like HIV, which used to almost be a death sentence 20 years ago, now many people live with it.

29:46 But again, it seems like they could take a few notes from your book.

29:49 Kaz Aston: Yeah, I think it is. It’s that, and a lot of people, and when going back to my days, nursing days, you know, it was looking after lots of different conditions, lots of different problems. I remember when the HIV and like you said, learning to manage it, get the right medication. And I think if you get the balance right, that is a big thing for me, getting the balance right with your life.

30:08 You can do anything, you know, but sometimes it may not be the best option. I was saying to my friends last weekend, you know, about flying, because with MS, you’re not allowed to fly a plane. Okay, right. You know, and I was like, I said to my friend that’s got it. But you can do a drag race.

30:22 But, I said to my friend, he said, don’t worry, Karen, you could do it. You could be a co-pilot. You know, and then we went to this thing and I was sat there in this co-pilot thing and doing it, you know, and trying it. But you’ve got to be realistic about certain things. But there are other options.

30:38 And I think as well, going back to your point about people with disabilities, the way that the government in the UK thinks as well, they’re always looking at different ways to make situations easier to manage, but also to look at ways that people can try things and do things and live with things, you know, whatever health condition you’ve got, you know. And I think that’s the whole thing about working. I’m a big thing for me about keeping working, keeping part of society.

31:02 And that, to me, overlaps into a lot of things. And probably because I had to stop when I had a reaction and, you know, because I was like, go, go, go, go, go.

31:11 Brian Rose: Right, did that end your nursing career when you had that reaction?

31:15 Kaz Aston: Well, I, yeah, I mean, at that point, I’ve gone on to bigger and different things. I was working for NHS England.

31:21 Because I thought, well, you know, if you’re giving someone an injection, it’s not good if you’ve got a shaky hand, it’s really, you’ve got a needle in your hand or whatever. And also the shifts, nursing’s pretty tough. The shifts, moving patients to get them, you know, district nursing was in the community, so it wasn’t quite as physical. But there came a point where it was just not the best option for me. So I had to, you know, and people have to do that with life anyway, don’t they?

31:46 You know, you’re changing your jobs, you get new opportunities, and I just thought, no. But after the reaction to the drug treatment that I unfortunately had, and then ended up doing the drag racing, charity stuff, and then I then got into sort of the media element with Nitro FM, and that opened up the options that I’m looking at now. So it opened as a result, but I couldn’t keep that up. I just couldn’t. And I decided this year, I thought, I’m not gonna stay on the register, I can’t do it.

32:15 You know, and that, it was like 20 years later and I kept going with it because I was doing all the study days for MS and I met all the requirements. And I thought, hold on a minute, but you’re not doing that anymore, you’re doing different things. You’re more into the PR, you’re more into working with entrepreneurs, with small businesses, consultants to give them an opportunity, people with MS to help them keep them in work. You know, so it just wasn’t applicable to my life anymore.

32:40 It was sad. I’ve still got my uniform and I’ve still got my silver belt. Okay, but you’re not registered anymore. No, I decided this year, no. Okay.

32:49 Brian Rose: And you sounds like you’re constantly pushing the envelope and seeing how, what you can get away with. When was the time where you pushed it too far? And you’re just like, okay, I can’t do this. I’m too tired to do this. Cause it sounds like you’re constantly trying to find that edge.

33:03 Kaz Aston: Well, I’m always looking for another way or other opportunities. And I think it was like when I was, you know, when I was newly qualified and I was, you know, cause you don’t earn much as a nurse, to be perfectly honest. I’m not waving a flag here for underpaid nurses and public sector people. I’m just stating fact, you know, and I was doing some extra shifts and things and I had to stop doing that. I couldn’t do it anymore because I didn’t have the energy.

33:26 And I thought, so it was something when I was, I suppose, getting into my early kind of thirties, I thought, no, stop. What are you trying to achieve? What are you really trying to achieve here, you know? Yeah, you’re making a bit more money, but ultimately it can’t buy your health and your happiness. It can buy certain things that might make it better, but you know, and I just had to stop.

33:51 And when I had the drug reaction, that was a wake up call. And I think that was the thing that it was like, right, you’ve got to stop now. Cause all I kept doing was going to the toilet and throwing up, you know? And so that was all like, you know, I had to, and I changed, I had to change again. And I think we’re all changing all the time, whether it be for whatever reason in our lives, but I had to change my lifestyle significantly.

34:13 Brian Rose: What’s it like doing charity work? I think you told me that sometimes it’s kind of lonely work sometimes. And I guess probably some people think charity work is all rainbows and flowers, whereas I’m guessing, first of all, it’s hard work. I think a lot of people don’t understand that they’re just as much businesses as other businesses. What is it like?

34:32 Kaz Aston: Well, to be honest, it is quite lonely. You’re on your own. And that’s one of the reasons that’s driven me to do other things as well, to, you know, because you are working on your own. You’ve got to keep motivated. You’ve got to manage yourself.

34:43 And plus with me, with the fatigue, with the MS, that’s harder. So you’ve really got to get a handle on managing your time to get the best out of it, or where you’re going to work from. Your office location and working from home. I saw a big thing on the tube station about don’t kill yourself, work from home, or, you know, and it’s true. And that’s what I had to do.

35:03 I had to sort of make those changes to achieve that. Because I think you can achieve anything in life, maybe not quite as quickly as you, well, maybe you don’t know. But I looked at different ways of working and different opportunities. And as I said, this kind of like, looking at if you’re on your own, who can support me? Entrepreneurs and, you know, people working on their own don’t always have that, have that support mechanism.

35:28 And they don’t always have that help, particularly with PR. A lot of people think it’s only for big companies, PR. And it’s not. If you want to share information on social media or in print or on film or whatever, it’s a great way of doing that. So, you know, for me, all of those different angles are all something that I had to think about, which are everyday things, really.

35:49 But they’re all extra skills that I had to learn. Talk to me about PR.

35:54 Brian Rose: What can you teach us even about PR? You have incredible followings on Twitter. You’re very active in lots of different organizations.

36:02 You obviously know something we don’t when it comes to spreading the message. Well, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that. I know from all the years that I’ve been doing it, it takes a long time. Various working, working with the power on, say on Twitter, the power tweeters, the big boys and girls, you know, that have got a lot of followers. But followers don’t always necessarily, I don’t ask my Twitter followers unless it’s something really important to retweet.

36:25 Kaz Aston: It’s not actually very fashionable at the moment, Brian, to do the retweeting.

36:28 Brian Rose: To retweet or to ask for the retweet?

36:30 Kaz Aston: Well, to ask for it and to do it. Okay. It’s got to be, what’s the word now?

36:33 Everything. And my friends keep saying it. It’s driving me bonkers. We need to grow organically, Kaz. And I’m like, yeah, okay.

36:40 You know, and I think that’s the thing, really. It’s actually sending out information and it’s information that’s worth reading, to be honest, because a lot of people, I got out of bed and I had a cup of coffee. Great. That’s not really going to make any difference to my life. But some people like to share that.

36:55 But actually it’s reaching out to people and sharing information that’s useful and helpful for them to have. And, you know, for me, I found that through social media. And I quite like the fact, as I said earlier, it’s free as well at the moment. But there’s ways that you can link together with other organizations. You can get support from other organizations and you can build and build.

37:15 And it takes time. It takes a lot of followers to, you know, to get, you don’t know, it may not. You might just send something out on Twitter and you might trend. Trending’s a lot harder. It’s not easy to do those sorts of things.

37:27 You know, but to do it right and to do it well. The PR element, for me, because I’ve got some great, I’ve got a really good guru in Rotary, Paul Winner, helps me massively, you know, as a fellow Rotarian. But also in learning about some of the tricks of the trade, how you can actually help people to understand, help people to understand what they’re buying into, what they’re learning about and what they’re sharing. And that’s really important for PR. Yeah, the share and the like, they’re very distinct pieces, say, on Facebook or the retweet and the like.

37:57 And if you get people liking your stuff, it doesn’t really mean that much. But when they share it, you’ve really hit something deep inside them. And it’s actually the dynamics behind the share are quite complicated. And a lot of times people share funny things because they want to be seen as funny. They share cool things because they kind of want to be seen as cool.

38:16 And it really does show you what kind of, what kind of, I guess, clout someone has on social media. And like you said, followers doesn’t always determine everything. No, no, at the time of the day that you’re tweeting, it’s like one of my friends are like, I’ve got to get up in the middle of the night. And I said, why? I said, I’ve got to tap into the American audience.

38:35 And again, it is the time that you send the tweets. Sometimes it’s not sending too many. Sometimes it’s reiterating. It’s like when I said, well, you can watch this show on, and I sent it out a couple of times and some of the networks will send it out a couple of times. But also as well, it’s not annoying people.

38:50 Some people are just relentless. And I think you’ve got to get that balance right there as well. So you’re sharing and you’re caring, but you’re giving somewhere a start, a middle and an end, or so they can keep going around to find out more information. If it’s just me, me, me, me, me, I think that’s fine sometimes, but I think you’ve got to get that right. Because people will just get bored.

39:11 You need to add a lot of value these days.

39:13 Brian Rose: Yeah, you did. Tell me about the Rotary Club. I don’t know much about it. The one that you work with here in London is one of the oldest ones, or the oldest one.

39:21 But what is it? Because I don’t even know exactly what it is, but I know it’s a very prominent organization around the world.

39:28 Kaz Aston: Well, yeah, you said it. I’m a member of the Rotary Club of London, which meets in Mayfair at the moment. It’s the oldest club in the UK, because you register it.

39:37 It’s come over from, actually, Rotary is from America.

39:41 Brian Rose: Yeah. God bless the Americans.

39:43 Kaz Aston: Yeah, absolutely. And now it’s a global, you know, it’s a big international charitable organization.

39:50 It’s business people that get together, different ages, particularly in the area that you live. It could be really young members. We’ve got Rotary Act for younger people. We’ve got Rotary for people, you know, we’ve got members in the Rotary Club of London that are in their early to late 20s. It depends what you want out of it.

40:09 Some people just come to see it. They want to help their business. They want to learn from some older people, because there are some older people there as well. So you can go there. You can get involved with a committee, an area that you like working with.

40:23 For me, I’m in the PR and the communications world. And I’ve got a Rotary international position, all about image. And it’s exactly this to help people understand what Rotary is all about. Because you think, well, I see it on the roundabouts. Is that something to do with cars?

40:39 Is it watches? Is it? Rotary is all about working together, service above self. It’s not about you. It’s about helping charitable causes, if they’re in your own area, in London, in the UK, because we’ve got Rotary UK and Great Britain and Ireland, and then internationally as well.

40:57 So we partner with other clubs around the world. So, you know, there’s 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide. And we all get together. You know, we get together to support different campaigns, whether it be to end polio. Polio is a big one that we’ve been working on to eradicate polio in countries around the world.

41:17 So we’ve all worked together with that. You know, it might be, I came in today with my Purple for Polio teddy bear, you know, and that’s something for me that it’s a way of helping people understand that unfortunately in a couple of countries, there’s still problems with polio. We got rid of it years ago, but it’s a very ugly debilitating disease. So that’s one thing that Rotary has done really well. And with Mr. Gates from America, Mr. Microsoft, he’s really championed it.

41:44 He said, well, every pound you raise, I’m going to double or triple it. And that’s amazing. So we’re working internationally with all these different causes, all these different things. And we really do make a difference. We take projects on, I, you know, it could be that we do something for disabled kids for the Olympics.

42:01 I did something for a school in Edmonton to help them and took them to the Olympics. It could be that we’re having fun days out as well. So you actually get something back, you know, you’re putting into your local communities, fundraising, supporting, education, whatever it might be. But we’re also helping people to get together and have a good time. And that’s really important too.

42:23 Brian Rose: Do you think in this day and age of the social media, the look what I’m doing right now, that people sometimes forget, you know, about that whole concept of giving and doing other things for others. Do you think maybe we’re not even taught it very young that we have to be giving?

42:37 Kaz Aston: Yeah, I think to be honest, some people are up from the word go, you know, and some of these little kids that you see running around doing some wonderful stuff for charity are absolutely amazing and disabled kids.

42:48 We were talking about that, you know. But I think it’s a good starting point to help people understand on a local level, in the local community, say, for example, in London, or on the country you live in. And it helps you to understand some of the challenges, whether it be getting clean water, whether it be something to do with helping children to be able to read and learn, to have some books to learn with, and, you know, we might be helping whatever country, you know, and that’s why we have different committees with international focus or local community focus.

43:23 It’s so nice because we can get involved with different projects, and there’s sort of, some of them go on for years, and some of them are short term. And it does help you to understand the consequences of some of these problems, because like you say, you know there might be a problem with it, but you don’t really understand. And that’s one of the big things that Rotary’s good at, is helping people understand. Yeah, it’s very hard sometimes to take that first step, to kind of start giving, and to start volunteering your time.

43:48 It took me a while to kind of get around to doing that, and then I started realizing the huge payoffs of the hope when you start doing that.

43:55 Brian Rose: You mentioned Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, pretty interesting what they do.

43:59 Kaz Aston: Yeah, absolutely amazing. And they really run that almost like a business, that’s very accountable, they’re very, have these big action plans.

44:06 Brian Rose: What do you see them doing that you like, as far as their style of doing?

44:10 I know you mentioned that they really go out for these big crusades, but what do you think we can learn from like that foundation itself?

44:17 Kaz Aston: Well I think, because they are doing such interesting work, and I think the legacy of all of it is the polio and eradication. You know, I mean that is something, I mean I don’t know, you probably get on the train, you see someone, you can look at someone and think, ah, that person’s had polio. And there are people around, and the impact that it has on people’s lives, you know.

44:38 And that is massive, to eradicate it and just have three countries that they’re struggling with is really big. I mean let alone what they do with all the computer stuff and everything else is pretty massive. But the way that they’re handling that and the communication and everything they’re doing is absolutely brilliant. And the foundation, and yeah, it’s great. Right. Really good.

44:57 And it’s really motivational, you know, because when you join Rotary you think, wow, he’s a Rotarian like me.

45:04 Brian Rose: Yeah. And he also knows how to get a lot of rich people’s money from them. He really has that, what, 99% pledge? Is that what he does?

45:13 Or were people giving big chunks of their money away? I know Mr. Zuckerberg kind of gave some away or put it aside for a charity. And he really gets a lot of people doing that. So yeah, no, it’s interesting.

45:24 Three countries left, do we know what countries those are with polio?

45:28 Kaz Aston: Well, we’ve got Afghanistan. Okay. You know, they’re doing a lot, I mean they’re still doing polio eradication, Pakistan, Afghanistan, you know. And there’s some problems with Nigeria, they go away and then it comes back.

45:39 But, you know, the immunization, it’s a cultural change in various things. But it’s getting better, and the numbers are getting a lot less. And, you know, and the culture’s changing because having treatment for that in certain countries hasn’t always been the way forward. You know, it may be a religious thing that it just doesn’t agree. But, you know, we’re really doing well with it.

45:58 And I, you know, there have been a couple of polio cases picked up in Europe, but then again, we’re so mobile, aren’t we nowadays?

46:05 Brian Rose: Yeah, so maybe just grab it somewhere.

46:08 Kaz Aston: Yeah, we’re traveling a lot and, you know, it’s a big deal, so. But it’s something that I feel in the next few years, and then we’ve got to keep it. It’s one thing if you eradicate it, but we’ve got to keep that culture going of immunization for kids, helping people to understand, you know, what it’s all about.

46:25 And I think that’s a big thing. And I think with Rotary, and particularly with the support from Misty Gates, you know, we’re doing really well.

46:33 Brian Rose: Are we going to find a cure for MS one day?

46:36 Kaz Aston: Well, I think before I die, yeah. Yeah.

46:38 I really do think so.

46:39 Brian Rose: Okay. And do we have ideas? Because right now, you know, we understand some of the mechanisms behind it, and it’s degenerating some of the synapses and things in your body. Do we have leads on that, or are we still a good 10, 20 years?

46:53 Kaz Aston: Yeah, I mean, there’s so much research. They have a big MS, which is quite good. We had it in London. Ectrins, which is a big MS, you know, for Europe, the European platform. What we’re doing in Europe’s really good as well for MS management and around the world, globally.

47:07 But it’s nice that we have that, and some of the treatment opportunities, some of the research that they’re doing, some of the findings, I mean, it’s really exciting stuff. You know, and I came away from that thinking, wow. Every time I go and learn something about MS, I mean, I had a study day from my MS center, which is great. They were teaching us about all the latest breakthroughs, the latest treatment opportunities, what the future’s holding as well, because there’s drugs that come out and they have to test them and test them to make sure that they’re safe.

47:38 So it is, the whole landscape’s looking really, really exciting. And I do think we will get a cure before I pop off.

47:45 Brian Rose: Okay. And will it be more difficult for you to deal with as you get older?

47:49 Kaz Aston: Well, people, as I said, it tends to be people diagnosed younger, but I think if you get the, you know, you get your treatment, you get your lifestyle right, you can manage it, you know, and it’s actually planning, planning for getting older.

48:03 We don’t know how our lifestyle’s, you know, necessarily going to equate with others, because it could be. I mean, I asked a question on Friday, I said, well, this is great, but what about the interaction with other health problems that we might have? Because I’m a woman, you know, osteoporosis, or because of that, you know, and that, because, as I said, MS, they’re still finding out lots of information about it. You know, lots of information’s coming together and new treatment opportunities all the time.

48:28 So I, you know, it’s exciting times. Yeah. It really is. I wish I was diagnosed now with MS, but you can’t change that. But being diagnosed younger, in my opinion, is better anyway.

48:39 Brian Rose: I just thought of, for some reason, I just thought of Angelina Jolie for some reason, and, you know, here’s a woman who’s obviously a very accomplished actress, but she’s had a bunch of surgeries, you know, to prevent, you know, cancer-causing in certain organs in her body because of her family. So she’s, in a weird way, you know, living with this kind of potential disease like you are and trying to manage her lifestyle and having these operations where you’re like, what, you know, double mastectomies and these things that I can only assume are traumatic to do, and yet she’s such an inspiring person. Well, she is, isn’t she?

49:13 Kaz Aston: And we did a charity thing. She’s an ambassador for Children’s Villages, you know, and we did, I did a fundraising thing, and I was, I read more about her, and unfortunately, you know, because of her recent situation with her husband, you know, I mean, that’s difficult, isn’t it? But she’s an amazing person, and our president’s trying to get hold of her at the moment to come to the Rachel Club of London because she is such a, we wanna give her some girly encouragement as well, but I, yeah, you’re living on the edge all the time.

49:41 Brian Rose: You’re always thinking about these things, and I think that’s a really good example of it.

49:45 Kaz Aston: You know, I did it with eight, I was like, right, let’s get this sorted out now, because if you don’t get it tweeted now, it’s gonna be worse when you get older. And you know, that’s planning, isn’t it? I’m planning to make things easier, and aging, as you said, what difference getting older with MS will make. Well, everybody’s different, and that is the big thing, everyone’s different.

50:02 Everybody’s MS journey is different. You know, for some people, it’s all about fatigue. You know, we go back to the, they need to manage their life better and their time better. You know, for some people, it could be about mobility, walking, or it could be an optical problem, and they can’t see or hear properly. You know, you’ve got to really plan a lot more, I think.

50:20 And I think when we’re all getting older, we all need to plan a bit more, really.

50:25 Brian Rose: Yeah, I think there’s some big lessons here for everyone just to learn about living their life, you know? So many people struggle with issues in life without having, you know, ovarian cancer issues, or multiple sclerosis, like you do, or terminal cancer, or a handicap issue, or someone who just got both of their legs blown off in Afghanistan. And yet, some of these people live better lives, or more in tuned lives.

50:52 You seem very alive, you know? And so, I know that certain soldiers that come back from war zones, they call it their alive moment when they’ve lost their legs, because that’s when they started realizing what was important, and some of them said they were kind of walking through life as a zombie before, because they really weren’t grateful for the things they had. And so, it’s interesting to hear you talk about those things, because we’re all going to get older.

51:15 A lot of us are going to contract certain things, deal with certain issues. So, it feels like if we can kind of grab this mindset early on, and go ahead and try to take advantage of life, seems like- Because it’s got so many opportunities and so many different things. I think the biggest thing sometimes is choices. You know, which one do you go for? Yeah.

51:36 Kaz Aston: And I think nowadays, with MS as well, patients do, and that’s why, you know, having the choices in front of you, working with your MS team is really important, because you have got a lot more choices than you had when I was diagnosed. I think it’s a frame of mind. I think you probably inspire a lot of women and men, because they got to see you and your attitude, because a lot of times, it is simply your attitude toward things. And if you look at your two missing legs, or your diagnosis as a negative, or you can say, wow, look at all these positive things, the world, look, I can go drag racing, I can go cannonball racing, I can go sailing, I can do all these other things.

52:09 Whereas, perhaps, sometimes in the past, we would kind of ignore those things. Well, people have said that to me, do you think you would have done the cannonball run Europe? Do you think you would have done drag racing? Do you think you would have gone yacht racing? Call that stuff.

52:20 That one was really tough. You got to race this stuff. Round the island, well, yeah, I don’t think I’ll do that one again.

52:25 Brian Rose: Why, because it’s scary, or you have to be on the sails?

52:27 Kaz Aston: Well, it’s physical, it’s very physical, but the weather was not good, and the temperature and everything else, so, and it was a bit sicky, sicky, sicky for me.

52:34 But, you know, it’s a tough sport, great sport. But, you know, you have to balance it, don’t you? But, you know, I, again, you know, I think you should just have a go.

52:44 Brian Rose: And so would you have done those things without your diagnosis?

52:47 Kaz Aston: Yeah, I don’t know, I don’t know.

52:49 And that’s what I always come up to. The more I talk about it, I think, well, maybe I might. But then again, maybe I might have done it when I was a bit older, because I was too busy trying to sort things out that I thought were more important.

52:59 Brian Rose: Yeah. Who knows, you don’t know, do you, really?

53:01 Kaz Aston: Yeah, you don’t. But it is motivational. It does make me do things and make sure that I try and do something every day. And it’s like education, I love learning. You know, I have my sponge movement, suck out all this information to help me live my life better, help me do my job better, help me do my work better, whatever.

53:19 And I think we can all learn from that. And I, you know, when some people say, oh, I can’t learn anymore, I’m saying, I’m like, no, that’s not true, is it really? No, it’s not. You have to be careful on how you deal with stress and you have to be careful on how you deal with your own exhaustion levels.

53:34 Brian Rose: I’m guessing we can learn a little bit from that too, because I’m guessing people without the diagnosis probably don’t necessarily manage themselves that well.

53:42 I’m sure you work with people in the PR business and the online business that sometimes just burn it too far. Or maybe you’re on social media too much where they don’t know when to give themselves a break. What can you tell us about that?

53:54 Kaz Aston: Well, I just think really it’s being realistic. And I used to like that, knowing your ceilings and your floors, you know, when you’re going too hard.

54:02 But I just think it’s knowing when to stop. But I think one of the most important things really as well, I think with MS, because your nerves can only go for so long before they start kind of like, whoa, stop. You know, you’ve got a certain amount of time, everybody’s different as we said earlier. But I think it’s actually being aware of that, understanding it, so having some information to know that. And then planning your time, you know, thinking, well, okay, I’m going to do a short session here, I’m going to break.

54:30 And I think you can do whatever, you can achieve anything, but you just need to do a bit of thought, a bit of planning before you do it, really. And I would say to anyone, don’t let it stop you. But perhaps, maybe, sometimes, because they may not need it, sometimes you need to have work for shorter and stop. You might need to think about trying to have regular breaks, time out. You know, simple things like that.

54:57 And even people that haven’t got MS, you say that to them and like, well, I tried that. Actually, because you think, oh, I’ve got to get this assignment done, I’ve got an exam, I’ve got to keep, but your brain can only hold so much information. So having some nice, you know, it’s like when you’re talking a nice little pleasant pause, you know, just building that into your life is achievable. And actually being realistic about what you can achieve and maybe what you might need a bit longer to achieve.

55:22 I think these days, we’re getting more attuned with the fact that we need sleep. You know, 20 years ago, it was like, you know, the less sleep you got, the better you were and the tougher you were. But I think now people are starting to tune in to getting the quality of work, sleeping, getting that training in in that way. Yeah, absolutely. And your diet, you know, you need your diet, your sleep and exercise.

55:42 Some people say, I just need to go and blow my head out, clear my head, go and do some sport. I think I like that with clay shooting, you know, because it’s like, you know, it’s like, it’s quite focusing, but a totally different subject. And I think that’s really important to actually plan your time, you know, with MS, as I said, it’s achieving things in manageable ways. Talk to me about the monarchy. You are a fan of the monarchy and a fan of educating people about the monarchy.

56:09 Brian Rose: And everyone’s gonna love this topic or hate it. What is monarchy online? What can you tell us that we don’t know about the monarchy because we haven’t been educated?

56:20 Kaz Aston: Well, for me, monarchy online, it’s actually an online charitable organization. It’s not a registered charity.

56:28 It’s an organization of like-minded people that get together. We may well go and look at a historic place or a palace or something that we can learn about. We might celebrate, we might go and watch an event, say, it could be a royal wedding, it could be anything that we can get together and we can learn about. Because my biggest thing here, if you, which people are asking if you say, do you want them on a, well, hold on. How can you make your decision, whether you want it or not, if you’ve not been talking about it at school?

56:58 Brian Rose: I wasn’t talking about it at school. About the monarchy? No. Okay. Who it is, what it is.

57:03 Yeah, we knew that I remember Prince Charles and marriage and all these things, but we’re not talking about it.

57:09 Kaz Aston: So how can we decide if we actually want it? So monarchy online said, well, okay, that’s right, as I did with my really clear guide to MS. Not right, really clear guide to the monarchy. Some basic information to help people understand the basics about it.

57:23 Because we’ve got a lovely monarchy situation in the UK with the queen and, you know. Big driver of tourism here in the UK. Yeah, it brings all these people. Everybody wants to learn about it. Everybody wants to see it.

57:35 Everybody’s watching Prince William, you know, and the future, you know, Prince Charles is gonna be, you know, the next future king. But monarchy online wants your people to get together, to share information. Because we’ve got some really, really wonderful historians involved with this. We’ll have talks. We’ll have interesting debates.

57:53 But I’m continuing to campaign for people to learn about it, to have an opportunity to understand what it’s all about. Then they can say whether you want it or you don’t want it. You know, most people, when they find out about it, when they see what the royals do, whether it be for charity, for supporting countries, supporting, as you said, tourism, business, infrastructure development, whatever. Loads of things. When people really understand about that, then they can make an informed decision.

58:21 Because you’re not taught about it at school, you know.

58:24 Brian Rose: Okay, and what about the people that say monarchy should be abolished and the queen should start paying taxes? What do you say to that?

58:31 Kaz Aston: Well, everyone’s allowed an opinion. But, you know, as far as I can see it, you know, the queen does pay certain amounts of elements of monetary element.

58:39 They’ve got to, it’s a business as well. And I think, you know, she was born into the role. She didn’t say, I want to do this job, please. And I’m gonna pay myself this amount of money. It’s a big historical element for our country.

58:51 It’s about our heritage. You know, and for me, that’s what it’s all about. It’s about our heritage. It’s about our country. There’s a lot of pageantry.

58:58 There’s a lot of, you know, whether it’s changing of the guard, whether it’s all those things that people flop from other countries to see. But that’s part of our culture. That’s part of our society. And I think, you know, we should have the choice whether we want it or not. You know, and that’s something that is down to the public.

59:15 But it does an awful lot of good for the country. Yeah, people say, well, it costs. Well, actually, the queen costs less than the president’s. You know, there are some interesting statistics and figures about how much the queen costs, you know, how much does it cost to have a monarchy, about a pound a year, taxpayers pay. It’s not that much.

59:31 Everyone goes on about this big amount of money and it’s like, well, it’s not actually. I was quite surprised. I wanted to see the figures. Show me the figures, then I’ll make a decision. Okay, but she doesn’t pay taxes, though.

59:41 Well, the fact is all of the businesses involved with that, you know, they do pay taxes, of course, on various things that they need to have, you know. I mean, it’s not, there’s a lot of information about the finances and stuff available. And I would urge people, particularly on this subject, to have a look at royal.gov, that’s the monarchy website, to actually go and learn about it, because there’s a big part about that. How much does it cost to have a royal family?

1:00:05 What’s it worth? Why are we paying for this? And then I think it’s good to look at that and then look at some of the comparisons. How much would it cost if you had a president? How much would it cost for this?

1:00:15 You know, what does that person do for our country? You know, how do the people feel about it? You know, and that’s a big part about it as well, isn’t it?

1:00:22 Brian Rose: And what does society, I mean, it’s nice when we have these royal events. You see the people engage in- Yeah, it’s fascinating.

1:00:28 I mean, I’m obviously an American here watching it, but like when Prince William gets married, it’s a big deal. And it was a special day and it was beautiful. And when I see, honestly, the tireless efforts that the entire family does when they tour the world, you know, meeting all these people and leaders and charities, like, I don’t know, I wouldn’t want that job, it looks really hard. And if you look at it purely economically from a return on investment, I mean, they bring in a massive amount of money to this country for tourism.

1:00:55 So from that standpoint, I do get that. At the same time, it’s such a strange institution because obviously they don’t have ruling power anymore, but they used to. So there’s all these kind of weird rules, like the prime minister has to go to Buckingham Palace and to meet with the queen, even though she doesn’t elect him and she’s not allowed in the houses of parliament. So it’s weird, but like you said, it’s part of our culture. So I’m not hating on the royals.

1:01:22 Kaz Aston: No, I think it’s something like you said, I think you’ve got to understand a bit more about it to make that choice, because if you’re not taught about it at school, how are you, you know, and your parents might not have been taught about it because we’re all getting older, as much as I don’t like to admit that we are. And if you’re not taught about it and your parents haven’t been taught about it, how are you going to know? You know, and this is why there is a lot of information out there and that, you know, if I can get one message across here, there’s information to answer all those questions on world.gov, you know, there’s information about that.

1:01:52 There’s information on the monarchy clear guide, you know, about what it’s all about. But as I said, it’s something for society and we’re seeing the rewards of it at the moment, aren’t we?

1:02:01 Brian Rose: Okay, and they don’t pay you under the table or anything?

1:02:04 Kaz Aston: No, no, we don’t. We do this because we care.

1:02:06 Because you love the culture. I don’t get paid for any of the charitable things I do. I do it because I enjoy it. And I do it because I think it’s important and people, I wouldn’t have carried on. We do lots of research in monarchy online to find out what people are thinking, to find out what they want to know.

1:02:21 And actually, the monarchy clear guide is based on all the questions that I’ve been asked over the years because I was working with other charities, royal charities and things. And I built that because they’re the questions that the public asked.

1:02:34 Brian Rose: Just so we had the time now, three biggest misconceptions or questions people have about the monarchy. You mentioned one earlier, Prince William isn’t next, Charles is next to be king. What are the other things that people just should know?

1:02:46 Kaz Aston: Well, like you said, I think they should know about what they’re doing in society today. I think they should know about all the good stuff. I think they should understand about the role of, because the queen’s not just the queen of this country, all the sovereign nations, the commonwealth. There’s a whole load of information about the commonwealth. She’s the head of the commonwealth.

1:03:04 I think it would be good if people actually looked at the bigger picture. And she’s not a political entity. She goes out of her way not to be political. No, not at all. And also what- She jumped out of the plane for the Olympics.

1:03:15 That was a big move. Absolutely.

1:03:17 Brian Rose: Yeah, and her husband, he’s there, isn’t he? Yeah. We all want a man like that that’s there.

1:03:24 I really want to have him on the show. He’s quite a character.

1:03:27 Kaz Aston: Absolutely. Well, I think you should know. I mean, that’s the thing.

1:03:30 We’ve got a, with monarchy online, we’ve got a Royal Princess Catarina, who’s a patron of the charity and she’s great. And the work, she’s nonstop. I think I’m busy, but all the work is like, I’ve got to go and support this charity. I’m supporting football. We’re doing this, we’re doing that.

1:03:46 And they’re doing so much all the time. And I think, you know, like you said, go and have a look at their diaries. Yeah. No, I look at like William and Kate, it’s just like the things they’re doing. And these are people in their late 20s and early 30s.

1:03:59 And you’re going around the world like just, you know, really doing FaceTime, a lot of FaceTime. And like, I’m sure that there’s things they’d rather be doing, but they both understand that they have a duty. And their momma’s and dad, so a good look after the kids. Yeah, definitely, definitely.

1:04:12 Brian Rose: Cass, can I ask you a couple of things just about your own personal successes?

1:04:16 There’s something that you changed up like a daily habit, you know, even after your diagnosis, that just really changed your game, that helped you get the more out of every day, that really helped you just raise your productivity levels, anything that you changed about yourself. These success secrets are only available on the London Real Academy. Become a member and get access to live shows, exclusive courses, my webinars, bonus content, meetups, live events, an amazing community, and much, much more.

1:04:51 Now back to the rest of the show. What do you think of the millennials? Are they self-absorbed, social media animals who are doing, privileged? Is this true about our millennial generation?

1:05:05 Kaz Aston: I think it’s very, I think, well, let’s use the editorial, very colorful.

1:05:11 They’re very colorful people, but now I think they are, I think they’re very big. Entitled? Yeah, absolutely, I think everybody’s got a voice. We live in a democratic society, we’re very privileged to live in that, and I think everybody should make sure they share their opinions, but share them in the right way so people listen. Don’t just shout.

1:05:28 Brian Rose: Okay, but you’re feeling optimistic about our generation.

1:05:30 Kaz Aston: I am, I’m really optimistic about the future. I think they get a bad rap, actually. Yeah, I think, you know, sometimes cut them some slack. You know, as I said, it’s about like this, you know, trying to work when you’re an entrepreneur or on your own, you know, just cut people a bit of slack.

1:05:43 Look at the bigger picture.

1:05:45 Brian Rose: Kaz, what’s your biggest challenge in the next, say, 18 months?

1:05:48 Kaz Aston: I think, for me, it’s actually launching my PR company, W1PR. That’s something that’s gonna be hard for me because I’ve got to plan my time and I’ve got to use my time effectively. So that’s something that’s probably gonna be the biggest thing that I do.

1:06:02 And because I want to do it so well, I’m a bit of a secret perfectionist, Brian.

1:06:06 Brian Rose: I could see that.

1:06:07 Kaz Aston: I wanna get it right.

1:06:08 Brian Rose: Aren’t you busy with all these other things? Well, delegation, isn’t that a good thing as well?

1:06:12 Kaz Aston: I guess so. Do you wanna do staff? But for me, I really want to help those, I like to call them entrepreneurs and things because they are really entrepreneurial or people working on their own, it’s more, I want to help them and I want to work with them with W1PR to help people learn about how they can really share and share well. So that’s what I want to do, to be honest. And I want to keep helping people understand about MS and to think more positively about it, you know, and to know where to go to get help and to be able to ask for help, as we said.

1:06:45 That’s a big thing for me. So all of that’s gonna keep going. And, you know, I am being a woman, you always want to look good, feel good, all of that stuff, make sure that I take care of myself. So I want to do that. But I want to do W1PR properly and I wanna get it in the top 10.

1:07:00 The top 10 in London and I want it to help. I want it to show people the power of PR and what they can do so quickly and easily themselves. You know, that for me is a big thing. I want them to have somebody that they can talk to if they’re on their own, not be on your own and feel alone. Because you do often with MS, you feel alone because you’ve got the diagnosis and you’ve got to get on with it.

1:07:22 So I want people to be able to develop, to grow and to learn new skills and to do things well and to have success. I think everybody should have success and I think success is nice and I think it’s good. And I think it’s motivational to keep them going.

1:07:37 Brian Rose: My biggest takeaway from you today, I think, is asking for help, you know? Because so many of us just don’t do it.

1:07:44 At London Real and our academy, we really talk about this concept of being vulnerable. Without being vulnerable, I think it can be your greatest asset, being vulnerable. But so many of us don’t wanna be. We’ve been taught to be the tough guy. You’ve been taught to be the strong woman.

1:07:59 And yet, without opening up a little bit, no one can help you. Because you’re just the cool guy or girl at school and they kind of move on, assume you’ve got it together, but nobody has it together. And so again, I think that we do have these communities out here. We’re all one big tribe and we need to kind of open up. So that’s a great thing, learning from you today.

1:08:18 Kaz, I was asking everybody a few questions here at the end. I’m gonna ask you the same. If you could make a phone call to the 20-year-old Kaz and ask that young, give that young woman a bit of advice. This is, I guess, pre-MS diagnosis. What would you tell her?

1:08:33 If you could give her some advice, what would you tell her?

1:08:36 Kaz Aston: Make some friends with people that know about the condition. So go and make some friends with the MS team.

1:08:42 Brian Rose: Okay, but she didn’t know about MS yet.

1:08:45 Kaz Aston: Right, but let her know that there is a team out there that can help her because there’s teams, as we said earlier, but let her know that there are support services out there and she’s not on her own.

1:08:56 That’s the big thing, really. If some people like statistics, don’t they? Yeah, there’s 110,000 people. Let her know that she’s not on her own. It’s quite common that it’s something that affects a lot of people, but to stay positive and to ask for help.

1:09:11 I would say, look, get as much information as you can. Don’t overload yourself, just pace yourself. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. And I would just say, look, stay positive. Keep strong and make sure you surround yourself by people that can help you.

1:09:28 Brian Rose: Good. Second part of that question, what’s the best advice you’ve ever received in your life? It could be from a colleague at the NHS, a parent, someone else that suffers from MS, but just something about either life or business, or the queen, maybe she told you something, or one of the royals, I don’t know.

1:09:47 Kaz Aston: Oh, that is a tough one. It is.

1:09:49 We need to crank the brain. It’s the toughest question I have. I need a cup of coffee.

1:09:59 Brian Rose: You must have met some people that were-

1:10:01 Kaz Aston: I’ve met some amazing people, actually.

1:10:03 Brian Rose: Yeah, we must have met some people that were living with different versions of multiple sclerosis, and some probably more difficult than others. And did you ever learn something by watching them and being like, wow, they can really deal with this this way, or-

1:10:16 Kaz Aston: Do you know, I’ve learned quite a lot from my diplomatic friends. I’ve been doing quite a lot with the young diplomats in London.

1:10:22 And I’ve learned a lot from them, you know, because it’s a different mindset business, you know, and then you have to develop, you know, and I’ve learned a lot from them about patience and tolerance and, you know, actually kind of like, I think before you jump, don’t take too long on it, but just think about things a little bit more. Like social protocol. Yeah, yeah, think about the consequence of action. And- Because in business, you could just go pitch somebody and in diplomacy, you have to kind of think about how that’s perceived.

1:10:50 Yeah, and I think I’ve learned a lot of stuff from them. And it’s been great. I must be honest, I’ve done a one, I mean, shout out the London Young Diplomats. They’ve done a great element of events for young diplomats as well that are away from home to get to know others, to share, and it’s good communication across work. So I’ve learned loads from that actually.

1:11:10 You know, I’m always learning loads at Ratory, but I’ve learned about diplomacy and how it can really have negative and positive impacts. So I’ve learned a lot about that.

1:11:20 Brian Rose: I learned about diplomacy when I pitched the A-list guests on this show. It’s tricky. Last question is, you know, to the 20-year-old that’s listening to us, watching us right now, you know, from any country around the world, South America, Afghanistan, Africa, America, anywhere, you know, what advice do you give to them?

1:11:40 They want to grow up one day and be just like Kaz, you know, have millions of Twitter followers, be living with a disease successfully, be drag racing when some people will be going to the hospital, you know, to really be like looking forward to new opportunities and not, I don’t know, kind of wallowing in sorrow and things like that. What advice do you give to them?

1:12:00 Kaz Aston: Stay positive, stay strong, you know, and as I said, ask for help when you need it because there’s loads of opportunities and don’t stop yourself from doing anything.

1:12:09 If you can’t do it, at least you tried. You know, do your best. You know, enjoy yourself every single day of your life but don’t be too hard on yourself because sometimes that’s, you know, when you fail because we quite often fail when we try something for the first time or we might do really well and we try again and it’s not very good or whatever but don’t be too hard on yourself. Give yourself time and actually, you know, cut yourself some slack and just have, you know, less is more, isn’t it?

1:12:35 Brian Rose: That’s quite a nice thing to say as well, colloquialism but just, you know, don’t be too hard on yourself and just make sure that you plan your time, you make some good friends and use this wonderful software that we’ve got as well. Use social media, use all of those PR techniques and surround yourself in everything that you can have. Yeah, I always think to people, you know, people see successes in this world and they assume that they’re starting with like a full deck and with all of these resources but, you know, everyone starts with problems, with, you know, disabilities of all different kinds that you don’t know.

1:13:11 Some people have dyslexia, some people have tough parent situations, some people have all these things and yet they’re still successful and so when they can see someone like you or anyone else in this world, it’s like, yeah, you have an imperfect deck of cards you’re dealt and yet you can be as successful as you want if you can work smarter or harder, be more creative, be more positive. And reach out, as they say, you know, reach out, you know, this is what I was gonna say to you, you know, if anyone wants to get in touch with me, Kaz at w1pr.com, you know, reach out, ask, you know, what have you got to lose? What have you got to lose?

1:13:43 Kaz Aston: I mean, it’s a way you might, I might not be able to help you but I might know someone that does. You know, it’s share, share, share, get in touch with the erosion club, get in touch with people but just, you know, give yourself an opportunity to learn, give yourself time to think about it and make sure you have fun as well.

1:13:59 Brian Rose: Yeah, no, definitely. Yeah, reach out, there is a tribe of you, of other people like you out there but it’s not found at home alone and it’s probably not necessarily found on a social media network.

1:14:09 You might need to get out and meet some of these people but yeah, definitely come and get involved. Kaz, thank you so much for coming on. I’m glad we finally hooked up and met up. You’ve got a fascinating story. I love how you kind of did a 180 on this diagnosis and you do so many other things that like you really, your life isn’t really a mess.

1:14:27 It’s all these other things that you do. So that’s a beautiful thing. And again, it just does make me think about people I’ve known in my life with disabilities or other diagnoses and how they just used it honestly as a chance to step on the gas. And like, so I was inspired a lot by my grandfather and how he didn’t use it to slow him down. And I think he taught me lessons as a boy knowing that he never asked for sorrow or asked for help, he just got on with it himself.

1:14:52 So great lesson. So anyways, thank you so much. As we say on London Real, it’s about the journey. I wish you well on yours and stay in touch.

1:14:59 Kaz Aston: Thank you, I will, I’ll come back and say you will.

1:15:01 Please do. Thank you.