This week, we’re talking about something every hospitality person knows all too well: pain.

Back pain. Neck pain. Shoulder pain. “I’ve been on my feet for 14 hours” pain. But what if… most of it isn’t actually coming from your body?

Enter Gemma McFall (Gemma McFall – Pain Reprocessing Therapist)— Chronic Pain Recovery Coach, former hotel HR leader, Disney alum, and the only person whose first hospitality shift involved covering herself in six bowls of soup.

A true industry baptism. 😂

Gemma lived with debilitating chronic pain for ten years — through hotels, homeworking, young kids, and long haul flights — before discovering the science that completely changed her life.

Now, she helps hospitality people understand the one thing no one ever told us:

👉 Pain is created in the brain — and it can be unlearned.

In This Episode

• The hospitality origin story involving Leicester Tigers and soup
• How her dream career turned into years of chronic pain
• Why perfectionists, overthinkers & people-pleasers are most at risk
• The science of pain: threat systems, predictive coding & fear loops
• The moment she realised nothing was “structurally wrong”
• What actually works — education, evidence logs, emotional awareness
• Why chefs, servers and managers often misattribute pain to the job
• How leaders can spot pain patterns in their teams

Gemma’s stand-out lines

“Pain becomes a learned response — it’s predictive coding”

“Being old doesn’t equal being in pain”

“The smartest people have the worst pain”

“People get used to being in pain. It becomes a way of being”

Why Listen

If you’ve ever blamed your job, your shoes, your mattress or your age for your aches, this episode will change your thinking completely.

It’s funny, practical and properly eye-opening.

A genuine life-upgrade episode.

Show Partners

A big shout out to the first of today’s show partner, RotaCloud, the people management platform for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from a single, web-based app.

It makes work simple for your team, too, allowing them to check their rotas, request holiday, and even pick up extra shifts straight from their phones.

Try RotaCloud’s time-saving tools today by heading to https://rotacloud.com/phil

Also, a massive shout out to our new show partners Apron

Running a hospitality business means juggling endless payments - from suppliers to staff - all while keeping cash flow in check. That’s where Apron helps.

With Apron Bill Pay, you can manage every supplier payment in one place, approve and schedule bills, and sync automatically with Xero or QuickBooks.

And with the Apron Card, your team can spend easily while you stay in control - and earn rewards on every purchase.

Learn more at getapron.com.

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