Today, Toni interviews Gerald Ratner, an author, mentor, and keynote speaker. Gerald shares his journey from being the chairman of a successful jewellery business to facing a major setback after a controversial speech. He discusses the challenges he faced, including the negative impact on his business and personal life. Despite the difficulties, Gerald's resilience and ability to take risks led him to start a successful health club and venture into online business. He also shares his experience as a public speaker, using humour to engage and inspire audiences. This episode highlights the importance of perseverance, embracing failure, and finding humour in life's challenges. KEY TAKEAWAYS Taking risks can lead to great success: Gerald Ratner's ability to take risks and think outside the box allowed him to turn around his struggling jewellery business and create a successful health club. Trust your gut instincts: Gerald's gut feeling about the potential success of his health club and the online jewellery business proved to be accurate, even when others doubted him. Embrace failure and learn from it: Gerald's infamous speech and the subsequent downfall of his jewellery business could have crushed him, but he chose to learn from it and use it as a platform for personal growth and success. The power of humour and storytelling: Gerald's ability to make people laugh and engage them through his speeches and storytelling has been a key factor in his success as a public speaker and mentor. Overcoming setbacks and staying positive: Despite the challenges he faced, Gerald's resilience and positive mindset allowed him to bounce back and find new opportunities for success. BEST MOMENTS "I clearly felt that the approach that I'd taken was the right approach and that added to a lot of other things in terms of marketing ourselves and being sort of very aggressive." "I had this brilliant idea that I would go back. I thought it was one place that I would get publicity, only one place talking about one subject." "I love doing it, I'm traveling around to lovely places. I'm doing similar speech, it's not a huge amount of effort, this is great, why did I slog my guts out in the jewellery business?"  "I like making people laugh and that's how I got into trouble in the first place. And I was like that as a kid, you know, you asked me earlier about a kid and I wasn't very good at lessons, but I was good at making people laugh at school."  "Laughter is something that is very important in life. You're happy when you're laughing. So it's great to go to these events." HOST BIO Toni's journey defies the norm. Raised with a strong work ethic and a traditional career path in mind, she initially pursued a corporate job in HR after earning her degree. However, in 2015, everything changed when she attended a property training seminar. Little did she know that this event would ignite a profound passion for property investment. With her husband Chris, Toni raised millions in joint venture finance, creating a multi-million-pound property portfolio. But her story doesn't stop there. By the age of 33, she left her HR job behind to empower others in building their successful property businesses. Toni's passion for public speaking led her to become a world record holder. Beyond the accolades, she sees it as a calling to educate and inspire. Toni hosts training events and uses her "Talks with Toni" podcast to share insights, interview captivating guests, and motivate her audience.