Failing Forward! An Opera Singer's Lessons in Resilience and Reinvention From the opera stage to executive coaching, Caroline Dowd Higgins exemplifies resilience and courage. She recounts her promising opera career's harsh realities, including a pivotal breakdown and questioning if the sacrifices were worth the suffering. With wisdom, Caroline shares lessons on recognising when to pivot, seeking feedback, and embracing her mantra: "The suffering is optional." … Sponsor Check out Personio -...

“99% of successful businesses don’t have a strategy” Alex Smith, a renowned business strategist who argues that real strategic skill isn't about getting caught up in overwhelming complexity, but about identifying key differences that set you apart from competitors. To bring these ideas into reality, Alex and Dan break down brilliant yet straightforward strategies used by companies like Southwest Airlines, Nintendo, Grenade bars, and 5-hour Energy drinks.

Jess Dante, the Founder of Love and London, shares her company's cautionary tale of attempting to launch a new product based on customer demand. Despite months of hard work and a compelling marketing push, the much-anticipated launch fell flat, leaving them with a mere single booking in the first 24 hours. What went wrong? … Sponsor Check out Personio - the all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders

What if the secret to getting more done, is having more fun? In this episode we speak with Ali Abdaal - YouTuber, doctor, author and Founder who has built a business around his own personal brand. Ali shares his approach to being more productive by simply making work feel like play. Ali explains the science behind why we're more motivated when something feels like a game rather than a chore. He provides practical tips for turning boring tasks into engaging challenges by reframing them with an...

Andrew Wordsworth is the Managing Partner of Sustainable Ventures, an investment fund which has developed Europe's largest cluster of sustainability startups. But the first venture he backed (and was the Chairman of) was a disaster - and what’s strange is it had all the ingredients to be a mega business... -- Check out Personio - the all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders

Finding the ideal Co-Founder is one of the most critical decisions a Founder will make. In this episode, Alice Bentinck, CEO and Co-Founder of Entrepreneur First, shares how to create world class productive partnerships and finding your market edge. With over a decade of experience building entrepreneurial teams that have created businesses worth billions, Alice has seen what it really takes to get a business of the ground in the first 90 days. From identifying complementary skills, to...

Mussayab Ehtesham sunk $30,000 of his savings into an e-commerce product that completely flopped. Instead of quitting, his obsession with entrepreneurial freedom drove him to learn from that costly failure and iterate relentlessly until he cracked the code and built a $1M private label business. -- Check out Personio - the all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders

Mike Connelly was a top telecoms salesman who decided to strike out on his own. His new venture, Simple Cloud Communications, quickly landed clients thanks to Mike's sales prowess. But he struggled immensely to service those customers without strong technical operations skills. Mike learned first-hand that even star employees can falter as solo Founders if their skillsets are too one-dimensional, but by embracing the right partner to fill knowledge gaps, a business can finally find its...

After winning The Apprentice, Joseph Valente expanded his plumbing and gas business to a national scale. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the markets changes and Joseph had to rebuild his new business from the ground up. He followed in the footsteps of his mentor, became his apprentice, and has gone on to teach others how to avoid his failures and replicate his successes. -- Check out Personio - the all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders

Leading a team to peak performance begins within. In this episode, Lara Menke; business Psychologist, CEO and Co-Founder of leadership coaching firm CAIA, gives us the keys to unlock our self-awareness and reach peak performance.  From feedback and coaching techniques, to the confidence conundrum, to striking the ideal inclusive yet decisive leadership balance - expect practical models you can instantly apply paired with thoughtful reflection on leading people amidst the pressures and...

Tom Foxley, Founder of the Adventurepreneur Collective, spent years building his lifestyle and coaching business. He had reliable clients, a team he loved and the business was bring in six-figures. All of this felt like "success", until a breakdown on his honeymoon revealed the deep misalignment between his work and his passion for adventure. This is when he fully realised that; If you don't do what is meaningful, you won't regret it for the rest of your life. -- To get a better handle on...

Building a thriving business takes more than just getting the economics right - it requires truly understanding human psychology and what motivates people.  In this episode, Paul Lindley, Founder of kids' healthy food brand Ella's Kitchen, provides a rare glimpse into the human dynamics, vision and motivation at the heart of one of the biggest success stories in the UK startup space.  Paul reveals his secrets for: - Mastering company culture and the psychology behind hiring and leadership -...

In the midst of the dot-com bubble, Sharath Jeevan OBE, Founder of Intrinsic Labs, was convinced by investors to pursue rapid growth and prioritise the consumer market. However, after the dot-com bubble popped; he realised that as a leader, he had to learn to follow his internal compass not just the funding market -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Founders have a lot on their plates - how do they navigate it all without losing track of what’s important? In this episode, we chat with Sophie Scott - a Founder and psychotherapist who’s on a mission to help Founders discover their purpose, cultivate sustainable self-care practices, and answer the question, “why do Founders need therapy?" Just as a disclaimer; Sophie mentions some of her clients' experiences. These accounts are composite and anonymous. -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better...

Faisal Abid, The Co-Founder of Eirene Cremations, spent two years developing the product for his first business. He thought after all of his planning and developing his company would be a hit, once it finally launched. He soon realised; building a product isn’t the same as building a company.  -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Is there anything harder in business than growing your company? Probably not and that's why we're speaking to one of the best in the growth game - Matt Lerner. He explains how to find the 10% of things that will actually grow your startup, how to hire growth people, how to prioritise growth experiments (it's not the usual way) and lots of other things that can change your company's future. -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Personio - all in one HR...

Amanda Brock, the CEO of Open UK, took a decade too long to jump from her legal career to what she really craved - the frenzy of entrepreneurship. She stayed in law too long because she’d experienced a sobering failure years ago - running an event which lost half a million pounds. What happened? -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Sokratis Papafloratos is the Founder of Numan who are tackling a lot of male healthcare problems like erectile dysfunction, hair loss, sleep and weight issues. This isn't his first rodeo. Sokratis exited with his first startup, albeit at great personal cost. His second one failed. And now he's leading Numan. What's going to be his fate this time? -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Personio - all in one HR platform:...

Ken Schmitt is the Founder and CEO of a high end executive search firm, which is ironic because we’re going through his biggest career failures and they all revolve around hiring. Well, hiring or being hired because Ken went through a period where he kept being fired. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

SpareRoom is a business you've probably heard of - bringing together strangers and putting roofs over their heads. It's a bootstrapped business and its Founder Rupert Hunt still finds his housemates through it today. Rupert could've sold up years ago - he turned down an offer he says he couldn't refuse. Why on earth did he do that? -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet: https://vorboss.com/secretleaders Personio - all in one HR platform: https://personio.com/secretleaders Vanta - get 20%...

Brian Will is a seasoned entrepreneur who’s sold several businesses, but his first one was a baptism of fire. Brian had a difficult childhood. He was a D student who failed high school, got kicked out of home at 18 and joined the military. He had a chip on his shoulder and struggled with discipline - he lost rank twice. And then his first business went under at the worst possible time for him and his family. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation...

Can you imagine graduating university and exiting for tens of millions at the same time? Cue Harry Gestetner and Simon Pompan, the Founders of Fanfix, a platform that helps creators better monetise their content. They built the business for mobile-first, multi-channel Gen-Z creators and their audiences (a bit like Patreon for Gen Z) - and their traction was so strong that SuperOrdinary bought them just 10 months after launch. Here's how. -- Sponsors Vorboss - get better internet:...

Adam Weber is a multi exited Founder, podcaster and the SVP of Community for 15Five, a performance management software company. What’s fascinating is he ended up making it in a very different role to what he thought he was good at. Adam had been a salesman until the biggest deal of his life collapsed, along with the plan for his future. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.

Clarkson's Farm taught us that being a farmer is tough, and from this podcast we've learnt how tough it is to become a successful Founder. James Chase's family has done both. His father was up against it as a farmer so started Tyrrells crisps before launching Chase spirits followed by Willy's apple cider vinegar (all consumed by Dan). Now James is building his own thing, a skincare for men brand called BAZ & CO. How do you build multiple well known B2C brands? -- Sponsors Vorboss - get...

Joel Gandara sold his businesses a few months ago, is retired, doing what he enjoys - so he’s feeling pretty good about his life choices. But a few years ago, it was a very different story. It seemed more likely that Joel would find himself back where he’d begun - and Joel didn't have the easiest start to life. -- To get a better handle on your security, check out https://npsa.gov.uk/innovation and download their free Quick Start Guide.