On this one I was very pleased to be joined by @Jon Reay and @Tim Seddon, the Co-Founders OF @Room 42, a start-up that facilitates effective change and innovation through the use of Design Thinking based programmes, to help businesses tackle the most challenging of live business problems.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Jon and Tim where we dived into how they went on the journey to start Room 42 and specifically how they have seen Design Thinking used to improve Financial Performance.

🌟 Some of my favourite parts of our conversation were:

✅ How, if you can break up and disrupt day to day thinking, it provides the opportunity to inspire different interactions that can be the key to unlocking new thinking and ideas;

✅ How, if you get the right direction of travel, with a small team, Design Thinking can offer opportunities for small businesses to leapfrog larger competitors;

✅ Having a CFO or Finance professional within any change management program from the outset is really critical to help projects succeed more quickly;

✅ Their experience of imposing change top down, leads to a demotivated business that's struggling to adapt to change, while engaging with everyone leads to a much more highly motivated and agile business;

✅ How one of my favourite books, Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy helped inform both their company name and their approach to business.

On this one I was very pleased to be joined by Emilia De Stasio, CFA, the Founder & COO at Artscapy, the wealth management platform dedicated to art collecting.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Emilia where we explored her background in Finance, her love of Art and her journey over the past 4 years as she has co-founded Artscapy, a platform dedicated to the needs of art collectors.

🌟 A flavour of some of my favourite parts of our conversation:
✅ Emilia’s personal passion for art and its importance to her both in terms of its mental wellbeing effects and her desire and mission supporting this aspect of society;
✅ How, contemporary art provides both some of the best performing returns in the passion asset space along with real downside protection;
✅ How Emilia’s banking background has informed her approach to valuing art and the approach that they are taking at Artscapy;
✅ The marrying of the technology with the Advisory service that a higher value wealth management service demands;
✅ The benefits Emilia has found in having a strong network of mentors and peers to share ideas around the challenges in scaling the business.

Business Book Bonus Recommendation - Let My People Go Surfing by Yvonne Chouinard: https://amzn.eu/d/ivgkRRA

Click the link below for the Limited time 2 for 1 offer mentioned on the pod:

Life Ready Pathway

In this first episode of the new season, I’m thrilled to be joined by Suke Ridler, the CEO and founder of My LifeJars, a company that assists in organising documents and passwords to access during life and after death.

In this conversation, Suke and I discuss her journey from acoustic engineer through to winemaker, sheep breeder, and then on to becoming a start up founder.

🌟 Some of my favourite parts of our conversation were:
✅Suke’s inspiration taken from her near death experience that had a profound effect on her and led to her initial designs of My LifeJars to ensure that no one had to suffer through the same experience she went through;
✅The need for a roadmap so that everyone can get what they need to keep the business going on a day-to-day basis and in terms of if something happened in an emergency;
✅How running your business is a bit like driving a car and if something were to happen to you how to ensure, if someone else has to take the wheel they are not without a GPS!;
✅How Suke’s experiences led to her realising the need to go with the flow around having to intermingle personal and business life;
✅The first step mindset, and how in life we just have to be prepared to take that step and then see how the path opens up.

A sneak peek for you below with Suke explaining why data protection and organisation are so important for small businesses today.

An insight into Suke’s fascinating life story and her personal mission to launch a company that is doing important work for Solopreneurs and Small Businesses Owners.