Daring To with Rita Trehan

Alan Vey is Founder & CEO at Aventus. Following receiving his Master's in Artificial Intelligence at Imperial College London, he completed a stint as a quantitative developer at macro hedge fund Brevan Howard, giving him exposure to the world of traditional finance.Marrying these skillsets and his hunger to innovate, Alan founded Aventus in 2016 – an enterprise-grade blockchain with the aim of making the benefits of blockchain available to businesses. After raising over $20m in an ICO in 2017 and surviving the pandemic, we have since continued to grow and expand into new sectors (including NFTs, loyalty, ticketing, gaming and supply chain to name a few).Alan was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 winner in 2021 for his work at Aventus, and he continues to look for ways to remain at the bleeding edge of the space.In addition to his work at Aventus, building further blockchain businesses and supporting others with their tokenomics models, Alan focuses on extending discipline to all areas of his personal life.

Joe O'Connor is a driven and dynamic campaigner and communicator, with extensive leadership experience, and a passion for social justice and progressive change.Joe is currently based in New York City, where in addition to all his work for 4 Day Week Global, he is conducting a one-year research fellowship with Cornell University, leading a research project on working time reduction.He was appointed as CEO in March 2022, taking over from Charlotte Lockhart. Previously he was 4 Day Week Global's pilot program manager, where he is coordinating pilots of the four-day working week in Ireland, the United States and Canada, with almost 50 companies signed up to participate in six-month coordinated trials early in 2022. Pilots are being planned later in 2022 for the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Israel.Joe is also the chairperson of the Four Day Week Ireland campaign, having founded the coalition in 2019, and coordinated the successful launch of a pilot program and government-funded research project in 2021. He has been active on the issue of working time reduction since 2018, when he organised a major international conference on ‘The Future of Working Time'.Previously, Joe worked as Director of Campaigning with Fórsa Trade Union, Ireland's largest public service union, where he led the design, development and rollout of several ground-breaking, successful and award-winning campaigns, as well as playing a leading role in driving a significant organisational change management project.He is a former political party chairperson and political campaign director and adviser, having managed several successful national political and electoral campaigns. He is also a former President of the Union of Students in Ireland, and held a number of high-level governance and policy directorships in the field of third-level education.In 2020, Joe co-founded The Doorstep Market, a voluntary initiative set up to support small, independent Irish businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This virtual multi-vendor marketplace acted an online ‘one-stop shop', enabling Irish consumers to ‘stay home and shop local', from a selection of over 300 small Irish businesses and more than 1,000 products.He holds an MBS in Strategy and Innovation Management and a BBS (Honours) in Accounting from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, as well as an Advanced Diploma in Employment Law from The Honorable Society of King's Inns.Connect with Joe on LinkedIn.

Damian McKinney brings an eclectic mix of skills and experiences to his role as the CEO of the Stoli Group. An officer in the Royal Marine Commandos, he operated in a variety of the world's hot spots, including the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War, and received numerous awards for courage and distinguished service.In 1999, he founded and built a global consultancy, McKinney Rogers, which was acquired by GP Strategies. McKinney has a formidable reputation as a business leader, transforming companies and brands to become the best in the world. He has worked across many industries and continents, achieving significant recognition, with a particular focus on the beverage alcohol industry.-Stolichnaya is a historic vodka brand. It has deep roots in the vodka industry, dating back to 1948, and was a standard bearer of Soviet/Russian vodka.The rights to the Stolichnaya brand were acquired in 1999 by SPI Group, a private company chartered in Luxembourg, founded and owned by Russian businessman Yuri Shefler. The Russian government has disputed the legality of the sale of the Stolichnaya brand and vested those rights in a Russian state-owned company – FKP Sojuzplodoimport.The upshot is that two different companies claim ownership of the Stolichnaya brand. Each operates in those countries where the local courts have upheld their ownership of the brand.In the United States, the Stolichnaya brand is managed by the Stoli Group, a division of SPI Group.

Amy Williams is on a mission to convert people's attention into funds for good causes. She co-founded Good-Loop in 2016 after stints at advertising giant Ogilvy London, and a soup-kitchen in Argentina, to make ethical behaviour easier for consumers and more profitable for companies.Today working with the likes of Nestlé, Unilever, the Co-Op, Coca-Cola and H&M, Amy's ‘ethical ad platform' rewards consumers who choose to watch an ad by donating to their chosen charity, whilst delivering better ROI for advertisers. It's Yin Yang, win-win. Amy is one of Forbes Europe's 30 under 30, eConsultancy's Rising Star of 2019 and a face of the United Nations #SheInnovates global campaign.Connect with Amy on LinkedIn.

Gaby has built Huckletree's vision and culture since they first opened doors in 2014, leading its corporate strategy, product, and innovation. An advocate for diversity in entrepreneurship, Gaby is an advisor and coach for early-stage founders and a speaker and panellist on the Future of Work and diverse leadership.Outside of work, Gaby is usually dancing around her kitchen with her two little ones, Jack and Andrea, and her hubby Antoine.Connect with Gaby on LinkedIn.

Steve Taylor is the CEO of Robin Hood Multi Academy Trust in Birmingham and has been in post since January 2016. Steve has a strong leadership background in education and, as well as being a National Leader of Education, has worked at a national level on a number of initiatives as well as at an international level.During the recent Coronavirus shutdown of schools, Robin Hood MAT created #TheLearningProjects – a national editable set of resources for any school in the country to build upon and improve. The team currently runs #PodcastCPD, an innovative and free approach to CPD for anyone interested in education with aim of generating national and global networks.Steve and the Robin Hood MAT team are interested in open, transparent leadership and collaboration within the education sector and have committed to sharing EVERYTHING the MAT does for others to use as a base to build from. 

For the second episode of Daring To with Rita Trehan, Rita chats to Eliane Lugassy.After studying business law and obtaining a degree from ESSEC, Eliane began her career at Rothschild & Co in Paris on Mergers and Acquisitions.  She accompanied several real estate projects, including the sale of the “Cœur Défense” building.In 2016, she left finance to create Witco an application that improves tenant experience in all buildings while facilitating their management. Offices, residences, coworking, and co-living. Witco adapts to all types of properties thanks to flexible technology and personalised support and will be critical to businesses as WiFI is.Connect with Eliane on LinkedIn.

Hello, and welcome to a brand new season of Daring To with Rita Trehan! We are kicking off  Season 5 with a fabulous new guest, Lynne Franks OBE. Lynne Franks OBE is an entrepreneur, mentor, and founder of SEED.Lynne has spent five decades recognized as one of the world's major lifestyle experts, predicting and creating societal, business and consumer trends; initiating and promoting major events such as London Fashion Week and Green Consumer Week as well as advising major corporations on women's engagement including MacDonald's; Tesco; HSBC and Next.She also created B.Hive, the world's first women's business club in partnership with Regus; was Chair of Viva women's radio; put on the UK's first women's festival, What Women Want, and founded SEED, the women's leadership platform based on her global best-seller, The SEED Handbook, the feminine way to do business.Lynne was presented with her OBE for her contribution to Business, Fashion, and the Empowerment of Women.Connect with Lynne on LinkedIn.

Carrie Freeman is Co-CEO of SecondMuse, an impact and innovation company that builds resilient economies. Since 2012, she has been steering the global company’s approach to finding and nurturing innovators dedicated to social and environmental good, and building supportive ecosystems around them. Its mission aligns with Carrie’s fundamental belief in the infinite capacity for humans to learn and grow, and the potential for inclusive markets and businesses to massively scale positive change.Under Carrie’s leadership, SecondMuse has run programs that define inspiring visions, build lasting businesses and unite people across the globe. Over the last decade, they’ve designed and implemented programs on 7 continents with 600+ organizations such as NASA, The World Bank, and Nike. Carrie’s experiences at SecondMuse have strengthened her conviction that deep, sustained collaboration between governments, businesses, and the communities in which they operate, fosters innovation.Before joining SecondMuse, Carrie worked for 15 years at Intel, where she honed her business and leadership experience in a range of management positions. In her most recent role there as Director of Sustainable Business Innovation, she pioneered strategies around a corporate impact investing fund and became deeply involved in, and impassioned by, technology market solutions to global sustainability problems.In life and work, Carrie is drawn to challenges. She credits her guiding belief in the capacity of the human spirit to experiences that tested her physical and mental limits: rafting one of the most challenging rivers in the world; climbing out of a canyon during a thunderstorm; standing steadfast, time and again, before skeptical gazes as the only woman in a boardroom. Her outdoor adventures have also expanded her view of capital, beyond financial assets, to include the environment and human potential — both of which provide the world immense, often untapped or under-appreciated value.Throughout her life and career, she has mentored and advocated for women, encouraging them to take risks and to see the value in their unique perspectives and experiences. She has also promoted the true inclusion of diverse views and experiences in the businesses and departments she has been fortunate enough to lead.She has held numerous advisory and board positions that span the for-profit, non-profit, public and philanthropic sectors, including the U.S. EPA, Water Innovations Alliance, the Technology Venture Corporation, Packard Foundation, World Economic Forum, the Nature Conservancy, the Permaculture Credit Union, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, World Policy Institute, LAUNCH, the government of Costa Rica and several cross-industry consortia.Carrie has undergraduate degrees from New Mexico State University and an MBA from the University of New Mexico.Connect with Carrie on LinkedIn.

Welcome to Daring To, a podcast that finds out how CEOs and entrepreneurs navigate today’s business world – the conventions they’re breaking, the challenges they’ve faced and the decisions that they’ve made, and lastly, just what makes them different.A sound-driven A&R platform, Andrson is a brand new A.I.-powered tool which connects emerging artists to the right industry professionals, helping them to become discovered.Zach Miller-Frankel is Co-Founder and CEO of Andrson. A manager himself, he and partner Neil Dunne built Andrson to solve their own A&R challenges. He is also the founder & co-director of ThinkTank Music Management, a boutique firm based in New York City and Dublin.For his artists, Zach has secured multi-million dollar contracts, global tours, mainstage festival performances, and talent agency representation. He has nearly a decade of experience in the music industry and artist management, and has worked with artists such as Philip Glass, The National, and The Antlers.A frequent conference speaker, his dynamic keynotes on innovative methods for Digital A&R and the use of AI and Machine Learning in Music Tech, have been heard by audiences around the world. He sits on the Young Leadership Board of a cancer research fund, from which he received the “Founder’s Award” for the production of their inaugural music festival.He holds an MBA from Trinity College Dublin and undergraduate degrees in Opera Performance & French.Neil Dunne is the Co-Founder and COO of Andrson. At age 25 he has already been named in the 30 Under 30 list for both the Sunday Business Post and The Sunday Independent in 2020.In 2019, Neil was awarded a spot as one of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneurs and has represented Andrson in print, broadcast, and digital media. Neil is also the co-director of ThinkTank Music Management, a boutique firm based in New York City and Dublin.Alongside founder Zach, they have now grown their Irish roster to 7 artists, for whom Neil has secured agency representation, sync deals, and international touring opportunities. He studied engineering at Trinity College Dublin and also holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing from IADT.A musician himself, Neil grew up in the south of Ireland singing and performing with orchestras, bands and singing groups. He has featured in podcasts and hosted panels on the application of AI in music and on the broader A&R landscape.Connect with Zach and Neil on LinkedIn and follow Andrson on Facebook and Twitter.

Rita chats with entrepreneur Beth Armknecht Miller, CEO of the Executive Velocity in the latest episode of Daring To!Listen to Beth talk about her career and the twists and turns it took to get her where she is today. Rita and Beth are both passionate about a topic that is close to their hearts, the next generation of leaders. “Every leader you know, legacy maybe, we would like to believe that they are developing great leadership talent.”

Rita chats with entrepreneur Liam Hayes, founder of Train My Athlete in the latest episode of Daring To! Listen to Liam talk about what Train My Athlete is and his journey from being a professional footballer to physiotherapy and now founder of a technology app.

Three time entrepreneur and Author, Bob Tinker, chats with Rita about his journey to becoming a CEO, discusses the importance of team culture in an organisation and shares his top tips for building and hiring an effective team.

Nelson, CEO and founder of intelligent learning platform HowNow, chats with Rita about how his tried and tested businesses, including a t-shirt printing and a film production company, lead him to create HowNow. Nelson also shares his top tips for choosing the right career path and discusses what HowNow is doing to help businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic

Patrick, founder of the world’s only ultra-compact travelling garment bag company, PLIQO, chats with Rita about his drastic career change and journey to becoming a CEO. In the episode Patrick also shares his top tips for new CEO's and discusses the benefits of crowd funding for start-ups.

Peter, CEO of online employee e-coaching tool VIC – Your Virtual Interactive Coach, chats with Rita about his journey to finding himself and how he went from working in engineering to becoming an award winning CEO and coach. Peter also shares his leadership advice, including his top tips on motivating a team and setting aspirations.

Shazia, UK CEO of Neuro-Insight, a neuromarketing and neuroanalytics company, chats with Rita about the power of neuromarketing, her personal journey to becoming CEO, how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the future of marketing and her top tips for women in business today.

Rita and Jonny, CEO of cashless parking provider PayByPhone UK, discuss launching a successful business, moving from a worldwide company to a small startup and securing the backing of a global brand.

Rita and Evan discuss identifying a gap in the market, building a technology company from scratch and how simplicity is key in today's ever-evolving world.

Rita and Ben, Director of Cognizant's Center for the Future of Work, discuss just that and what impact technology like AI will have on the modern workforce.

Rita and Mark talk about how to close the gender pay gap, entrepreneurship and the measurement of success.

Rita discusses women-led business as with two female bosses, who happen to best friends. The ladies discuss working together, as client and service provider and how to create effective business eco-systems.

Rita talks to Rafael dos Santos, an award-winning entrepreneur, author and speaker about sexuality and inclusivity, finding happiness despite early struggles and seizing opportunity.

Rita and Pat discuss women in business, underserved communities and young people in the technology industry.

Rita speaks to Alec about how they are making a difference, about sustainability and passion.

Rita's first podcast from Atlanta, Georgia, USA!Rita and Jenn chat social innovation, following your passions and becoming a 'social innovation designer', a job title made-up to cater for the things that Jenn is most passionate about.

Rita and George chat about taking that chance whilst you can, going digital and affiliate marketing.

Rita chats to Ammad Ahmad on introductions, gaining a network and taking care of your team.

Rita sits down with female tech pioneers Aly Blenkin and Ellie Ereira of Pivotal Act, who are changing the game by addressing social, humanitarian, and environmental issues using technology. They talk about women in business as well as encouraging charities and the private sector to meet in the middle.

Rita talks to Jack Parsons, a young entrepreneur who is passionate about assisting young people in running businesses and to become proficient in employability skills.Jack is a big character, with a lot of passion for what he does. Listening to Jack's passion for young people really is inspiring.

In the first episode of Rita Trehan's 'Daring To', Rita chats to Sam Davies about his experiences as an entrepreneur versus his previous life as a lawyer. Including learning how to manage yourself as well as other people to learning how to switch off at the end of the day.

Danielle Harmer, Chief People Officer at Metro Bank, and Ranj Begley, Managing Director at Readly UK, join Rita Trehan to discuss the challenges facing business leaders in the new economy. This episode: How do CEOs engage and appeal to people across their workforce? How do CEOs take advantage of digital technology without being distracted by it? And just how important is customer engagement?

Penny de Valk, Managing Director of Penna Talent Management; Simon Hayward, CEO of Cirrus, and Emma Stroud, Managing Director of Pitch Perfect Club, join Rita Trehan to discuss the latest HR trends. This episode: Are generalist recruitment companies about to go out of business? Will technology deal a death blow to traditional employees? And, why should we be excited about the next 5 years in HR?

Michael Jenkins, CEO of Roffey Park Institute and Katie Jacobs, Editor of HR Magazine join Rita to discuss Brexit. On this special episode: How will Brexit affect the jobs market? Can businesses retain their top talent during this turbulent period? And, how does Brexit impact the HR function?

Hari Kalymnios, Leadership Speaker at The Thought Gym and Mark Eltringham, Founder and Publisher of Workplace Insight join Rita to discuss the latest HR trends. This episode: Should bonuses really be needed to motivate staff? And, should CEOs and business leaders steer well clear of politics? Or, should they engage when appropriate?

Adam Dustagheer, Digital Communications Manager at the CBI, and business broadcaster Rebecca Pike join Rita Trehan to discuss workplace trends. This episode: How much of the recruitment process should be automated? How can employers cultivate a workforce? And what effect will the gig economy have on the future of work?