Thriving Three Counties

A look back at our chat with Sonja Leason - who was a homeless single mum at 17, Managing Director by 30, #1 best selling author by 36 and property investor at 37. She's a #1 best selling author of A Woman's Work, a book that was written to help more women into business. The book knocked Elon Musk off #1 and Simon Sinek off #2! Her podcast, Struggle to Success, interviews inspirational entrepreneurs on how they turned life struggles into successful businesses that give back. Her company, Love Mondays, is a business growth consultancy for startups and scale ups. She works with people to turn their story into profitable and ethical businesses with her 5 step methodology, SCALE.  http://www.wearelovemondays.co.uk/ (www.wearelovemondays.co.uk)  https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonjaleason/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonjaleason/)  http://www.instagram.com/lovemondayshq (www.instagram.com/lovemondayshq)

Pete Sen is a co-founder of Gifford's Circus, a multi- instrumentalist/composer and director of an award winning music Tuition company called The Music Guru. After spending a year playing the Irish bars in Paris with a thrash trad folk band called 'Fionn', he returned to England where he earned a degree at the London College of Music. In 2000, he was invited by Nell Gifford who had seen Fionn play in Oxford to direct the music for a show she was starting. That show was to be Giffords Circus. He continued to direct the music until 2007 when he left to get married. He started to teach music privately and clocked up quite a number of students on different instruments. He soon realised he'd need some help and in 2015, The Music Guru was officially set up.  As they entered the school circuit, Pete realised that peripatetic teaching was in need of reform and he set about trying to correct this and bring a new modern approach to music teaching that is more accessible and successful for the students. He is.....Pete Sen pete@musicguru.me http://www.musicguru.me/ (www.musicguru.me) https://www.facebook.com/petemusicguru (https://www.facebook.com/petemusicguru) https://petesentheanthemsprinters.bandcamp.com/album/the-shipping-forecast-2 (https://petesentheanthemsprinters.bandcamp.com/album/the-shipping-forecast-2)

Catherine is a B2B copywriter and founder of Pippin Copywriting Ltd. She writes for businesses of all shapes and sizes from one person consultancies to multinational corporations.   She started her career in marketing and was a marketing manager for several publishers, the most famous of which was Oxford University Press. She moved to Herefordshire in 2004 to work part time as a web copywriter in a web design agency and part time as a freelance copywriter. Eight years later, she quit the day job to found Pippin and work for herself full time.   1 June 2022 will mark Pippin's 10th anniversary and coincidentally, another very special day for our guest today. http://www.hellopippin.co.uk/ (hellopippin.co.uk) https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherineevery/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherineevery/)

We're looking back at the motivation episode with Jack, who shares his experiences in business and what drives him to do what he does every day. Jack Wratten is an entrepreneur and founder of Bloom Space in Malvern, and the Bloom Incubator, helping people plan, start and grow their businesses. He has a ton of experience starting and scaling multiple businesses and he's passionate about helping other people succeed in their businesses. He's a connector of people and someone who helped me in the early days of niching down my offering to industrial photography. https://bloom.space/ (https://bloom.space) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackwratten/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackwratten/) https://www.instagram.com/bloomincubator (https://www.instagram.com/bloomincubator) https://twitter.com/bloommalvern (https://twitter.com/bloommalvern)

It all has to start somewhere and this is the story of how Dan, our host, found himself at the helm of his own thriving business in the three counties - Dan Barker Studios. From his days at Airbus in Bristol, to moving to Herefordshire and setting up his company, Dan talks about what he's learned along the way - like all the guests so far in this series. Following 13 years as a stress engineer, Dan is now using that experience to help industrial businesses produce high quality visual content that aligns with their brand.

This week it's one of our best of episodes where we get the chance to bring you one of our favourites from the back catalogue of episodes so far... Alan Clark of Exponential Coaching was episode 36, talking about how to gain optimum clarity. After a 22-year leadership career with Boots UK and Boots Opticians, Alan left in the summer of 2017 to follow his passion and start his own business as a leadership and business coach These days, he's helping leaders and entrepreneurs to create deeper levels of clarity for themselves and their business, intended to fuel optimal actions that create desired outcomes. He works across different industries with different size businesses and organisations, from CEO's and senior executives to small business owners, start up entrepreneurs and leaders within education and the church. He also co-hosts a fantastic podcast called Mind Your Business, which seems to be building a lot of momentum. He says that experiencing "different" opens up more learning opportunities which he ultimately uses to develop his work and client experience. Website : https://www.exponentialcoaching.co.uk/ (https://www.exponentialcoaching.co.uk/) Linked In : https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-clark-a0258483 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-clark-a0258483) Twitter : @exponentialalan

Katie is an award winning social entrepreneur, innovator and global changemaker with a passion for creative ideas that deliver social impact. At the age of 25, she founded Frank Water, a pioneering social enterprise based on the concept of water for water, whereby the profits from bottled water sales go to clean water projects. Having raised over £5.5 Million since starting up, Frank Water's impact reaches far and wide, whether it's raising awareness of global issues, social enterprise, and reducing the reliance and use of single use plastic here in the UK, or changing the lives of thousands of people in India and Nepal. Today's guest and her company Frank Water have won numerous local, national and international awards. In 2018 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Bristol University, and most recently received an MBE in the 2019 New Years Honours list.  https://www.frankwater.com/ (https://www.frankwater.com/) https://uk.linkedin.com/in/katie-alcott-mbe-034a89 (https://uk.linkedin.com/in/katie-alcott-mbe-034a89) https://www.instagram.com/frank_water_charity/ (https://www.instagram.com/frank_water_charity/) https://www.facebook.com/frankwatercharity/ (https://www.facebook.com/frankwatercharity/) https://twitter.com/frankwater (https://twitter.com/frankwater)

If you've listened to episode 52 of the podcast with Ian Woodley, the name of today's guest will be familiar to you. Paul Holmes is Managing Director of PCH Business Consultants, based in Swindon and has almost 30 years business and engineering experience including a number of FTSE100 organisations. He's been involved with Manufacturing, Operations, £multimillion Capital Projects and strategic planning. He's a Non exec director, advisor and business consultant. He's also a partner in a relatively new venture, Veloci-tech Business accelerator, as well as working as a business advisor and expert for a wide range of Growth Hubs, particularly in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. His business helps companies to plan and structure growth, particularly helping business owners to overcome overwhelm, using a structured process that designs the business for success and then helps make it happen. We've heard what a great impact he's had on Ian Woodley and his business over the last 12 months, so it's fantastic to finally sit down and have a proper chat with the man himself. http://www.pchbusinesssupport.co.uk/ (www.pchbusinesssupport.co.uk) http://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-holmes-pch (www.linkedin.com/in/paul-holmes-pch) @holmepc

Tom is a serial entrepreneur, who since 1997 has founded or co founded 5 start ups including a training company, a social network analytics company, an international clean water charity, a gourmet spice traders and most recently http://www.blockmarktech.com/ (BlockMark Technologies) - a high tech digital certificate company. Since early 2018 he's been exploring NFT's, or Non-Fungible Tokens, and is considered by the NFT collectors community as an OG after creating and launching http://www.gems.blockmarktech.com/ (BlockMark Gems) with business partner Dr Adrian Burden (or as we like to call him, episode 24). Prior to this, he spent the 90's sailing across the Atlantic, surfing around the world and working for Outward bound in Scotland, Wales and South Africa. https://blockmarktech.com/ (https://blockmarktech.com/)  https://twitter.com/blockmarktech (https://twitter.com/blockmarktech)  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomalcott/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomalcott/)  https://gems.blockmarktech.com/ (https://gems.blockmarktech.com/)  https://twitter.com/BlockMarkGems (https://twitter.com/BlockMarkGems)  https://discord.gg/xXbmUECkcN (https://discord.gg/xXbmUECkcN)  https://opensea.io/collection/blockmarkgems (https://opensea.io/collection/blockmarkgems)  https://www.tomalcott.com/ (https://www.tomalcott.com/)  https://medium.com/@tom-alcott (https://medium.com/@tom-alcott)

In 2012, Nick Tudor co-founded his company D-RisQ, based in Malvern, which produces automated formal methods verification tools for systems and software which support compliance to many standards.  He was an RAF Officer Engineer for 20 years and has a BEng in Electrical Engineering. In 2000, he gained a MSC in Software Engineering, and became the senior software advisor on multiple air programmes including JSF, Eurofighter, Chinook and Hawk. Since leaving the RAF, he's been an active contributor to DO-178C (which will mean more to some than others!), he's a member of the Forum for Aeronautical Software, he's contributed to various papers, carried out a number of aerospace and autonomous systems projects in various sectors and was elected as Fellow of the IET in November 2021.  https://www.drisq.com/ (https://www.drisq.com/)  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-tudor-beng-msc-ceng-fiet-6375556/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-tudor-beng-msc-ceng-fiet-6375556/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/d-risq-ltd/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true (https://www.linkedin.com/company/d-risq-ltd/)

There are only a few full-time, professional magicians in the country and we tracked one down who's based in Gloucestershire. Richard specialises in close up magic at weddings, corporate events, Christmas parties and Trade Shows. In a career spanning over a decade his highlights include performing in Venice, Italy… Madrid, Spain and in 2019 on stage at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham as part of the sell-out magic show ‘An Evening of Deception'. Passing his audition in 2012 to join the world famous ‘Magic Circle' he enjoys entertaining at over a 100 weddings a year and is well known in local venues.  http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/corporatemagicianhire (www.LinkedIn.com/in/corporatemagicianhire) https://www.gloucestershiremagician.co.uk/ (https://www.gloucestershiremagician.co.uk/) http://www.Instagram.com/glosmagician (www.Instagram.com/glosmagician)

The first solo episode! In this episode, Dan Barker discusses his thoughts and shares his experiences with finding and developing a niche for his video production and photography business. http://www.danbarkerstudios.com (www.danbarkerstudios.com) https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbarkerstudios/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbarkerstudios/)

Scott is the founder of MoneyNerd, a personal finance website that helps people in financial difficulties. In his previous life, he worked in financial technology where he was responsible for launching websites and mobile apps for loan and credit card products. Last year he moved out of central London and now manages a remote team from his office in Great Malvern. http://moneynerd.co.uk/ (http://moneynerd.co.uk/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottnelsonuk/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottnelsonuk/)

Having grown up in Sheffield and studied at University in North Wales, Dan has always had a love of the outdoors and adventure. And after many years working in the Outdoor Industry, he founded his company, Worcestershire based OLPRO in 2011, in order to set about changing the boring world of camping and campervans. With his company OLPRO, the main focus of conversation with people has always been via Social Media where they've been awarded year after year for their Social Media content and Customer Services.  OLPRO now turns over £3.3 million a year, selling around the world and growing rapidly. Besides running his company, he's also a District Councillor for Malvern Hills and Portfolio Holder for Economic Development. http://olproshop.com (olproshop.com) https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-walton-89236a20/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-walton-89236a20/) https://www.facebook.com/olproltd (https://www.facebook.com/olproltd)  https://www.instagram.com/olproeverywhere/ (https://www.instagram.com/olproeverywhere/)

Matt is a tech entrepreneur based in Malvern who runs multiple businesses, primarily focussed on mobile connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) and data networking. He's very community minded and recently set up a new networking group for technology companies called the Malvern Technology Network, with the aim of improving the local community, economy and businesses through local collaboration. He's one of these people who manages to do a lot of things, at a very high level, with great efficiency. While at the same time having fun and enjoying life. http://www.mattatkinson.io (www.mattatkinson.io) https://the-mtn.co.uk/ (https://the-mtn.co.uk/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/telecomsbilling/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/telecomsbilling/)

A year after appearing on episode 1 of the podcast, Ian Woodley joins us for a second time to reflect back on a busy year of growth in his business. We discussed what Ian has learned this last year, and what his plans are moving forwards into 2022. https://www.brandstilo.co.uk/ (https://www.brandstilo.co.uk/) https://www.stilotouch.com/ (https://www.stilotouch.com/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-woodley/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-woodley/)

Jack was recognised in the 2020 honours list for his work with an MBE. He's a medical doctor who's spent most of the last decade splitting his time between delivering primary care in the UK and emergency and humanitarian care in the developing world. He has an interest in efficient workplace systems and enjoys applying lessons learned from operating in austere environments to the workplace. His passion for uncoupling traditional ways of working and using technology to improve accessibility and diversity and remove barriers to the workforce has developed into the initial concept for his company, GIANT. He believes in a future of decentralised education and employment and hopes such movements will resolve inequalities in opportunity on a global scale. http://www.thegiantapp.com (www.thegiantapp.com) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-miles-a900061b3/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-miles-a900061b3/) jack@thegiantapp.com

Rich is a former radio presenter of almost 20 years in the commercial sector. He runs his own podcast and his own production company helping others get theirs set up and keeping them going. He's a communications professional and a host on the side, working as an event compere and stadium announcer at West Bromwich Albion. www.giftedgab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-hurst-the-host/

Dave is a strategic business leader with over 25 years experience working across numerous industries. Having spent the last 16 years in the hospitality sector, where he's currently Head of Finance at Marston's PLC in Wolverhampton, he's developed a people-focused passion for wellbeing and personal development. Outside of the day job, he coaches, mentors, and advises schools and their students on career development strategies in his role as Lead Enterprise Adviser at The Black Country Careers Hub. He's also a non-executive director at GMS Group, Warrens Hall Riding School, and Kaleidoscope Plus Group, the leading national mental health charity. In May 2021, he published his first book ‘Fuelled, Fit and Fired Up' which shares practical techniques that help to enhance your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. https://www.instagram.com/fuelledfitandfiredup/ (https://www.instagram.com/fuelledfitandfiredup/) https://www.facebook.com/fuelledfitandfiredup (https://www.facebook.com/fuelledfitandfiredup) https://twitter.com/fuelledfitfired (https://twitter.com/fuelledfitfired) https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidneilrogers/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidneilrogers/) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094RC545Q/ (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094RC545Q/)

After working with larger agencies began to feel too impersonal, Faye decided to start her own business to offer a bespoke service catering to the smaller independent business sector, where she could have a close working relationship with her clients. Prior to this, she had built an established career in events and marketing where she was able to develop her expertise within the hospitality sector. She also worked for a national museum with responsibility for creating and growing the social media presence. Her current business specialises in working with small niche businesses looking to grow their online presence through the use of social media platforms. https://www.instagram.com/alexandraonemarketing/ (https://www.instagram.com/alexandraonemarketing/) https://www.facebook.com/Alexandra-One-Marketing-113915870476074 (https://www.facebook.com/Alexandra-One-Marketing-113915870476074) https://www.linkedin.com/in/faye-alexandra-smith-42b6b145/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/faye-alexandra-smith-42b6b145/) https://alexandraonemarketing.com/ (https://alexandraonemarketing.com) 

Paul Chester is a business owner based in Worcester and runs the seasonal and niche company "Three Counties Christmas" Having trained at university in Bristol to become a teacher which he did for five years at a local school. After 5 years, he then made the transition to running his own business. www. threecountiescrhistmas.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-chester/ https://twitter.com/Christmas3Count

Ruth grew up in Worcestershire and settled back in the county after studying English Literature and Creative Writing at Huddersfield University.   She built her commercial career at a local cyber security software company - Titania , where she worked for 9 years, and became VP of Operations.  In 2011 she became a founding member of the Worcestershire Literary Festival, where she's been a Director since 2016.  After making the move to the charity sector, she now coordinates operations at Worcester Foodbank and is a Trustee and finance committee member for a local Academy Trust of 5 primary schools. https://m.facebook.com/worcslitfest/ (https://m.facebook.com/worcslitfest/) https://m.facebook.com/WorcesterFoodbank/ (https://m.facebook.com/WorcesterFoodbank/) https://worcester.foodbank.org.uk/ (https://worcester.foodbank.org.uk/) https://worcestershirelitfestfringe.wordpress.com/ (https://worcestershirelitfestfringe.wordpress.com/)

Originally from Bulgaria, Kristo's passion for engineering and innovation brought him to the UK, and the opportunities he found meant he's since made Hereford his home. His company, Simple Design Works, is a product design agency, but he runs it in such a way as to be far more than that, as he collaborates with like-minded people to help make Hereford a vibrant, creative and connected place to live and work. With close links to the new engineering university nMite, he's making great progress with this ambition and I know I always come away from any discussion with him feeling inspired and motivated. https://simpledesignworks.co.uk/ (https://simpledesignworks.co.uk/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristo-shivachev-35b58445/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristo-shivachev-35b58445/) https://twitter.com/SDW_LTD (https://twitter.com/SDW_LTD)

Lucy says she was the archetypal good girl, and followed the traditional path – head girl, uni, job, married, kids, career – all ticked off the list by the time she was 30. She was living the dream, except it wasn't bliss, nor a nightmare. She felt like she was coasting. By 35 she was divorced, left her job, sold her house and started again, and that's when, she says, she started living. She now works with Leaders and their teams to build organisations they are proud of. She's an author, Podcast host and regular BBC Radio contributor, and her clients include private clients all the way up to international conglomerates. Her initial curiosity was why do people behave the way they do and this led her to discover what shapes a leader, teams and high performance. https://www.3wh.uk.com/ (https://www.3wh.uk.com/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucybarkas/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucybarkas/) https://twitter.com/3wh__ (https://twitter.com/3wh__) https://www.facebook.com/LucyJBarkas (https://www.facebook.com/LucyJBarkas) https://www.amazon.co.uk/LeaderX-steps-GenerationX-control-impact-ebook/dp/B0867V7Q1F/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=leaderx&qid=1596454477&s=books&sr=1-1 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/LeaderX-steps-GenerationX-control-impact-ebook/dp/B0867V7Q1F/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=leaderx&qid=1596454477&s=books&sr=1-1)

In this episode, the tables were turned, as the organiser of the Malvern Festival of Innovation, Adrian Burden, interviewed Dan, live in front of a theatre audience, about his journey from aerospace engineering to photography, and now video production and hosting this podcast. http://www.danbarkerstudios.com/podcast/ (http://www.danbarkerstudios.com) https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbarkerstudios/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbarkerstudios/)

Emma Richardson is a director of a financial, clerical and executive search firm based in Droitwich, called Four Squared Recruitment and owned by accountancy firm Ballards LLP. Born and bred in Worcestershire, she's also spent time working in London where she ran her own boutique head hunting firm. From her recommendations on LinkedIn, it seems that she takes great care to build long lasting relationships with her clients, and I imagine this is a big part of her success. http://www.four-squared.com/ (www.four-squared.com) https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-richardson-39066b26/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-richardson-39066b26/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/four-squared-recruitment-ltd/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/four-squared-recruitment-ltd/)

At one stage in her life, Marie felt that she'd burnt out and had no purpose, to the point where she considered taking her own life. She'd reached a cross-road. Was she going to continue on her downward spiral of poor Mental Health or was she going to take responsibility for her own wellbeing and ultimately her destiny and reinvent herself? I'm pleased to say she chose the positive route and created her own Business, Advance your Wellbeing, providing coaching & training on interpersonal skills. As well as running her own Podcast, she's now an author, and her first book; Burnout to Bold comes out today (if you're listening on the day this episode was released!) Marie Jenkins Website: http://www.advanceyourwellbeing.co.uk/ (www.advanceyourwellbeing.co.uk) Kindle: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09F6N15DL/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_09WFSGCV30HPTWZ40HR0 Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09F1KNM84/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1630662357&sr=1-2 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09F1KNM84/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1630662357&sr=1-2) LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariejenkinsayw/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariejenkinsayw/) Twitter: @AdvanceWellUK   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/advancewellbeing.uk (https://www.facebook.com/advancewellbeing.uk) YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZr9PEY30avgHClqnw3d0Ig (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZr9PEY30avgHClqnw3d0Ig) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advanceyourwellbeing/ (https://www.instagram.com/advanceyourwellbeing/) Podcast. ‘The Secret Diary of Marie Jenkins 47+' https://anchor.fm/marie-jenkins2 (https://anchor.fm/marie-jenkins2) https://open.spotify.com/show/5lzm9buaDGYgETEhsv1IXI (https://open.spotify.com/show/5lzm9buaDGYgETEhsv1IXI) https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-secret-diary-of-marie-jenkins-47/id1524548449 (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-secret-diary-of-marie-jenkins-47/id1524548449)

Dave Bird is the founder of Small Biz Digital Media, a company that helps small businesses, particularly professional services, with their video and audio marketing. With a background in environmental sciences and years working within the environment agency, he transitioned to becoming self-employed as a marathon running coach, which led him to his current business. The focus is on helping his clients move prospects through the buyer journey using the 3 Cs... Connect, Convince and Convert. He has an extensive research background, which he uses to find out what makes each business tick. Dave also applies his Neuro Linguistic Programming Master Practitioner skills to help businesses get their message across more effectively.  https://smallbizdigitalmedia.com/ (https://smallbizdigitalmedia.com/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavebird/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavebird/)

After finishing a degree in teaching, and travelling, she thought she would help her mum and dad promote the gin made by them and another farming family here in Herefordshire. Two years later she's still helping and loving every minute. Penrhos Spirits was born from a desire to utilise everything the farm has to offer. For many years the founders, Charlie and Dickie had felt compelled to use the fruit that wasn't quite perfect enough for the supermarket. So, a few years ago on a sunny Spring morning Charlie was inspired by the cherry blossom and how he could use it to make something special. Their award-winning range now includes 3 gins, 1 liqueur, a non-alcoholic raspberry spirit and a honey spiced rum. https://www.penrhosspirits.co.uk/ (https://www.penrhosspirits.co.uk/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/harriet-williams-b2b52818a/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/harriet-williams-b2b52818a/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/penrhos-spirits/about/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/penrhos-spirits/about/) http://ttc.festival-innovation.com/ (http://ttc.festival-innovation.com/)

Stuart owned and ran a gift business in Ledbury for around thirty years, which in the 1990's was turning over £3.5 million a year. Some of that success was due to the fact he designed a product that sold 8.5 million units and really helped establish the company. He says that in spite of everything, he was guilty of working in the business and not on the business. The business was sold in the early 2000s and he went “back” to becoming a studio potter. After handing the pottery business to a young potter who had worked with him for a few years in 2016, he now makes furniture and guitars, going to a luthier and a furniture maker to hone his skills. He's also my landlord here at the studio and I'm very lucky to count him as a friend and mentor, as he's been extremely supportive to me over the last 5 years as I've tried to build my business and change careers. http://www.stuarthoughton.co.uk/ (www.stuarthoughton.co.uk)

Aleksandra is the owner of Evendine Sourdough Bakery in Malvern, Worcestershire, and from what I've heard, has an incredible story to share. She says that baking sourdough bread has enabled her to connect all of her passions into one form; her passion for health, community, history and sustainability - which is channelled into every loaf.  She started the bakery in order to share the historic methods of baking inherited from her family, and show the importance of ancient methods of fermentation and preservation. She's been able to share this with her community in Malvern by making real bread accessible, and has found it to be a wonderful experience.  Links:  http://www.evendinesourdoughbakery.com/ (www.evendinesourdoughbakery.com) https://www.instagram.com/evendine_sourdough/ (https://www.instagram.com/evendine_sourdough/) https://www.facebook.com/evendinesourdough/ (https://www.facebook.com/evendinesourdough/)

After a 22-year leadership career with Boots UK and Boots Opticians, Alan left in the summer of 2017 to follow his passion and start his own business as a leadership and business coach These days, he's helping leaders and entrepreneurs to create deeper levels of clarity for themselves and their business, intended to fuel optimal actions that create desired outcomes. He works across different industries with different size businesses and organisations, from CEO's and senior executives to small business owners, start up entrepreneurs and leaders within education and the church. He also co-hosts a fantastic podcast called Mind Your Business, which seems to be building a lot of momentum. He says that experiencing "different" opens up more learning opportunities which he ultimately uses to develop his work and client experience. Alan Clark of Exponential Coaching… Website : https://www.exponentialcoaching.co.uk/ (https://www.exponentialcoaching.co.uk/) Linked In : https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-clark-a0258483 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-clark-a0258483) Twitter : @exponentialalan - Visit http://ttc.festival-innovation.com/ (ttc.festival-innovation.com) for more details

After trying a few different career paths, he found himself working long hours for a haulage company and at one point, a very kind boss gave him access to a van for a weekend, which is where his business story starts. For the first few months he helped friends move small items & did a number of small house removals. Realising he had a love for removals, he set up Warrens Removals and Storage at the age of 28. He says he was determined to bring a burst of energy to the removal world and having seen his social media posts, it looks like he's done just that. Within 4 years of working tirelessly and carefully building his super friendly team, he found himself with many happy customers, repeat work and recommendations coming in thick and fast. The business is growing quickly and within Worcestershire, they consider themselves as the leading removal company and are recommended by a growing number of Estate Agents, Solicitors and even an Insurance Company. https://www.removalsworcester.com/ (https://www.removalsworcester.com/) https://www.facebook.com/WarrensRemovals/ (https://www.facebook.com/WarrensRemovals/) https://twitter.com/WarrensRemovals (https://twitter.com/WarrensRemovals) https://www.instagram.com/warrensremovals/ (https://www.instagram.com/warrensremovals/)

Alice Fox runs a fast-paced and dynamic print and sign manufacturing business in Worcestershire with her partner. With a background in Customer Experience, she has a passion for delivering outstanding customer service for their clients and also ensuring a happy and engaging workplace for her employees. A large proportion of their work is deadline orientated. She says that she thrives in the fast-paced environment. www.pbsigns.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-fox-9b226b56/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-fox-9b226b56/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/pbsigns (https://www.linkedin.com/company/pbsigns) https://www.instagram.com/pbsigns/ (https://www.instagram.com/pbsigns/)

Dr. Emma Philpott MBE is CEO of IASME Consortium Ltd, a company based just up the road at the Wyche Innovation Centre in West Malvern, which focuses on information assurance for small companies and the supply chain. They worked with the UK government to develop the Cyber Essentials scheme and were awarded the contract to be the sole NCSC Cyber Essentials Partner from April 2020. She has MBE after her name, which I look forward to hearing more about, and is also Founder and Manager of the UK Cyber Security Forum. https://iasme.co.uk/ (https://iasme.co.uk/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/emphilpott/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emphilpott/) https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-iasme-consortium-limited/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-iasme-consortium-limited/) https://twitter.com/IASME1 (https://twitter.com/IASME1)

Ben Hughes took over a business that his Mother stated in the late '90's, running guardianship for students from overseas coming to study in the UK. He's based in Malvern, Worcestershire, and looks after students up and down the country, studying at some of the most prestigious educational institutions. https://www.pippasguardians.co.uk/ (https://www.pippasguardians.co.uk/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-hughes-51092584/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-hughes-51092584/)

Sue Vaughan is from a family of Herefordshire cider makers, who've been honing their craft for 8 generations. The family farm has diversified in more recent years to include hop fields and vines. The cider company, Celtic Marches' now have a sister company, Marches Bottling and Packaging, which is less than 5 miles away, helping maintain their goal to reduce their environmental impact. Here the ciders are packaged and other producers in the drinks industry utilise contract packaging and laboratory services. The vines are used to produce wine, under the name of Radlow Hundred, described as a bold range of wines, each with a nod to the much-loved local area. www.celticmarches.com https://celtic-marches.myshopify.com (https://celtic-marches.myshopify.com) www.facebook.com/celticmarchesbeverages www.twitter.com/celticmarches www.instagram.com/celticmarches https://www.linkedin.com/company/celtic-marches-beverages-ltd/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/celtic-marches-beverages-ltd/) MARCHES BOTTLING & PACKAGING www.marchesbp.com https://www.facebook.com/MarchesBP/ (https://www.facebook.com/MarchesBP/) https://twitter.com/MarchesBP (https://twitter.com/MarchesBP) https://www.instagram.com/marches_bp/ (https://www.instagram.com/marches_bp/) RADLOW HUNDRED www.radlowhundred.co.uk www.facebook.com/radlowhundred www.twitter.com/radlowhundred www.instagram.com/radlowhundred

Alice Cooke is a copywriter who's recently moved back to Herefordshire and is about to scale her copywriting business.  She's been a journalist for a little over ten years, for titles including Country Life, Sussex Life, Utility Week and Bakery Business. Having been asked to write for friends and family over the years, she found she both enjoyed the work and that it was making a real difference to people, businesses and (crucially) to profits. Having seen increases in profit margins by up to 30% for her clients as a result of her work, she's now ready to scale her business and bring her services to more people. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-cooke-b1a1a650/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-cooke-b1a1a650/) http://www.agirlofmyword.com/ (www.agirlofmyword.com)

He runs multiple businesses, and from what I've seen – does an incredible job of it, clearly enjoying what he does and inspiring those around him. Having started out with a Subway store in Cheltenham, he quickly grew to two stores, but found having a franchise required too much of a regimented formula. He learnt a lot and decided to start his own company, Pig on the Hill, an outdoor catering company – pigonthehill.net As well as running this and 4 pubs in the area, he also runs the festival, Lakefest - a 15,000 capacity, 4 day event – with headliners this year including Tom Jones and Razorlight– lakesfest.co.uk He's an incredibly community minded businessman, running charity events, encouraging up and coming musicians, amongst other things. In-work and future plans include a Chinese Restaurant in Cheltenham, a London Taxi to transport locals around the Bredon, Kemerton, Beckford areas, as well as keeping his Cheltenham Football passion going by taking on the official catering at the club! I have a feeling I've only scratched the surface in terms of what he gets up to and I'm excited to find out more. We also have an with us his good friend and investor in one of his businesses, Ross Forno. https://pigonthehill.net/ (https://pigonthehill.net/) https://www.instagram.com/pigonthehill_bredonhill/ (https://www.instagram.com/pigonthehill_bredonhill/) https://www.facebook.com/PigOnTheHillEvents (https://www.facebook.com/PigOnTheHillEvents) https://twitter.com/pigothill (https://twitter.com/pigothill) https://lakefest.co.uk/ (https://lakefest.co.uk/) https://www.instagram.com/lakefestuk/ (https://www.instagram.com/lakefestuk/) https://www.facebook.com/lakefestuk/ (https://www.facebook.com/lakefestuk/) https://twitter.com/Lakefestuk (https://twitter.com/Lakefestuk) https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossforno/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossforno/) https://golfpairs.com/ (https://golfpairs.com/)

Rory McAllister has a background in radio and television, mainly working for the BBC as a presenter, sports commentator and newsreader. His CV includes working on Strictly Come Dancing and The One Show – to name but a few. He also runs his own live theatre event, ‘Cinema In Symphony' And he's the VIP matchday host at Worcester Warriors. More recently, in November 2018, he started a video production company, with his wife, and has seen steady growth since, working with clients ranging from multi-national to local businesses in Worcester. www.m-studios.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorymcallister/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorymcallister/) https://twitter.com/rory_mcallister (https://twitter.com/rory_mcallister) https://www.instagram.com/rory_mcallister1978/ (https://www.instagram.com/rory_mcallister1978/)

James Syree is CEO of a large firm of chartered accountants based in Worcestershire. Since being appointed as CEO in 2018, he's championed culture change to encourage transparency, collaboration, and an “employee voice”. He also believes in surrounding himself with teammates who can (in his words) “do things better than he can”. He acts for a range of clients, from start-ups to large international corporates and has a particular passion for the tech sector which has led to embracing technology internally and also the launch of the firm's digital transformation department earlier this year. https://ballardsllp.com/ (https://ballardsllp.com/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-syree-1b8b6b12/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-syree-1b8b6b12/)

Sonja Leason was a homeless single mum at 17, Managing Director by 30, #1 best selling author by 36 and property investor at 37. She's a #1 best selling author of A Woman's Work, a book that was written to help more women into business. The book knocked Elon Musk off #1 and Simon Sinek off #2! Her podcast, Struggle to Success, interviews inspirational entrepreneurs on how they turned life struggles into successful businesses that give back. Her company, Love Mondays, is a business growth consultancy for startups and scale ups. She works with people to turn their story into profitable and ethical businesses with her 5 step methodology, SCALE.  http://www.wearelovemondays.co.uk/ (www.wearelovemondays.co.uk)  https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonjaleason/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonjaleason/)  http://www.instagram.com/lovemondayshq (www.instagram.com/lovemondayshq)

She's the cofounder of an innovative start-up business which delivers insight for low level airspace utilisation. As a member of Cohort 3 of the prestigious BetaDen scale-up accelerator, they've won multiple awards and been named as one of the Geospatial World 50 Rising Stars. They're working with national partners, such as the Royal Mail, to try and work out the viability of using drones to deliver to rural communities. http://www.droneprep.uk (www.droneprep.uk) https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-owen/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-owen/) https://www.instagram.com/droneprep (https://www.instagram.com/droneprep) https://www.facebook.com/droneprep/ (https://www.facebook.com/droneprep/) https://twitter.com/DronePrepUK (https://twitter.com/DronePrepUK)

He's a serial tech entrepreneur based in Malvern. He's written a business book, has a degree Cambridge, a PhD from Oxford, and built and sold a tech start-up out in Singapore. These days, he co-owns and manages the Wyche Innovation Centre, he's the founder of the annual Malvern Festival of Innovation, and is co-founding CTO of BlockMark Technologies, a blockchain technology company.  In April 2018 he was also appointed a Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Birmingham. https://adrianburden.net/ (https://adrianburden.net/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianburden/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianburden/) https://twitter.com/apburden (https://twitter.com/apburden) https://www.youtube.com/c/AdrianBurden1 (https://www.youtube.com/c/AdrianBurden1)

He's just made the move to being self-employed after a 35 year career in the consumer goods markets, including operating as Managing Director of a £40m UK subsidiary. He's a glass half full kind of person and his wife says his epitaph should read "no-one can say he didn't try". Now working as a life and executive coach, he's giving back and aiming to help people achieve "unfulfilled goals". https://www.optimuscoachingsolutions.co.uk (https://www.optimuscoachingsolutions.co.uk) https://www.linkedin.com/in/alastair-chrystal-lch-dip-b635251/

In many ways he IS Worcestershire Business - as he's so involved in the local business community. Amongst many other things, he's best known for starting #WorcestershireHour on Twitter. He also founded the annual Worcestershire Festival of Business Exhibition, which will be returning for its 7th year in September.  His company is The Sales Performance Company, which he founded in 2012 working with clients on improving sales skills and profits. He also teaches Twitter for Business, LinkedIn and Blog Writing courses – online via Zoom virtual classroom.   http://www.thesalesperformance.co.uk/ (www.thesalesperformance.co.uk)  https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartallenfcmi (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartallenfcmi)  https://www.twitter.com/StuartAllenFCMI (https://www.twitter.com/StuartAllenFCMI) Clubhouse: @StuartAllenFCMI 

Today's guest is a determined person who now runs a successful digital marketing agency in Hereford, focused on Web design and SEO. Having grown up largely within the care system in London, at one stage he found himself in Hereford without a support network and was involved in a hit and run accident which left him with a broken hip.  He lost his job and found himself homeless. However, he refused to give up and used his self-taught knowledge in IT to start learning about websites, how to monetize them and what made them successful. He's built his business and his life back up and made a success of things. https://www.silverscopemedia.com/ (https://www.silverscopemedia.com) https://www.linkedin.com/in/omrishalom (https://www.linkedin.com/in/omrishalom) https://www.linkedin.com/company/silver-scope-media/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/silver-scope-media/)

I first met Janina at a networking event several years ago and I instantly remembered her and her business, due to the unique positioning and business offering. I bang on about niching quite a lot and I always mention her as a great example of a niche business She's a bilingual graphic designer and intercultural management trainer.  Her bilingual design company helps clients create a social impact in the UK and abroad.  She's also the host of The Bicultural Podcast. https://www.janinaneumanndesign.co.uk/ (https://www.janinaneumanndesign.co.uk/) https://www.linkedin.com/in/janinaneumann/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/janinaneumann/) http://thebiculturalpodcast.com/ (http://thebiculturalpodcast.com/)

Paul Valentine is a born and bred Worcester-based entrepreneur. He's the founder of a technology group supplying IT services, telecoms, high-speed internet and Wifi, as well as business mobile plans and other services.  His customers include many high street brands, as well as local Worcestershire businesses, like Worcestershire Business Central, Worcester Rugby Club and the Worcester Warriors. Anyone I meet in Worcester seems to know him! http://www.spiretechgroup.com/ (www.spiretechgroup.com) https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-valentine-spire/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-valentine-spire/) https://www.facebook.com/spirelimited (https://www.facebook.com/spirelimited)

Today's guest describes herself as a natural wordsmith who loves creating content focussed on customer engagement. She's co-director of customer experience marketing agency, Fresh Nous in Worcester And you may remember her business partner Luara Dupont was on episode 4 – after the recording, Laura enthusiastically told me “you should get Celia on here, she'd be great!” I also remembered her presentation at an online networking event last year as being one of the most fun and engaging presentations – which, as we've all got to know over the last 12 months, is no easy task over Zoom! http://freshnous.com/ (freshnous.com) https://www.linkedin.com/in/celia-felgate/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/celia-felgate/)

I'm sure after this episode we'll all be feeling motivated to get our for a run or do some starjumps! Today's guest is a good friend of mine and a fellow photographer.  Specialising in sports photography, he shoots editorial portraits of athletes, field of play and sports product photography from his studio in Winchcombe. He's been published in some high profile publications, including the front cover of Athletics Weekly. And was even commissioned by the British Paralympic Association to photograph the 2012 London Olymipcs. He's a man bursting with positive energy, who recently inspired me to do something towards my fitness every day, for which I'm very grateful. www.kinetic-studios.co.uk http://linkedin.com/in/johnord (http://linkedin.com/in/johnord) http://www.facebook.com/kinetic.studios.uk/ (www.facebook.com/kinetic.studios.uk) https://www.instagram.com/kinetic_studios/ (www.instagram.com/kinetic_studios) http://www.twitter.com/studio_kinetic (www.twitter.com/studio_kinetic)