Podcasts about marks spencer

Japan's new agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi vowed to bring down prices of rice, after his predecessor was forced to resign over a gaffe. Taku Eto had caused an uproar after joking he never had to buy rice thanks to donations from his supporters, touching many a raw nerve. But why is the country facing a crisis? Some analysts blame long-running government policy for the shortage. Plus, Marks & Spencer says a recent cyberattack will wipe out nearly a third of its annual profits. 

Radware says recently WAF bypasses were patched in 2023 Marks & Spencer confirms data stolen in ransomware attack Alabama suffers cybersecurity event  Huge thanks to our sponsor, Vanta Do you know the status of your compliance controls right now? Like...right now? We know that real-time visibility is critical for security, but when it comes to our GRC programs…we rely on point-in-time checks. But more than 9,000 companies have continuous visibility into their controls with Vanta. Vanta brings automation to evidence collection across over 35 frameworks, like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. They also centralize key workflows like policies, access reviews, and reporting, and helps you get security questionnaires done 5 times faster with AI. Now that's…a new way to GRC. Get started at Vanta.com/headlines. Find the stories behind the headlines at CISOseries.com

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft discuss Meta's newly launched AI that will be powered by Facebook, DeepSeek is back in the news, a horror week of hacks for some massive UK retail chains, LockBit, and the wonderful day and night that was last week's Australian Cyber Summit and Australian Cyber Awards. Hollingworth and Croft begin by talking about the latest in artificial intelligence news, with Meta announcing it will be building its next AI based upon information shared on the social network by its users, and China's revelations that it will be using DeepSeek to help develop its next generation of fighter aircraft. The pair then run down the week in cyber crime, with ransomware gang DragonForce potentially being behind a string of disruptive attacks on some big UK retailers, including Harrods and Marks & Spencer – and maybe even behind hacking once dominant ransomware giant LockBit. Hollingworth and Croft also discuss Spectrum Medical Imaging's continuing investigation into its January data breach. The pair wrap things up with a recap of the Australian Cyber Summit and Australian Cyber Awards, held last week. It was a great day and night. The two journalists talk about the importance of giving something back to Australians' network defenders and quality of content presented during the day. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode, host Jim Love discusses various cybersecurity topics including a book deal from CRC Press for those interested in cybersecurity, auditing, and leadership. Major cyber incidents involving two UK retailers, Co-op and Marks & Spencer's, are detailed, highlighting the challenges they face. Apple's notifications to users in 100 countries about targeted mercenary spyware attacks are covered, emphasizing the importance of taking these alerts seriously. Additionally, a malicious WordPress plugin has been discovered that grants attackers unauthorized access, and an open letter from cybersecurity professionals calls on President Donald Trump to cease investigations into former CISA Director Chris Krebs. The episode concludes by previewing an upcoming segment covering the B Side and RSA shows. 00:00 Introduction and Special Announcement 00:16 Cybersecurity Book Deals 01:37 Major Cyber Attacks on UK Retailers 03:48 Apple's Spyware Alerts 06:22 Malicious WordPress Plugin Discovered 08:19 Open Letter Supporting Chris Krebs 10:57 Conclusion and Upcoming Events

Newmark Security PLC CEO Marie-Claire Dwek talked with Proactive's Stephen Gunnion about the company's latest trading update, which highlighted stronger revenue performance in the second half of the financial year. Dwek said the growth was primarily driven by the Human Capital Management (HCM) division, especially in North America, where both hardware and service-related sales have increased. She explained, “The more clocks we sell, the more recurring revenue we sell, the more services we sell.” This growth model is being further supported by a Direct to End user approach, with active integrations already in place with Oracle and Workday, and further development underway with SAP. Dwek also spoke about their efforts to diversify, including moves into lower-cost market segments, which are typically dominated by Chinese manufacturers. This allows Newmark to capture new customer groups while maintaining service-based revenue opportunities. Outside North America, Newmark continues to see growth in Europe, citing customers like Marks & Spencer and Protime. The company is also building pipeline opportunities in collaboration with Oracle and is working on exclusivity in North America with one partner. Dwek described this as “a whole new market for us that was previously untapped.” For more interviews and updates, visit Proactive's YouTube channel. Don't forget to like this video, subscribe to the channel, and enable notifications for future content. #NewmarkSecurity #MarieClaireDwek #HCM #EnterpriseSoftware #RecurringRevenue #OracleIntegration #Workday #SAPIntegration #WorkforceManagement #TechGrowth #NorthAmericaExpansion #SecuritySolutions #HumanCapitalManagement #ProactiveInvestors #D2EModel

The Inside Stylists Podcast: Episode 150 Small Brands, Big Impact: PR Strategies for Success with Az Mukadam   Show notes for today's episode are here Today's guest is Arsalaan Mukadam, the founder of AZPR, a bespoke PR agency specialising in interiors, design, and lifestyle. With years of experience helping brands including Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, sofa.com and KitchenAid, get the recognition they deserve, Az knows exactly what it takes to craft the perfect PR strategy in the interiors industry. Whether it's securing media coverage, building strong brand partnerships, or navigating the ever-changing digital landscape, he's at the forefront of it all. I'm thrilled to be talking with Az today about what it's really like to be in PR for interiors, the challenges brands face, and the best ways to get noticed in this industry. You can find Az here - Insta: AZPR.co.uk Website: @_AzPR   Find us here InsideStylists.com Instagram: Instagram.com/InsideStylists  Facebook: Facebook.com/InsideStylists Podcasts : Insidestylists.com/podcast/ Blogs : Insidestylists.com/inside-stylists-blog/  

According to the Scottish economist Sir John Kay, author of The Corporation in the 21st Century, the Magnificent Seven tech companies that supposedly control the global economy aren't quite as magnificent as we are led to believe. These corporations aren't even really capitalist, he says, noting that companies like Amazon and Apple own surprisingly few physical assets and thus should be considered providers of “capital as a service”. Kay claims that today's big tech companies probably won't maintain their dominance, citing historical examples like Cisco and U.S. Steel. He criticizes the contemporary corporate focus on individual leadership, deal-making and shareholder value, advocating instead for businesses built on trust and collective capabilities. And Kay expresses a deep skepticism about both Donald Trump's tariff policies and Elon Musk's recent involvement in government reform, suggesting that Musk's success might have even undermined his sanity. Here are the 5 KEEN ON takeaways from this conversation with John Kay* Corporate dominance is typically temporary, not permanent. Kay uses historical examples like U.S. Steel, IBM, and Cisco to demonstrate that even the most powerful companies often decline or lose their dominance over time, suggesting today's "Magnificent Seven" tech giants may face similar fates.* Modern corporations operate on a "capital as a service" model, owning surprisingly few physical assets. Unlike Henry Ford's vertically integrated empire, companies like Amazon and Apple primarily buy or lease the capabilities they need, with much of their value based on expected future profits rather than tangible assets.* Business success is driven by collective capabilities, not individual genius. Kay challenges the "great man" theory of business history, arguing that innovations and progress come from teams of people working together with collective knowledge, rather than from singular visionary leaders.* The term "capitalism" is outdated and misleading. Kay prefers "pluralist" or "market economy" to better describe modern economic systems, where value is created through networks of capabilities rather than traditional capital ownership.* Corporate success should be built on trust relationships and long-term value creation, not short-term financial engineering. Kay criticizes the focus on deal-making and shareholder value maximization, citing examples like ICI and Marks & Spencer where this approach led to decline.Sir John Kay, fellow of St John's College, Oxford, has a distinguished career in academia, business, and finance. His writing, which includes the best-selling Other People's Money and a regular column for the Financial Times, has been recognized by numerous awards.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Who is the leader behind the turnaround of Marks & Spencer? And what does he think are the challenges still ahead?In part two of our interview with Stuart Machin, the chief executive of Marks & Spencer, he discusses his leadership style and why he has concerns about the UK economy and government in 2025.Marks & Spencer is probably the best-known business in Britain. But when Stuart Machin joined in 2018 it had been struggling for years. Since then he has led an extraordinary turnaround of the high street retailer. This is the story of how he did it, in his own words. In part one of this interview, Stuart Machin discussed his strategy and approach for M&S. You can find that via the link below:https://www.businessleader.co.uk/podcasts/business-leader-podcast/stuart-machin-turn-around-marks-spencer-part-one/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marks & Spencer is probably the best-known business in Britain. But when Stuart Machin joined in 2018 it had been struggling for years. Since then he has led an extraordinary turnaround of the high street retailer. This is the story of how he did it, in his own words.Stuart Machin, the chief executive of M&S, talks to the Business Leader Podcast about how M&S is changing its shops, products, and, crucially, the culture within the business. One thing stands out – how much he obsesses over the detail (no-one buys more men's clothes from M&S than him). That is not easy given M&S has more than 60,000 employees, nearly 1,500 shops, annual revenues of £13bn and pre-tax profits of £673m in its last financial year.In part one of this two-part special, Stuart Machin discusses his strategy and approach for M&S. In part two, we will look at his career in retail, why he has such passion for the sector and what he thinks are the challenges ahead... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chaque année, en Angleterre, il y a une tradition à Noël: regarder et commenter les pubs à la télévision ! Elles sont devenues un véritable phénomène culturel, mêlant émotion, créativité et surtout… des budgets colossaux. Décryptage de ces machines à sous. De notre correspondante au Royaume-Uni,Cette année, le très attendu spot publicitaire des grands magasins John Lewis met en scène une femme qui, en cherchant un cadeau pour sa sœur, revit les moments clés de leur relation.Le budget ? Il n'est jamais clairement dévoilé, mais il tourne autour de 7 millions de livres, soit près de 9 millions d'euros.C'est qu'il faut tenir la compétition de la meilleure publicité, car chaque année, dans les bureaux de Sainsbury's, Tesco au Royaume-Uni, mais aussi chez Coca-Cola ou encore Amazon, un chargé de campagne a une grande responsabilité : gagner la course de Noël.Pourquoi cette pression ?Pour créer un lien émotionnel avec le consommateur qui associe la marque à des souvenirs positifs. Mais aussi, parce qu'une bonne publicité rapporte jusqu'à 20 fois l'argent investi.Pour Jason Gale, le fondateur des London Lifestyle Awards, c'est le moment de l'année où il faut tout miser sur l'émotion.« Les gens achètent avec le cœur, et Noël est une période très sentimentale. Les publicités intelligentes comme celle de John Lewis parlent d'émotions. Elles sont si fortes qu'elles sont comme des mini-films dont on se souvient pendant toute l'année. À mon avis, ça vaut chaque centime dépensé. »Une publicité pour faire vibrer une corde sensibleL'an dernier, les dépenses publicitaires autour de Noël ont généré près de 8 milliards de livres pour les marques britanniques. Pour Grace Jacobson, de l'agence Publicis, c'est toujours une question d'argent, mais aussi l'occasion de rêver un peu. « À Noël, les gens veulent s'évader. Ils veulent voir une publicité qui les transporte ailleurs, qui leur fait ressentir quelque chose, que ce soit de la nostalgie, de la joie ou toute autre émotion qui éveille quelque chose en eux. Des marques comme John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Lidl ou JD Sports, qui ont mis l'accent sur la famille et les différentes formes qu'elle peut prendre, réussissent particulièrement bien à capter cet esprit. Et puis il a quelque chose de vrai, en phase avec ce que les gens vivent, notamment au Royaume-Uni. C'est une période où les publicités ne semblent pas uniquement dire "achetez, achetez, achetez", mais cherchent plutôt à faire vibrer une corde sensible. Même si, au bout du compte, l'objectif reste de vendre un produit et de générer des bénéfices, et de décrocher le prix de la meilleure publicité. »Ces trésors de publicité sont aussi sur Internet, commentés, classés, certains ont même leur page Wikipédia. Et c'est peut-être ça, les nouveaux contes de Noël.À lire aussiLes «mince pies», dessert fétiche des Britanniques à Noël

Chaque année, en Angleterre, il y a une tradition à Noël: regarder et commenter les pubs à la télévision ! Elles sont devenues un véritable phénomène culturel, mêlant émotion, créativité et surtout… des budgets colossaux. Décryptage de ces machines à sous. De notre correspondante au Royaume-Uni,Cette année, le très attendu spot publicitaire des grands magasins John Lewis met en scène une femme qui, en cherchant un cadeau pour sa sœur, revit les moments clés de leur relation.Le budget ? Il n'est jamais clairement dévoilé, mais il tourne autour de 7 millions de livres, soit près de 9 millions d'euros.C'est qu'il faut tenir la compétition de la meilleure publicité, car chaque année, dans les bureaux de Sainsbury's, Tesco au Royaume-Uni, mais aussi chez Coca-Cola ou encore Amazon, un chargé de campagne a une grande responsabilité : gagner la course de Noël.Pourquoi cette pression ?Pour créer un lien émotionnel avec le consommateur qui associe la marque à des souvenirs positifs. Mais aussi, parce qu'une bonne publicité rapporte jusqu'à 20 fois l'argent investi.Pour Jason Gale, le fondateur des London Lifestyle Awards, c'est le moment de l'année où il faut tout miser sur l'émotion.« Les gens achètent avec le cœur, et Noël est une période très sentimentale. Les publicités intelligentes comme celle de John Lewis parlent d'émotions. Elles sont si fortes qu'elles sont comme des mini-films dont on se souvient pendant toute l'année. À mon avis, ça vaut chaque centime dépensé. »Une publicité pour faire vibrer une corde sensibleL'an dernier, les dépenses publicitaires autour de Noël ont généré près de 8 milliards de livres pour les marques britanniques. Pour Grace Jacobson, de l'agence Publicis, c'est toujours une question d'argent, mais aussi l'occasion de rêver un peu. « À Noël, les gens veulent s'évader. Ils veulent voir une publicité qui les transporte ailleurs, qui leur fait ressentir quelque chose, que ce soit de la nostalgie, de la joie ou toute autre émotion qui éveille quelque chose en eux. Des marques comme John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Lidl ou JD Sports, qui ont mis l'accent sur la famille et les différentes formes qu'elle peut prendre, réussissent particulièrement bien à capter cet esprit. Et puis il a quelque chose de vrai, en phase avec ce que les gens vivent, notamment au Royaume-Uni. C'est une période où les publicités ne semblent pas uniquement dire "achetez, achetez, achetez", mais cherchent plutôt à faire vibrer une corde sensible. Même si, au bout du compte, l'objectif reste de vendre un produit et de générer des bénéfices, et de décrocher le prix de la meilleure publicité. »Ces trésors de publicité sont aussi sur Internet, commentés, classés, certains ont même leur page Wikipédia. Et c'est peut-être ça, les nouveaux contes de Noël.À lire aussiLes «mince pies», dessert fétiche des Britanniques à Noël

We look at Risk Roulette, by Graham Ruddick. Risk Roulette: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Businesses Work and Others Fail reviewed This is an enjoyable and thought provoking book. It also used examples and case studies from paths less regularly travelled. This was a bit of a relief for the reviewer because sometimes you can almost do entrepreneurs bingo when the same anecdotes and inspirational examples tend to come up again and again. The pace is rapid, as the whole book comes in at under 200 pages. The tone is good too, informative and helpful, written in an accessible way. We enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it to other readers, both younger students and also people using it for college and to inform their own business ideas too. More about Risk Roulette Risk Roulette: The surprising reasons why some businesses work and others fail NEW BOOK: Interviews reveal lessons from sports, finance and iconic entrepreneurs to show how to make risk work for you Why This Book Matters: Explains why those who have a real understanding of how risk and reward works will succeed Shows why taking excessive risk is likely to end in disaster and that entrepreneurs are not the buccaneering risk-takers they are often portrayed as Features interviews and case studies from businesses including Marks & Spencer, Castore, and Deliveroo, as well as football, Formula 1 champions, and skydivers Written by award-winning journalist who has interviewed some of the world's leading business executives, financiers and sports people Business success requires taking a risk, or two. But have you ever bet the house on a seemingly good idea only for it to become a bad business decision? And why is that some business leaders seem to be able to take long shots, and still come up trumps? Now a fascinating new book Risk Roulette from leading journalist Graham Ruddick, reveals the surprising reasons why some businesses work, and others fail. As a journalist with the Telegraph, Guardian, The Times and now Business Leader, Graham Ruddick has spent more than fifteen years researching and interviewing leaders, including the founders and chief executives of some of the biggest businesses around the world. Through this series of exclusive interviews, he has found that there's a pivotal trait leaders have when it comes to success: they understand risk. Through a collection of thought-provoking stories, interviews and case studies from leaders in business, finance and sport, Ruddick reveals that risk isn't just about being risky and having a blasé attitude to responsibility. It's about understanding risk more broadly, from the level of risk involved in a decision and how to reduce it, to the difference between short-term and long-term risk. Risk Roulette is a highly entertaining and informative read which joins icons from the worlds of business, finance, journalism and sports who know how to make risk work for them and push the boundaries and reveals their tried and tested secrets so you too can elevate your business. Risk Roulette: The surprising reasons why some businesses work, and others fail by Graham Ruddick is published by Kogan Page on 03 October 2024, priced £13.94 More about the author Graham Ruddick is the editor-in-chief of Business Leader magazine and host of the Business Leader podcast. He founded the podcast and the Off to Lunch newsletter in 2022. He has been Retail Editor at the Daily Telegraph, Senior Business Reporter and then Media Editor at the Guardian and from 2018 to 2022 he was Deputy Business Editor at The Times. He was shortlisted for business and finance journalist of the year at the Press Awards in 2019 and named young financial journalist of the year by the Wincott Foundation in 2013. He is based in London, UK. See more reviews here. More about Irish Tech News Irish Tech News are Ireland's No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland's No.1 Tech Podcast too. You can find hundreds of fantastic previous episodes and subscribe...

Alex Standley is an award winning Personal Stylist with an impressive 19-year career in the world of fashion. With an unwavering passion for sustainability, dopamine dressing, and the power of style to create positive impact. Alex is THE STYLE EXPERT for busy women, seeking to rediscover their inner confidence through style. With a 1st class honours degree from London College of Fashion, and 15 years as a Fashion Buyer for industry giants like Marks & Spencer and Amazon, Alex brings a wealth of experience to her styling clients. Alex's pivot in her career 5 years ago, was driven by a passion to create a more positive impact through her work. And her own experience of the power of personal styling in her reinvention after becoming a mum. Consequently she became a sustainable personal stylist, helping women to move away from the fast fashion culture, and buying too many clothes. Luxe Leopard Lifestyle was born. The latest episode of the Business Awards Show follows Alex's journey from fashion buyer to sustainable stylist. She also tells us about the importance of business networking and how it has powered her rise. Even better, she has become an award-winner, and is nominated for more. Find out what impact this has had on her business. So successful has Alex become in the sustainable fashion world, she has become involved in organising The Good Clothes Show at the NEC in Birmingham in September. In addition, she is aiming to give a Tedx talk, so things are moving quickly in her world. The Sustainable Personal Stylist is the perfect episode for women looking for advice on how to be more mindful about their fashion choices. You will also learn why sustainability in fashion is so essential, and how following your values is so fundamental to running your business.   {1:30} Why Alex started her business. {3:35} Alex's sustainable fashion ethos. {5:17} Why frequent clothes buying is a problem. {7:23} How to change your shopping habits. {8:27} Alex's personal styling approach. {9:47} The impact of buying the right clothes. {10:22} Alex's role in the St Albans Sustainability Festival. {13:07} How networking has helped Alex's business. {15:12} Winning a Shing Star Award. {16:15} A Rising Star nomination at The St Albans Chamber Awards. {17:50} Alex's advice for starting a business. {18:53} Future plans. {19:11} Being part of the Good Clothes Show at the NEC. {21:59} Donating the right clothes to charity.   Connect with Debbie at: https://thebusinessawardsshow.co.uk Connect with Alex: https://www.luxeleopardlifestyle.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luxeleopardlifestyle Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luxeleopardloves LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luxe-leopard-lifestyle/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/luxeleopardlifestyle/ X: https://x.com/luxeleopardlife The Good Clothes Show: https://thegoodclothesshow.com/

We're excited to have a special guest with us – Edward Leaman, the Chief Brand Officer for California Closets – for this episode of our Inside Design Podcast. We had the chance to hear Edward speak with Jeremiah Brent at the C-Next Event last February in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He had so many nuggets of wisdom and so many great takeaways that we wanted to share him with you, our listeners!   SPONSOR:   This episode is sponsored by the Atlanta Market. They are the only wholesale product discovery experience that gives designers more. Their team is geared up this Summer to visit all the fun events and networking opportunities that Atlanta Market offers. You can discover new resources and product introductions for your clients. It is also a great way to connect in-person with thousands of trade makers, manufacturers and sales reps to help your business grow.   Summer market is happening July 16 – 22, 2024. They are introducing consolidated floors of temporaries making it easier for designers to navigate. We will be checking out the many floors of outdoor furnishings at the Casual Market that runs during the show Monday to Thursday July 15 – 18. To learn more and preregister for Summer Market, visit AtlantaMarket.com   KEY TAKEAWAYS: When it comes to your brand, no matter what category you are in, your job is to make sure it is constantly evolving, whether it be your product, your customer experience or your marketing. Clarify your beliefs and values and how you want to represent yourself to the world and to your customers. This leads to authenticity and trust in your brand. Know the difference between “brand” and “branding”: Brand is the central driver of your business, a promise and a purpose. Branding is your visuals, logo, etc.    KANDRAC & KOLE BIO:   Voted one of “Atlanta's Top 20 Residential Interior Designers” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Kandrac & Kole Interior Designs is an acclaimed design firm with two decades of experience serving residential and commercial clients. Their work has been featured in leading publications across the US.   Since 2005, Joann and Kelly have built a respected partnership. They are renowned for their dynamic personalities, distinctive use of color, and unique custom designs. Frequently invited to share their insights at industry events and on design panels, they are recognized as diligent business operators who remain approachable and genuine, radiating constant positive energy.   In 2018, they used their infectious energy to launch their podcast, “Inside Design with Kandrac & Kole.” This lively, weekly conversation, where Joann and Kelly share design and industry insights, became so popular that they introduced a series of bonus episodes, “The Inside Scoop with Joann and Kelly,” in 2024.   Their dedication to the power of interior design also extends to their charity work throughout the U.S. and Guatemala.   EDWARD LEAMAN BIO Edward was born in London, England, and in 1986 he came to the United States to run an apparel company, after six years in Japan. In 1998, he and a partner launched a consulting company, to connect global retailers with new opportunities in licensing, franchising, cross-border expansion and brand development. Clients included Gap, Joe Boxer, Nike, The Body Shop, Marks & Spencer, Giorgio Armani and many Japanese retailers. From 1994 to 1998, he was the Executive Vice President of California Closets, where he played a key role in growing the brand. After the company was acquired, he expanded his focus to building brands across various property service companies. In 2001, he founded Growers and Nomads, a brand-building agency that works with a diverse range of clients, including direct-to-consumer, business-to-business, and non-profit organizations. He continues to serve as CEO and is based in Marin County, CA. Edward is known for his ability to increase market share, company growth, and shareholder value by aligning products, customer experiences, and marketing strategies with core customer attitudes. He believes that successful brands are built on strong beliefs and values that resonate with everyone they touch. To him, a brand is a promise that must be delivered and measured. In addition to his professional work, Edward was the Chair and Professor of Design (fashion) at the California College of the Arts (CCA) from 1995-2005. He has also taught at the Saint Martin's School of Art in London, in the Green MBA program at Dominican University, and currently teaches at Stanford University. He frequently speaks at conferences about brand building.  SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES https://www.facebook.com/kandracandkole/ https://www.instagram.com/kandrackole/ https://twitter.com/KandracKole/ https://www.pinterest.com/kandrackole/   FUNNY QUOTE – “Remember your brand is your baby. Feed it, nurture it and try not to leave it in the car…”   SERIOUS QUOTE – “If you spend your time chasing butterflies, they'll fly away. But if you spend your time making a beautiful garden, the butterflies will come. Don't chase – attract.”

Our special guest this week is James Reinhart the pioneering CEO of ThredUp, the fast-growing online consignment and thrift store. We learn about James' fascinating journey from teacher to entrepreneur and how his passion drives one of the most successful purpose-driven retail brands. We go deep on the drivers of the re-commerce market, how ThredUp differentiates itself, and the implications of a shift from hyper-growth to more sustainable profitability. We also unpack ThredUp's insight packed annual "Resale Report."As usual, we kick things off with the most important retail news, dissecting Shein's "charm offensive" and how Hims & Hers is exploiting a loophole to pursue GLP-1 market opportunities. Then it's on to the most interesting earnings reports from last week, which include another weak quarter from Target, very strong progress at Marks & Spencer, a bit of preliminary optimism on Macy's new strategy, and yet another solid quarter from TJX.  About JamesJames Reinhart is the CEO and cofounder of ThredUp, one of the largest online resale platforms for apparel, shoes, and accessories. ThredUp is transforming resale with technology and a mission to inspire the world to think secondhand first. By making it easy to buy and sell secondhand, ThredUp is changing the way people shop and ushering in a more sustainable future for fashion. James' passion for circularity and the role that education plays in our communities is what drives his vision of reducing the fashion industry's negative impact on the planet. These values are reflected in his work prior to ThredUp, in which he helped develop one of the nation's premier public schools, Pacific Collegiate School. James is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School where he earned a joint degree in public policy and business. In his free time, he is an avid golfer, cyclist, and whiskey drinker (just not all at the same time). While a proud New Jersey native and diehard Bruce Springsteen fan, he lives with his wife Michele and three children in Oakland, CA.  About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the all new Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , now available for purchase in the U.S. and available for pre-order at book retailers elsewhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media..Don't forget to join Steve's new Linked Group for his new book.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail,Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.

In this week's episode of the Investors Champion Podcast, hosts Lee and Chris discuss the latest significant movers in the UK share market, including the positive court ruling for PCI-PAL and the resurgence of Marks & Spencer. They delve into the business potential and obstacles for companies like Naked Wines and Mitchells & Butlers. The episode also highlights major international topics such as Nvidia's dominance and unprecedented growth due to its AI chips. Additionally, the episode features discussions on intriguing investment opportunities like XP Power and upcoming bonkers bargains like IXICO. The podcast concludes with an analysis of Bloomsbury Publishing's latest financial performance and considerations for its future prospects. Timestamps: 01:05 Diving into today's hot topics: House Prices, Elections, and More 01:32 Celebrating a Legal Victory for PCI Pal 03:32 UK House Prices Surge: A Sign of Economic Health? 04:05 The Impact of the General Election on the Stock Market 05:54 NVIDIA: Dominating the AI Revolution 09:51 Back to the UK: Retail Sector Insights 13:31 Evaluating Brand Value and Asset Worth in the Hospitality Sector 14:10 Young & Co's  15:52 The Quirks of Share Voting Rights and Market Dynamics 17:27 Naked Wines: Analysing the Risks of an Online-Only Business Model 21:09 XP Power's Takeover Offer 24:00 Emerging Opportunities in Neuroscience: Ixico's Potential 25:02 The Video Gaming Industry: Keyword Studios' Takeover Approach 28:04 Bloomsbury Publishing: Navigating the Volatility of Blockbuster Titles Hope you enjoy this episode and have a wonderful day. If you like this episode, please let us know by subscribing for future company reviews and insightful conversations about the markets, portfolio management and stock analysis. Links & Resources: Visit Investor's Champion website here: https://www.investorschampion.com/ Follow Investor's Champion on X here: https://twitter.com/investchampion Disclaimer: This presentation is for educational purposes only. All opinions and information are for demonstrational purposes and do not constitute investment advice. Trading and investing carries a high level of risk and are not right for everyone. If you need financial advice, consult with a regulated financial adviser in your country before making any decisions.

Jornada de consolidación la de este miércoles en los mercados internacionales tras las subidas de las últimas semanas y a la espera de nuevos catalizadores. Para hoy se esperan unos cuantos. El primero ha sido el IPC de Reino Unido. Los rendimientos de los bonos de la zona euro suben después de que los datos británicos recuerden a los inversores la rigidez de la inflación de los servicios. Refuerzan las expectativas de que los bancos centrales serán prudentes a la hora de recortar los tipos de interés. Ya con las Bolsas europeas cerradas se conocerán las actas de la última reunión de la Reserva Federal y los resultados de Nvidia. El índice continental STOXX 600 cae un 0,44 a las 0705 GMT y el FTSE 100 lidera las pérdidas. Entre los valores individuales, Swiss Life baja un 1,8% después de que la mayor aseguradora de vida de Suiza redujera sus perspectivas de ingresos por comisiones para 2024. Marks & Spencer avanza un 7% después de que el minorista británico informara de un aumento del 58% en su beneficio anual. Las casas de análisis valoran su estrategia para remodelar el negocio, que ha generado un fuerte crecimiento de las ventas tanto en su división de alimentación como en la de ropa. En Bolsa española, y dentro del Ibex 35, Acciona Energías Renovables y Banco Sabadell lideran las subidas. Se ponen al frente de los descensos Mapfre, que descuenta dividendo, Grifols y ArcelorMittal. Esta hora tenemos análisis con Miguel Ángel Rodríguez.

Welcome to Series Two of our podcast!After a brief break, we've been working on how to enhance your listening experience and provide even more value.Introducing "For The Love of Wine" - a journey where we guide you through our approach to wine, from purchase to the recycling bin.Our goal is to offer insight that helps you see wine through our eyes, enriching your knowledge and enjoyment. The first episode is all about how to find the right wine because according to a recent study by Marks & Spencer, a quarter of wine shoppers spend more than ten minutes deliberating over which bottle to buy. One-third feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices, while more than half admit they don't know which wines they like! Bonkers.The time we take deliberating over what to purchase collectively adds up to more than 50 million squandered hours in a supermarket wine section. Time is Merlot ladies and gentlemen!Alongside the pod, we thought it would be helpful to share our top tips on finding the perfect bottle here.The groundwork:* Identify your budget - be kind to yourself.* Identify which style you're after - think about the occasion. * Identify your retailer:* I'd suggest for budgets below £10, opt for supermarkets. * Between £10 and £15, seek out specialist wine retailers or independents. * From £15 to £50, explore independent merchants. * For budgets exceeding £50, indulge in a specialist fine wine merchant or an auctioneer. * For a comprehensive list of merchants, refer to the invaluable resource on Jancis Robinson's website.Before you hit the shops:* Pull up your wine atlas, use online wine maps and take a look around the world for inspiration.* Access ‘The List' of my top five recommendations from each supermarket and beyond - update landing soon.* Check out the Decanter's wine review section.* Like you do when you're trying to find a recipe, type into Google: “If I like [insert something you like] what wine should I go for?”.* Give your independent a call with your requirements - they will be glad to hear from you.* Prepare early - the more you research the more likely you are to enjoy the experience.When you're at the shop:* Generally try to avoid mass-produced big-label wines.* Have a look for medals from the more respected awards. Here is a good article on what to look out for.* Use apps such as Vivino and Cellar Tracker.* Read the descriptors or label info (if there are any).* Ask a member of staff!* EXPERIMENT - don't stick to the tried and tested.Here is all the info about the episode:Will's wine of the week:LFE 900 Single Vineyard, ChileLuke's thought of the week:When you're at mile 20 of 26 you are only halfway there.Paula Radcliffe References:Zinfandel - grape variety.Carménère - grape variety.Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary - wine flavours and aromas.Sweet wines - definition.Vin de Constance - South African sweet wine.Trinity Restaurant - Clapham, London.Tokaji - sweet wine from Hungary.Botrytis - the fungus removes water from the grapes helping to create sweet wines.Furmint - grape variety.Pernand-Vergelesses - wine region in Burgundy.Santenay - wine region in Burgundy.Catena/Catena Alta Malbec - from Waitrose.Ribero del Duero - wine region in Spain.Grand Rutherglen Muscat - sweet wine from Australia.Maury - wine region in France.Pedro Ximenez - sweet style of Sherry.Sauternes - wine region in France.As always please like, share and comment.Stay Corked - Luke & Will This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lukeflunder.substack.com/subscribe

The FTSE 100 opened slightly lower on Monday, continuing from the sharp falls experienced on Friday. Mining groups like Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and Anglo American are building on last week's strong gains, leading the risers today on indications of higher demand for iron ores. In the retail industry, new research found that insolvencies have risen by a fifth in the last year, with most of the troubles for businesses having stemmed from high interest rates. It means retail giants such as Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and B&M all lead the blue-chip fallers on Monday. Also falling was London Stock Exchange Group after it was found shareholders may revolt against plans to double its chief executive's pay. In small caps, vet group CVS revealed it suffered a cyber-attack across a number of its IT systems, affecting emails, phone lines and online forms. #ProactiveInvestors #marketreport #ftse #ftse100 #footsie #riotinto #fresnillo #angloamerican #sainsburys #m&s #marks&spencer #B&W #cvs #londonstockexchangegroup #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews

Joining Jill and Doron on the 13th episode of the podcast (I guess you could call this our Bar Mitzvah episode), to tell us his story, is David Sheldon, pupil number 269, who attended Carmel College for a full decade, from 1953 to 1963, arriving on the very day - October 5th - that the school first assumed its place on the campus at Mongewell Park in Wallingford. David has worked in the retail industry for nearly 60 years since his early days at Marks & Spencer, most recently as a strategic retail advisor.  He lives in Old Basing in Hampshire with Pauline, his wife of nearly 50 years. Hear David talk about why he was nicknamed ‘little monkey', Kopul firing the cook, the place of corporal punishment at Carmel, the “juus in all the desks”, and meeting Amazon's Jeff Bezos. Thank you, David Sheldon, for turning us again to Carmel days!   Dedication: at David's request, this episode is dedicated to “Charlie” Marshall, PE instructor and rowing coach extraordinaire, who joined Carmel directly from his degree at Loughborough University, and went on from Carmel at the end of 1969 to retrain in order to teach deaf children in Brighton and Bradford.   Personal mentions in this episode: Rabbi Dr. Kopul Rosen (Founder & Headmaster) Dr. David Stamler (Headmaster) Dr. JSN Sewell (Main Prep School teacher) Miss VK Pickard RSCN (Matron) Dr. Alexander Tobias (Jewish Studies) Dr. Mendel Bloch (Jewish Studies) Mrs. Aarons (Kitchen & Tuck Shop) Mrs. Purchase (Matron & Laundry) Mrs. Beale (Laundry) Anthony Barr Taylor (Biology & Housemaster) Charles S Marshall (PE & Rowing) Ron Evans (Mathematics) Joshua Gabay (French) Julian Bunny (Physics) Israel Alexander (Jewish Studies & Hebrew) Mrs. Whitfield (French) Rabbi Jeremy Rosen Samuel Sheldon Carl Purchase Richard Beale Laurence “LB” Shaw Joe Mayor Harvey Jacobs Sidney Standig Brian Bloom Michael Windbourne Martin Dover Ivan Sherman Bruce Gottlieb Raymond Dwek P Fischer Neil Alton Laurence Cartier Roland Joffé Harold Berwin Tony Markovic Harris Sidelsky Spencer Baptiste Alan Gold Richard Engel   Feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you liked about this episode, and rate us on your favorite podcast platform

Good morning from London where the FTSE 100 is down in early trading, and its Rightmove that's the biggest loser so far. The UK's favourite property website is down around 5%, hit by a downgrade from JPMorgan. The investment bank has downgraded Rightmove to ‘underperform' from ‘neutral' on the grounds that its costs for maintaining best in class user experience are on the rise. Also rising today is Ocado's share price, it's a typically volatile one and today is no exception. Ocado is up around 5% after its retail joint venture with Marks & Spencer, Ocado Retail, reported record Christmas trading. Looking ahead, the firm said it has confidence that the business will continue its encouraging momentum over the coming year, growing sales volumes ahead of the market. Card Factory (LSE:CARD) also had a good Christmas from the look of it, though you wouldn't know it from looking at their share price. They're saying this morning that profits this year will be at the top of market forecasts. Chief Executive Darcy Willson-Rymer said that “Even during challenging times, consumers want to celebrate key life moments and this was reflected in the positive performance that we saw in the Christmas trading period” If that's not enough to warm the cockles of your heart on a freezing winter morning then perhaps my interview later today with the CEO of UK infrastructure company Galliford Try will do the trick. Stay tuned for that and much else besides, have a great day. #ProactiveInvestors #FTSE100 #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews

El gigante naviero danés Maersk advierte de que "aún no está claro si estamos hablando de restablecer n paso seguro hacia el Mar rojo en cuestión de días, semanas o meses" y que el desvío de los contenedores a través de Africa podría tener consecuencias bastante significativas sobre el crecimiento global. Y es que, según el informe del IfW Kiel, el comercio mundial ha caído un 1,3% por los taques de militares hutíes. Volviendo a Europa, el presidente del Banco Central de Francia, François Villeroy, asegura que el país no entrará en recesión en 2024 y que la economía gala crecerá un 0,9%. La abogada general de la UE propone confirmar la multa histórica de Bruselas a Google de 2.424 millones por abuso de posición dominante. En el Reino Unido, las dos grandes minoristas, Tesco y Marks & Spencer, baten previsiones en sus ventas navideñas. Hablaremos con José Luis García-Ochoa, de la correduria de seguros García-Ochoa, que acaba de firmar una alianza con ERSM Grupo, el primer grupo de mediación en España, para ser más fuertes y llevar más ventajas a sus clientes. En Expansión y Ciclo, tras el "no" del Congreso a la reforma del subsidio de desempleo, la ministra de Trabajo, Yolanda Díaz, ya ha anunciado que la negociará con sindicatos y patronal y que mañana viernes cerrará la subida del SMI, que estará por encima del 4%. Temas de la actualidad que debatiremos en la Tertulia de Cierre de Mercados con Pedro Fernández, empresario y abogado, y Ricardo Gómez, experto en Reputación.

Good morning from London, I'm Thomas Warner and this is the first market report of the new year. The top story so far today is tension in the Red Sea, where an international naval pile-on continues. As always its the commodity markets that are telling the story, and oil and gold are both up a step today – no bad thing for the FTSE 100 which is up around 1% so far. Staying in commodities and uranium is also continuing to do very well, with the Telegraph reporting over the new year that hedge funds having been investing heavily in the radioactive metal – backing the view that demand from nuclear power plants will outstrip supply over the next decade. Among the big gainers on the FTSE 100 this morning are well-known household names Marks & Spencer, Rolls-Royce, B&M, and BAE Systems. On the alternative market it's a slow start to the year but specialist contract research organization hVIVO has just announced a new £6.3 million deal to run a trial at its Canary Wharf facility. And Harland & Wolff shares are up a few percent this morning, continuing to benefit from news that its been cleared by the Government to advance negotiations in relation to a proposed £200 million guaranteed loan facility with UK Export Finance (UKEF). The shipbuilder has a pipeline of contracts but needs to shore up its finances in order to meet them all. That's all for now, have a great start to the year. #ProactiveInvestors #FTSE100 #invest #investing #investment #investor #stockmarket #stocks #stock #stockmarketnews

In today's episode, Tom Butta sits down with Sienne Veit, an esteemed executive in the retail space, to discuss the power of mobile apps in unlocking retail success during the holiday season. Veit emphasizes how mobile apps have become the key to empowering retailers by bridging the gap between the digital and physical worlds. By joining and knowing the customer, retailers can leverage apps to provide personalized experiences, enabling customers to plan purchases, access product information and enhance their in-store journey.Veit draws on her extensive experience working with renowned retailers like Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, and Kingfisher to highlight the impact of well-designed mobile experiences. She stresses the importance of understanding the unique capabilities and usability of mobile devices, ensuring that the app serves a purpose in the customer's journey. In the early days, many retailers overlooked the distinct nature of mobile and tried to duplicate the desktop experience, failing to cater to the on-the-go, time-sensitive context in which customers use their mobile devices.The interview delves further into the challenges and opportunities retailers face in operationalizing the connection between physical stores and mobile apps. Veit emphasizes the invaluable role that mobile apps play in the end-to-end customer journey, from planning purchases and checking store stock to click-and-collect services and personalized interactions with in-store staff. By understanding the key priorities for each channel, owning the customer experience, and designing for the specific context of mobile usage, retailers can maximize the value they offer to their customers and build long-lasting relationships.—Guest BioSienne has 25 years of experience in leading digital retail and technology products. She has a strong commitment to creating customer-centered products and innovative solutions in mobile, social, and omni-channel retail. She has held leadership roles at well-known UK and European brands like Kingfisher Plc (B&Q, Screwfix, Castorama & Brico Depot), John Lewis & Partners, Marks & Spencer, and Morrisons. She has also collaborated with industry leaders such as Sony Playstation, Coca Cola, and eTV (South Africa).Early in her career as a product innovator, Sienne played a key role in introducing pioneering concepts in UK high street retail. She developed a personal styling application for fashion store employees, launched the UK's first mobile website for shopping at M&S, created a groundbreaking smart TV application for the fashion industry, and spearheaded the development of the first social and mobile gamified Facebook app for donating clothes. She also introduced the first mobile taste test, allowing customers to discover and buy the perfect wine. Most recently, her team built a DIY marketplace at B&Q that uses AI recommendations.Motivated by her passion for crafting mobile experiences that customers love and for building successful products through joyful and productive teams, Sienne founded Invisible Stuff, a consultancy dedicated to helping organisations craft outstanding customer-centric digital experiences. The name "Invisible Stuff" began as a family joke, reflecting her lifelong commitment to integrating technology seamlessly with customer experiences, making it virtually invisible.—Guest Quote“Mobile is the most personal of devices. It's always there, it's always on, and increasingly it's the thing we reach for in the moments that matter. When we want to check something, when we want to research something, when we see something we like, we take a picture or we immediately search to find it. It captures all of our finest moments, our best moments with our families, with our friends, it's a key productivity tool. And because of that, it just has so many interesting ways that we can use it to make people's lives better, easier, happier, and more fulfilling. And I think that's what really excites me.” - Sienne Veit—Time Stamps *(01:24) Sienne's background in the retail industry*(04:26) Create an obsession with mobile as a platform*(06:20) How mindsets have changed around mobile design*(08:28 Why retail brands find success when adopting mobile early*(12:21) Glueing the physical and digital world together *(16:54) Who should own a brand's mobile experience?*(19:05) Life before download vs. life after download*(23:52) Achieve your biggest retail wins this holiday season*(30:09) Where AI fits into all of this*(33:08) Should we say goodbye to email for good?*(35:15) Rapid Fire Questions —LinksConnect with Sienne Veit on LinkedInCheck out Invisible StuffConnect with Tom Butta on LinkedInCheck out the Airship Website

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Two Years of Shrimp Welfare Project: Insights and Impact from our Explore Phase, published by Aaron Boddy on September 25, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Summary Shrimp Welfare Project launched in Sep 2021, via the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program. We aim to reduce the suffering of billions of farmed shrimps. This post summarises our work to date, what we plan to work on going forward, and clarifies areas where we're not focusing our attention. This post was written to coincide with the launch of our new (Shr)Impact page on our website. We have four broad workstreams: corporate engagement, farmer support, research, and raising issue salience. We believe our key achievements to date are: Corporate engagement: Our Humane Slaughter Initiative (commitments with large producers to purchase electrical stunners, such as MER Seafood, and Seajoy), ongoing conversations with UK retailers (including Marks & Spencer, who now have a published Decapod Welfare Policy), and contributing to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council's (ASC) Shrimp Welfare Technical Working Group. Humane Slaughter Initiative: This work in particular seems to be our most promising work so far, and we Guesstimate that our work to date will reduce the suffering of ~1B shrimps (in expectation per year) at a cost-effectiveness of ~1,300 shrimps per $ (in expectation per year). Farmer support: The launch of the Sustainable Shrimp Farmers of India (SSFI) program, Scoping Reports in India and Vietnam, a Pilot Study in India, and MoUs with prominent farmer-facing stakeholders (in Gujarat, and with ThinkAqua) Research: Working on a number of research projects to answer some of our key uncertainties, such as the Shrimp Welfare Report, an Alternative Shrimps report, a Supply & Demand economic analysis, a Consumer Research report, an Impact Roadmap, and coordinating academic research on the effectiveness of electrical stunning. Raising issue salience: Highlighting the issue of shrimp welfare through conferences/podcasts/articles in the shrimp industry, animal welfare, and Effective Altruism spaces. in addition to working in coalitions with other orgs in this space (i.e. EuroGroup for Animals, and the Aquatic Animal Alliance). As we are moving into our Exploit phase, we plan to focus our work on the following key projects: Humane Slaughter Initiative: Significantly accelerating the adoption of electrical stunning prior to slaughter in the farmed shrimp industry is a key goal of ours. We do this by purchasing the first stunner for a few different medium-large producers in different countries/contexts and in different farming systems in order to remove barriers to uptake. We believe we can realistically absorb ~$2,000,000 in funding over the next couple of years for our Humane Slaughter Initiative, at a cost-effectiveness of 1,500+ shrimps per $ per year, depending on producer volume and demand from their buyers.. Sustainable Shrimp Farmers of India: Our farmer support project is still somewhat exploratory, but we are excited by the tractability of interventions we have tested, such as offering free welfare-focused technical advice to farmers via WhatsApp, and promoting additional pond preparation (such as sludge removal) and lower stocking densities. Shrimp Welfare Index: Building on the Shrimp Welfare Report, and our experience trying to standardise a set of Asks across all the shrimp production systems, we wanted to clearly define what "higher welfare" looks like across different contexts. The Index offers an assessment of current practices and provides clear, actionable processes for improving shrimp welfare depending on the issues present in each pond. V1 of the Index is nearly complete, but we expect to iterate and test it over the next year, with the Index likely becoming a core part of SWPs work in...

And we're BACK! Welcome to the second half of Season 3 of the Health Home Hustle podcast!   In today's episode I am diving into all things autumn and how we can embrace the change of seasons for an ultimate autumn re-set!   For me, September is the ‘second new year' and as such I like to use this time of year to draw a line in the sand, reflect on the year so far and find my feet again for the final quarter of the year. And (whisper it!) into the new year too . . . !   This episode is perfect for you if you're: in need of a re-set want a framework to follow LOVE autumn   I also share your answers from Instagram as to exactly what you're most looking forward to this autumn season!   This is a fun all-the-autumn-feels episode! I hope that it helps you to embrace the season of change, dial up your Hallmark-movie-viewing vibes and make this a fantastic end to the year.   SHOW NOTES   @MonicaBeatrice   MonicaBeatrice.com   My pregnancy diaries   SKIN DILIGENT   Thank you Skin Diligent for supporting the Health Home Hustle Podcast! Use the code MONICA10 for 10% off of your Skin Diligent order. Mentioned in the show: Skin Diligent's Vitamin C Serum in Oil   Shop Skin Diligent's full range of cosmeceuticals: SkinDiligent.com   MENTIONED IN THE SHOW   Rhythm 108 Double Chocolate Hazelnut Biscuits   My coffee station essentials (including *that* pumpkin pie spice mix!)   Book recommendations: Elin Hilderbrand, Libby Page, Reese Witherspoon's Book Club   Candle recommendations: Jo Malone's Pomegranate Noir Candle, Norfolk Natural Living's Coastal Walks Candle   Scent recommendation: Marks & Spencer's ‘Warmth' Eu De Parfum from the Apothecary range

In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Otto Birnbaum, General Partner von Revent. Otto bespricht die Runde von Braintrust Tutors und Enough. Braintrust Tutors, ein in New York ansässiger Anbieter einer Nachhilfeplattform für K-12-Schüler, hat in einer Seed-Finanzierung 2,5 Millionen US-Dollar erhalten. Die Runde wurde von Scott Sandell, John Chambers und LAUNCH sowie The Syndicate unter der Leitung von Jason Calacanis geleitet. Braintrust Tutors bietet personalisierte Lernprogramme an, die strategisch - in enger Zusammenarbeit mit jedem Partner - entwickelt werden, um das Lernen für jeden Schüler zu beschleunigen, und die von einem Team von ausgebildeten, zertifizierten Lehrern und Lernspezialisten angeboten werden. Das schottische Food-Startup Enough, das sich auf Fleischalternativen aus Pilzproteinen spezialisiert hat, konnte in einer Finanzierungsrunde 40 Millionen Euro von Investoren einsammeln, wodurch das Wachstumskapital auf insgesamt 96 Millionen Euro steigt. Hinter dieser Investition stehen unter anderem World Fund und CPT Capital. Das Unternehmen plant den Ausbau seiner Produktionskapazität durch den Bau einer Fabrik in den Niederlanden, um seine Pilzprotein-Produktion zu vervierfachen. Enough stellt derzeit 1,3 Tonnen Pilzproteine pro Stunde her und strebt an, diese Menge bis 2032 auf 250.000 Tonnen pro Jahr zu erhöhen. Der Markt für Fleischalternativen wächst stark, und Enough hat namhafte Kunden wie Unilever und Marks & Spencer.

Richard Price, the managing director for clothing and home at Marks & Spencer, explains how he is trying to put the spark back into one of the UK's leading fashion brands and how, after years of false dawns, success should be sustained this time. Plus he discusses a career in retail that has spanned Next, Sir Philip Green and Tesco. And why Brian Clough is such an inspiration… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit offtolunch.substack.com

Marks & Spencer is removing use-by dates from its fresh milk. They want to stop milions of pints that are still safe to consume being poured away, and they're encouraging customers to use the ‘sniff test' to tell whether milk is off or not. Kieran was joined by Anna Burns, a microbiologist and nutritional scientist...

Recorded Live at Craft Festival Cheltenham March 2023 The Capital of Craft Podcast with Sue Pryke Sue Pryke is an award winning homeware designer and ceramicist with over three decades of experience. Sue talks with me, Sarah James from Craft Festival and Find a Maker infront of a live audience at Craft Festival Cheltenham at the Town Hall in March 2023. Sound qaulity reflects a live setting.  We talk about Sue's work and her new book, Design and Create Contemporary Tableware, which is co-authored by Linda Bloomfield. She has a wealth of experience lecturing, delivering design in both consultancy, production and in-house roles, to international and High Street retailers and restaurants including IKEA and Marks & Spencer and The Newt. She was awarded the Homes & Gardens Ceramic & Glass Designer Award in 2014 and was a judge on Season 3 of The Great Pottery Throwdown. In recent years, Sue has concentrated on studio production of her own ranges, selling these directly at trade and public specialist craft events. You can meet Sue Pryke at Craft Festival Bovey Tracey from June 9-11, 2023.  You can follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/craftfestival/ You can watch our films on You Tube You follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theoriginalcraftfestival You can follow Sue Pryke on Instagram @suepryke

Stacey Williams is Head of Business Development at world first anti-food waste app, Gander. A seasoned retailer who previously worked for Marks & Spencer and Morrisons developing, leading and supporting diverse teams at divisional, regional and store level, Stacey is experienced in planning and executing change programmes and has implemented multiple innovative solutions to optimise performance and drive-up business efficiency. He has been with Gander since February 2022. The world first anti food waste mobile app allows retailers to display reduced to clear (often yellow-stickered) food and drink, to consumers in real time. The tech, which integrates seamlessly with retailers' point of sale systems, displays reduced products on the app in front of a huge audience, essentially allowing retailers to increase revenue and footfall whilst helping to reduce food waste.

Special Guest: James Boller: Owner of PRPSFL The way we work today is broken, with low engagement, low productivity and high team turnover (and high stress for business owners and leaders). In this session, James will tell us the reason why he thinks work is broken and how to fix it. You will learn about Purpose, Values and how to build a successful Culture, making it easier for your organisation to attract, engage, motivate and keep the best people. The solution? Don't Be A Duck. James worked in market research for 10 years and customer experience for 10 years either side of completing an MBA. Throughout his career, James has used data to help brands to understand people, how they behave, and why. Over years of talking to brands like Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sony and VW, James came to understand a common factor in why great brands succeed: it's about being clear what you stand for and proving it every day in how you treat customers and employees. In other words, it's about building the right culture. James started his own business, PRPSFL, in 2019 to take his learnings to small business owners around the UK. He helps businesses to articulate what they stand for and build purposeful cultures around this. Join us as we discuss the reason why ‘work' is broken and how to fix it. Listen Live (Archive Available) Host: Andy Goram

In the first episode of 2023 of the All In Sustainable Business podcast, Chris, David, and Mark welcome strategic advisor, speaker, and commentator on sustainable business, Mike Barry. In his past life, Mike helped to develop, launch and implement Marks & Spencer's ground-breaking sustainability programme, Plan A (because there is no Plan B for the one world we have). The conversation checks in on where exactly we all are on the sustainability journey, and explores the main trends and themes of the sustainability agenda heading into 2023, including leadership challenges, geopolitical risks, the ESG revolution, and where we're at 7 years from when the SDGs and Paris Agreement benchmarks need to be fully implemented. They also highlight some new social enterprises making major impact in some very creative ways, including Mondra, Foodsteps, and HowGood. 

This week we get a remix, a death-trap-keybox update, Hayley joins the Marks & Spencer points programme and a man and a van company get a right kicking. 

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2023/01/12/marks-spencer-pilots-zyler-virtual-try-on-technology/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

Mick O'Connell reviews a Hautes Cotes de Beaune from Domaine Billard and Roisin Curley's Bourgogne Cote d'Or. Paul Lambert creates Christmas cocktails, including a Spiced Apple Jack and a non-alcoholic Christmas Punch. Brian Lloyd looks ahead to the best Christmas movies, including When Harry Met Sally and Indiana Jones. With thanks to Marks & Spencer.

Today's episode is all about the home! As listeners will know, I just recently moved house myself and am in the middle of a renovation, so today's guest could not be more perfectly appointed for ALL the tips and advice! Lucy Gough is an Australian born, London based Interior Stylist, world-renowned for her first-class creativity. Lucy has worked for titles including Living Etc, Homes and Gardens and Sunday Times Style and has styled shoots and catalogues for many well-known brands including John Lewis (yesss Lucy's been responsible for THOSE Christmas shoots!), Marks & Spencer, Heal's and Dulux. Lucy is also an online educator, having developed a thriving interiors styling school, with courses including ‘How to Style Your Home Like a Magazine', ‘How to Become a Professional Interior Stylist' and—fittingly for now—a ‘Christmas Styling Masterclass'. Lucy's courses have been featured by the BBC, Forbes, Elle Decoration and many others and have been taken by thousands of students to date! In this episode Lucy and I get into all things ‘home', from how to personalise a space and make it feel like your own, to how to get the best deals on second hand furniture, and tips for styling your home like a magazine. This is a fun in-depth conversation all about the home and I hope you'll love tuning in! If you're thinking of giving your home an update, you're moving or you just want some tips for how to style your space, this is the episode for you! Show Links @MonicaBeatrice MonicaBeatrice.com @Style_By_Lucy LucyGoughStylist.com Lucy's online styling courses—use code WOWTHIRTYPERCENT for 30% off the full portfolio Monica Mentions: Vagus breathing

Florence Pugh joins the show to talk about her latest film, The Wonder. Directed by Sebastián Lelio and based on Emma Donoghue's book by the same name, the film transports us to 1862, where English Nightingale Nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) has been called to the Irish Midlands by a devout community to conduct a 15-day examination over one of their own. Anna O'Donnell (Kíla Lord Cassidy) is an 11-year-old girl who claims not to have eaten for four months, surviving miraculously on “manna from heaven.” As Anna's health rapidly deteriorates, Lib is determined to unearth the truth, challenging the faith of a community that would prefer to stay believing.Pugh shares what fascinates her about playing women battling the societal constraints of their time period, highlights the collaborative relationship between herself and Lelio, and explains how the film's talented chefs made food which was supposed to appear unappealing on camera, surprisingly delicious. She also reveals the inspiration behind her popular video series, "Cooking With Flo," emphasizes the importance of being in control of her own career, and details her perfect day off -- which starts with a sandwich from Marks & Spencer and ends with a martini.

ABOUT GABRIELE CHIAVE:Gabriele's LinkedIN Profile: linkedin.com/in/gabriele-chiave-b1959022Bio:Gabriele Chiave knows no boundaries. As a lifelong observer of the world around him, Gabriele is driven by the comprehensive nature of design and a desire to ignite meaningful interaction between product and consumer. Born to diplomat parents in Metz in 1978, he has lived in France, Dakar, Caracas, Buenos Aires, Rome, Milano and now makes his home in Amsterdam. These diverse resident experiences enable him to bring a global perspective to design like no other.Gabriele studied at the European Institute of Design in Milan, Industrial Design Academy, French Lycée Chateaubriand in Rome, French Lycée Emile Zola in Buenos Aires, Argentina and French Lycée Collegio Francia in Caracas, Venezuela. He holds a Baccalaureat in Economics and Society. In addition to spending five years at Marc Sadler Studio / IS European Design Center, he won competitions for Emergency, Rotari, Epson, Toshiba and Pirelli, and worked with prestigious Italian brands such as Alessi (organization of 7 Workshops held by LPWK/Alessi), Dainese, Foscarini and Serralunga. These experiences helped Gabriele master the subtle nuances and delightful balance between form and function, industry and art, structure and experimentation. Gabriele's ‘design upbringing' was inspired by design masters Magistretti, Castiglioni, Branzi, Delucchi, Sotsass and Mari who made Italy the worldwide leader in industrial design. Gabriele exudes this foundation at Marcel Wanders, where he has worked since 2007. Evolving to become Creative Director, he now oversees all projects in product and interior design, and art direction for some of the most renowned international design brands such as Kartell, Poliform, Flos, Cappellini, B&B, Baccarat, KLM, Magis, MAC, Target, L&V, Alessi, Christofle, Marks&Spencer and many other international companies and hotels. Gabriele whole heartedly embraces the challenge of combining industry and the arts, blending Marcel's emotion with Italianindustrial tradition. His vision for the eclectic team at this ever-expanding creative hub is to freely make beauty and technical simplicity accessible to all in order to expand the human experience.************************************************************************************************************************************The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “dialogues on DATA: design architecture technology and the arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too. And remember you'll always find more information with links to content that we've discussed, contact information to our guests and more in the show notes for each episode.  ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com. ************************************************************************************************************************************The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too. And remember you'll always find more information with links to content that we've discussed, contact information to our guests and more in the show notes for each episode.  ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  

Esther McCarthy reviews The Lost King and Nothing Compares, while Jean Smullen explores two wines, with thanks to Marks & Spencer: 2021 Tommasi Le Fornaci Lugana 2021 MontRubí Black

Imagine shopping in two years from now for anything from your favourite nut milk to face cleanser and struggling to see products on the shelves housed in plastic packaging. Futuristic perhaps, but it may arrive in a store near you sooner than you think if pioneering entrepreneur Jo Chidley, the founder of sustainable, natural personal care brand Beauty Kitchen, has her way. Jo's latest venture ReRe, an amibitious return, refill, repeat scheme, is tackling the seemingly impossible by championing a far-reaching reuse revolution. Jo and co-founder Stuart Chidley set up ReRe not only to implement cradle-to-cradle design into Beauty Kitchen's own products, but also as the world's first closed-loop solution for packaging through its ground-breaking Re programme and refill stations. Already counting some of the UK's biggest retailers like Asda, Marks & Spencer and Holland & Barrett as participating partners, ReRe is on a mission to change the way brands create packaging and bottle goods, how retailers sell almost anything, and how consumers shop. Join Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier as she interviews Jo Chidley, a circular economy expert, chemist, herbal botanist, and co-founder of Beauty Kitchen, the highest scoring B Corp in the UK beauty industry. This episode shows just how the power of the collective – manufacturers, retailers and consumers – can drive a truly circular economy in packaging.

Omni-channel retail strategies in today's market need a shift from one size fits all adoption thought process. The Omni-channel landscape is about finding a custom fit for the customer and their experience. On Retail Corner Podcast today you will hear from Jack Stratten, Head of Trends, Insider Trends providing retailers effective tips on omni-channel strategies touching on following points: Beyond the buzzwords, what does omnichannel actually mean for the average retailer? Why does it matter? What are the key drivers of the change towards omnichannel? How are stores adapting towards omnichannel? What are some omnichannel quick wins and must-haves that retailers should know about? What impact is omnichannel having on retail KPIs? Where is omnichannel retail headed next? About Our Guest: Jack Stratten: Jack is an experienced trends speaker, writer and researcher who's worked with Insider Trends since its inception. His specialist topics cover all aspects of retail, from stores and supply chains to commerce and sustainability. He's continually been monitoring best practice in global retail at Insider Trends and his expertise lies in omnichannel strategy and innovation. Jack has delivered presentations, retail safaris and workshops to blue-chip brands including Nike, Johnson & Johnson, BNP Paribas, EE, Ikea, Shell, Aggregate Industries, Galeries Lafayette, Freeths, Marks & Spencer, Jaguar Land Rover, Costa Coffee, Diageo, Unibail Rodamco Westfield, Nespresso, Microsoft, The National Trust, Twilio and LVMH. Jack has also worked with the British Library to create and deliver trend seminars and presentations for business leaders. Jack has presented to a range of audiences, from seminars of 20 people, to events attended by thousands. He's also a skilled host and moderator. Clients appreciate how he blends a deep understanding of retail, innovation and business strategy with a relaxed, spontaneous and humorous style. About Retail Corner Podcast: Host: Carlos Diaz Listen to other podcasts at: https://retailcorner.live Subscribe our Podcast: Apple iTunes: https://apple.co/3eoeUdT Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3dvjpDJ Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/3DFHXHw Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/3tkbhk1 Interested in being on our podcast? Submit request at: https://www.retailcorner.live/guests/intake/ or email podcast@retailcorner.live

It's time to Celebrate! But before the lads look back to Anaheim and forward to London, there's a round-up of Obi-Wan Kenobi on t'telly - is it any good? What did we like? What wasn't so great? And with that, it's time for a deep dive into Star Wars Celebrations. Jason and Chris tell all about highlights and hi-jinks in Anaheim, we look back at the announcements, the panels, the guests, and the Collecting Track, as well as interviews with other intrepid Brits who made the long trek to California. Rounding up the regular features, the boys delve into their recent purchases, delight in the Action Figure Face-Off, debate Richard's dodgy quiz questions, and discover some exciting new acquisitions from the wonderful World Wide Web. Rebel Briefings sees the lads discuss how Star Wars is helping one little boy recover from the horrors of conflict, look at the upcoming Retro Collection figures from the Obi-Wan series, and uncover more treasures in the latest PropStore extravaganza. No interview this month, as the lads look forward to Celebrating once again in London next year with the worldwide Star Wars community. What's there to look forward to? We'll give you a full rundown. The show wraps up with a licensee section on Marks & Spencer. Didn't they only produce one vintage item? Surely Pete and Preston can't talk for more than 5 minutes on this one ... can they? Catch up with all your favourite TVR fun and frivolity in all the usual podcast places. https://youtu.be/VXw73uCixZM

Kevin Tewis-AllenKevin started his award-winning career at 15 in the music industry, working for 80'S supergroup, Five Star at their Sunningdale mansion as their in-house photographer. At 19, Kevin created the iconic Winston the Churchill bulldog before shooting to fame as a record producer/DJ, selling over 20 million records, 13 no.1's and BBC Radio Producer of the decade 1990-2000 producing music for Beyonce, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo, Akon, Lionel Richie, Phil Collins and Usher.In 2008, Kevin swapped his music and live entertainment career for the corporate world. Kevin ran many notable profitable AIM, Series-A start-ups'9 X award winning creative agency, called Wonderful was the first strategist and entertainment director at UNILAD (Facebook's no.1 online publisher, now part of LadBible), clients included Group M, Omnicom, MediaCom, Freuds, Evian, Fifa, EA Games, Paddy Power, Poker Stars, Pride, The Diana Award, and the FA.Kevin was the most senior VP of UNIDAYS (London/NYC) helping global brands reposition their sales and marketing to Gen-Z audiences through more relevant and relatable content and campaigns. Clients included Samsung, NFL, MTV, Live Nation, Nike, Adidas, Vans, Missguided, BooHoo, Pretty little thing to name a few.In 2021 Kevin became Managing Director of Cherryduck, a leading video production company, postproduction house and TV studio's, creating branded content, live streaming, TV commercials and original short, medium and long form content. Kevin won best social media campaign for the Olympics and the no.1 Diversity award with GSK. Clients include The Olympics, Northface, Marks & Spencer, ASOS, New Look, TUI, Clinique, Disney and SKY.In 2022 Kevin has joined Ecoflix a non-for-profit platform, to create the world's first creative, video production media division, where all of the profits go to saving animals and the planet. – Kevin has been recognized as a top 10 CMO by Era Magazine for (2021) – Kevin is also a marketing advisor to 10 Downing Street (2013 on-going)– CMO of the Street Soccer Foundation (2018 on going)– NED at Alpha Talent Management (2021 on going)– Advisor for the Chartered Institute of Marketing (2012 on going)https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevintewis/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/kevin-tewis-allen-brilliance-business-mark-stephen-pooler

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor NumbersIf you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this episode.Competition ends April 29th 2022. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/https://twitter.com/SLTHeritagehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-lynes-timbrell Sandra Lynes Timbrell has worked in the cultural sector for 20 years, holding senior roles at some of the UK's most recognisable sites, including Shakespeare's Globe and English Heritage properties. She is Director of Visitor Engagement at St Paul's Cathedral, where she leads several teams including commercial, visitor experience, security, collections and marketing. She is responsible for creating and delivering operational models that enable attractions to be financially secure whilst simultaneously creating a welcoming environment for visitors.Sandra has mentored young people starting out in the heritage industry, and delivered numerous talks and training sessions for Museum & Heritage Show; Women in Leadership and SOLT; the leading membership organization for the performing arts in the UK. She holds an MA in Heritage Management.  Transcription: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host Kelly Molson. In today's episode I speak with Sandra Lynes Timbrell, Director of Visitor Experience at St. Paul's Cathedral.Sandra shares an emotional recollection of starting a new role right at the start of the 2020 lockdown. And we discuss the unique perspective of St. Paul's as a place of worship, and also a tourist attraction. If you like what you hear, subscribe on all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue.Kelly Molson: Sandra, it is so lovely to have you on the podcast today. Thank you for coming on.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Thanks for having me. I'm been a bit of a fan, so I'm quite chuffed to be here to be honest. Kelly Molson: Oh, I love it when fans come on the podcast. I have to say you look super fabulous today as well.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Oh, thank you very much.Kelly Molson: As a fair, we're going to start with our icebreaker questions. So I want to know because this has happened to me. Have you ever met anyone famous and lost your mind a tiny little bit?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yes. There's been a couple of people and there was an international incident with Barack Obama, which is a whole other podcast subject.Kelly Molson: Oh.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: But I suppose Michael Palin was my big one. Because I think he's amazing. I love Monty Python. And I had a bit of thing for him when he was younger. Obviously not now, he's a bit older. And I met him a couple. I met him at this book launch and I queued up during a lunch break to go and see him. And just got there and then just stood there and he was saying, "Hello, how are you? Thanks for coming.". And I just went, "Thanks".Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And then I met him again and he asked again how I was and just said something really stupid. I'm getting married. And he said, "Oh, that's lovely. Thank you.".Kelly Molson: But that is lovely.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: It is, but then I saw him again at another event, I thought I can't go anywhere near him because [inaudible 00:01:55].Kelly Molson: He would be, oh look, there comes that crazy lady again. Let's not go [crosstalk 00:02:01] next time.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Exactly.Kelly Molson: Oh, I love that. Thank you for sharing.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: But I have to say working at the Globe, I met lots of famous people. And I have a really bad... I'm really good with faces and terrible with names. So I used to meet lots of really famous people and then just say, "Oh hi, how are you?" And then realise they were Gemma Artetan.Kelly Molson: I've done this on a train before. Because I'm good with faces too. And I always think maybe I went to school with them or something.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah.Kelly Molson: I know them from the past. No, just the tele. Amazing. Thank you. Okay. If you could travel back in time, what period would you go to and why?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: That's tough because I love history. I'd be like Dr. Who's TARDIS, just doting all over the place. Wow, I don't know. Okay, let's think about this. I'd love to be around the Tudor Court. I think that would be really exciting. I'd love to go to the Restoration of Charles II. Because I always imagine that was like a carry-on film.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Because I think if you look at a picture of Charles II, he looks like St. James. So I almost imagine that after the austerity of the Puritan Commonwealth, there would suddenly be this almost Dorothy emerging into Oz and everyone was just having a really good time. So I think the Restoration Court would be exciting.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And I'll tell you where else actually, my Nana used to talk about The Blitz. She had quite a good time. She was in her late teens, early '20s. And obviously, it must have been difficult for her, but she had a good time going dancing with GIs and she was in Trafalgar Square on VE day. So something like that maybe, joining my Nana for a night out during the war.Kelly Molson: Oh that's nice, isn't it? Love that.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: There you go.Kelly Molson: Good. Thank you. Okay. And what is the worst job that you've ever had?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Oh gosh. Without a doubt, it has to have been, it was way back when, when I was trying to get into museums, and I worked for an audio guide company who shall remain nameless. But I had to spend a week and a half stuffing envelopes for them. And it was proper 9:00 till 5:00, just stuffing envelopes. They were just launching their audio guide for the Bilbao Museum in Spain.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And it was just soulless because I just sat in this room and no one came to talk to me. And I just stuffed envelopes for a week and a half. And I thought, is this what museums are about?Kelly Molson: Oh, yes. It's not the greatest first experience, is it?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Not brilliant, no.Kelly Molson: Okay. Well, things have moved on quite well since then, shall we say? All right. What is your unpopular opinion? And then you can tell us all about your background.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Oh, my unpopular opinion. You're going to get letters about this. I'm really sorry. I don't understand why The Great British Bake Off is so popular.Kelly Molson: I'm with you. No, it's OK. I'm with you.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Oh, really?Kelly Molson: Yes, it's all right. Oh God, me neither.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Watch the complaints rolling in.Kelly Molson: Oh, God. They're going to come, aren't they?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: They are. It's just, I don't get watching people bake cakes. I've tried watching it. It just doesn't make any sense. And then I don't understand why people want to enter the competition to make these big elaborate cakes when you could just go to the cake shop and buy one.Kelly Molson: I totally agree.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Anyone else who does. And I always feel I'm saying something really awful when I say I don't like-Kelly Molson: I do think it was better when it was first one. When it was a bit of a novelty and I did watch a few episodes then. But I still didn't really... I didn't love it. I didn't get into it. I know people who have bake off parties and stuff.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah.Kelly Molson: They'll bake cakes, especially for bake off week. And I'm just...Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Well people say, oh, you know it's whatever week this week. I was, I'm going to go to Marks & Spencer and I'm going to buy some ready made cakes and...Kelly Molson: And I am all about convenience.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yes.Kelly Molson: Time. And your valuable time that you need to spend on other things.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And I'd just be stressed.Kelly Molson: We're going to get on Sandra.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: We are.Kelly Molson: We're going to get on. Well, this all started with a little rubber, didn't it? Rubber collection? So here was my little...Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Pretty nice.Kelly Molson: St. Paul's Cathedral rainbow rubber. Look at that. Amazing. Now, this was from my 35-year-old rubber collection. And for our American people that are listening, I'm talking about erasers, novelty erasers.Kelly Molson: But eight year old me used to have a big old collection. And every time I went to a different attraction, I would pick up a rubber. So we have one here from Fourty Hall in Enfield, which is my local place I used to go to, the National Gallery. And I just found all of these in my mum's loft a couple of months ago. I decided I was going to get all of the people that could come on the podcast and the attractions. And you're my first one, Sandra. I'm really pleased.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yay.Kelly Molson: So tell us a little bit about your background?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So I did a Degree in Ancient History and Archeology because I thought I was going to be Indiana Jones and I was going to find treasure. And then I spent a lot of time in some very wet trenches just outside of Manchester and realised it probably wasn't quite as glamorous as I thought it was going to be.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And I really wanted to go into curatorial. I didn't really quite know what. And for various reasons I ended up, just after I finished my degree, volunteering at the Verulamium Museum in St. Albans. And I originally went to help the curatorial team. They were closing for renovations. So I originally to help the curatorial team to pack up the exhibitions and items.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: But as time went on, I was there for a few weeks, and it gradually got, so could you help an education team? Could you help the front of house team? Could you help with the group book? All those things were happening. And I remember as the placement was coming to an end, I sat down with the Museum Director and I said, “You know what I've really enjoyed the most, is the variety”. And he said, "Ah, you're an operations person".Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And this light bulb went off because I never knew. And I think that's part of a bigger conversation. I never knew there was such a thing as operations. You get taught about the curatorial side, the conservation side, maybe the education side, but no one really talks about the day-to-day running, the operational stuff.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So I then went off and did a Master's Degree in Heritage Management. And at the end of that was really fortunate, I got a job in English Heritage up at Kenwood House. And I stayed in English Heritage for seven years. I cut my teeth there. I had a really good time there. It was hard work, but it was fun work. And we were all learning and moving at the same pace.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So, I was there for seven years, by the end of it I was Head of Visitor Operations for South London. So I had five beautiful historic properties and public parks and gardens. I moved on to a Heritage Lottery Fund Project Management. And then from there, I went off to the Museum of London as Deputy Head of Visitor of Operations. And that was just before London 2012.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So the whole lens, the focus of the world was on London. It was such a wonderful museum to be at. And again, they were just opening the Galleries of Modern London there. So we have this amazing new team, this amazing new gallery. We were looking at fresh ways to engage our visitors, looking at fresh commercial ideas and again, a really exciting time to be part of the museum. And that place will always hold a really special place in my heart.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And then moved on from there two Shakespeare's Globe, where I set up the Visitor Experience Department. I went there as Head of Visitor Experience and seven years later left as Director. And the Globe had grown quite organically. It started as a theatre and someone thought we'd better have a box office. And someone else thought, well, we'd better have a shop for people to buy things. And we should have some levies. Be very organic. And no one has ever really been the champion of the visitor. So I came along to knit all of those operational teams together.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And so I got the role at St. Paul's and the idea was to leave the Globe on the 20th of March 2020 and had a nice week off, go to a couple of exhibitions, spend some time with friends and a little boy. And then start this fantastic new job at St. Paul's on the 30th of March 2020.Kelly Molson: Wow.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Wow.Kelly Molson: So, where do we start? Because that's a pretty spectacular time to start a new job. And that must have been quite challenging just to say the very least.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Can you take us back to then, can you share with us what it was like for you? Because I can only imagine what you were thinking.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah, it was the best of times and the worst of times to quote "Tale of Two Cities". As I was leaving there was this... I'll go back a bit further, but there was this infamous now I think, meeting with the VE forum. I know you've done a podcast on the VE Forum before. There was this infamous meeting at which a load of us were at Central London attractions and Bernard Donoghue came in and we'd all been watching the news. It must have been mid-late February and Bernard Donoghue came in, and there was this thing happening in China.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And he started talking about the impact that was beginning to have in new Europe and also on hotel bookings in the UK. And as he was talking and he said, the words, are paraphrased, but it was along the lines of this will have a bigger impact or as big an impact as the second world war had.Kelly Molson: Wow.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And there was this palpable intake, audible intake of breath across the room. Because I think until that point no one had ever realised just what this was going to be. And at the Globe we talked about, we might have to stop a show or not have a show.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And I remember I went back, I went to St. Paul's on my way back home. And I presented this to a couple of the team that I'd already met and said, look, this is what Bernard's saying. And, okay, well, we'll probably need to think about if we can't do a service or if we have to close for a day or so. And I went back to the Globe and we were having the same conversation. Well, maybe it'll be a couple of days that we might have to close for.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And then gradually, just as time went on and you just see these horrendous news reports and things creeping up, we started to have these bigger meetings. The senior leadership team meetings I was having just about financials, where we were, what the impact of this was going to be, how we were going to manage. It was before things like furlough and all the grants that were there. It was this really stark reality that this was massive. Something was about to happen. And we're all about to fall off the edge of the cliff. And no one knew if there was going to be a net there for us, no one knew what was going to happen next.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And that last week I was meant to leave the Globe. I was meant to have the leave due on the Friday. I just remember from the Tuesday onwards people saying, I'm really sorry, I'm not coming in for the rest of the week, I was getting these emails. Until by I think the Wednesday or the Thursday that I left, there were four of us in and I had this moment, even though I'd been there seven years and it was just, well, thanks very much, take your stuff and we'll see you when we see you.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And I remember phoning St. Paul's and if you know the geography, the Globe is just across the river from St. Paul's. Phoning up and saying, can I bring some things across? And the response was, there's no one there, we've all gone. We've closed. So I had that week where I think I had coronavirus, but I was very, very sick. I don't know. But I couldn't move out of my bed for the week.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And then I started on the 30th of March. And day one is usually here's the photocopier, here's your colleagues, here's where to get a coffee. Day one was, we are going into a restructure. What do you want your department to look like? And I hadn't spent any time with my team.Kelly Molson: Wow.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: I'd had one coffee with a couple of them. I knew nothing about the operations and yet I'm standing there or sitting there at my kitchen table of it, having to make decisions that are going to impact people's lives, people's livelihoods.Kelly Molson: I know. I'm breathing out, because I feel quite anxious, even just hearing you say that. But I can't imagine how... I can imagine how unbelievably stressful that situation would you've been. And how awful, you don't know these people, you haven't worked with them. How do you even start to look at that?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: With difficulty and with a lot of trust. And I think the other thing just to throw into the mix, that my full-time job they then terminated my contract and gave me a contract for two days a week. So I was also looking at, I might not have a job by the end of this. And looking really coldly at what those... I was almost looking at it as a consultant in a way, that I'm not really part of this organisation. But I'm just going to have to look at this really objectively.Kelly Molson: Yeah.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And see what I think. Because otherwise I was just... And it was almost a good thing that I wasn't at the Globe and then getting tangled up in the emotion of that. And I don't want this to sound cold, but it was almost better that I didn't know people, because I was talking about job titles and job roles rather than people.Kelly Molson: Yes.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Names. But having said that, it was really bloody tough and it was this huge weight, that I felt of responsibility about what I was doing and what I was shaping. But I had to put the trust in the team that were around me, who I have to say, have been and were absolutely brilliant. I didn't get one person saying, what are you doing here? I didn't get one person... Everyone was there supporting me and saying, if you need anything, this is my phone number, give me a ring, let's talk it through.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So we lost 25% of the workforce, which was huge. But I had to trust that when my teams were telling me that I needed this amount of expertise to keep the Cathedral floor open, that's what they needed. I do remember sitting in several meetings. I had this PDF map that I picked up when I was doing the recce for the role, next to me. Because we were going into the granular detail of where these people would be and how that would affect the experience, whatever that experience may be.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And they were talking north transit. I was, hang on a second, north, where's that, north? And I'd look up, and the conversation moved on. I was thinking, I don't know what they're talking... I'd have to keep stopping and saying, where is that? What do you mean? So I had to trust that they were telling me the right things. And for them, they had to trust me. And there was a lot of patience. As I say a huge amount of patience for me, to pick those things up, which in an ideal world I would've done gradually over a period of time.Kelly Molson: Yeah. I guess it's such a difficult situation. Because like you said, I think the way that you approached it from a consultative perspective, I think that's brilliant. That's the only way that you could have done it, isn't it? To try and take the emotion out of what was happening.Kelly Molson: But I think that must have been really difficult for you as a leader, because you are in a position of leadership at that point and people are looking to you.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Regardless of how long you've been in that role, they're looking for you to tell them what they need to do or what's going to happen. And that must have been such a weight on your shoulders.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: It was a huge weight. And as I say, I was only there two days a week. So I chose Mondays and Thursdays because they were when the senior leadership team were meeting. So I'd be from 9:00 in the morning Monday back-to-back Zooms trying to get to know people, trying to work out what the impact of saying yes to this and no to that was. Trying to get under the skin of the finances, the operations.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And then I'd be off Tuesday, Wednesday, and I'd be looking after my little boy and doing all the other things. And then Thursday would come along and I'd have a million emails, and people, I'm really sorry we changed that decision and you weren't part of that. And I'm really sorry you weren't part of that.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So as a leader, I felt constantly on the back foot and I felt, I always want to have the answers or if I don't have the answers, I want to say to my team, I'm going to find a way to give you the answers. I'm going to get back to you on that. And what was so difficult was not being able to do that. We were reacting, and it's not just some rules, it was across the organisation. We were reacting constantly to other people's decisions.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And one of the things I had to say, and I've spoken to other people. And I know I'm not the only one who has said this. There was a certain point where Boris was doing those super helpful press conferences at 5:00 every day. And there was a certain point where we had to shut down the idea that Boris gave us all a call just before he went on the TV to say what he was going to talk about. It was, we are getting this information at the same time as you at 5:00 at night when we are also exhausted from being on back-to-back Zoom calls all day.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And then we are having to react to what we are being told. And in some instances it was, well, this will be happening in two weeks' time. In other instances, this is happening tomorrow. So we then had to make very quick decisions off of the back of that. And working so reactively, firefighting in a way, it's so tough because you don't have that stepping back, that evaluation, what worked well, what didn't work well, how could we do it better next time? It's just, we're just going to have to go with this and keep going with this.Kelly Molson: And it's exhausting, isn't it? And that reactive nature was like you say absolutely accurate for people because you all Zoomed out and then you'll have to make really strategic decisions based on information that's just been thrown at you that might suddenly come into act the next day. And so then those days get longer and longer and longer.Kelly Molson: From all of that, looking back though, what do you think are your biggest learnings that you took away from the situation?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: I think two. The first one was, to be honest. And the idea of honesty that I talked about, saying to the team I don't have the answers. I don't know. Making really clear that we were all... What's the phrase that you're all in the same boat and it might be... Well, we're not, it's the same storm, but different boats.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: But the idea that we were all going through this in some way, shape or form together. And that there weren't answers, there wasn't a usual, this is our five year plan. And this is how we're going to get there. It was just... It goes back to the idea of trust. But being honest, we were doing our best and we didn't know, but we were trying to find out the answers or trying to do as much as we could to make it easier for the team.Kelly Molson: Yeah.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And I think the other thing I've learned, and I keep telling myself this, is to be kind to myself. Because I started the first day of my job on the 30th of March, a week into lockdown. And I had to keep reminding myself that I didn't know. I wasn't expecting to know. And I've been there, it's coming up on two years. But I say to everybody, it feels like six months.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: This is the first time that I've seen any kind of normal cycle to the Cathedral. That I've been in any kind of normal planning meetings, that we've been talking about the next five years, as opposed to the next five minutes, the next five days.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So I sometimes feel a bit fraud. I sat in a meeting the other day and I said, I'm really sorry, I don't know anything about this. And someone said you've been here two years. But this is the first time I've had this discussion. This is the first time this has ever been told to me as an operations manager. And it's just reinforcing that. And as I say, being kind to myself that I shouldn't have expected that I would have all of the answers. Because we were all navigating this pandemic together. None of us had been through it before, so why should I know what to do?Kelly Molson: Yeah. It's really interesting. And I don't think we're all kind enough to ourselves.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: I don't think so.Kelly Molson: On a day-to-day basis anyway, let alone when there's a global pandemic, how can we...Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Exactly.Kelly Molson: I had a really similar chat to my team a little while ago about how me and my co-founder suddenly had to understand how to run a business in a completely different way. We'd never done... We had one team member that worked virtually for us or worked remotely for us.Kelly Molson: But we suddenly had to understand how we were going to run our whole business completely differently than we had before, at a time where we weren't sure if we were ever going to win any more business ever again, or if clients were going to stay with us. We just didn't have a clue what was going on. But everybody was looking to us to tell them what was going to happen. And we were just, "I have no idea".Sandra Lynes Timbrell: That's the assumption, you were digital. You were going to come save the world, weren't you?Kelly Molson: Apparently so, yeah. And touch wood, things were okay and we got through it. But we still didn't really have a clue. It was all just guesswork. And like you, we were reacting on information that we were hearing on the tele and going, okay, oh, we can do that now, then. Okay. Well we better do that. I'll ring up HMRC. I'll ring up the VAT office. We'll just put everything on pause. Absolute chaos. But now we're in a very, very different place. Incredible to think how far we've come.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: I think if anyone had said you'll still be here in two years time, I think we all would have just thrown ourselves in the Thames, wouldn't we? But hey, we are where we are in this.Kelly Molson: Well, I'm just glad I get to go back into London and see the Thames. That's exciting.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yay. Of course, yeah.Kelly Molson: So I do want to talk to you about a very unique challenge that you have. And I think what's really interesting, obviously we all know St. Paul's, I've such fond memories of St. Paul's. I think we spoke about this when we had a pre-interview chat. It's one of my dad's favourite buildings and it is absolutely stunning. I have such good memories of visiting it with him as a child and going up to the Whispering Gallery.Kelly Molson: I can remember having a... My rubber is not the only thing that I have from St. Paul's Cathedral. We had a beautiful puzzle. We used to do puzzles. That's a lockdown thing, isn't it? But it was of the dome of the Whispering Gallery, the beautiful pattern. A lot of people see it as a tourist attraction, which it is, but first and foremost, it's a place of worship.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah.Kelly Molson: And so I'm intrigued just to understand how you get that visitor experience right. For two audiences that are coming for very, very different reasons.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah.Kelly Molson: One to worship, one to look at the architecture, for example.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: The sightseeing. Yeah. And it is a really fine balance that we have to strike. I think the thing that we have to think about, is I come from a very commercial angle about, if we keep the building open then we allow worship to happen. And that's a really stark way of looking at things.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And I have some clerical colleagues who come from the other angle, which is this building is just here to worship. And we have to be very careful about what we do in order to raise the money. I think the first thing that we all sign up to is that we are respectful of other people's opinions and other people's beliefs and other people's needs.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So there is a chapel that you can go into. So to come to worship, to come to pray, that will always be free at St. Paul's. And there's a chapel that you can come into and set aside for private prayer. And you just announce yourself and you can go straight through into there and you can pray. Or you can come along to one of the Eucharists or you can come along to one of the bigger services. And you are there for free. There is no assumption that you would pay any money.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: However, what we do find is that worship and tourism aren't mutually exclusive. And that's something that the Dean and certainly the more pastoral colleagues I have, are really keen to point out, that you don't simply have to just be a tourist. You don't simply have to just be here to worship. You can come and worship and think, look at that amazing architecture. You can come as a tourist and think actually that's a really beautiful service. Or I'd like to listen to the words that's being said.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And as someone who isn't particularly religious, when you step into the space, you can appreciate the spirituality and the mindfulness of the building. It is an absolutely beautiful building. And there is a sense of still and calm when you go through. I think it's a lot in many churches I've been through, a sense of still and calm. That you don't have to be there specifically to worship to appreciate that you are in a place that is absolutely stunning and absolutely beautiful.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And I've seen some really amazing services. Some of the Christmas, we have the Consecration of Bishops. And they're absolutely joyous. And it's just amazing to see people just really enjoying being there and using the space, what it was intended for.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So the way that we look at things and the way that we market is that it's about the building. Yes, it's a place of faith, but it's also a place that's been at the heart of London, the heart of our nation for over 1000 years, not the same building. Building in that place. It's been there for over 1000s of years. And so it's part of our lives. It's part of our collective memories of things like Charles and Diana's weddings, or the Jubilee celebrations that we've got coming up.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So when we are looking to market the church, we talk about it being alive with stories, we talk about the hidden cathedral. So those places that you don't usually get to see on the tourist trail, that actually might also appeal to people who are worshippers as well. But there is a challenge, as a working church we stop for Eucharist at 12:30 every day, we stop for prayers on the hour, every hour.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: We have some big services, for example, the Consecration of the Bishops, which is not ticketed to the public, it's ticketed to the Bishops who are being consecrated. So we have to be closed to the public. So we have those challenges of how to work around that. We can't just simply say that we're open.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: The website has got some very complicated, but not at this time, messaging there. But actually again, that's part of the beauty of it. Why are we closed? This is why we're closed. This is what we're doing. This is what we're celebrating. So I find it's a challenge, but it's not as big a challenge I think, as you would expect.Kelly Molson: Does it bring any advantages or disadvantages with that as well? I guess that's really what we've spoken about in terms of the disadvantage of closing, and how can you explain why you're closed for certain things.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: I think the advantages are learning about why it's there. Learning about what St. Paul's is. And you can get married there. People get married there, people have their children baptised there. So when people find that out, oh, that's really interesting, how do I do that? So again, it's just opening up and unlocking those stories that I talked about. Unlocking the building for people.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: I suppose another challenge is that we can't be... This is a nation's church, we are the place where the Queen comes to worship. So what we can't do is we can't be provocative. We can't be aggressively commercial. We have to respect that this ultimately is a church. This ultimately is a place of worship. But the understanding also is there that we need to be commercial in some way, shape or form. It cost eight million pounds to keep St. Paul's Cathedral open.Kelly Molson: Wow.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Every year.Kelly Molson: Gosh.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So we need to raise that money. So when I'm talking about driving visitor numbers up, when I'm talking about driving income, it's not the detriment of the core values of what St. Paul's Cathedral is, that value of faith comes first.Kelly Molson: Yeah. And it's like you say, it goes back to that. It's a very fine line, isn't it? To try and keep everybody happy and everyone considered in those circumstances.Kelly Molson: Look into the future. Because we're all about future and positivity now. You've got the Platinum Jubilee Exhibition.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Opening the 25th of May.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: 25th of May, that is right. So it's all about all of the Jubilee celebrations that we've had at St. Paul's. So there are four of them, which are celebrating George III, Victoria, Edward, and the Queen herself, who will be having, it's her fourth celebration.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And I was in a really exciting multi-agency Jubilee meeting the other day for the actual service. So that was lovely again, to be part of, seeing St. Paul's opening up again and being part of these bigger services. But come along, it's going to be great.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So as part of HRL funding, which was when we were in lockdown, I got an audience development plan and pull together. And what we found was before the lockdown, almost 90% of our audience were international tourists and the remainder were domestics, but the reason the domestic market weren't coming were broadly because a bit like you, came with your dad when you were at school, you went up to the Whispering Gallery. What's the reason for coming again?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So part of my engagement strategy is trying to put things into place, which encourage people to come back to St. Paul's and think of it a bit more of a return visit. So we've got kids go free happening this half term, we've got the Jubilee Exhibition going in this year, which runs on the 25th of May all the way through, hopefully into about Christmas. And then we're looking ahead to Wren 300 next year, which is going to be huge. That's the 300 anniversary of Wren's death.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So again, trying to think of some events that we can do on the cathedral floor, we've got our Summer Lates Program, which I'm in talks with a brilliant, a company to do partnership with some events with us. And maybe it's something a little bit more unexpected on the cathedral floor, but all bring it back to the idea of mindfulness about where we are. And we can't be too provocative. We can't be aggressively commercial. But actually, let's look at St. Paul's in a different way. Let's look at the architecture. Let's take our inspiration from the mosaics, from all the other wonderful things that we have there.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: So we are really looking forward to the Jubilee. It's massive for us and everyone's super-excited. Our guides doing guided tours, pulling those together. We've got our VA teams, are bringing some objects down to the cathedral floor for people to... Part of our handling collection. It's really something we're all pulling together for. I think after the past couple of years, this is just the joy that we need.Kelly Molson: Oh, yeah. It feels like a big celebration.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah, it does.Kelly Molson: It feels like it's really well-timed, isn't it? The Jubilee, and it happening. I feel it's going to bring everyone back together again.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: It will.Kelly Molson: I love the idea of the Lates. I'm very excited and intrigued to find out what's happening there. But you are right, it's been difficult, isn't it? For attractions that are predominantly international tourists that come. That must have been really difficult for you. And I think it's wonderful that you've now got this program where you are encouraging people to come back. I'm definitely going to come back and-Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Brilliant.Kelly Molson: And come and see the exhibition. I'm really excited to come and see that. And I'm going to bring my daughter.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yay.Kelly Molson: For the first time. It'll be her first trip to London.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Really exciting.Kelly Molson: Yeah. I just think it is one of those places that you do go to as a child and there needs to be that continuation of why you should come back. So very excited to see.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: We just need to... As I say, we're obviously restricted with many... We don't have an outside space really. We can't just put exhibitions anywhere. We can't be as reactive as some can. We do what we can.Kelly Molson: And do it beautifully as well.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Oh, thank you.Kelly Molson: So I always ask our guests about a book that they love.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Yeah.Kelly Molson: Now it can be something that you love. It can be something that's inspired you in your career. It can something that you love personally. What have you got to share with us today?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: I found this really tough, because I read all the time. And so choosing one book, I can't do that. So I came up with a couple and then I had to pair it down. So I've got the Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which is absolutely brilliant. And then anything by David Mitchell. But I decided that the one I would tell people they had to read and if they could win it, they should, was Life after Life by Kate Atkinson.Kelly Molson: Oh, okay. I have not read this book. No.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: It's a story of a girl Ursula, who is born in 1910 and it's the multitude of lives that she goes through. So every chapter she has a different life. And the first chapter she isn't born and it goes all the way through, it goes through two world wars, where things happen to her or don't happen to her.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: And she begins to have this memory of what her life was. And she takes herself out of certain situations. And I just love it because it's this idea of... It's almost if you take that turn, that doesn't happen, but something else happens. And Kate Atkinson writes absolutely beautifully. So it's a really lovely book to read, just to think about, maybe if I'd opened that door I would've been over here, but here I am.Kelly Molson: Oh, I like that. It's got arching back a little bit to our little time-traveling question there at the beginning as well, isn't it?Sandra Lynes Timbrell: It is a bit, isn't it? I told you.Kelly Molson: A little trick to travel through history. Well, as ever listeners, if you want to win Sandra's book, if you go over to our literature account and you retweet this podcast announcement with the words "I want Sandra's book", then you will be in with a chance of winning it.Kelly Molson: It's been so lovely to have you on today. Thank you for sharing what I can imagine. And I felt it while you were talking, a very emotional and very challenging time. And so I'm very grateful that you were open to sharing that with us today, but I'm really excited about what's coming next with St. Paul's. And I think that there's lots of good things to be really, really positive about. And I'm looking forward to coming to see them.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Oh, looking forward to seeing you, it's going to be an exciting summer. We saw some international tourists yesterday, so it's all going to be okay.Kelly Molson: They're back.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: They're back.Kelly Molson: The world is open.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: It's all right.Kelly Molson: Brilliant. Thanks so much, Sandra.Sandra Lynes Timbrell: Thanks so much, Kelly.Kelly Molson: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website rubbercheese.com/podcast.

Two major brands discuss innovation, digital, delivery and retail. We hear from Ali Holmes, Senior Ecommerce Director at Pepsico Europe, and Megan Ludlow, Innovation Partnership at Marks & Spencer. We mentioned that Ali had featured on the cover of InternetRetailing Magazine back in 2012 and you can see that edition here: https://internetretailing.net/magazine/internetretailing---july-2012-volume-6-issue-5 All of our podcasts now have a full transcript and notes available - check out the episode page on https://internetretailing.net/retailcraft-retail-podcasts/retailcraft-retail-podcasts Run time: 53 minutes INFORMATION: Ali Holmes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliholmes/  Megan Ludlow: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-ludlow/  Jamie Merrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiemerrick/  Ian Jindal: www.linkedin.com/in/ianjindal/  and www.twitter.com/ianjindal    Recorded and engineered at Spiritland Studios, UK. Episode photo credit: Ian Jindal (https://www.instagram.com/ianjindal ) 

Steve Neat, the VP EMEA of a large US data management company called Alation, joins me in a conversation about Data Intelligence. IDC recently coined the term to mean a system that delivers trustworthy, reliable data. It's also helping companies like Vattenfall, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, and more build thriving data-driven cultures.    We discuss how Alation started life as a data catalog company and how brands like Vattenfall and M&S have used data intelligence to build a real-time glossary and ensure that all of their users have a common understanding of critical business terms. I learn how this ability to better understand and trust data across an organization leads to creating communities around data where people can reach out to each other and share information.

To be awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by the queen herself for doing something you love is a dream come true. This is what happens to Jenifer when she receives OBE in 1989 for services to the fashion industry.  In this episode, Adam Stott speaks with Jenifer Rosenberg OBE about her career journey from Marks & Spencer's post room to owning a ladieswear manufacturing business, becoming a successful businesswoman, and building charity to make her husband's dream become a reality. Jennifer Rosenberg OBE is the Chair Founder and Managing Director of J&J Fashions, Britain's largest privately-owned ladieswear manufacturer supplying Marks and Spencer, employing 3,000 people with 12 factories throughout the UK. She is also Chair and Trustee of the Heart Cells Foundation, which was founded in 2004 and raised £6 million to fund three gold trials and open a stem cell center at Barts Hospital to enable patients across the UK with heart disease to receive treatment.

To kick off Season 3 of the Leading Analytics Podcast, I sit down with Callum Staff who leads food analytics at the global retail brand Marks & Spencer based in London.  Sitting beneath the in-store customer experience and the rich product offerings, sits a growing analytics capability crucial to growing the enterprise in the future.  Callum also mentions a few must read book titles that you won't want to miss.

Colin Hunter is the author of Be More Wrong,  he's a mentor, entrepreneur and coach and the CEO of Potential Squared. Colin shares an intimate journey of how his career developed and led to the work he does now. We can learn some great lessons in this weeks' show including: Why being more wrong helps us unlock great learning. How creating “virtual playgrounds” can provide the perfect environment for development. Colin's three enablers of leadership: Purpose/Identity & Presence. A new take on leaderships styles. Join our Tribe at https://leadership-hacker.com Music: " Upbeat Party " by Scott Holmes courtesy of the Free Music Archive FMA   Transcript: Thanks to Jermaine Pinto at JRP Transcribing for being our Partner. Contact Jermaine via LinkedIn or via his site JRP Transcribing Services   Find out more about Colin below: Colin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinhunter Colin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bemorewrong Potential Squared Website: https://www.potential2.com Be More Wrong (Book) https://info.potential2.com/en-us/bemorewrong   Full Transcript Below ----more---- Steve Rush: Some call me Steve, dad, husband or friend. Others might call me boss, coach or mentor. Today you can call me The Leadership Hacker.   Thanks for listening in. I really appreciate it. My job as the leadership hacker is to hack into the minds, experiences, habits and learning of great leaders, C-Suite executives, authors and development experts so that I can assist you developing your understanding and awareness of leadership. I am Steve Rush and I am your host today. I am the author of Leadership Cake. I am a transformation consultant and leadership coach. I cannot wait to start sharing all things leadership with you   Colin Hunter is a special guest on today's show. He's an author of Be More Wrong, a mentor, entrepreneur and coach. He's also the CEO of Potential Squared, but before we get a chance to speak with Colin, it's The Leadership Hacker. The Leadership Hacker News Steve Rush: In news today, we explored the world's top female friendly companies of 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic is taken an especially heavy toll on women around the world. It's estimated more than 64 million women around the world, lost their jobs with at least 800 billion in earnings lost last year in U.S. dollars alone. And that's a result, the time it will take to close the global gender pay gap has increased from 99 years to 135 years, according to the world economic forum. And these issues are achingly familiar, inadequate childcare, managing work, home stress, lack of opportunities. And in many cases, COVID may amplified the burden to the point where many women just left their jobs. Forbes Magazine recently teamed up with market research company Statista to help identify companies leading the way when it comes to try and support women inside and outside their workforces with an all-girl ranking of the world's top female friendly companies. So which company clinched the number one spot? Well CEO Michelle Buck became the first woman to lead the chocolatier in its 127 year history, you've got it? Hershey. Today women make up 42% of the Pennsylvania based businesses board. By 2025, aims to increase the percentage of women working in its workforce to 50%. And then this leadership population to 42%, that's up from currently 48 and 37% respectively. To reach its goals, Hershey launched a five-year plan called Project Pathways and it's to help its workplace and communities become more inclusive. And the project is run by collaboration of human resources and The Women's Business Resource Group and provides their teams with resources, such as, childcare, transportation, tutoring, and eldercare resources. Another firm to meet the top 10, Zoom. Video Communications Team, Chief People Officer, Lynne Oldham said that the Silicon Valley tech company had redesigned this recruiting and hiring strategies, diversifying its pipelines, revising job descriptions that they feature inclusive language and introduce uniformity across its interviewing process in an effort to reduce bias and increase the number of female hires. Zoom has also sought to support women through partnerships with charities, such as, If Chloe Can, a UK Organization that hosts workshops and connects teams with mentors to prepare them for the workforce. When admitted stay at home orders were unable to continue with its usual impersonal operations. Zoom stepped in, offering to facilitate their programming through services free of charge. And there are many other organizations who are demonstrating great diversity equity inclusion principles when it comes to hiring female employees in their workforce. If you want to get a full list, go to Forbes and look for the world's top female friendly companies and Statista surveyed over 85,000 women in 40 countries to curate this great report. That's been The Leadership Hacker News. Please let us know what you'd like us to feature in the news on our Leadership Hacker Podcast. Start of Podcast Steve Rush: Colin Hunter is a special guest on today's show. He's an author of Be More Wrong. He's a mental, entrepreneur, coach and the CEO of Potential Squared International. Colin, welcome to the show. Colin Hunter: Thanks Steve, it's a pleasure. Real pleasure. Steve Rush: So how have you been? Colin Hunter: Yeah, well, good. Life is, and I hate to say this sometimes nowadays, but life is good. It's busy, but the new startup business which we're working on at the moment and yeah, we've got a lot of things, but I'm struggling to deal with sometimes with this new hybrid world. I'm sure everybody out there is. But starting to work with the new norm. Steve Rush: It's kind of ironic. We've tried to have lunch for six months and we're like ships that pass in the night when it comes to London these days, because we're in that hybrid world, right? Colin Hunter: And I'm sure it's nothing personal. It's nothing personal from my side. Steve Rush: Sure, likewise. Yeah. So Colin for the listeners that haven't had the opportunity to meet with you, just to give us a little bit about the backstory and how Potential Squared came about? Colin Hunter: Yeah, so if I go back, so I've been in leadership since 1996, but before that, if I go back, I was brought up in Newcastle, Northeast of England. Father was a pediatric cardiologist. And part of me telling you this, because there's a story that I grew up with him working on looking at ultrasound for baby's hearts and was an amazing doctor, saved many people's lives. And I had a grandfather was professor of Theology. So my early part of my life was wondering how the hell do I actually compete and match up to my father and my grandfather. So I spent most of that time working, trying to be somebody I'm not. And then around about 30, 31. I had a moment which I'm sure we'll talk about, which redefined my career. And since then I've been working in the form of leadership consultants, working on leadership, looking at leaders and how they work. And more luckily I've started to recraft my career and our business around creating playgrounds to disrupt the way people are led. I started to realize I wanted to have some fun, Steve. I wanted to, to play with our work and I started one to experiment. And since 2007, I have set it out, whether it's about the use of actors or VR, virtual reality. I've started to look at how we do immersive, but real experiential workshops and training for leaders to shift the way and disrupt the way they think about leadership. And that is where I am now. And I'm still experimenting, still learning, but there's still suffering a bit from what I went through up to the age of 30 and how that's impacted my career, yeah, Steve Rush: Yeah, you comfortable? Let's go in there, if we talk about that time. Because I think it's a really important lesson for many people listening to this story because it really defined who you were at that time, but also how you ended up where you are now. Tell us about what happened that defining moment that you called it? Colin Hunter: Yeah, So I spent my childhood exploring experiments, having loads of groups of friends and I loved my life. I was out, my mother and father used to say this, you know, many forms of communication, but one was, “go tell Colin” and he would go tell somebody else and then I'd have conversations, a startup conversations. So I spent up to a probably the ages, 17 of loving my friends, my life, and even despite school, enjoying the rest of what I was trying to do. But in the background, my father being what he was and my grandfather being a professor of Theology and, you know, I was known as AM Hunter grandson. Pardon he was an author a writer in the New Testament. And therefore I spent my life what I would do to reach the levels that they'd got to? Steve Rush: Did that happened at quite an early age for you as well, that awareness of who you were and the indeed unconscious pressure that you felt from that. Happened at quite an early age, right? Colin Hunter: Yeah, it did. I mean, if I go back to when I was 11, my grandfather sat me down and said, for those who know, Robert Burns. He said, Tama Shanta, I want you to be able to learn this and re-slate Tama Shanta. And I want you to do this over Christmas and I want you to learn. And so therefore I started learning. I realized I couldn't, firstly I couldn't learn it by road,  Secondly, I didn't know why I was doing it. And thirdly, they seem to be some sort of tests that I was going through and I don't criticize my grandfather for it. He was an academic, he was looking for me to show that I could be logical. And that I could work in a principle in a way that could have constructed arguments in the right way. All I cared about was relationships and emotions. I was in that space going, you know, I sat at his feet and I looked up at him. I thought, wow, this is great, but in no way could live and breathe what he was doing. He was just brilliant at constructing an argument. And I felt that in my depth. So that was at the age of 11 and 12. And then my father was in that space and he was working on ultrasound. Looking at how they diagnose and the baby's hearts. So I used to go in and see him in the hospital's saving baby's lives and that tiny, small babies and how we had this care, but this ability to teach others. And I thought this, I can't do this either. So, therefore I thought, should I be a doctor? Should I be an academic? Should I stretch myself? And therefore, I always looked at others from an early stage with a degree of imposter syndrome and said, I'm not worthy. And I wouldn't call it in those days, but what it meant was, I searched out areas that I could play in, but they tended to be away from my family. They tended to be away from those areas of logic and academia. And therefore I fought school, fought and in some ways, literally out a major argument with one of my teachers who suggested the age of 17. I leave school and go and get just a job in retail because that's all I want to achieve in my life. So, therefore when it comes to how I started off my career, I took everybody's advice. I joined and became a tax consultant. And I spent my life sat in a cubicle doing hand written computations attacks and wondered why I wasn't happy. And then, so I went to Procter & Gamble and had a great career there, but I was doing a job where I hated it. I mean, I was successful, but the cost of my energy in that role was huge. So I ended up having a breakdown basically at the age of 30 where I went back up to my parents' house in Newcastle in the Northeast of England from Nottingham. And I spent two weeks in tears. And I'm happy to talk about it now. And for many years I wasn't, but it was this clash where I was walking in a house where my father only cried once that I can remember when our dog died and therefore I walked into the house and I was crying. And it was almost like, they knew how to deal with it, but they didn't know how to do with it. Steve Rush: So how were you received by them at that time? Because I suspect having that strong veneer of professional academia around success doesn't come with showing much vulnerability. So how did that play out? Colin Hunter: I was lucky that he was adopted and, you know, bless him. He passed away earlier this year and I've done a lot of soul searching and he dealt with it in the way he knew, which is he suggested that I go see the doctor, a local GP, a general practitioner. And so therefore it wasn't a case of they weren't unsympathetic, but they were looking for a cure for it. And my mother has laterally suffered from mental health issues herself. And therefore there's more understanding in that space from that side, but I was lucky. They sent me to Gusto Silver, a GP and he canceled the appointments ahead of me and after me and he sat down and he did this brilliant thing, Steve. He told me the story of when he was in a car accident and how this card flipped over. And he remembered in slow motion, the car sliding along on its roof. And he remembered the music going slowly on the radio, but he saw his life flash in front of him. And he said something which has always stayed with me. He said, I have a gift then to learn about my life and what I needed to change. And he said, you've been given a gift, might not seem at the moment, but you given a gift that life is about energy systems and your energy is at zero basically. And your mind is telling you, you can't cope with it. And now is the time to think about your energy systems that feed your life and how you use them and be much more intentional about how you feed them and how you spend them in your life. And that was the most powerful thing somebody ever said to me in my life. And it's changed the way I work now. Steve Rush: When you look back on that time, do you see that as a gift now? Colin Hunter: Oh yeah. I mean, it's interesting when I was writing the book and I was thinking about it. I suddenly realized I had never gone back to see Gusto Silver. I'm not even sure if he's alive now and I feel guilty about that. Because that was a transformational piece for me, but I also think it's taught me, if I look now and how I'm bringing up my daughters who are 17 at 16, it's taught me to realize that real connection with them is so, so important. But as a leader, it's taught me so much more. Steve Rush: Yeah, indeed. And one of the things that astound me about you, Colin is, you are incredibly successful, incredibly well presented, strong courageous leader, as I see you today, but you still suffer with this nagging imposter syndrome from time to time. And I knew that of you, but how do you deal with that? Colin Hunter: I think the first thing is sharing it. Steve Rush: Yeah. Colin Hunter: So I was doing a keynote last night to an American audience, and these are all my competitors, the learning and development professionals globally, we meet each year at this conference. And I was sharing in this webinar with them, this story, and said about the imposter syndrome. And what was amazing for me is that however many people suddenly started to share that they had the same thing. So I used to walk into this place, center for creative leadership, vital, smartest, crucial conversations, and just feel I wasn't worthy, but so many people in that same space have the same feelings. And so therefore by telling that story, and I think this is where the humility and the humble nature of leaders. If you tell your story of where you have struggled, it's amazing how many people suddenly go. Yeah, I'm the same way. Steve Rush: Yeah. Colin Hunter: And that's what's happening now, but there's other things I've been possibly to work on, but sharing the story has been one of the biggest, first steps. Steve Rush: And I don't know about you, but I think just having the label imposter syndrome, which, you know, wasn't there sort of 10 years ago, it helps us to actually recognize that it's a thing and that we can actually deal with it. Whereas before we might have dealt with it as something else. Colin Hunter: I think the senior leaders, you know, work in this space, we work with senior leaders. I'm amazed how many of them senior leaders have imposter syndrome, one version, or the other, you know, wondering how the hell they got to the top of the organization. Secondly, wondering how the hell they're going to lead this organization, because whether it's intellect. I was chatting to a client friend the other day, and he's been dyslexic diagnosed probably later in his life, but he's been very, very successful in this career, but he's always worried that somebody's going to find them out. However, he's used that positively because he leads with a humble nature because of that, it's been a powerful piece. And I think that's what a lot of people need to hear about the imposter syndrome is it starts you from a humility in a humble space, which is a powerful places that you needed to start rather than an arrogance and a belief in your own power and ability, that can be worked on. But listening to that voice in your head, not removing it, sometimes I described this as it's the loudest voice at a dinner party. And all you've got to do is dial it down and dial up the other voices in your head and the other neural pathways that allow you to be successful. Steve Rush: Yeah, great words. I often use the same analogy, but help people to think about, it's the one voice you wake up with in the morning. It's the one that you go to bed with and it'd be the last voice you hear before you die. So it needs to serve you well. Colin Hunter: Also, my meditation headspace in the morning and my exercise in the morning is a powerful piece of me. As Jamie Smarter wrote a book, clarity said, when you fall out to your thinking, it allows you to come up with inspired action. And I find that really heavy in the morning and within my head space and something pops into my head and it's just, oh, yep. That's the answer. That's the answer. But how often do you do that? Steve Rush: Thanks for sharing that story. And I think it's really important to help people understand you actually as a character, because you are incredibly successful now, and you're running a successful business with Potential Squared. And I think it just gives people some insights that we all come from different perspectives to arrive at where we've arrived at. And that journey is really important, isn't it? Colin Hunter: Yeah, it's massive. Hero's journey as they say. Steve Rush: Yeah, so tell us a little bit about the work that you and the team are doing at Potential Squared at the moment? Colin Hunter: We're having fun, and I think that's a key sense. Because we're in a startup on one area of business and anybody who's been involved in a starter, we'll say it's fun, but at the time it doesn't feel like it's fun quite a bit at the time. We're doing a couple of things. One is, we are restlessly dissatisfied about our work. So we've got our P2 leadership side of the business, which is leadership development and working. We've got VR, we've got virtual reality in there. We've got the use of The Actors, which is a powerful piece. And the always gets most positive feedback about the work we do, bringing in actors to explore conversations, getting people to have a, almost a who's line is it any way, if you remember the comedy program interaction and we find that that immersive experience of getting the conversations in leadership is the same as now, as the VR is allowing us to do where people are in the headsets, they are in this virtual reality. And they suddenly find that they're being themselves, you know, their true behaviors are coming out. So we're doing a lot of good work in there, but there's always been something missing from that work. And so therefore our new project is something called the 500 where we're looking at saying so biggest challenges in this world at the moment is equity. Increasing equity for people when they're young in terms of moving up in their careers. And if you look at where organizations are facing challenges at the moment is finding new talent, they're all fighting for talent in the same pools, is costing them more. Most of them can't afford that extra cost. And then we've suddenly realized that we're probably only tapping into 25% of the talent pool. And the other 75% is set in places, either places where they've had a very difficult backgrounds. So they've had a life story that's, you know, I wouldn't recognize even despite my stories, I'm telling you. Mine is trivial in some ways, compared to what others are experiencing. And therefore they've got newer diversity side to that where they're challenged by that. So we're, doing some work to say, so how do we train leaders and develop leaders to think with a wider view of life? To explore into different areas of the community? Exploring different areas of society and have a wider vision for that? Which benefits a couple of things Steve, which I'd never really thought about before. One is design thinking. You look at Procter & Gamble. You look at all the different types of organizations I used to work for. And you look at how they are trying to design for the different needs of different people and whether its disability or whether it's [Inaudible 00:20:01] or whether it's age or gender, all of these things need to come into play. But then you've got this talent pool where suddenly people are realizing that in that near diversity pool, you've got some brilliant thinkers and brilliant ideas, so how do we tap into that? But you've also got these people, they come from those places that you're trying to sell your products into. So why wouldn't you tap into that? But the third thing, I think the most important thing for me is that if you look at where most leaders are now, and particularly with the pandemic, that said, most people thinking, how do I give something back? How do I tap back into society? How do I do some good for the wider population? And I see so many who are willing to spend their own money to go and do something for others. And this new project works along those lines. So that's what we're working on at the moment to get people into a wider space. Steve Rush: Sound fun. Colin Hunter: Wider vision, it is. Steve Rush: And when it comes to your work, one of the things that I particularly like about what you do is, you called it at the beginning of the show actually. You have these equal playgrounds that you create to really tap into helping people unlock different behaviors. From your experience, by just having the notion of creating playgrounds, what behavior does that then unlock? Colin Hunter: There's two things, you can't tell people to have fun. The old saying, well go have fun. Steve Rush: That's right. Colin Hunter: It doesn't help. But if you think about some of the best times you've had, it's that stepping out of where you are now. Stepping out of the front door. And for some people, playgrounds is going off into the wilds and just taking some time by itself. Scotland for me has been through the pandemic because looking after my father at the time as allowed me to go on these coastal walks and experience nature, and that's a playground for me, I gets inspired and some great thoughts. I have had an old collogue who used to work when they were doing the Marks & Spencer turnaround, his idea was working 14, 15-hour days doing the night shift in the marble arch store of Marks & Spencer. And his playground was discovering new ways of working. But the idea in my head was, how do we create a place where it makes people think they're going to have fun? They're stretching themselves, but it's almost like they've got a safe place with a soft landing if they fail to try something different, rather than sailing their ship around the Harbor, as we describe it and doing the same thing safely all the time, why not seek rougher seas? Why not get barnacles on your butters as I described it and go and stretch yourself. But if it's in a playground where the highest risk is that you might get it wrong and somebody who's going to give you feedback, you going to learn. And why don't we do that? And just take a simple thing, like having a conversation now about race, skin, color diversity, wouldn't it be great to have a safe place, to allow people to have conversations, to learn and grow, but as soon as you say something wrong, you're hammered for it. So that's what we're talking about. Playgrounds, safe places to land, where people can explore. Steve Rush: Yeah, it's a great metaphor and the reality as well, I guess, if you were allowing yourself to think that way. Colin Hunter: Yeah. Steve Rush: Yeah, and did that help you then start to think about using that notion to write your book, Be More Wrong? Was that kind of a trigger that led you that way? Colin Hunter: Yeah, it's ironic that the title is be more wrong and it took four years for me to be comfortable to publish it. Steve Rush: So, let's talk about that because actually I recall when we had a conversation about this before the whole notion of calling a book Be More Wrong is an oxymoron for most people, isn't it? Colin Hunter: Yes, the title was probably the first thing I put down because I was starting a thing. So I've had so many screw ups in my life, but I'm still here and being successful. So surely there's something rich in this. But I think the biggest thing that helped me was in writing the book was I was introduced to IDEO through a Canadian company experience point where the whole principle of failing early, failing fast and learning first was introduced to me. And I started the think that all the work we do is around that. So to write the book, I suddenly realized we need to find using the hero's journey, metaphor, stepping out of your house, going on a journey, gathering your team together, carrying your followers together, having an inspiring story, a quest, a purpose, going and failing, facing good evil and failing and succeeding in equal measure, but learning and having a guide to do that was what we'd be doing for years. And actually the only bit that was missing was this design thinking piece, which is getting out there and experiencing and having a go at something, observing people in the real world. So therefore, the be more wrong philosophy is embedded in that fail fast, learn fast philosophy and give it the juice for the book, yeah. Steve Rush: And of course, if you reframe being wrong and failing to actually that's a learning experience, it helps you to grow from it. Doesn't it? Colin Hunter: It does. I mean, it is fascinating in our culture, that one failure and make somebody a bad person. Whereas actually, if you look in many different aspects of our life, these failures are learning and they are spaces where people can start to work on different ways of living. I still a big fan of Mandela and the sessions he had, the conversations he had after apartheid and he didn't let it go. He brought those people who had diminished the rights of people to understand and work on. So you could learn. And there's a classic example of a mistake of failure in many people's eyes that had to be learned from rather than just finishing it and getting on. We had to learn from the lesson. And some cases, some days, I actually feel that we haven't learned from those times or those mistakes and therefore, how do we create that environment to do it more again? Steve Rush: And do you think there's a lot to do with mindset and how people have perceived the event? So if you take Mandela as a perfect example, right? This is a guy who was imprisoned in Robben Island for decades, who could have been really bitter, twisted, and angry, and the people that imprison him. He then subsequently taught, educated and encouraged to think differently. And that's got to be down to mindset and other behaviors. What's your experience with that? Colin Hunter: I think it is. I think it is mindset. But I think it's a gift of mindset because I think if he hadn't that experience, a tough experience and he hadn't had the time to reflect and be really, really clear. And he was very intentional about his learning from that. And he was very intentional, but how he treated people around him, even his wife in terms of how he works in there. And I think there's leaders who, you know, they almost celebrate failures in the workplace as learning pieces, as long as there's learning and there's movement forward. Steve Rush: Yeah. Colin Hunter: What is a mindset? Steve Rush: One thing you said that specifically kind of, I think, was also being intentional. Colin Hunter: Yes. Steve Rush: Yeah. Colin Hunter: I think purposeful practice is a classic piece. You know, I'm not a sportsman, but I love my sport. And when you look at all the workers in here, having a purpose towards something whether it's being a top tennis player or competing at a particular level. And then there's purposeful practice, intentional practice of small, small things that can be. So, what we call practices. So how do I make a practice to become a habit habitual that feeds the system that makes me successful? And Brailsford with the Sky Cycling now, and he did it with British Cycling. Now critics always have these things, but if you look now in all sports, soccer, you look at American football, the small incremental gains that people are making intentional failure towards something, stress testing, working with exactly what this is about Steve Rush: Exactly right, yeah. And ironically purpose is one of your three enablers of leadership. So you have purpose, identity and presence. And I thought it'd be useful just to kick that about. Colin Hunter: Yeah, again, it's funny when you put something out there and Simon the snake put his work on purpose out there, you know, his Ted talk, which has been watched by many people and I loved it. And then you look at other people like Tom Peters, who said, well, purpose, it's great to say, you can just find it. But a lot of us don't find our purpose immediately. We stumble across it. But there is an intentionality about what motivates me. What is my passion? What do I want to do? And even when somebody says, well, my purpose is to be a good father, a good mother. There's that question afterwards, what type of a father or mother do you want to be? And so, for example, if I take the person identity for me, my purpose is to create playgrounds, to disrupt the way people are led. That's the mantra that I worked on to do that. But my identity I also have, and I hold as a father of daughters. So, my whole being and the identity of father of daughters is to start to think about how I disrupt the way that people lead and recruits and give opportunities so that women and my daughters have equal opportunities in the future. And therefore, my personal identity, then every day when I'm looking at things, not only for gender, but for race, and I'm starting to say, so how do I get more equity in society from that? So that purpose and identity. Now for most people, it's a tough one to establish a purpose. And that's why we do a lot of work on stories, getting people to tell their stories and working out their stories. When she listened to your stories and you realize, how have you crafted your life, what you've hated and what you've loved, you normally can find an underlying purpose that you can work on, but it's an experiment. In my work, it might be rejected. And then you move on to the next one. So, purpose and identity and the identity piece, I love this, which is, do I cycle or am I a cyclist? That's the classic piece. And if I'm a cyclist, I suddenly take it professionally. And I take it with great importance. So if I'm a father of daughters, I've suddenly put an identity. I need to work at it to be proud of. So those are two elements we've got. But I think the bit that I love the most is the presence piece that we have. In which if you think about it, we have to learn to dance to the music as a leader. We need to be agile. We need to go on a crazy train through the pandemic, and we're on an even crazier train next year. So how do I dance to that music? But the piece I love is, why not dance to other people's music and learning to do that? So rather than bringing the music I would have as a leader, how do I learn to be agile in the moment with other people's music? We'll be able to adapt and move to that music. And therefore we do a lot of work around gravitas, prominence, executive presence, and teaching people from an early age, how to have more impact in the vocal, physical, and also mental in terms of how they come across. So those are the three things. Purpose, why we do stuff, how we do it, and then the presence is how we show up. Steve Rush: I love it, yeah. Really simple. But actually, they're all aligned, aren't they? Colin Hunter: Yeah, if you get one of them wrong, it has a knock-on effect, like all systems on the other ones. Steve Rush: Coming back to your identity piece, that kind of sits in the middle because it gives permission, I suppose, to delve into purpose and also permission to how you show up. And we can change that identity by the shifting label that we wear, right? Colin Hunter: Yeah, I'd love that. I mean, it's a bit of,  “Tonight Matthew”, Matthew, for those, you know, there's a program in the UK where people go on and say, tonight, Matthew, I am going to be, but actually with the use of the Actors is given me a lot of work to say, how do I adopt an identity and how do I live and breathe it? And how do I learn to be authentic in that new version? And I think that's one of my other biggest challenges is authenticity is normally given as an excuse by somebody who say, well, this is how I am. I'm not going to change, but authenticity, Herminia Ibarra, London Business School says, authenticity is something that adapts and dresses, different circumstances you face. And therefore tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be this to try and develop something. That's going to be my future identity and my authenticity. Steve Rush: Yeah, very much so. So, one of the things I've seen about the work that you've had is that you're not afraid to challenge some of the traditional status quo of how we perceive leadership and leadership styles has been written about and quoted about for many years in different guises. You've reframed some of those, and you have your own full leadership styles now. And I wonder if you could share those with our listeners? Colin Hunter: Yeah, and I love this because it fits into the hero's journey. So, whether you're a Lord of The Rings fan or everything else that goes into Harry Potter, whatever your choices is. We talk about leaders, need followers, followers need leaders. So, the first system is, we describe it as how do I get engaged connections? How do I get followers to follow me? And how do I be impactful in that? And we call this the host. So, if you imagine a host at a dinner party or a host in terms of relationships, most of us only worry about our relationships on networks, our teams, either we've lost a job or we need to recruit, we need to hire and we don't pay attention to them. So, the first one is, about how I creates psychological safety? And how I create real difference diversity, inclusion, in my network? So that I'm not sitting in an echo chamber listening to my own thoughts. So that's the first one, the host. So, if you think about Frodo and Sam, a dwarf and an elf and Aragon, there was real diversity and different thinking and different views that came to that. And once you've your followership and you've got your hosts and you've got your team together, then the second system is the Energizer or what I call inspired energy in there, which is, how clear is your story? How clear are your inspiring stories that allow other people to see a part of your story as the leader? And therefore, we talk a lot around storytelling. We talk a lot about points of view around how we work and crafting that story and crafting the future story you've got is important in that, but the other part of energy is personal drive. So how resilient are you? How anti fragile, and a lot of my work at the moment, particularly in the pandemic is about poaching people to be more resilient, to put systems, whether it's meditation, fitness, diet, breath, other works in there, to have the energy by osmosis, give it to your team, but also spend it on the right thing. So that's the Energizer. And then the third area is disruptor. And this was given to me by IDEO, but how do I get fresh ideas through experimentation, but also how do I get ruthless and narrowing choices in there? So, we always believe that 80% of your experiments will fail, 20% be successful. Every day, I'm thinking, what are the two to three experiments I'm going to start running that could succeed, could fail. But as long as feeding, the system of fresh ideas, we're going to run in the team. And then when you think about Gandalf, you think about Dumbledore, there's always a guide. So as a leader, how strong is your mentoring and coaching and growth of capabilities? So the final style we talk about is catalyst. So as a mentor, having points of view and almost lighting fires under backsides for people to get them in the right direction, giving them points of view and direction, and then the coaching, which is lighting fires in their bellies by coaching and spending time. So, host, Energizer, disruptor, and then the catalyst of the four styles that have been use. Steve Rush: Great. I love the descriptive nature of them as well and brings it to life for folks listening to this, hopefully too. Colin Hunter: It's good. I love it. Steve Rush: Next part of our show Colin, we get into turn our leadership focus and hack into your leadership mind, which has enormous experience, not only leading the businesses you've led, but also having worked with some of the best leaders around the world. So first place I'd like us to go tap into your top three leadership hacks. Colin Hunter: So, the first one is pay it forward. So I was given a gift by a gentleman called Mike Taylor. And this is about network. For the last probably seven, eight years. I've practiced the principle on that for a leader, which is, I work my network, not wondering what I can get out of them, but by thinking about what are the three things I can do for people that I have connections with? So, I very rarely say no to a connection, very rarely. I'm going to a great club. That's celebrates massive mistakes in lives. And it's called the Cock-up club in London. I've never been to it, but I got an invite. And it's about leaders who go in and celebrate that. But I'm already going into that meeting by saying, so what are the three things that I can give to people I'm meeting there that night? What are the three things that I take? So that's my first leadership hack. The second thing is a very simple one. I don't know if you've ever heard of Churchill's prayers, but during the war, Churchill did something very simple with all his leaders every day. He got them together for a very short space of time. We now call a pulse, a daily pulse. And in that daily pulse, we talk about what did I do yesterday? What am I doing today? What am I doing tomorrow? And we started to do that in our business. And it gives a really clear idea about what people are working on, what gaps we have, but it's amazing how we identify resource issues and work in there. So, it's a very simple hack to give people, 9:50 in the morning, till 9:45 each day, we meet as a team for half an hour and we do that. And it's a breath of fresh air in terms of communication. Final hack. I was going to put something down here, but I'm going to change it. It was one given to me by an ex special forces gentleman. And he talked about brief back, check back and brief back, check back is the most simple thing in some ways, but we avoid it. So once I've given a brief to somebody and I've said, this is what I'm expecting, this is the project. We very rarely asked the question, which is what we tend to ask the question is like clear. And everybody goes, yeah, yeah, that's fine. Go away. But what we tend to not do is ask the question. So repeat back to me, please, if you could, exactly what you've heard. And in that brief back, it's amazing how often the articulation of the idea is different from the receiver than it was from the giver. So that's the first bit, what that allows you to do is correct any miscommunication or misguidance of the expectations you've given, but it also allows you with confidence for them to go off and just allow yourself to check back in. So it's a core part of empowering people and giving people accountability in there. So that's the final one Steve Rush: Love that last one. And we've had a couple of major generals on actually. This has come up in the conversations we've had with them too, because it's rooted in when you're about to send somebody off to war. Colin Hunter: Yeah. Steve Rush: Asking somebody, if it's clear, it's just not enough. Asking somebody if they really get it and understand it is absolutely essential, great hack. Next part of the show we call it Hack to Attack. So, this is where your be more wrong principle starts to play in really well. So, this is definitely where something in your life and your work has it worked out at all well, but there is an overall learning experience form them. You shared one that was a pivotal moment for you, but what would another Hack to Attack? Colin Hunter: So that the act for me is the need for a business partner. I've spent most of my life and it's probably related to the imposter syndrome, worried that if I didn't have a business partner, my business would not be successful because my level of capability and intellect and decision-making was not enough to drive it. So, you know, I had probably more business partners than I would care to admit, but when I look back, it gave me an insight that what I needed was less of a business partner and more of an advisory board. And so, I took on an advisory board in the last two to three years, three people, different skills, one in innovation and design, the other person more on the sales side. And the third one tended to be around more of the strategic direction and what are summarized by getting their noses into our business. But in most cases, fingers out, you know, as an advisory board, I had all the benefits of a business partner without needing to end a relationship that certain points, they could do that. And that's been my amazing Hack to Attack that I've deployed. And now we're seeing it as a proving ground, a playground for some of our advisors have never done advisory board roles before, never been non-execs. So they get to play and practice with us before they go on to bigger and better things afterwards. So that's, my Hack to Attack. Steve Rush: That's a great attack because what I'm hearing is exactly that and non-executive director role, who provides you with the counsel and direction. And then there's not that awkward. You know, this isn't working out for us when we have the tie, you know, equity, stakes and all the mess that comes with partnerships. Colin Hunter: Exactly. Steve Rush: Yeah, great. Colin Hunter: We pay them. Steve Rush: Yeah, of course. And the advantage, I guess, in doing so still is that when that time has served and the mutual value has got to its natural kind of capacity, you can switch them in and switch them out as the business starts to pivot and change directions as well. Colin Hunter: Yeah, and it's interesting on the latest business venture for the 500, we started to think that the advisory board we're going to have for that is I've got a contact who runs a business mentoring ex-convicts coming out of prison. And I'm starting to think, so that would be a great person to have it as an advisory board member and maybe somebody of your diversity area. So you can play with this in a good way to get different voices in your head and different points of view. So, it's a great process. Steve Rush: Definitely, yeah. So, the last part, the show Colin, you get an opportunity to go back and bump into Colin at 21 face-to-face toe-to-toe and give him some advice. What would your advice to Colin be at 21? Colin Hunter: It's interesting because I struggled with this at 21 because I look back to 21 and I struggled to work out what it is. And I had one thing that goes through my mind, but just mentioned before, but I would say to him, go find your own music to dance too. Find out what the music is that you want to dance too and then go dance with it, but also find other people whose music interests you to go dance with. And the key thing here, and I think Amazon web services have, this is one of the core values, which is natural curiosity, be curious enough to explore other people's music as well and find out what you like and go with it. Steve Rush: Super stuff. So, Colin for folk, listening to this, wanting to get a copy of, Be More Wrong, or learn a bit more about the business that you lead and the work that you do, where's the best place for us to send them? Colin Hunter: So, Be More Wrong, @bemorewrong on Instagram, be more wrong on Twitter. Website is bemorewrong.com, go explore that. For the business itself, potential2.com and go find out more about that. I'd love to connect with any of the listeners and explore more with you, but they can find out more information and connect with us there. Steve Rush: And they have to jump into the show notes and find all of that information in there as well. Colin Hunter: Lovely. Steve Rush: Colin, I've loved chatting and always do and wanted to say, thank you ever so much for being vulnerable, sharing your stories and being part of our community on The Leadership Hacker Podcast. Colin Hunter: It's been a pleasure, Steve, looking forward to that lunch when we can finally get it right. Steve Rush: Indeed, yeah, exactly. Thanks Colin. Colin Hunter: Cheers. Closing   Steve Rush: I genuinely want to say heartfelt thanks for taking time out of your day to listen in too. We do this in the service of helping others, and spreading the word of leadership. Without you listening in, there would be no show. So please subscribe now if you have not done so already. Share this podcast with your communities, network, and help us develop a community and a tribe of leadership hackers.   Finally, if you would like me to work with your senior team, your leadership community, keynote an event, or you would like to sponsor an episode. Please connect with us, by our social media. And you can do that by following and liking our pages on Twitter and Facebook our handler there: @leadershiphacker. Instagram you can find us there @the_leadership_hacker and at YouTube, we are just Leadership Hacker, so that is me signing off. I am Steve Rush and I have been the leadership hacker.