The ActionCOACH Podcast

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  Conquer Glossophobia: Transformational Tips from a Public Speaking Coach 20.08.2026 43хв

  How To Conquer The Fear Of Public Speaking | Richard McCann Speaking Coach InterviewPublic speaking is one of the biggest fears on the planet. It even has an official name: glossophobia. Most people never get past it, and their careers pay the price every time they stand up in front of a room.Richard McCann knows the fear from the inside. He started out petrified, reading from his own book at his first talk in 2005. He has since delivered 3,521 presentations and coached over 7,000 people in 16 years, and in this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, powered by ActionCOACH UK, he breaks down exactly what separates forgettable speakers from unforgettable ones.His core message is simple: you're not born a great speaker, you become one.What You'll Learn:- The 3 Biggest Mistakes Speakers Make: Lacking presence, racing through filler words, and reading slides or an obvious autocue. Richard explains why senior leaders who are brilliant at their jobs still fall flat on stage.- How To Build Gravitas: Why you need to be a slightly exaggerated version of yourself, projecting your voice and holding the space, even when it feels unnatural at first.- Why Filler Words Kill Credibility: A World Economic Forum speaker said "um" around 40 times in 2 minutes. Learn how slowing down and putting pauses around your phrases instantly puts you ahead of most speakers.- Ethos, Logos, Pathos: Aristotle's 3 pillars of influence, and why pathos, the emotional connection built through storytelling, is the one most business presentations miss.- How To Prepare Without A Script: Richard's method of mind maps and bullet points, filming and timing each section, and starting with the end in mind.- The Power Of Owning It: If something is on your mind, say it out loud. Richard explains why naming the elephant in the room disarms cynics and calms your own nerves.If You Haven't Started: Watch the greats and model them. Search "W Mitchell keynote" on YouTube, the speaker who inspired Richard, and study what he does. Then practise slowing down and chunking your words in everyday conversations, meetings, and phone calls.If You're Already Presenting: Ditch the word-for-word script. Map your talk as bullet points or a mind map, film yourself delivering each section, and time them until the whole talk flows naturally. Then find a coach and get feedback on your delivery.For Everyone: Open with a story before you show a single fact or figure. And when something is off, own it out loud rather than hoping nobody notices.Whether you're a business owner presenting to your team, a leader pitching for investment, or someone who dreads the next meeting, this conversation shows that great speakers are made, not born. Subscribe for weekly conversations with the world's leading business minds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Is AI Destroying Your Brand's Reputation? Why Being Human Matters More Than Ever 13.08.2026 58хв

  Is AI Destroying Your Brand's Reputation? | Julie Holmes Tech Innovator InterviewMost business owners are racing to automate everything: outbound sales, social media, even the first contact a customer ever has with them. Julie Holmes knows better. In this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, powered by ActionCOACH UK, she reveals why the businesses winning with AI are the ones keeping humans in the moments that matter.Julie spent two and a half decades in the technology industry before founding her own companies, and she now helps businesses connect technology to human beings. Her warning is blunt: now that everybody has AI, your greatest risk is not becoming obsolete. It is becoming ordinary.What You'll Learn:- Why Ordinary Is the New Risk: AI is a prediction engine that pulls everything back to the middle, so leaning on it too heavily puts you on the same field as every competitor.- The 3 Biggest Wins: Use AI as a thinking partner, a researcher and a data analyst, the three places it moves a small business forward.- Productivity, Then Remodel: Start by doing what you already do faster, then redesign your processes as if you had always had AI. The difference between an AI tourist and an AI native.- The 100-Step Customer Journey: Ask AI for the 100 micro-steps your customer takes from pain to pleasure, then decide which moments must stay human.- The 6-Factor Lead Formula: Inside, outside, before, after, more and less. The research framework Julie runs on every prospect.- The 20/60/20 Collaboration Equation: You lead the first 20%, AI does the heavy lifting in the middle 60%, and you review, vet and validate the final 20%.- The 8 AI Principles: A written framework for deciding when AI raises the bar and when it quietly damages your brand.- The Year of Context: Why Julie's 18-page communication document makes AI sound like her, and why your context is the one asset nobody else has.Key Quotes:"Your greatest risk now is not becoming obsolete, your greatest risk now is becoming ordinary.""AI handles the mechanical, we do the meaningful.""We don't bend ourselves to use AI. We bend AI for our use.""The more context we give it, the more dots we're giving it to connect, the better job it's gonna do of connecting our dots instead of connecting everybody else's dots."Julie Holmes's Background:Julie Holmes is a technology veteran, speaker and small business owner. Born in Iowa and now based in Milton Keynes, she spent 25 years in tech before founding her own companies. She runs her business the way she teaches: an AI board of directors for strategy, a written set of AI principles behind her desk, and an 18-page context document that makes AI sound like her rather than like everybody else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Your Biggest Marketing Mistake? Too Many People | Daniel Priestley 05.08.2026 1год 13хв

  Daniel Priestley: Your Biggest Marketing Mistake Is Talking To Too Many People | Oversubscribed Author InterviewMost business owners are still chasing reach: the biggest audience, the most views, the widest net possible. Daniel Priestley says that instinct now works against you, because the platforms have quietly rewired themselves to reward relevance over reach. In this episode of the ActionCOACH Business Growth Podcast, Daniel explains why fewer, relevant views now beat mass reach.Daniel Priestley is an entrepreneur and bestselling author of Oversubscribed and Key Person of Influence, and one of the most repeat-booked guests on Diary of a CEO. He runs Vidinary, an AI content and teleprompter tool, and posted 154 pieces of content on Instagram in the last 30 days alone, part of a system that generated 12,000 warm leads for his businesses last month.His answer is a repeatable system he calls short form, long form, lead form, starting with getting clear on exactly who you're trying to reach.What You'll Learn:- The Semantic Era: Why LinkedIn's March algorithm change, and similar changes across every major platform, now reads your content instead of just counting likes.- ICP Over Location: Why pinning your business to a location builds an artificial ring fence competitors can exploit, and why an ideal customer persona scales better.- Intellectual Capital Beats Products: Why defining yourself by your story and ideas, not your products and services, stops you competing on price alone.- Personal Brand Over Business Brand: Why a personal brand outperforms a business brand roughly 20 to 1 on engagement.- The Confidence Formula: The 30 samples rule behind learning to drive, and why your first 30 pieces of content always feel terrible.- Short Form, Long Form, Lead Form: Daniel's daily posting system, from 60-second posts to 6-to-60-minute explainer videos to a lead-capturing form like a ScoreApp assessment.- The Everyday CTA: Why the real mistake isn't a weak call to action, it's posting with no call to action at all.f You Haven't Started: Write down your ideal customer persona and the one story that defines your expertise, then post a 60-second video about it today.If You're Already Posting: Move your call to action off short-form and onto long-form content, and build a proof, principles, process structure into your next explainer video.For Everyone: Reverse engineer your funnel. Start with your offer, decide what your lead form needs to ask, then work backwards to the explainer video and daily posts that lead people there.Whether you're just starting to post or you're already posting daily and struggling to turn it into leads, this episode gives you a system to follow. Subscribe to the ActionCOACH Business Growth Podcast for weekly conversations with world-class coaches and entrepreneurs.Sponsored by AdSmart from Sky: making TV advertising affordable, targeted and effective for businesses of all sizes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Why Top Performers Are Using This Rowing Team's Framework 23.07.2026 1год 6хв

  Elite Performance: Why Top Performers Are Using This Rowing Team's Framework | Harriet Beveridge Performance Psychologist InterviewMost business leaders run on autopilot, keeping the same meetings and habits simply because that's what's always been done. Harriet Beveridge has a test that cuts through all of it, borrowed from a British rowing crew that turned one gold medal in a generation into Olympic history.Beveridge is a performance psychologist, executive coach and stand-up comedian who co-wrote Will It Make The Boat Go Faster? with Ben Hunt-Davis, a member of the British eight that won gold in Sydney in 2000, Britain's first gold in the eight since 1912. Now in its third edition, the book is a working playbook for chief executives and high-performing teams.Her answer: ask if it makes the boat go faster, then get out of your own way.What You'll Learn:- The Bullshit Filter: How "will it make the boat go faster?" helped an underfunded crew cut noise, drop altitude training, and focus only on what moved the result.- Wouldn't It Be Amazing If: Why asking a deliberately outrageous question first unlocks ambitions that smart objectives alone never would.- Making It Impossible Not To: How teams engineer commitment, from taping a rower's hand to the oar, to booking a goal before it's funded, to accountability buddies who won't let you off the hook.- The DICE Beliefs Framework: The four beliefs, deserve, important, can, exciting, that quietly block performance, and how an "evidence wall" rebuilds them without affirmations.- Removing Friction From Habits: Why the "activation hump," the effort of just getting started, matters more than willpower, and how frictionless design builds habits that stick.- Thriving Under Pressure: How to identify personal stress triggers, from travel chaos to financial fear, and build small strategies rather than generic advice to stay calm.- Energy Over Time Management: Why managing energy, not just calendar blocks, decides whether high performers burn out or sustain results.- Curious About The Recipe: The deliberate practice habit of deciding what to focus on before a task, then reviewing it after, a step most businesses skip. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Your Business Falls Apart When You Leave? You Don't Own It Yet 16.07.2026 1год 5хв

  Your Business Falls Apart When You Leave? You Don't Own It Yet | Peter Boolkah Business Coach InterviewMost business owners are brilliant at the technical work that got them started and completely unprepared for what running a business requires. The result is a team trained to be dependent, decisions funnelling through one person, and a life that belongs to the business.Peter Boolkah has spent 21 years inside this problem as an ActionCOACH business coach. Before coaching, he spent 16 years at McDonald's in operations, where he learned to trust 21-year-olds with £3 million restaurants because the systems made it possible. His book, Your Business Sucks, is a coaching fable built on two decades of watching owners repeat the same mistakes.What You'll Learn:- The 30-Day Test: Could you step away from your business for 30 days with zero communication? If the answer is no, the business owns you. This reveals whether you have a business or just a job.- Why Hard Work Creates the Problem: Every time an owner jumps in to fix something, they train the business to depend on them. Most don't realise they're building the bottleneck they're trying to escape.- The Three Steps of Delegation: Delegation without follow-through is abdication. Peter explains why management is a three-step process and why stopping at step one is where most businesses stall.- The McDonald's Lesson: A 21-year-old could run a £3 million restaurant because of systems, measurement, and daily P&L accountability. That same discipline is available to any SME owner willing to build it.- Start with Two Numbers: Track sales and net profit from day one. Close last month's figures by the 3rd and review your forecast daily to catch problems before they compound.- Balance the Talent Book: Like a football club at season end, every business needs to honestly assess whether its people can perform at the required level and be prepared to act when the answer is no.- The Real Timeline: 3-5 years to systemise properly. Wealth starts in years 5-7. Show up consistently, implement what you learn, and the path is clear.Peter Boolkah's Background:Peter Boolkah is a business coach with 21 years at ActionCOACH, working with businesses across growth, acquisition, and exit. He spent 16 years at McDonald's in operations, starting on the shop floor and rising to oversight of multi-million pound restaurants. That grounding in systems and P&L discipline forms the foundation of how he coaches. His book, Your Business Sucks, is a coaching fable drawn from two decades of client work.Action Steps:If You Haven't Started: Define what you want your life to look like, then work backwards to the infrastructure you need to support it. That is your starting point, not a revenue figure.If You're Already Running a Business: Take the 30-day test. If you couldn't leave for a month, identify the decisions that still flow through you and start building the systems and people to handle them.For Everyone: Track sales and net profit every month. Close the previous month by the 3rd and review your forecast daily. These two habits will change how you run your business.Wherever you are in the journey, this episode gives you the framework to build a business that works without you. Subscribe to the ActionCOACH Business Growth Podcast for weekly conversations with people who've done it.Brought to you by Actioncoach UK | The World Number 1 in Business CoachingLearn more at: actioncoach.co.ukThis Episode is Sponsored by Selfpublishing.com | Create leveraged impact and change lives by getting your book published.Learn more at: selfpublishing.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  The Moment We Stopped Listening to No 14.07.2026 1год 3хв

  Mindset: The Moment We Stopped Listening to No | Tom Caulfield & James Whittle The Tempest Two InterviewMost people wait until they feel ready. Tom Caulfield and James Whittle know that day never comes, so eighteen months after taking up climbing for the first time, they set off up El Capitan anyway.Known as The Tempest Two, Caulfield and Whittle rowed 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean unsupported in 54 days with no prior rowing experience, then spent 18 months learning to climb before summiting El Capitan in three days, sleeping on ledges the width of a pizza tray along the way.In this episode of the ActionCOACH Business Growth Podcast, they explain why they banned the word can't, what a bias to action actually looks like day to day, and how doing one uncomfortable thing a year built the mindset behind it all.What You'll Learn:- Removing Can't From Your Vocabulary: Why Tom and James banned the word can't entirely, and how Carol Dweck's growth mindset research shaped their thinking on limiting beliefs.- The Bias To Action Method: How announcing a goal publicly before you know how to achieve it builds accountability and forces you to figure out the how afterwards.- Training The AMCC, Your Willpower Muscle: The brain region proven to grow when you do things you don't want to do, and why it levels the playing field for everyone.- 18 Months To El Capitan: How two novice climbers went from the worst in their gym to summiting El Capitan in three days, waking up next to Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell.- The Crisis Playbook: Level-headed, share it, no ego. How Tom and James righted their boat after capsizing mid-Atlantic and narrowly avoiding a collision with a tanker.- The Misogi Challenge: The ancient Japanese ritual reframed as doing one incredibly hard thing every year, and why it builds a life full of stories.- Next Up, A 400K Swim: A preview of The Tempest Two's next world-first challenge, a relay swim across the North Sea from Scotland to Norway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  The Calculated Risk That Separates the Rich From Everyone Else 09.07.2026 1год 5хв

  The Calculated Risk That Separates the Rich From Everyone Else | Danny McFarlane Wealth Adviser InterviewMost people think wealthy clients obsess over money. Danny McFarlane has spent 30 years advising the ultra-wealthy, and his observation is the opposite: the richest people he knows never chased money at all. In this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, powered by ActionCOACH UK, he explains what actually separates those who earn well from those who build deep wealth — and what most people get badly wrong about risk.Danny built his career without ever drawing a salary, growing one of the UK's most respected client books with near-100% retention — losing just 2 clients in 30 years he didn't choose to lose. He has since sold his firm and now coaches financial advisers and business owners on how to connect business, money, and life into one coherent plan.What You'll Learn:- Why the Wealthy Don't Chase Money: Danny's wealthiest clients focused on success, passion, or a cause — money arrived as a byproduct. Chase it directly, he says, and it runs away.- How to Set Goals That Actually Work: Real wealth starts with numbers-based goals, reverse-engineered into milestones. Realistic but stretching — too easy and it's demotivating, too ambitious and it's paralysing.- The Difference Between Earning and Deep Wealth: Making good money is not the same as building lasting wealth. The gap is knowing what to do with money, and — critically — when to take calculated risk.- The One Rule Danny Swears By on Risk: Never sell the roof over your head. Borrow against almost anything else, take on debt strategically — but not that.- Why "Boring" Is the Strategy: For clients who've made it, Danny manages their money in the most boring way possible. Lower risk, steady returns, no drama. The thrill-seeking is for earlier stages.- When to Get a Coach vs a Financial Planner: Start with a coach to build the business. Once money is coming in, bring in the financial planner — ideally connected with your coach, with no referral fees involved.- The Time Out Discipline: Danny's most powerful habit is going off-radar — at minimum a full day, ideally a week — two to three times a year. Phone off, email off, no exceptions. He credits it with more clarity than any seminar he ever attended.Danny McFarlane's Background:Danny McFarlane is a wealth adviser and business coach with 30 years of experience at the top of the financial planning industry. He built his career without ever drawing a salary, growing one of the UK's most respected client books with near-100% retention — losing just 2 clients in 30 years he didn't choose to lose. He has since sold his firm and now coaches financial advisers and business owners, including the team at Westminster Wealth, helping them connect strategy, money, and life into a plan that actually gets followed.If You're Already Building Wealth: Get a trusted financial planner alongside your coach — someone with at least five to seven years' experience, a client profile similar to yours, and a relationship style that suits you. And build a bucket list. Most people don't have one.For Everyone: Take time out. At minimum, a full day off-radar — no phone, no email, no people. Go somewhere different. Ask yourself what you were doing when things were going well that you've since stopped doing. Then go back to doing it.Whether you're just starting out, building momentum, or already wondering what comes next, this conversation will reframe how you think about money, risk, and the life wealth is supposed to buy. Subscribe for weekly conversations with people who've actually done it.Brought to you by Actioncoach UK | The World Number 1 in Business CoachingLearn more at: actioncoach.co.ukThis Episode is sponsored by YESS Foundation | Offering free 17-Week Business Education for Ages 12-22Discover YESS at: www.yessfoundation.org.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Rory Sutherland: Stop Marketing to Customers that Do Not Exist! 02.07.2026 38хв

  Why Rory Sutherland Thinks You're Wrong (The Average Trap) Rory Sutherland Ogilvy InterviewMost businesses design for the "average" customer. Rory Sutherland, vice chairman of Ogilvy, explains why this leaves everyone dissatisfied. In this ActionCOACH podcast episode recorded at BizX 2026, host Neil Martin explores how to escape the average trap and think like your customers actually think.When the US Air Force designed fighter jet seats for the "average" pilot, virtually nobody fit. Few people are average across multiple dimensions at once. Rory built his reputation at Ogilvy challenging finance-driven thinking and revealing why psychological factors often matter more than practical features.What You'll Learn:Why Designing for Average Fails: The fighter jet seat story proves adjustability beats one-size-fits-all thinking across product design, customer service, and business strategy.Marketing as Probabilistic Discipline: Why finance executives struggle to value marketing. You're making probabilistic bets on future outcomes like a casino, not controlling internal operations like finance.The Data Paradox: Nearly all business data comes from the past. You're driving whilst looking in the rear-view mirror, missing opportunities that don't show up in historical data.The 70-20-10 Experimentation Framework: 70% proven tactics, 20% incremental improvement, 10% blue-sky experiments where failure should be your goal. Breakthrough ideas contain illogical elements that data would reject.Psychological Friction Blocks Sales: Emotional barriers prevent purchases more often than practical problems. Examples from caravan design to luxury watch brands show how removing psychological friction creates breakthroughs spreadsheets miss.Capitalism's Genius Is Variety: Why exploring 18 different solutions beats optimising one "perfect" average solution. Competition creates better outcomes by testing multiple approaches simultaneously.Marketing as Mindset, Not Function: Sell marketing as a way of thinking rather than defending what marketing departments do. This customer-perspective thinking prevents boards from making internally rational decisions that look foolish to actual buyers.Brought to you by Actioncoach UK | The World Number 1 in Business CoachingLearn more at: actioncoach.co.ukThis Episode is sponsored by Santander x Worldpay | Providing business and corporate clients with secure, in-store, and e-commerce payment solutions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Sara Davies on Why Being Yourself is Your Biggest Advantage 25.06.2026 1год 28хв

  Sara Davies MBE on Why Authenticity Wins in Business and Leadership | Dragons' Den Star InterviewWhen the BBC asked Sara Davies to be "more dragon-like" before her Dragons' Den audition, she made a choice. She walked into that meeting as herself, legs crossed, warm demeanour, Northern accent intact, and told commissioners exactly what they'd get. That decision transformed her career.Sara Davies MBE is founder and CEO of Crafter's Companion, a £40 million craft business. She became the youngest woman ever on Dragon's Den, where she's been an investor for six years, and is one of the UK's most recognisable entrepreneurs.In this episode, Sara explains why being authentically yourself is your biggest business advantage. She spent her 20s shape-shifting to fit each room until her husband asked which version was the real her. That question changed everything.If You're Building Your Personal Brand: Know what you stand for, then show up as that person consistently.If You're Managing through Decline: Accept the situation, make the hard decisions fast, and stop using money as an excuse to delay.If You're Leading a Team: Read what isn't being said. Pair direct feedback with genuine care for growth.This conversation cuts through the noise with genuine insights on why authenticity works, how to make hard decisions fast, and why emotional intelligence matters as you scale.Brought to you by Actioncoach UK | The World Number 1 in Business CoachingLearn more at: actioncoach.co.ukThis Episode is Brought to you by Santander x Worldpay | Providing business and corporate clients with secure, in-store, and e-commerce payment solutions.This Episode is Sponsored by TrueTalent | Connecting Talent for events, campaigns and more. True Talent are passionate about bringing together the best suited Talent with brands.Learn more at: wearetruetalent.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Pipeline is Life: Why Every Entrepreneur Must Become Chief Sales Officer 17.06.2026 36хв

  Sales: You're Already Selling (Here's Why That Matters) | Jeb Blount Fanatical Prospecting Author InterviewMost entrepreneurs think they're not in sales. Jeb Blount knows better. In this backstage episode of the Business Growth Podcast at BizX 2026, we reveal why every business owner must become their company's chief sales officer and how keeping your pipeline full changes everything about how you sell, close, negotiate, and choose customers. Jeb built a 1.2 million-person email list over 20 years, hosts the Sales Gravy podcast (top 10 in its category), and has written 18 bestselling books including Fanatical Prospecting.What You'll Learn:Why Pipeline Is Life: A full pipeline makes you better at every aspect of selling. When you have options, you close better, negotiate stronger, and select the right customers instead of taking anyone who says yes.Selling as Consulting: The value bridge concept reframes selling from pushing products to guiding people toward their goals. Start with integrity, ask better questions, and position yourself as an interpreter who helps buyers reach their desired future state.Multi-Touch Prospecting That Actually Works: Phone calls, voicemail, email, LinkedIn messages, in-person visits, newsletters, and podcasts combine to create powerful sequences. Single-channel approaches fail because no one channel works alone anymore.Why AI Is Breaking Email: Salespeople send 8 times more email than 4 years ago but get one-eighth the results. AI-generated messages have saturated inboxes, forcing email providers to filter aggressively.Bold Calling Is Back: In-person prospecting is experiencing a resurgence. Jeb shares how he scaled a chain-link fence past 'Beware of Dog' signs, met a business owner, and later closed a $1.2 million deal.Key Quotes:"Pipeline is life. When you have a full pipeline, you're better at selling, you're better at closing, you're better at negotiating, and you're better at choosing the right customers.""Selling is helping people get what they want. If you start with integrity and don't sell people things they don't need, you're just guiding them toward their goals.""The phone still works. Nobody answers a phone that doesn't ring. Pick it up."Jeb Blount's Background:Jeb Blount is a sales trainer, author of Fanatical Prospecting and 17 other bestselling books, and founder of the Sales Gravy podcast (top 10 in its category). He built a 1.2 million-person email list over 20 years and runs a 34-person consulting firm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  From 1 Million to Half a Billion: John Hutmacher's Proven System for Scaling Success 11.06.2026 1год 14хв

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  Peter Sutcliffe Killed His Mother. He Chose to Help Others | Richard McCann 05.06.2026 32хв

  Richard McCann - Peter Sutcliffe Killed His Mother. He Chose to Help OthersRichard McCann grew up in Scotthall, a deprived area of Leeds, with his mother's alcohol struggles, a violent boyfriend involved in drugs, and constant chaos. Just before his sixth birthday, his mother went out and never came home. At 5:30 the next morning, Richard and his sister Sonia searched for her at a bus stop. Police took them to a children's home: "Mum's been taken to heaven." She'd been murdered by Peter Sutcliffe.Six-year-old Richard reframed the tragedy. His mother was no longer suffering. He and his sisters had a fresh start. That survival mechanism -what psychologists call "explanatory style" -kept him afloat for decades. The meaning you apply to a situation creates your reality. But self-doubt followed. He looked in the mirror and saw an "ugly kid." He felt unworthy of relationships or success.From age 16, Richard sought relationships to feel worthy. His subconscious didn't believe he deserved them, so he'd self-sabotage. He'd push people away, see things that weren't there, and accuse his girlfriend of being with another guy when she was with a friend. He joined the army and lied about his mother because he was ashamed. They discovered the truth after a year. He was discharged following a drunken rampage. Then came drug dealing, arrest, and imprisonment in the same jail that held Peter Sutcliffe 29 years earlier.Rock bottom came after his release in July 1997. He faced house repossession with six weeks to find a job. After five weeks with nothing, he attempted suicide. Nobody would hire him because he had a criminal record.What changed? His sister Sonia stabbed her violent boyfriend and faced prison. Richard impulsively decided to write a book to defend her. He had no qualifications but got "Just a Boy" published. The book led to TV appearances and liberated him. He didn't need to be ashamed of his mother's behaviour.Speaking invitations followed. He was shocking at first, reading from the book with no understanding of how storytelling works. After two years, he realised he could make more of a difference through speaking than through social work. He was getting letters from people he'd helped.Richard discovered that turning trauma into purpose didn't erase the pain. His story became a blueprint for post-traumatic growth -you can grow because of trauma. Lose your job but find work you love. End a relationship, then meet someone you have children with. His workshop helps people identify their first setback and how they grew from it, building belief in their ability to handle future setbacks.Today, Richard helps others reframe struggles using his "bounce back graph." You cycle between red (setback) and green (recovery). He teaches that self-doubt can be challenged with evidence. His process: identify thoughts that aren't serving you, write them down, ask "Where's the evidence?" Use the reticular activation system -when you believe something, you see it everywhere. Henry Ford said it: "Whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right."His younger sister passed away from lung cancer just before the pandemic. Grief doesn't diminish. But he had belief: "You'll get through this." During the pandemic, his business ground to a halt. He earned £400 in April 2020. Pain and love never disappear because that's part of being human.He's written "Teach Me Gently" to help parents support anxious children. His own daughter had six months of school refusal due to anxiety. His key advice: children need to feel safe before any reasoning. When a child is anxious, they're in fight or flight -you can't reason with that. It might take two hours to make them feel safe, but that's the foundation.Richard still lives in Leeds. He had mentors like Stuart Hardy, his boss before prison, who gave him belief and treated him like a son. His core message remains simple: the emotional pain of loss never disappears, yet neither do you have to stay in the red. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  How to Build Deeper Relationships in a Disconnected World with Penny Power OBE 28.05.2026 42хв

  Significance in a Disconnected World | Penny Power OBE InterviewWe're more digitally connected than ever. Yet we're emotionally disconnected, anxious, and treating relationships like transactions. Penny Power OBE calls it what it is: a massive Silicon Valley psychological experiment that's changed how humans interact.Penny founded a social network in 1998 with her husband, Thomas Power. She built that business to a £60 million valuation before realising she was chasing someone else's dream. Now she runs a small business focused on helping business owners build deeper relationships with clients, staff, and family.Her core insight? Significance, making people feel they matter, is a human need we've forgotten in the age of personal brands and broadcast-driven social media. This episode, recorded at BizX 2026, is about getting it back.What You'll Learn:How Social Media Changed Human Behaviour: Penny contrasts early social networking (1998, meaningful connection) with social media post-2009 (broadcast, performance, comparison). We've shifted from building relationships to building audiences, and it's costing us our mental health.Why Significance Matters More Than Success: Significance means making others feel they matter. Contribution means giving meaningfully to the world. Individualism and a culture of personal branding conflict with our need for deeper relationships, leaving us isolated despite constant connectivity.The Dopamine Trap and Content Culture: Constant media consumption attacks your dopamine reward centres, worsens focus and ADHD symptoms, and feeds constant distraction through comparison.Fear-Based Thinking vs. Love-Based Thinking: People navigate toward fear (news addiction, scarcity marketing, pain-focused content) or love (abundance, community, contribution). This choice shapes your relationships, business decisions, and life outcomes.Why You Might Be Chasing Someone Else's Dream: After building to £60 million, Penny realised she was chasing scale when she actually wanted calm. Redefining wealth around time, values, and resilience made her happier and will likely add 20 years to her life.Define what success actually means to you, not what you think it should mean. Scale or calm? More time or more money? Write it down. If you're stuck, consider therapy or coaching. Understanding yourself is foundational to designing the life you want.Whether you're a business owner tired of transactional relationships, an entrepreneur chasing the wrong success, or a parent protecting your family from toxic content, this episode helps. Subscribe to the Business Growth Podcast for conversations that challenge how you think about business and life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Is Community the New Power Move in Business? 21.05.2026 56хв

  The Community That Made The Rolling Stones Take Notice | Nick Keynes Tileyard Studios Founder InterviewNick Keynes built Tileyard Studios into a 150,000 square foot creative ecosystem housing 165 studios and 1,000 to 1,500 people daily by curating with authenticity, saying no when necessary, and leading through genuine relationships—attracting The Rolling Stones' Matt Clifford as the first tenant and growing companies like Spitfire Audio from £1 million turnover to a 120-person acquisition by Native Instruments.What You'll Learn:The Five-Point Blueprint for Community Growth: Nick breaks down the systematic approach that attracted Matt Clifford (Rolling Stones keyboard player) as the first tenant and built an ecosystem where companies like Spitfire Audio grew from £1 million turnover to a 120-person acquisition by Native Instruments.Why Shaping Your Environment Comes First: Discover how Paul Kemp's commitment to building only the highest-quality spaces created the foundation for attracting world-class talent. Quality environment signals quality community before a single member joins.The Art of Selective Curation: Learn Nick's A\&R approach to admitting members: only bring in people and businesses that add value beyond rent and create meaningful connections with others. Understanding when to say no protects the ecosystem's integrity.Relationship-Led Leadership as a Contact Sport: Understand why Nick spends every day on-site managing relationships rather than working remotely. Physical proximity creates daily collisions, spontaneous collaborations, and deeper trust that digital communities cannot replicate.From Community to Complete Ecosystem: Learn how Tileyard evolved beyond studios to address every route to market: collaborators, mixers, producers, labels, publishers, management companies. Creators need more than space; they need pathways to success.Key Quotes:"I'm curating in the same way I would A\&R. I'm signing things I believe in. With new artists, I ask: Do I like this person? Do I believe in them? Are they believable?""Replace the word 'networking' with 'friendship' in any business conversation, and you'll understand what actually works."Nick Keynes's Background:Nick co-founded Tileyard Studios in 2011 with Paul Kemp after Kemp purchased the King's Cross site in 2008. Before Tileyard, Nick was bassist in band Ultra, which appeared on Top of the Pops three times in the late 1990s and created the Top 10 hit 'Rescue Me'. This music industry background gives him genuine empathy for artists and credibility within the creative community. He manages the complex daily, curating tenants and maintaining the culture of fearlessness that defines Tileyard's ecosystem.Whether you're building a team, community, or seeking meaningful creative connections, discover the blueprint from someone who attracted The Rolling Stones through authentic relationship-led leadership. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Brain Rot Killing Your Productivity? TJ Power Explains Why 14.05.2026 55хв

  Brain Rot Killing Your Productivity? | TJ Power The Dose Effect InterviewThe average person checks their phone 217 times per day, each check delivering a dopamine hit that wears out your reward system. TJ Power, author of The Dose Effect, explains why this stimulation addiction is killing your productivity and relationships, and what you can do about it.TJ has taken over 100,000 people through his DOSE neuroscience programme, teaching them how to fix their brain chemistry through understanding dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. His core insight: we're chasing dopamine when what we actually need is oxytocin, and boredom isn't the enemy; it's the solution.What You'll Learn:How Phones Hack Your Dopamine System: Discover why 217 daily phone checks create artificial dopamine spikes that wear out your reward system, leading to apathy, anxiety, and brain rot.The 15-Minute Boredom Barrier That Changes Everything: Learn why pushing through 15 minutes of boredom during phone-free walks activates your default mode network for self-projection and future planning.Healthy Dopamine, Willpower, and the AMCC Brain Region: Understand the difference between dopamine from completing important tasks versus scrolling, and how resisting phone checks strengthens your willpower muscle.The Five-Hug Daily Challenge You're Failing: Adults average just 1.2 hugs per day, and teenagers, only 0.4, but we need five proper hugs (three to five seconds each) for oxytocin.Serotonin, Gut Health, and Slow Living: Discover why 90% of your serotonin is produced in your gut, and how Greek yoghurt, eggs, and slow mornings support calm and clarity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  How to Control the Room Without Saying a Word | Mark Bowden 07.05.2026 1год 2хв

  Body Language - How to Control the Room Without Saying a Word | Mark Bowden Most business owners dread meetings. They run too long, people zone out, and nothing gets done. Mark Bowden knows the problem isn't the meeting itself - it's that nobody is actually listening. In this episode of the ActionCOACH podcast, host James Vincent sits down with Mark to reveal the precise techniques that transform chaotic gatherings into focused, productive sessions where everyone leaves knowing exactly what to do next.Mark Bowden is a body language and communication expert who has spent decades teaching leaders how to command attention without dominating the room. His approach isn't about reading minds or manipulating people. It's about creating the conditions where genuine listening happens, confusion evaporates, and action becomes inevitable.His secret? Take your own pulse before you try to read the room.What You'll Learn:The Anatomy of a Terrible Meeting: Discover why meetings fail when people leave confused, inactive, and unwilling to meet again due to poor listening.Reverse Engineering Great Meetings: Learn the three hallmarks of meetings that work: people feel understood, they know exactly what happens next, and they're genuinely motivated for the next step.Opening With Genuine Welcome: Understand why the first 30 seconds determine everything, including a detailed roleplay of opening a cashflow meeting.Cognitive Versus Emotional Empathy: Explore the critical difference between understanding what someone is thinking versus what they're feeling, and why cognitive empathy often supports clearer business thinking.Outcome Over Agenda: Stop boring people with tedious agenda lists and clarify the desired outcome in plain language instead.Reading the Room Starts With You: Master the technique of taking your own pulse before attempting to interpret a chaotic room and leading body language rather than reactively reading it.Using Check-Ins to Surface Value: Learn how frequent, strategic check-ins maintain focus and reveal what participants actually value without turning them into interrogations.Inviting People to Name Their Blockers: Discover the power of asking directly what might prevent someone from contributing fully and surface fears that would otherwise sabotage the meeting.Allowing Conflict Without Suppression: Understand why conflict is useful and should be welcomed, with specific techniques for managing dominant speakers using clear, named interruptions.Closing With Clear Actions: Master the structured wrap-up that extracts key takeaways, identifies next actions, and determines what support people need.Key Quotes:"A terrible meeting is one where people leave confused, inactive, and unwilling to meet again.""Take your own pulse before you try to read the room.""Lead body language rather than read it. You set the tone.""Conflict is useful. Don't suppress it. Manage it instead."Mark Bowden's Background:Mark Bowden is a globally recognised expert in body language, communication, and human behaviour. He has trained leaders across industries on how to command presence, build trust, and facilitate productive conversations without relying on dominance or manipulation.Action Steps:If You Haven't Started: Before your next meeting, write down the single outcome you want. Then craft a 30-second opening that welcomes people genuinely and states that outcome in plain language.If You're Already Running Meetings: Implement the pulse check technique. Before you walk into the room, take 10 seconds to notice your own breathing and physical state, then lead the energy you want to see.For Everyone: Add three check-in moments to your next meeting. Ask "What's valuable here?" or "What might block your contribution?" When someone dominates, use their name and a clear interruption: "John, I'm going to pause you there so we can hear from others." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Jamie Waller: The Straight-Talking Entrepreneur Who Turns Discipline Into Millions 30.04.2026 54хв

  Discipline Into Millions?Jamie Waller refused to let circumstances define him. A dyslexic kid from Bethnal Green who couldn't read or write, he sold three companies worth tens of millions of pounds. Told by a teacher he'd only drive a van, he responded: "I'll employ people who drive vans for me." Growing up poor with dyslexia, colour blindness, and ADHD, he left school at 16 without GCSEs. His foundation: his mother's belief that "love and confidence is all a child needs to succeed" and his own commitment to discipline and consistency.What You'll Learn:The 100-Day Plan That Transforms Businesses: Jamie's private equity framework used red and green Gantt charts (never orange) to force binary decision-making and took a £15 million business to £100 million in five years.Why Brand Is Your Only Defensible Moat: Brand is purpose, values, and mission, the only things competitors cannot copy, and Jamie's current business sells "trust" to the world's largest banks.The Tech Divestment Strategy That Multiplies Exit Value: Divest proprietary technology into a separate company, license it back, and use it as a negotiation tool to create multiple liquidity events.Remote Work Culture and the Camera-On Standard: Jamie confronted the broken remote-work culture by implementing discipline and respect standards rather than flexibility without accountability.The Imposter Syndrome Solution: Jamie overcame a £4 million revenue business that was losing £400,000 by investing in himself through Cranfield University's business growth programme.Personal Values That Guide Every Decision: Jamie's three values (energy, passion, and compassion) filter every business and personal decision, including his decision to turn down a billion-pound opportunity that conflicted with his values as a father.Key Quotes:"A teacher said to me once, Jamie, all you will ever do for a living is drive a van. I remember responding to him, saying, no, I will employ people that drive vans for me.""My purpose was simple. Get rich. It was just not being poor. And that was a really good purpose.""My Gantt charts don't have green, orange, and red. By the way, they have green and red. So if red's not acceptable, guess what? You've gotta come, and you've gotta deliver.""I just want to be a good husband and a good father. That's it. If I can do for my daughters what my mum did for me, and if I can do for my wife what my dad didn't do for my mum, that's me done."Jamie Waller's Background:Jamie Waller is a serial entrepreneur who has sold three businesses worth tens of millions of pounds and now serves as CEO of a £15 million revenue business targeting £100 million in five years.Whether you're fighting imposter syndrome, scaling past £5 million, or proving doubters wrong, this episode provides the blueprint for building valuable businesses from real experience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Want a Brilliant Life? Start Here | Michael Heppell 23.04.2026 53хв

  Want a Brilliant Life? Start Here | Michael Heppell InterviewWhat You'll Learn:Why Your "Least Successful" Work Might Be Your Most Important:Michael's favourite book, *Brilliant Life*, sold the fewest copies but delivered the deepest personal transformation through the Wheel of Life framework.The Vision That Changed Everything:Twenty-eight years ago, Michael set an "impossible" goal to positively influence one million lives, starting with 150 people in year one.How Success Nearly Cost Him Everything:Michael became "a professional arsehole"—so focused on building the business that his marriage collapsed until Tony Robbins' Date with Destiny programme helped him rebuild his values hierarchy.Why He Abandoned His AI Clone:Eighteen months into building "Michael in Your Pocket"—an AI so realistic his mother couldn't tell the difference—Michael pulled the plug to invest in human connection.The Open Lens Framework for Better Living:Michael's three-part model: Observe (who are you?), Embrace (appreciate what you have), and Create (start small without comparison).Designing Your Third Phase of Life:At 59, Michael is designing his "third phase" intentionally, embracing quiet wisdom that builds gradually whilst smart thinking declines.Purpose Through Community Impact:Michael chairs the Northeast Roots Ambassadors, recruiting 100 ambassadors to raise £1 million, embodying Blue Zones research on community connection and purpose.The Magic Words That Open Doors:"I need your help" activates 90% of people's desire to help—Michael shares breakthrough stories from Davina McCall and Lisa Faulkner.Coaching in the AI Era:Generic coaches charging £550 per hour will be replaced by AI unless they bring accountability, genuine value, and availability during crises.This Episode is Sponsored by AdSmart from Sky: Making TV Advertising affordable and available for businesses of all shapes and sizes.Find out more at: https://www.adsmartfromsky.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Why £3 Billion Doesn't Matter Without This 16.04.2026 43хв

  Building Wealth? Why £3 Billion Doesn't Matter Without This | Martin Lockyer Westminster Wealth InterviewMost business owners are brilliant at building wealth. Martin Lockyer knows they're terrible at planning what to do with it.In this episode of the ActionCOACH Podcast, Martin reveals why 36 years in financial services and managing over £3 billion taught him that relationships, values, and personal accountability matter more than balance sheet numbers.Martin built Westminster Wealth into one of the Financial Times' top-ranked independent financial planning firms without private equity backing or compromising core values. His secret? Understanding that integrity isn't honesty, it's the continual self-examination of your intent to do the right thing.What You'll Learn:Why Financial Planning Beats Wealth Management: Business owners who excel at generating wealth often can't answer: When can I stop working? What happens if my business fails? What does my wealth actually mean for my family's future?The Difference Between Honesty and Integrity: Martin defines integrity as constant self-examination of intent rather than simply not lying, a distinction that shapes every decision at Westminster Wealth.Values-First, Capability-Second Hiring: Martin would rather employ a £300,000-per-year fee earner who shares the firm's values than a £1 million earner who doesn't.Why Martin Rejected Private Equity Offers: Martin turned down substantial offers that would have required vertical integration and proprietary products, both of which contradicted Westminster Wealth's independence values.The Hardest Leadership Lesson: Letting Go of Approval: Accepting he's not responsible for others' opinions, only his own actions, provided Martin with genuine freedom and transformed his leadership.Key Quotes:"Integrity is self-examination of your intent to do the right thing.""I'd rather a 300,000 pounds a year fee earner who absolutely shares my values than a million pounds a year fee earner that is contrary to our values.""If you've got these values, you probably should be here. If you've not, don't come.""I'm responsible for my actions. The market is responsible for the outcomes."Martin Lockyer's Background:Martin founded Westminster Wealth Management in 2000 after 11 years in financial services. The firm now manages £3 billion for clients, employs 150 people, and ranks among the Financial Times' top independent wealth management firms without private equity backing. Martin's 24 years of sobriety and 14-15 years of coaching with Lucas Vigilante have shaped the values-driven culture that defines the firm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  Harness the Power of Storytelling in Your Personal Branding & Company Marketing 09.04.2026 33хв

  Storytelling: Your Audience Is Leaving Because of This Mistake | Sam Ramston InterviewMost founders treat video content like an afterthought. Sam Ramston knows the cost of that mistake. In this episode of the ActionCOACH podcast, we reveal why 98% of founders fail at video and the proven framework that turns founder storytelling into a growth engine.Sam Ramston leads Show Up, a founder-focused video storytelling service. His mission: help early-stage founders leverage the fact that 44% of their market value is tied to their personal story, using video that drives 95% higher audience retention and 4 times more LinkedIn engagement than text posts.His secret? A six-pillar framework executed over six to twelve months that balances authentic conversation with strategic storytelling-no scripts, no ads, just founders building the muscle to show up consistently and own their space.What You'll Learn:Why 98% of Founders Fail at Video: Discover the two fatal mistakes-posting too infrequently or producing content so poorly it undermines credibility-and why video remains the most powerful early-stage growth lever.The Founder as Storytelling Asset: Learn why 44% of market value is tied directly to founder visibility and the ability to connect with investors and customers.The Six-Pillar Framework: Master the month-by-month approach: Foundations (origin and problem), Why (why you, why this, why now), Mission (turning attention into conviction), Community (finding your tribe), Customer (flagship stories), and Vision (cementing thought leadership).Patience Over Speed: Building authentic founder presence is like training a muscle-meaningful CTAs only emerge in month three after laying proper groundwork.The Vulnerability Advantage: Being vulnerable about where you actually are builds belief, engagement, and the right community around your founder journey.Whether you're an early-stage founder seeking investor visibility, an entrepreneur building community around your expertise, or a business leader ready to own your niche, this episode provides the blueprint for founder-led video storytelling that actually works, from someone who's produced content for the world's biggest brands and now helps founders tell their stories with the same strategic rigour. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.