Beyond The Blend

What happens when technical expertise, personal brand and a very human approach to selling come together? Wendy Hakken, better known as The Oil Lady,joins Steve Knapp on Beyond the Blend to share an unconventional journey into lubricants that started with a chance encounter, took her into Chicago steel mills and ultimately built a career across distributors, Shell, OEMs and heavy-duty equipment. I...

Are lubricant businesses genuinely adopting AI, or are individual employees simply experimenting with it? And how much of that activity is actually making life better for the customer? Recorded live at Lubricant Expo Düsseldorf 2026, this episode of Beyond the Blend brings five industry voices together for a practical, candid discussion about artificial intelligence in the lubricants industry. Rob...

The lubricants industry talks a lot about the future — technology, sustainability, new applications and changing customer needs. But there is another question we need to ask: Who is going to power our industry tomorrow? In this special edition of Beyond the Blend, Steve Knapp is joined by Tina Reading of LUBE Media to explore LUBELife and the new LUBE Media STEM Ambassador Programme. The challenge...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, Steve Knapp is joined by Khashayar Hajiahmad, a machinery lubrication and reliability specialist whose career has taken him from a young mechanical engineer in Iran to SKF, Oman, EPT Clean Oil and now a new chapter in training and consultancy. Khash shares the story behind his relentless curiosity and appetite for learning, including the mentors who helped shap...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, Steve Knapp is joined by Linda Perry, whose career spans laboratories, leadership, reliability, business development and lifelong learning. What began as a receptionist's role evolved into a remarkable career built on curiosity, trust and a passion for helping others succeed. Linda shares the influence of mentor Bill Herguth, why breaking down organisationa...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, Steve Knapp sits down with Doug Sackett, Certified Lubrication Specialist, industry educator, mentor and lifelong advocate for raising standards across the lubrication and reliability profession. From growing up in a family business and unexpectedly finding his way into lubricants, to becoming a respected voice within the reliability community, Doug shares the...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, Steve Knapp speaks with Vanda Franco, a reliability and lubrication professional whose career has taken her from Portugal to Qatar through marine chemistry, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, oil analysis and machine reliability. Vanda shares her remarkable journey of continuous learning, adapting to new industries and building credibility in a traditionally male...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, we sit down with Jamie Shaw, Director of OMS LubriTek Limited, to talk about building a business, spotting opportunity where others see routine, and why technical curiosity still matters. Jamie shares his journey from mechanical engineering apprentice to technical sales, and ultimately launching OMS LubriTek with a clear ambition to do things differently in oil...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, Rob sits down with Yana Wilkinson to explore the role of insight, decision-making and leadership in an industry that is constantly evolving. Yana brings a fresh perspective on what market research really is. It’s not just data, reports or databases, it’s about helping businesses make better decisions. Whether that’s through insight, structured thinking or simpl...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, Steve sits down with Mike Davidson to explore a career shaped by international experience, strong influences, and a thoughtful approach to leadership. From growing up across the Middle East to returning to the UK as a teenager, Mike’s early life gave him a broader view of people, culture and work. That perspective, combined with the influence of his father’s en...

Guests: Jade Thompson (RecondOil / SKF), Nick Forster (CC Jensen), Jamie Shaw (OMS LubriTek) Hosts: Steve Knapp & Rob Taylor In this special Beyond the Blend Live episode, Steve and Rob sit down in Sheffield with three experienced voices from across the lubricant and reliability community. Recorded during Jade Thompson’s UK Lubricants Social, the conversation explores how the lubricant industr...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, Steve sits down with Cameron Clarke, Head of Sales and Operations at Oil Store, for one of the most honest and human conversations we’ve had on the podcast. Cam didn’t grow up dreaming of lubricants. His journey started on the top deck of a bus, scrolling Indeed, looking for direction. From office administrator to sales leader, from blagging Excel skills at int...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, Steve sits down with Simon Campbell, Managing Director of Pure Lubrication, to trace a career that, like many in our industry, didn’t begin with a childhood dream of selling lubricants. From hospitality management and retail, to fuel sales at Highland Fuels, through many years at The Lubricant Company, and now leading Pure Lubrication, Simon’s journey is one of...

In this special episode of Beyond the Blend, Rob is joined by two guests for the first time, Collette and Paul, the husband-and-wife leadership team behind Delta Xero. This is a conversation about far more than filtration technology. It’s about building a business together, balancing innovation with structure, and learning how to scale without becoming the bottleneck. Paul brings the entrepreneuri...

René Abrahams’ journey is anything but ordinary. Born and raised in Durban during apartheid-era South Africa, René entered the workforce at a moment of profound national change. What followed was a career shaped by curiosity, courage, activism, and an unwavering belief in evolution, personally, professionally, and industrially. From being among the first women to work in refinery laboratories, to...

Jade Thompson didn’t plan a career in lubricants, like many in our industry, she arrived by accident and stayed by choice. Originally seeking lab experience to support a Master’s in equine parasitology, Jade found herself drawn into oil analysis, reliability, and ultimately circular lubrication and sustainability. Today, she plays a key role supporting sales and customers globally with RecondOil a...

How do you build a career that keeps evolving as fast as the industry you’re in? In this powerful episode, we meet Brenna Huovie, a chemical engineer turned global business leader whose 30+ year career spans Exxon, Honeywell UOP and now Lubrizol. From refinery floors to corporate boardrooms, Brenna has reinvented herself multiple times while staying rooted in science, curiosity and a genuine desir...

From apprentice in a noisy workshop to leading a global innovation team shaping the future of industrial efficiency, Tobias Daley’s journey is a brilliant reflection of where tradition meets transformation in the lubricants and fluid power world. His story is filled with curiosity, hands-on learning, family values, and a passion for helping industry do things better -sustainably, digitally, and wi...

In this episode of Beyond the Blend, we sit down with Amanda Hay, a journalist-turned-data leader whose career spans community newspapers, graphic design, energy reporting, and now global commodity intelligence at ICIS. Amanda’s story is a brilliant reminder that skills aren’t linear, they evolve. From her early days in local newsrooms to now guiding global base oil insight for one of the industry...

In this powerful episode, Beyond the Blend heads to St. Louis, Missouri, to meet Jim Carroll - Executive VP at Schaeffer Manufacturing and current President of the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association (ILMA). Jim’s story spans decades of service - in both the U.S. Army, where he served for 30 years and rose to the rank of Colonel, and in the lubricant industry, where he’s spent over 25...

From geology graduate to global sales leader, Gwyn Simmonds has spent more than 25 years at the intersection of data, reliability, and customer trust. In this episode, Steve explores how a curiosity-driven career led Gwyn from the lab bench to the boardroom and what’s changed along the way. Gwyn shares honest reflections on leadership, travel, and learning on the job, revealing how oil analysis ha...

From hospitality and accountancy to marketing in the lubricant sector, Lisanne Hoolwerf brings a refreshing outsider’s lens to an industry often defined by tradition and technical jargon. In this episode, she shares her journey into lubricants, her passion for translating complex ideas into customer-centric stories, and why curiosity and consistency are her secret weapons. Recorded live as part of...

In this episode, we welcome Gemma Stephenson, Business Development Manager at Cargill Bio industrial, whose journey spans from the lab bench in tribology to shaping sustainability conversations across the lubricants industry. Gemma’s story is one of curiosity, courage, and purpose. From her early days testing blends and MTM machines to presenting at international conferences, she’s built a career...

Recorded at: Lubricant Expo, Düsseldorf September 2025 Panel Guests: • Lisanne Hoolwerf – Head of Marketing at Olyslager • Daniel Tait – Managing Director at Oil Store • Jade Thompson – Business Development Manager at SKF RecondOil • Elisa Swanson-Parbäck – Business Development Director – Sustainable Lubricants at Perstorp Group Hosted by: Rob Taylor and Steve Knapp (Plan Grow Do) 🎧 Episode Overv...

In this episode, we sit down with Angus Macdonald, Co-Founder and Director at A&S International, as he shares his entrepreneurial journey in the lubricants and reliability sector, spanning innovation, sustainability, and the power of partnerships. Angus opens up about the pivotal decisions that shaped his path: leaving the security of corporate life, taking the leap to co-found a family busine...