What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw

Tea Colaianni has never feared setting bold goals. As a child, she decided to become the Italian ambassador to Singapore. While her law and business career took her in a different direction, impact has always been the means by which she measured what she does. Following an executive career with organizations like Hilton Hotels and Merlin Entertainments, Tea set perhaps her boldest goal of all: to...

Andrea Faulkner Williams partnered with her husband, Brian Williams, to create a line of bath products for children. In just a few years, their company, Tubby Todd Bath Co., has become famous for great products and for bringing a sense of fun to a daily chore for young families. The Tubby Todd slogan: “Good Clean Fun” is a realistic capture of what they do. As marketers, we believe the best brands...

John Creaton is CEO and co-founder of Planet Arborist, a platform designed to provide integrated support for businesses focused on sustainability. Planet Arborist works directly with producers on investment funding, business services, and ratings, and provides guidance on sustainable living. He was born and educated in Ireland and has lived in Japan, London, and New York. He is now based in the UK...

Brandon Lowery was a professional athlete…but not in the sports he loved most. While he leaned into skate, snow, and surf, Brandon’s athletic ability aimed him toward a professional soccer life in Europe. A crash ended his soccer career and left him wheelchair bound for two years. His experiences as a traditional sport athlete inspired him to bring the same standards, opportunities, and audiences...

Across the globe, Hannah Ingram-Moore has worked with companies such as Whittard of Chelsea, Gap, Fortnum & Mason, Swatch Group, and Mulberry to create and deliver omnichannel strategies, improve the customer journey, and boost international distribution and sales. She currently serves as co-founder, director, and workplace strategist with Maytrix Group , a company dedicated to helping clients...

Dr. Debbie Chen has many roles in life: parent, founder, advocate, scientist…and Muay Thai fighter. It was in her role as a fighter that she faced the personal struggle of hydrating properly for her sport. The rule of thumb 8-glasses-of-water-a-day is just a guess and not one that works for all. Armed with a Ph. D. in biomedical engineering from Tufts University, Dr. Chen set out to solve the prob...

Executive recruitment has been regarded by many as a bit of a black box. Executives looking for the next role may not know how they can properly participate while companies may not recognize how to forge an effective partnership with a recruitment firm. Mike Meyrick has spent 20 years doing international executive search. Through his firm, Meyrick Consulting , he has helped clients identify talent...

Ian Muir McNally is an acoustical engineer, classically trained musician, hiker, and trail runner. While training to complete the John Muir Trail in California, Ian was trying to eat real food rather than gels and sports bars. “My jaws tired from chewing raw nuts and dehydrated fruit,” he said. That led to an ultimately fruitless search for portable, easier to eat trail food made of natural ingred...

Dr. Robert Harwood is a scientist, business strategist, food industry expert…and chorister. His first ‘job’ was as a 7-year old chorister at Exeter Cathedral. “It was like having a job anyway. We’d spend hours each week in rehearsals and then perform in front of a couple thousand people at the weekend.” That discipline and structure – as well as courage – formed the basis for Robert’s academic stu...

Bryan Pate was a runner who couldn't run anymore. Injuries forced him onto elliptical trainers but he grew weary of gym life. When he couldn't find an elliptical to ride outside, he and a partner invented one. His company, ElliptiGO, created a new category of elliptical and stand up bikes. Prior to founding ElliptiGO, he was a consultant at McKinsey, a military intelligence officer in the US Marin...

Ann Hiatt’s first job was with a startup. At age 16. “Leaning into doing hard things,” she joined Amazon out of college and became Executive Business Partner to Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos. In the early years, Amazon’s focus on securing customers rather than profit was considered risky. Also risky: the helicopter that Ann arranged for Bezos. Listen to hear that story.    While pursuing a...

As a child, Enrique Fiallo fled Cuba with his mother and literally only the clothes he was wearing. After high school, he worked for AT&T climbing telephone poles to connect service. He was the first in his family to graduate from college. He then launched an IT career working for companies like Ryder and eventually landing as CIO of Entergy. American dream complete, Enrique rose to become CEO...

For just about any outdoor sports or active lifestyle brand that you like, own, or want, there’s a good chance that Bob Rief has been involved.  He was behind Merrell Footwear, Reef Sandals, and Sanuk, and as head of Nike Golf, he signed a college kid called Tiger Woods. Bob was also part of Callaway Golf, K2, Nordica, and Raichle-Molitor. A lifelong waterman, Bob knows the sense of authentic...

Bernie Schroeder took a tiny ad agency and built it into a billion-dollar global integrated marketing firm with thousands of employees. He then embarked on a journey to share what he'd learned with entrepreneurs all over the world through Ted Talks, books, teaching at universities, and mentoring startup founders in multiple countries. He's the author of Brands & Bullsh*t , Fail Fast or Win Big...

Ken Charman has built software startups that were acquired by the likes of Deloitte, IBM, Oracle, and SAP. He’s now CEO of uFlexReward , an HR platform that consolidates employee costs and is owned by Unilever. Life as a tech entrepreneur may seem an unlikely route for a person suffering from dyscalculia, a condition sometimes known as dyslexia for numbers. While dyscalculia caused him to mistake...

Few people become professional athletes. Few of those go on to win championships. And fewer still create $100+ million companies. What are the odds of doing all three? Bryan Finnerty odds. The Detroit sports legend rode his work ethic, vision, intensity, and humility to achieve heights on and off the sports field that most could only dream about. Bryan Finnerty is an inspiring story of personal an...

At some point today, there’s a good chance you’ll interact with a brand that has fingerprints all over it. Not just anyone’s fingerprints, mind you, but Shawn Parr’s fingerprints. Adidas, Campbell’s, CMT, Heineken, Hilton, Mattel, MTV, Nike, Samsung, Starbucks, WD-40, and Westfield have been clients of this business transformation strategist and his team at Bulldog Drummond . Purpose is at the hea...

Prince Daniels, Jr. was told by a coach that he had a one in a million chance to play college football and a one in a billion chance to play in the NFL. He did both. As a running back at Georgia Tech, he set an NCAA record for rushing yards in a bowl game. He followed his illustrious college career to play for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. Understandably, “football player” became part of how Prince...

Nick Dormon is Founding Partner and Strategy Director for Echo -a global Brand Design agency based in London. An engineer by training, a product designer by experience, and a brand strategist by choice, Nick has worked on jets, pets, and the BBC. He's designed telephones for the Danish, letter boxes for the Royal Mail, and steered successful brand innovation, identity and strategy; all delivered w...

Kate Nowlan is founder of premium women's athletic apparel brand GRACEDBYGRIT, member of the boards of directors of Hylete Inc, San Diego Sport Innovators, Girls on the Run, and the GRACEDBYGRIT Foundation, and author of Graced by Grit: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Starting a Business with Power, Passion, & Purpose.     In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irw...

Jeff Campbell rose from a career on Madison Avenue to become global CEO of Burger King. He also served as Chairman of Pillsbury Restaurant Group, Senior Vice President of Brand Development at Pepsi-Cola, and CEO of Johnny Rockets. He's co-founder of Wisdom Capture , Executive-in-Residence at San Diego State University, writer, speaker and business mentor. In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with...

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. Self-aware people learn from those trials. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by everyone, including athletes, creators, entrepreneurs, leaders, writers, and difference makers. They have three things in common: none are perfect, all a...