The Side Quest

Welcome to another episode of The Side Quest, I am Lex Hearth, and this week I'm going solo. Allow me to take this time to look back on the first series of The Side Quest. Over the past few months, the podcast has been filled with conversations, stories, perspectives, and lessons from an incredible lineup of guests. I could honestly say that the biggest takeaways come from transparent and generous...

Welcome to another episode of The Side Quest, I am Lex Hearth, and this week I’m joined by the very wonderful, Camiel Daamen. Camiel is the founder of Lessons in Live, which is an educational platform teaching students about music production. As well as music, Camiel is passionate about Jiu Jitsu. There’s a concept known as the DOJO which is where groups gather to practice their craft, led by a te...

This week on The Side Quest I’m joined by a writing pal, Nikkitha Bakshani. Nikkitha has accomplished that fantastic milestone that so many writers look towards - the publishing of a novel, and she has done that and continues to write actively alongside having a day job. A few weeks ago over a couple of glasses of wine I got to hear more about Nikkitha’s work with tarot and how she works with astr...

This week on The Side Quest, I'm joined by Mayowa Quadri, one of the team behind Versus — a football lifestyle magazine pushing the conversation around what sport can connect to. Mayowa didn't set out for a career in football media, but an early podcast gave him a foundation in storytelling that shaped everything that followed. We met working on the Women's Euros in 2022, and this conversation get...

This week on The Side Quest , I'm joined by creative entrepreneur Shana G , just as she prepares to launch Fanmail — a new project exploring the fan archives of people who are artists themselves. Shana has built podcasts, communities and businesses across her creative journey, and in 2024 won the BBC Radio 1 Christmas Cover competition, taking over the airwaves on Sarah Story's show. If you've exp...

This week I’m joined by a music pal, Lewis John. In this episode, we explore the close relationship between Lewis’ day job, as a music producer and engineer, and his side quest as a music producer but with an artist project. To distinguish for anyone a little confused… this means essentially the music he’s working on with other people versus that which he creates purely for his own joy and satisfa...

This week I’m joined by another special being, Claire Venus. Claire is a Sustack best seller with over 18,000 subscribers regularly consuming and benefitting from her guidance and mentorship.   She’s been teaching about the platform since 2023 and was an official mentor for Substack in 2024. If you’re thinking ‘what is this substack thing?’, I’d argue it’s side quest central. What started as a new...

She looked at the way female leaders were being represented and decided the image didn't match the reality — so she built her own platform to show what it actually looks like. Frances Odera Matthews is the founder of Coffee and Oysters, a podcast and community celebrating London's business babes with the kind of authenticity that slick branding usually edits out. But what I find fascinating about...

Jess Iszatt is BBC Radio 1 presenter and has been a part of giving talented artists that are now household names, their first big support via her new music show, BBC Introducing. This was how I met Jess myself, after submitting a mix of my own productions for a BBC in Ibiza competition a couple of years ago. I’ve been lucky enough to see first hand how her passion for artists and determination to...

She trained as a classical musician, got a masters in International business law, and then did what made perfect sense - became a DJ and event organiser embedding in nightlife and electronic music. Lidia Lo's path is a series of bold twists and steps. Based in Amsterdam, she co- founded Velvet, a party concept built on consistency, elegance and community, and has embedded in her mission a willingn...

She climbed the corporate ladder in sustainability and operations, but despite the trajectory, Sade Akindele couldn't shake the feeling she was living someone else's definition of success. That realisation didn't just change her career - it became the foundation for Women On Our Way, a community helping women navigate transitions toward values-aligned work. Sade gets granular about trusting intuit...

This week on The Side Quest, journalist and writer Michaella Parkes. I give her that title but as you'll see it's one that only really came into being in the past couple of years. Before that, she was deep in corporate life, until a move to writing and Substack cracked something open. What started as a career pivot became a full embrace of writing, community-building, and the kind of creative life...

She's the creative force behind House Party and a voice on Select Radio who’s life is a bit of a permanent side quest. From DJing in university to stepping away, then returning years later with her children's encouragement, Meera (@meeramixes) has built a practice of turning passions into platforms. Even her cake business evolved from a daughter's birthday to Central Cee's birthday. It was through...

She’s a DJ, producer and music promoter embedded in the world of dance music who in her first year of releasing scored a number one trending release on Soundcloud in 10 countries. But, it’s in long distance running that Arielle has found a way to regulate the party lifestyle which is an undeniable part of her creative profession. This episode will give you insight into how quickly you can get up a...

She was a marketing professional who experienced a real burnout and made the decision not to go back to full time work and instead, try and make it as a freelancer. What followed was what Vicky describes as personal development on crack.. she built the platform and events brand Happy Freelancers, and as that has evolved to become a full time pursuit, has turned the ignition on a new quest, dance a...