Everyday Leadership

What does it actually take to get media coverage without a PR agency, a big budget, or knowing the right people? Gloria Chou found out the hard way. After applying to a thousand PR jobs and getting rejected from every single one, she cold-called newsrooms with shaking hands, got phones slammed in her face, and reverse-engineered what actually works. She built the CPR pitching method from scratch....

Why Your Best Leaders Are Burning Out (And What to Do About It) | Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, Workplace Burnout Your leadership development budget might be making things worse. Not because the programmes are bad. But because we're solving the wrong problem. Most leaders don't lack capability. They lack access to what they already know when pressure is highest - what I call The Inte...

What does leadership really feel like when you step into the CEO role and realise the weight is real? In this episode of Everyday Leadership, Sope Agbelusi speaks with Fiona McKenzie, CEO of Revere, about the reality of leadership under pressure. Fiona shares her journey from Account Director to CEO, taking over from the founders, building a leadership team, scaling culture, and leading the busine...

What does it really take to build something that lasts, without permission, without hype, and without losing yourself? In this episode of Everyday Leadership, Kwabz Ayim, co-founder of Mixtape Madness reflects on 15 years of shaping UK music culture from the ground up. This is a grounded conversation about responsibility, ownership, and the unseen work behind influence. We explore: How frustration...

Why does innovation get rejected before it wins? In this episode of Everyday Leadership, Sope speaks with Pierre Paslier, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Notpla, a sustainable packaging company creating biodegradable, plastic-free alternatives to single-use plastic using seaweed. Pierre shares the full journey of building Notpla, from early fundraising rejection and financial pressure to raising £850,000...

If 2025 felt like a rollercoaster you didn't buy a ticket for, you're not alone. Here's why this year broke the leadership playbook. In this episode of Everyday Leadership, we dive deep into why 2025 was fundamentally different for leaders and what 2026 demands from founders and senior executives. According to the World Economic Forum, 2025 experienced notably higher levels of global change than r...

Dr Nicholas Michels grew up in comfort until one moment changed everything. At ten years old his mum walked into his room and told him his parents were getting divorced. Overnight he went from a comfortable childhood to watching his mum work three jobs just to survive. In this conversation, Nicholas shares the truth about • Using sport to escape the pain of his home life • The moment a stranger ta...

In this episode of Everyday Leadership, Sope Agbelusi speaks with Kameka McLean, Group Head of HR at Walker Crips. Her story starts in Jamaica and stretches across more than forty countries where she has led major transformation projects, built teams, shaped organisational culture, and held firm to her values in rooms where many would stay silent. Kameka talks about the realities of arriving in th...

What does calm look like when everything is on fire? Seb Sheppard has lived leadership at every level — from flying Sea King helicopters in the Royal Navy to leading over 150 engineers at Alpine Formula 1, where milliseconds decide success or failure. In this episode of Everyday Leadership, Seb joins Sope Agbelusi to explore what it really means to lead under pressure. He shares the unseen side of...

We often talk about growth like it’s a finish line, something to achieve or complete. But real growth never ends. You don’t arrive. You evolve. In this episode, Sope Agbelusi explores why the very version of you that brought success may be the same one holding you back. Through stories from marriage, neuroscience, and leadership, he reveals how to unlearn what no longer serves you and make space f...

Tolulope Oke's journey is a masterclass in courage, intentionality, and backing yourself when the world tells you to settle. From being the only Black woman at Cambridge's oldest college to becoming a Global Head of Inclusion at Amazon and now CEO of The Inclusive Experience Group, Tolu shares the raw truth about what it takes to lead while Black in corporate spaces that weren't built for you. Thi...

Avril Grant’s story is one of audacity, healing, and radical self-belief. She shares how her experiences of racial violence and rejection became the roots of her life’s mission to empower others to rise above their circumstances and believe again in what’s possible. This conversation explores the intersection of pain and purpose, motherhood and leadership, survival and success. Avril opens up abou...

In this conversation with award-winning entrepreneur and founder Vanessa Sanyauke, we explore the highs and lows of building a career and movement that changes lives. You’ll hear: How an 8-year-old Vanessa found inspiration in Oprah. The story of how a recruiter told her she wasn’t good enough yet she landed her dream role at Standard Chartered through vision boarding and persistence. The emotiona...

In this episode of Everyday Leadership , I sit down with Chris Clark, Founder & Managing Director of InHarmony Consulting Group . From being called a “young preacher” as a child, to leading culture at global giants like Google, ESPN, and Soho House, Chris’s story is a masterclass in communication, resilience, and intentional leadership. We talk about: Growing up between church sermons and basketba...

We have been taught that the key to success is more . More meetings. More goals. More hustle. But neuroscience, psychology, and lived leadership experience all say the opposite: less is more. In this episode, I break down: The 5 biggest lies leaders believe about “more” 10 powerful reasons why doing less leads to greater clarity, creativity, and influence Real-world lessons from Warren Buffett, Se...

You’ve been taught to outwork it. To push through. To earn rest. But what if rest isn’t the reward — what if it’s the strategy? In this solo episode, I share a deeply personal story of almost burning. I also discuss how I ignored the warning signs, pursued clarity through effort, and what ultimately led me to stop. We dive into: The hidden cost of overperformance Why your best thinking happens whe...

In this powerful conversation, Robin Daniels, former CMO and current Chief Business & Product Officer at Zensai, shares his journey from a challenging childhood in Denmark to leading at some of the world’s most iconic tech companies. We dive deep into: How childhood adversity shaped his grit and optimism The power of storytelling and energy in leadership Why clarity, not certainty, is a leader’s b...

his week on Everyday Leadership , Sope Agbelusi challenges the belief that failure is our biggest barrier. Instead, he explores the more uncomfortable truth: fear of success. Whether it's fear of being seen, fear of criticism, or fear of outgrowing the people around you, many high-performers are quietly self-sabotaging their next level. Sope shares how redefining success shaped his own path, the m...

This isn't just for entrepreneurs or influencers. It’s for every founder, every corporate leader, every individual who wants to lead with impact and clarity. Sope unpacks the difference between reputation and personal brand , the hidden cost of being passive, and why doing great work is no longer enough. He shares a pivotal story about how a quiet, intentional moment in corporate years ago opened...

In this episode of Everyday Leadership I have the pleasure of chatting with Tope Chiedozie a creative curator, trainer and the voice behind The Sit Down UK . Together we trace his path from drawing in his bedroom and surviving a strict Nigerian upbringing to co-founding gospel-grime outfit Commission , touring the UK youth-event circuit and finally parking the music to create a live platform where...

Tash isn’t just about networking – she’s about removing barriers, building trust, and turning relationships into real results. Whether she’s navigating the depths of government departments or supporting high-stakes business deals, Tash shows up with clarity, boldness and unmatched intuition. In this episode, we talk about: Growing up in a Caribbean Pentecostal household and what dance taught her a...

This week's episode gets raw and real. Sope shares his personal experiences of business setbacks in 2025, the global rollback of DEI initiatives, the collapse of so-called "safe" investments, and the harsh reality of an unstable world. He explains why staying stuck in bitterness will only hold you back and how reclaiming ownership of your mindset is the only way forward. You’ll learn the neuroscie...

We dive into Lilah's journey from growing up as the youngest of 11 children to leading at some of the world’s biggest tech companies like Microsoft, Oracle and now Google. But what stood out most to me was her raw honesty about burnout, worthiness, and the powerful transformation she experienced through creating silence in her life. We explore how that one decision to prioritise stillness led to h...

🔥 Quotable Moment: “I really struggle with the word ‘entrepreneur’. When I go to networking events, I see how people introduce themselves with this glee when they say entrepreneur, but it’s actually just a grind. It’s just tough.”  In this episode of Everyday Leadership, I am joined by Tola Alade, serial Founder and a creative maverick with deep experience in founding and scaling businesses acros...

In this conversation, Bolaji opens up about growing up in a Nigerian household where hierarchy shaped his early mindset — and how he slowly dismantled those internal limits. We explore the tension between creativity and conformity, surviving 18 years in corporate while holding onto purpose, and how faith, failure, and fierce vision kept him grounded. You’ll hear how he used music, events and minis...