Focus on WHY

What happens when as an international blues and jazz singer your voice suddenly produces robotic noises instead of talking normally? This is what happened to Kerri Layton as she shares her shocking story of how at the height of her singing career she was rushed straight in for an emergency operation on her vocal chords. Terrified, Kerri went into that hospital theatre not knowing whether she would...

Frederika Roberts is an ordinary person who has experienced extraordinary events. In business, she has learnt at least as much from her mistakes as from the things she got right. Her personal life has been a rollercoaster of emotions, yet Frederika feels exceptionally lucky and describes herself as 'fundamentally happy'. In this podcast, she shares her poignant, emotional and insightful journey an...

Richard Hagen has always lived with purpose and has always asked the question WHY? His biggest challenges in life have been when his personal missions have clashed with the external reality or the external agent that would be the channel that his purpose would be expressed through. Talking about his WHY, Richard shares stories from his life which include 'committing suicide' at the Edinburgh Festi...

Gitanjali Trevorrow-Seymour is a professional possibilist, neuroscience nerd, executive coach, a recovering perfectionist and a catalyst. Her mission is to liberate that 3lbs of flesh inside your head from overthinking, so you don't just start seeing the possibilities but you act on them with curiosity, confidence and courage. In this podcast, Gitanjali shares how she spent decades of her life liv...

David Breaker was told by his GP at a routine doctor's appointment that he would only have five years to live or at most ten if he was lucky. After hearing this news, David had two weeks of nightmares where as a ghost he walked through a graveyard and saw a gravestone with the words: David Breaker. He was here. He played games. David shares his WHY and the emotional journey of how he transformed h...

Amy Rowlinson shares her reflections and observations of these recent podcast episodes:   036 Put Your War Paint On with Danny Gray 037 Real Life 1.0 with Tej Singh 038 Discipline and Regret with Sandro Forte 039 Create Your Ikigai with Héctor García 040 Evolution of Data with Toby Wilde 041 Innocence Project London with Dr Louise Hewitt   KEY TAKEAWAY "We stand on a very fragile line on the right...

Lecturer of the School of Law, Dr Louise Hewitt is also Director of the Innocence Project London which is a pro bono organisation where law and criminology students work alongside Louise and lawyers. They all give their time on a pro bono basis to investigate the cases of alleged wrongful convictions of people who have been convicted but who have exhausted the appeals process and are maintaining t...

Toby Wilde has a vision for the future of real estate which is why he founded Oparo, a Real Estate and Computer Technology (REACT) firm which is algorithm based, people driven and has real estate investment at its heart. Toby shares WHY he works in the PropTech sector and why he is disrupting and redefining both investment and finance methodology in the UK Real Estate market using proprietary tech...

Focus on WHY meets IKIGAI! International bestselling author Héctor García shares why he co-authored Ikigai with Francesc Miralles and how they wrote the book from their hearts. Héctor shares his WHY, his love of Tokyo and the Japanese culture, his interest in existentialism and the importance of community. What do you love doing? What does the world need? What can you be paid for? What are you goo...

Not to be discouraged by some challenges during the early part of his life, Sandro Forte has built one of the UK's most successful and highly respected businesses, with individual and corporate recognition and awards too lengthy to list. Yet, by his own admission, Sandro is an 'ordinary guy' who simply believes and demonstrates day to day that determination and a will to win are prerequisites for...

Tej Singh was born to be an entrepreneur. Tej is an international podcasting, brand-building property investor and on this "life-changing podcast" Tej shares his WHY which he describes will take him from Real Life 1.0 to Real Life 2.0 and then back again! Tej has a favourite quote that summarises how he lives his life. "If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it." Marcus Aur...

Danny Gray believed that makeup should be available for everyone and after years of talking about it he finally took action to make his dream possible. In founding War Paint For Men, Danny has given men all over the world more than makeup. He's given them confidence. He has created a brand that helps men who were struggling with stuff when they just didn't need to. Sharing his personal story about...

Amy Rowlinson shares her reflections and observations of these recent podcast episodes: 029 Tell the Truth with Giampiero Scattolon 030 Success Leaves Clues with Maria Thomson 031 The "When Fish Climb Trees" Philosophy with Mel Loizou 032 Follow Your Dreams with Keith Harris 033 Fulfil Your Potential with Jay Dhillon 034 Reinvent Yourself with Claire Norwood   KEY TAKEAWAY "We but mirror the world...

From shoemaker to mother to property developer, Claire Norwood shares WHY it is important to her that she continues to "reinvent herself". Claire has been working as a property developer for the last seven years. By sharing her honest and vulnerable experiences, Claire is inspiring and enabling people who think it might be too late for them to see for themselves what transferable skills they can b...

Entrepreneur, Podcaster, Mentor, Public Speaker and Investor, Jay Dhillon has a passion for business. From start-up to huge success, in 2013, Jay sold one business to an investment firm and has since gone on to further successes with many other businesses across different sectors and Jay helps others to do the same. With 20 years' business experience, Jay believes, with the right mentoring advice,...

Pursuing his passion for music, Keith Harris OBE has led a distinguished career spanning 45 years as a music industry manager. Keith shares who he has had the pleasure of working with, the hard yards he has had to put in over the last four decades and speaks of the direct and indirect racial discrimination he has experienced. Drawing awareness to racism in the music industry, Keith explains why he...

Mel Loizou has a love for finding people's true genius and her business is founded on this core strength. Like most people, Mel's journey has been a roller coaster and it was during the times of greatest challenge that she realised whilst individuals can be successful, it is teams that deliver amazing results. Mel shares her lightbulb moment and demonstrates her strength to connect strategy and pe...

Maria Thomson shares her WHY which takes us around the world from Edinburgh to Los Angeles to Hawaii and back to the Scottish Highlands where Maria currently resides. Maria is highly entrepreneurial in her approach always spotting new opportunities taking very fast action. Maria believes communication is everything and she shares how discovering her strengths and limitations on a one day training...

In 2014 Giampiero Scattolon was diagnosed with PTSD after having served in the US Army for three years and was fortunate to work with a therapist to help him recover. While talking to his therapist he discovered the art of genuine conversations and their potential for treating and healing emotional wounds and pain.  Giampiero shares why it is important to him to work as a conversation facilitator...

Amy Rowlinson shares her reflections and observations of these recent podcast episodes: 022 Ignite Your Inner Potential with Kul Mahay 023 Arch to Arc with Chris Leek 024 Next Level Living with Jessica Leader 025 Speak Performance with Ges Ray 026 Elevate. Empowering Potential with Shinnel Paras 027 Always Be Curious with Michelle Bryant   KEY TAKEAWAY "Don't wait for tomorrow because tomorrow nev...

For Michelle Bryant, time equals freedom and freedom means everything to her. It is WHY she does what she does. Being in control of her time and having the flexibility to travel and see her family when she chooses is of the upmost importance. Michelle is open to new opportunities and challenges, thriving on the unknown and with her curiosity for life always shining through she seeks out adventure....

Shinnel Paras is an innovative educational practitioner who by leaving the stability and comfort of her full-time job as Head of Sixth Form is pursuing her life passion of motivating and inspiring young people from the most disadvantaged communities in London. Together with Shannel Bernard, co-founding Elevate, they are challenging the status quo and challenging the unconscious bias that, for some...

Are you ready to build your "speak performance", your confidence and professionalism when 'on a screen near you' in front of your clients? Whether you're presenting the sales figures to your colleagues or delivering a pitch to 1000 people in the Carnegie Hall, Ges Ray speaks about the business of speaking. Speaker, coach and author, Ges Ray, delivers a toolkit for business delivering the confidenc...

A home is a safe environment in which we can flourish. That's what today's guest Jessica Leader believes. To Jessica, property means security and she is now committed to creating as many homes as possible that create this foundation for her and for others. A wearer of many hats, each step of Jessica's career across a variety of industries including marketing, experiential design, corporate, charit...

World Record Holder, Chris Leek is the Fastest Man (Non Wetsuit) to complete the Enduroman Arch 2 Arc challenge. Only 44 athletes have ever achieved this challenge and of those only five have done it without a wetsuit. Chris Leek holds the fastest time in this category. Chris's WHY is very personal to him and it is what kept him focused throughout every moment of this gruelling triathlon. Chris sh...