Happy MBA

Lizzie Penny and Alex Hirst are the cofounders of Hoxby, a community and social enterprise that provides companies with the best talent and helps people work in a way that best aligns with their chosen lifestyle. They're both advocates of what they call Workstyle, and have just published a book called  Workstyle: A revolution for wellbeing, productivity and society . They also consult with co...

“We are all part of this massive wood wide web. We are all connected, we are all entwined.” Life is full of changes, some are unexpected and traumatic and others can be intentional and nourishing. Coach and Vision 20/20 mentor Lana Jelenjev would like you to help you navigate change by thinking of your life as a tree – whether ripped from the soil or mindfully re-rooted. Re-rooting means digging c...

"When you’re writing something about your business. Anything. If it could be used – intact and just as coherently – by any of your competitors.  It’s not good enough . Say something that only you can say, instead." Mychael Owen is an enigma. He started his first business at university, won a few awards and by 25 was advising other people how to start and grow businesses By 30 he'd s...

When Carlos was a teenager, he never thought he could be an entrepreneur. He had very specific beliefs around what it mean to be an entrepreneur or businessman – the entrepreneur type was loud, flamboyant and risk taking. The businessman type was sober, stern and hard-nosed. He didn’t identify with either of those types. These days, though, we’ve been given much more opportunity to start businesse...

One of the core models shared with participants of the Vision 20/20 programme is the Story of Change. Based on the Satir Change Model developed by Virginia Satir (family therapist and author), the Happy Startup School uses it to describe the transformation they wish for others. Rather than build products and services that they hope people will buy, members advocate a more design thinking...

Mood is a mobile app that lets users track their mood with one tap a day. It was invented by Gareth Dauncey, a Welsh architect specialising in low-impact design and adaptive reuse of historic buildings. Gareth created Mood after years of spreading himself too thin. Things hadn’t felt right for a while so he started recording how he felt each day with a calendar and coloured pens. Over weeks and mo...

If you’re like Laurence and Carlos, following a squiggly life isn’t just a matter of circumstance, it’s in your nature. Sarah Ellis, cofounder of AmazingIf, says in her TED talk with her cofounder Helen Tupper “The legacy of the ladder is all around us.” That’s the career ladder; the linear view of life where work is all about straight line progression. Many of us were led to believe that progress...

One of the most powerful ways we've found to connect with our followers is through our newsletter. But how do you do it so that it's energising and not exhausting, particularly when you're just starting out? For this episode, Carlos is joined by Lyndsay Lucero, founder of Baxley Goods. She's passionate about making exceptional goods that also help our planet. She shares her journey...

Anniki Summerville is a broadcaster, author, journalist, and speaker specialising in telling positive and authentic narratives about women in their forties and beyond. This is about the "shoulds" and how when we reach midlife a lot of us start questioning them. The invitation is to do that a lot sooner, and lose the comparisonitis that can follow us around. Could the solution be to could encourage...

How do we have to be to create a new world that sidesteps the mistakes of the old? What do we need to learn about relating differently and more compassionately with ourselves, and others, in order to create a different social and cultural reality? And what does a new world business designed to help people practise this look and feel like, and how do we learn to lead such a thing? Gaylene creates s...

Kindness, compassion, and playfulness can create positive ripples in the world. This episode’s guest, Bernadette Russell, has a daily intentional practice of kindness that not only brings her a sense of hope and joy, but has also opened doors to new opportunities and experiences. By embracing our childlike wonder and bringing it into our adult lives, we can redefine what it means to be a grown-up,...

There’s never enough time, and the work is never done. On this episode, author and journalist Oliver Burkeman shares his insights on how we can better manage our time, but not get bogged down in productivity. If you’re felt overwhelmed, stressed or unfulfilled, Oliver’s book,  Four Thousand Weeks , offers a valuable reframe: pushing against the endless need for productivity, and towards a Zen...

To cultivate creativity and authenticity, we have to be be willing to take risks and face the fear of rejection. James Victore is a designer and author whose podcast and course help people cultivate creativity and courage. He believes in authenticity, self-awareness, and the importance of understanding one's creative voice in order to put meaningful work out into the world. He encourages people to...

One of the things Laurence and Carlos are really passionate about at the Happy Startup School is helping entrepreneurs build businesses that are aligned to who they really are. Most people they work with are experienced professionals or seasoned business owners who are looking for a different work path: a path that feels less effortful and alive. Up until now the path they’ve followed seemed like...

For those of us born in the West today, living to 100 will be the norm, not the exception. Living longer is clearly a gift, but the simple truth is these extra 25-30 years of life did not exist before. This new horizon is as important and exciting as the invention of motion pictures, cars or even space travel. When a change this big happens, innovation follows. Ayse Birsel is the author of  D...

We believe that money is a law of nature and is as real as the metal or paper it’s made of. We give it power and even say it makes the world go round. And this is where we can get unstuck. We give money more power than we need to. But money is really neutral screen on which we project our fantasies, desires, and insecurities. In this episode, Carlos speaks with Nadjeschda Taranczewski, CEO of Cons...

For the last 7 years Joshua Coombes has been a man on a mission. In 2015, while working at a London hair salon and feeling a little disillusioned, he took to the streets with his scissors to build relationships and offer haircuts to men and women experiencing homelessness in the capital. He began posting transformative images on social media to amplify the voices of those he met. The stories that...

Laurence has been a big fan of Tim Frenneaux's work since he first discovered Gather Outdoors, a blog and online store he launched back in 2015. He's still got a couple of their sweatshirts. Tim launched Gather shortly after he turned 40. Around this time he lost his dad and realised he wasn't living the adventurous life he dreamt of as a kid. More recently Gather has evolved to become Adventurous...

Are you starting something new? Are you on the hunt for customers? If so, stop thinking of your customers as just buyers, and start thinking of them as potential partners and co-creators. From the Happy Startup School’s experience, what you think people want isn't always what they actually want. And the more you talk to them the more likely you'll find out what really floats their boat and discove...

In the summer of 2009, brothers Dave and Mike Radparvar decided to quit their jobs in the heat of the recession to go all-in on their passion project — Holstee, a functional and sustainable t-shirt company they had started with their friend Fabian Pfortmüller. Since then they’ve pivoted many times. Though what they’ve done and how they’ve done it has changed, why they’re doing what they do has alw...

In Ben Hunt-Davis' book  Will it Make the Boat Go Faster , the gold medal winning rower talks about four layers of goals: the crazy, the concrete, the control and the everyday. The crazy layer is about describing a goal that is bold and exciting. Something that feels beyond your reach but you're motivated to achieve. When you have a goal that lights up your imagination and promises to meet yo...

What does it mean to build a purpose driven business? For many it means doing something that has social or environmental impact. It's about serving society, the planet or a local community. But to Laurence and Carlos it also means creating a business intentionally – building a business whose size, scale, impact and benefit takes into account your needs and not just your customers'. If you don't li...

How much do you know yourself? Sometimes the choices we make in life are dictated by unknown forces that seem outside of us. But what if they're actually inside us and we just have to look. The careers we fall into, the businesses we start and the partners we choose are all guided by our perceptions, beliefs and personality types. Doing the inner work of getting to know yourself can help you make...

Every Friday Luke Swann spends time doing nothing. He creates space for rest, wellbeing and focussing on what he feels is important. He calls it his Friday Flourish. In this episode, Carlos and Laurence learn from Luke what he does to create this space and why it's so important to him. In this fast paced world we're all too eager to be busy and stay on top of our to do lists. But what if those to...

What does it mean to be a good dad? Carlos has two kids; Gabriel is 13 and Esmé is 9. And for nearly a decade and a half he’s been trying to work out the best way to be their dad. He has no manual nor any training... only lots of questions. Should he be disciplined or relaxed? Should he focus on their financial security or their emotional wellbeing? Where do his dreams and ambitions fit in? How ca...