Happy MBA

When setting out on the journey of building a totally new business it’s important to focus on making progress rather than seeking perfection. You’re a pioneer doing something that hasn’t been done before and so there’s no set template for success. You’re on a voyage of discovery that can take you down many dead ends. Luckily we have tools to help us explore what works such as design thinking, cust...

Recently I caught up with Beccie d’Cunha, founder of Courage Lab, a consultancy that helps founders and organisations build more resilient and higher performing teams. She shared with me a tool that she uses a lot in her work called Lumina Spark. It’s a psychometric profiling tool that measures the level to which we exhibit different personality traits. I’m always curious about new tools that help...

This episode of the podcast is another window into the worlds of the people who join our Happy Startup tribe. This time I'm in conversation with Lyndsay Lucero, founder of Baxley Goods. She tells the story of how she started her business and why. Unlike other startup stories Baxley didn't begin because Lyndsay wanted to make money but because she wanted to make something for herself and her childr...

In our community of purpose-driven entrepreneurs we have many founders who want to create a positive impact with their valuable products and services but are hampered by how they price. This affects both their financial and energetic sustainability. Do you feel unconfident and apologetic in the way you price your products and services? Are you struggling to grow your business because you’re always...

It's perfectly possible to be shy, quiet, or introverted and get on in the world. However on social media all we seem to see are the loud-mouthed extroverts who are smashing it and trying to sell us another transformational program that will help us make six-figures in sales. Unfortunately those voices have dominated the world of entrepreneurship making the less assuming ones of us feel inadequate...

If you’ve written down 7 top priorities you’ve got no priorities which means you’re going to find it hard to be productive. According to Graham Allcott, founder of Think Productive and author of Productivity Ninja, productivity is ultimately about making space for what matters. This means creating clear intentions and focussing your attention on what you need to do. During this episode Graham shar...

When Laurence and I closed our digital agency it seemed like the natural thing to do. At the time we had beautiful studio, a talented team and clients with ongoing projects but we’d lost the creative energy to keep it going. We weren’t clear about its future and we were being drawn to grow the Happy Startup School. While it wasn't plain sailing closing Spook Studio was a lot less traumatic experie...

In this episode of the podcast Laurence and I were given a masterclass in empathy. As part of our Friday Fireside series of webinars we were joined by Christine Raine, empathic coach, entrepreneur and founder of Conversable, a transformational movement on a mission to share how empathy can transform human relationships, and therefore the world. It was a very timely conversation given how the world...

This episode is a departure from our normal format and is an experiment suggested by one of our longest standing members and a big advocate of our work, Peter Krishnan. Peter has been to every Summercamp and is also the leader of our Happy Startup London group. During this episode Peter shares his story of startup along with 3 music tracks that have been important to his journey.

In this episode of the podcast we’re in conversation with John Parkin the author of F**k It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way. We hear about his journey of self healing and how saying f**k it was core to it. It’s about not holding on so tightly to ideas and concepts and being more aware of the unfair expectations we place on ourselves, situations or events. When it comes to saying f**k it to fear John t...

When faced with a crisis how do you respond? When your mind is filled with anxious thoughts and worries it’s impossible to find the right answer. But if you let your mind settle and be at peace then that’s when insight arrives. In this episode of the podcast we’re joined by Elizabeth Lovius, entrepreneur, leadership coach and wisdom teacher. She shares her own insight about where inspired action c...

"The whole world is suddenly in a state of total improvisation, and no-one has any idea what will come next" In this episode of the podcast Laurence and I talk to our good friend Laurence Shorter. He’s a coach, comedian and author of The Lazy Guru’s Guide to Life. We be explore the idea of not having any idea. For Laurence, this is the essence of true creativity and from where clarity emerges. Whe...

In this episode of the podcast I talk to the lovely and super positive Gayle Berry, business mentor and founder of Blossom and Berry. Gayle has been running her own business for over 18 years now. When she first started Blossom and Berry, her baby massage school, she was sending out binders and CDs to people via the post. She's now transitioned everything online and has clients across the world. W...

This is another recording of the live webinar that Laurence and I are hosting during lockdown in the UK and across the world. We're joined by Christina Kisley, our long time friend and Alptitude alumnus. She’s co-chair of Conscious Capitalism in Atlanta and is an executive coach for leaders, executives and entrepreneurs with 20 years of experience. For this episode we talk about loss. When we down...

Georgee Low is a sales and marketing coach from Vancouver and she helps purpose driven entrepreneurs build their businesses and make them profitable. She works with people who really want to make a difference in the world but struggle with marketing and sales. During this podcast we talk about what it takes to be authentic when selling as well as what it means to be an entrepreneur. Most people th...

This episode is the audio recording of the live webinar that Laurence and I have committed to broadcasting every Friday during the lockdown period in the UK. We were joined this time by one of the funniest and kindest people we know. His name is Shamash Alidina and is the author of Mindfulness for Dummies as well a being an ACT trainer and a keynote speaker on wellbeing and resilience. ACT, also k...

Every Friday Laurence and I have been hosting live discussions about what's been going on this week for us and our community. It’s our opportunity to process what's going on in the world right now and tackle some crunchy topics around life and business, and the overlap of the two. Each week we have a different theme and for this episode we were joined by the amazing Charles Davies, one of our teac...

This is the third in the series of weekly episodes of our live podcast with myself and Laurence reflecting on the past week and what's going on in theres uncertain times. The core message of this episode is around how we navigate our internal world to better navigate the external one. This week we're joined by Lana Jelenjev, a learning experience designer and community alchemist. We discuss the id...

This is the second of our weekly live transmissions where Laurence and I reflect on the past week and our thoughts and ideas. During this session we talk about: our covid coping strategies and what we've done to get through this week anti-fragility and how we can build resilience in times of uncertainty how entrepreneurship can be seen as a journey of personal growth We go live every Friday at mid...

I’ve learned from talking to coaches and business owners, and also reflecting on my own experiences, that the biggest obstacle to growing a business is the founder. Our beliefs and values, without proper examination, can stop us from making the best decisions for our businesses. In this conversation with Dirk Bischof I learn about how his passion for stories and his drive to understand himself hav...

During this time when we're going to feel more apart this video call is our way of pulling us together. Laurence and I are committing to doing a live video call every Friday at midday UK time. We'll talk about what's been going on for us and invite community members to jump on the call and share their stories. We're working it out as we go along and so we need all the help and support we can get.

Podcasting and vlogging are great low cost ways to get your message out to the world. If you’re a purpose-driven entrepreneur being able to share your story and activate people who want to join your mission is fundamentally important. I think of the work of Marshal Ganz and particularly his principle of story of self, story of us and story of now. Check out Seth Godin’s take on this idea and how i...

This is the last episode of 2019 and a bit of a milestone for me. The podcast started in February as a bit of an experiment and I'm proud to have now recorded 50 episodes. Recording and producing each episode has taken a lot of time and effort but at the beginning of the year I had set myself a one word intention of learning and this podcast has felt so aligned with that. When I first started I di...

This episode is a meaty one in which the conversation covers 10 year plans, cottage renovations, business goals, life goals, selling companies, self-awareness and leadership. My talking partner on the podcast is Ray Richards, founder of Do Something Different. He's fascinated by behavioural flexibility and is on a mission to make the world a better place by helping people make better behaviours. H...

In this episode I talk to Rob Day about the traps and pitfalls of founding an agency business. When Laurence and I started our digital agency back in 2004 we didn’t have a business plan or exit strategy. We just enjoyed doing the work and wanted to continue doing it and get paid. We grew organically taking people on when we couldn’t handle the workload. Over time we got more work and therefore nee...