LifeDoneDifferent.ly

This conversation is with the chef, raver and compulsively creative Brad Carter. Brad’s not averse to learning from others but his energy levels peak, his boat is well and truly floated, when he has a vision for something different.   From winning a pizza-making competition at school through his partying years to a surprise Michelin star, Brad seems to relish constraints using them to make things...

Welcome to our conversation with the Musician and Artist Boff Whalley.  Boff was formerly the lead-guitarist of British anarchist punk band Chumbawumba. Best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping". Boff grew up in Burnley, in a Morman family.  He embraced the art and punk scenes, experimented with different types of music, and with his anarchist mates from the squat formed Chumbawumba which bec...

Derek Sivers is a man with his own mind. To describe him as a musician, circus clown, entrepreneur, programmer, author, speaker, philosopher and Dad might whet your appetite but it would only be a part of the story. Whatever Derek does, he rarely does it on auto-pilot. He has a knack for questioning things. His beliefs are less likely to be a story he's inherited and more likely to be a useful exp...

This is a conversation with Steve Chapman. Steve worked for Glaxo Smith Kline for 20 years, he started packing boxes and ended up in a senior management role - and then he became an artist. It sounds like a huge dose of doing something very different but it's not quite as dramatic as that. Steve has found a way to do what he wants to do and earn a living selling his art and helping organisations u...

Better Business On Purpose is a book that Neil has recently co-authored. It's a practical guide for leaders who want to grow profit and have a positive impact on the world. Included in the book: Examples of inspiring businesses that have embedded purpose in their DNA, and who are making it work. The '7 Ps' - a systematic approach to making your business more purpose-led and profitable at the same...

Hello and welcome to our conversation with Pieter Levels. Peter is the man behind NomadList.com , remoteOK.com , InflationChart.com , rebase.co and more. Pieter is hard to describe if you’re after an old-world description. He’s most certainly a business guy and a software developer guy but he works remotely, sometimes he charges for his creations, sometimes he doesn’t. He practices radical honesty...

Until she went to Sweden as part of a student exchange programme, Steph didn't really question the trajectory she was on. She was going with the flow. A spell in Sweden, a different culture with different people and in particular a different educational system woke Steph up to the idea that she had led a sheltered life and that different was at the very least interesting and at very best, signific...

Hi All - in this episode we talk to Rosie Sherry. Rosie is a self-declared introvert and community builder extraordinaire. She is best known for the Ministry of Testing, Indie Hackers, Rosie.land and RecklessMother.com  Rosie builds communities and has done so for more than 15 years. It includes the Sherry community of Rosie, Graham and their 5 kids aged 17 to 3 - none of whom go to school.  It’s...

Mills founded ustwo with Sinx, his mate from school. Ustwo has become a digital product studio, a games company and an investment business. They have always worked with the biggest brands in the world.  In part, Neil & I enjoyed this because Mills is from a world we understand pretty well. It’s a world that’s exploded in the last 25 years or so. A world where creativity meets technology, a wor...

Hi all - welcome to our conversation with Emile Bennett, Emile is a 37-year-old knife-maker and bladesmith but it’s taken him a while to feel comfortable with those descriptions. Previously his world was software, apps, websites and to begin with studio engineering. Originally from the UK, he now lives in Chamonix in the French Alps. Emile has spent most of his working life with the distinct feeli...

Hi everyone. I hope you're doing okay given the circumstances. Welcome to our conversation with Charles Wookey. Charles is the CEO of A Blueprint for Better Business, a charity that helps organisations consider their social and environmental impact alongside their financial goals. This is how I know Charles. His organisation does some great work but how Charles' ended up with Blueprint is the inte...

Hello hello - welcome to Part 2 of our conversation with Junior Smart. If you haven't listened to Part 1 I suggest you do that first. Part One takes us to the point where Junior is just about to be sent to prison for what turned out to be a twelve-year sentence. This is Part 2 where Junior describes the shock of prison, the meanness and the compassion of both prison staff and inmates. He describes...

Junior Smart is a youth leader, an ex-offender, an academic and a couple of months ago he added father to this list.  If you don't believe people can change, listen to this. This is a story about the power of belonging. A need we all have to belong to a group. A lesson in how we often attach importance to the wrong things and end up in the wrong group, the wrong Club. It's a lesson in how, with an...

Hi everyone. Hope you're all okay, coping, surviving, learning, growing - it's hard to know what to say these days - we're all experiencing the same thing and whilst the experience is so shared sometimes . . .  the more I talk to people the more I understand, at times, how very differently we're all experiencing it. This conversation is a good example. It's a conversation with Matt & Lucia, hu...

Hi All - welcome to our conversation with Ben Ivey. Ben is a coach to Entrepreneurs but what makes Ben interesting is that he's interested in the Entrepreneur as a person, the whole person not just as a business person. He's as happy talking about love as he is margins. He wants you to live the best life you can, one where regrets are minimised and magic moments are maximised.  Ben's awareness of...

This episode is a conversation with Tom Libelt, salesman, musician and DJ, coffee shop owner, publisher and most recently digital nomad. Thank you to Tom for a thoroughly enjoyable conversation. As you've probably noticed, our title for Tom is 'The Reluctant Adventurer'. For Tom, adventure is a reaction to boredom, not the primary motivation. It seems clear that Tom's parents and his wealth of exp...

The benefits of being forced to do something we said we'd never do   Responding to change The difference between hearing a story and experiencing it The need for human connection The importance of humour Finding ups within the downs Can you build real relationships via technology? How we can all experience the same event so very differently  When fear and excitement become the same thing COVID-19...

She tried mainstream fashion but didn't fit in. Clare doesn't fit in - in so many ways! Clare's a rebel. She suggests that rebellion became a part of her when she moved schools and studied the same syllabus and sat the same exams two years on the trot. Clare, because she was bright got very bored and that bred rebellion.  I'm sure that year shaped Clare but I have very little doubt that Clare was...

We met up a few weeks later and Katey told me more. More about:  The wasted years of her life and how she started to doubt people were good Noticing she was angry with herself and everyone around her The point at which she decided not to be angry How she became braver, how she started to change How the simple act of liking an instagram post became the first step of her journey  The importance of h...

We have a big old natter about: Growing up in Swansea The problem of doing what you want on your wedding day - when others want you to go with the flow (one week after this conversation Damian was getting married Vegas)  Moving to New York The problem of describing what he does; Musician v Builder of Businesses The creativity of building businesses  When he gets bored it's time to move on Being a...

In this episode, we talk to Dave about: the importance of articulating a vision when you're working in a team the move from graphic designer to Adventurer the move from adventurer to community leader not wanting to wait for the bad thing to happen before making changes to his life being a fortunate kid having 18 different addresses by the time he was 18 (because his Dad was in the RAF) not needing...

We talked to Kim about Studying the stoner's degree that is music technology Not feeling he could focus enough to become a professional singer-songwriter Swapping music tours for travelling Enjoying the creative process Going to the Happy Startup School Summercamp five years previously when first looking to leave employment On the travelling bug and finding the places that other people don't Havin...

We recorded this episode at Port Moor Cottage, a shack on stilts sitting on an island in Essex. It would be an understatement to say we've learned from our conversations with guests. They have been kind enough to share their stories of change and do so in some depth. In this wrap-up episode we talk about: The importance of a Support Team, positive people that have a genuine interest in you, your w...

In this conversation we explored: Why people often apologise for the work they do The stories we tell ourselves and how they can limit our development The inevitably of the ups and downs in our lives Why he eventually got expelled from college His first job selling computers at Dixons Meeting Sir Clive Sinclair His expected life trajectory of marry, kids, mortgage  His problem with authority  His...

This conversation in the Bunny Bus covered many moments in the life of Pablo Woodward. This includes the arrival of his 3 children and the Disco Bunny plus: Realising he didn't have a life he'd asked for or wanted His quest to understand himself Going from not believing in himself to doing what he does with passion Going into shock when one of his first video's went viral Being accepted  His need...