Small Business, Big Network

With more than 30 years’ experience in communications, Lynda Russell-Whitaker specialises in supporting professional women to raise the quality of their public speaking. This can include defining the purpose and objective of a talk; refining the key message; developing a persuasive argument and delivering it with authority to their chosen audience(s). Her current primary focus is championing women...

Rachael Dines is the Founder of award-winning marketing agency Shake It Up Creative based in West Sussex and a Chartered Marketer with 25 years’ experience. She studied B2B International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago and advises small businesses through top UK business communities including Enterprise Nation and the Business & IP Centre. A dynamic speaker, mentor, an...

Barry Cryan is the CEO, and founder of DoMoreBetter, where he helps ambitious business owners reclaim their time, scale with systems, and operate as their highest-performing selves. Through a blend of AI, automation, execution systems, and mindset optimisation, Barry has developed frameworks that help founders buy back 10–14 hours per week while increasing focus, clarity, and business growth. He’s...

Dan Glyde is a former journalist and broadcaster who became a coach after suffering burnout. He runs two businesses, 'Positive Masculinity' which is for men only, and 'Tribe Fortune' which is for both men and women. Dan is really passionate about his work as you will hear in this episode! Websites are danglydecoach.co.uk and tribefortune.com . Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danglyde...

Sarah White is a Personal Branding and Visibility Mentor, Speaker and Networking Host, supporting business owners to build a brand that reflects who they are and what they stand for. Sarah struggled in business for a long time, expecting her work to speak for itself and not wanting to be around other business owners for fear of being judged and feeling inferior. When she did try networking though,...

Paul Westlake (Westy) is on a mission to make learning actually work – not just tick boxes. As Digital Director at PeopleUnboxed and Customer Success Director at BentoBot (BentoBot.com) – a spaced repetition solution that makes learning stick – Westy transforms how organisations develop their people. He also hosts the popular PeopleUnplugged podcast, where he unpacks what really works in L&D....

Katrena Friel is an internationally recognised Business Mentor and networking catalyst for women in business. With over 25 years of experience, Katrena has dedicated her career to helping women build powerful professional networks that unlock opportunities, accelerate growth, and create lasting impact. Known as the “Business Mentor to the Awakened,” Katrena’s approach is all about connection. Conn...

Laurie Kozan is a brand and marketing strategist who helps founders, experts and independent consultants attract more of the people they really want to work with, by learning what to say about what they do. Laurie’s work is built around the conviction that the way we communicate has real power — to create clarity, community and change. Using her background in PR, marketing, graphic design, and int...

Anna Scaife is a founder of Anna Lou of London jewellery brand and nervous system regulation specialist who brings a fresh perspective to business networking. After more than two decades building and scaling a product-based brand, she’s learned that growth isn’t just about strategy , it’s about regulation. Having navigated high-stress personal and legal challenges and domestic abuse while running...

Anna Brand is obsessed with one question: Why should anyone care about your brand? She helps founders get clarity and confidence in how their brand shows up, without overcomplicating it. No bloated processes. No buzzwords. No BS. Blending psychology and straight-talk brand thinking, Anna helps create brands people actually feel something for. She also hosts B. with Anna Brand, a podcast featuring...

Josh Harris is an Ex-Big Four accountant and founder of Doc2, a contract automation platform helping businesses streamline while staying compliant. He finds that networking at industry-specific events brings the most return on time investment, and recently Doc2 hosted their own event alongside a partner from the financial services sector. Doc2.co https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-w-harris/

Jane Parslow is a retirement coach and one of the founders of 'Retirement Pathways'. They are specialists in retirement, using a ‘Wholistic’ approach that empowers people to tackle the challenges and adjustments needed to make a successful transition to retirement. Jane finds that most of her clients come to her via networking, one way or another. www.retirementpathways.co.uk https://www.linkedin....

Sarah Luong is a Performance Anxiety Coach who helps small business owners move from being fearful of interacting with strangers to the heart of the networking conversation. As a former nervous networker herself, Sarah understands the dread of walking into a room where you don’t know a soul. After mastering the art of confident pitching, she now specialises in helping others find their unique netw...

Christen Gilchrist is a Organisational Psychologist and Executive Coach who helps leaders and organisations remove friction from the way they work. Through her consultancy, Core Potential Solutions, she's supported clients ranging from Harrods and the NHS to founder-led businesses. Christen specialises in the psychology behind performance, decision making and efficiency - showing how behaviour pat...

Wendy Harris is the founder of Konpasu and known as 'the Chief Conversation Officer'. All her life, Wendy has worked with people who aren’t comfortable with selling or networking - which is exactly why she started the Konpasu Community. It’s a relaxed, welcoming space that proves growing your network doesn’t have to mean pitching to strangers or working a room with a fake smile. She is also the or...

Kaye King is on a mission is to debunk the myths that cause fear, frustration, and overwhelm around marketing. After working with brands like Kenco, Hilton, and Nationwide during her 30-year marketing agency career, Kaye now uses her experience to strip everything back to basics for her clients. Her aim is simply to stop business owners wasting time, energy, and money on marketing that doesn’t wor...

Mateo Martez is the author of Beyond Networking: How to Become the Person Everyone Wants to Know . He loves helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses through meaningful relationships. By day he's Chief of Staff at The Resonance and by night he lives at Harvard St. Commons, a hacker house for entrepreneurs at Harvard and MIT. You can find him at mateomartez.com . Links: Book: https://www.amazon.c...

Jordan Cracknell is a UK-based financier and author. In addition to writing opinion pieces for publications such as TODAY.com, Metro.co.uk, City AM, and others, she is the author of You Can Count on Penny , a children’s book that inspires young people to embrace their love of mathematics. A native New Yorker, she is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, where she obtained an MBA. Additionally...

Kirsty Heap is a Business Empowerment Coach, Neurodiversity Advocate and keynote speaker who supports sole traders, small business owners, and leaders to create clarity, confidence and sustainable momentum. Drawing on her HR background and lived experience of dyslexia and ADHD, Kirsty helps people understand themselves, their strengths and the environments they need in order to thrive. Networking...

A facilitator, coach and professional speaker for 23 years, Clare Haynes runs award-winning business Wildfire helping people to speak up and have confident conversations. She works with teams and 1:1, building peoples’ communication and business confidence using their greatest asset – themselves.  Clare has a psychology background and her career spans television, sport, charity and the social...

James Eder is Author of The Collision Code, entrepreneur, work–life coach, speaker with over 20 years of leadership experience. He co-founded Student Beans (Part of Pion), a global platform helping brands connect with Gen Z through insights, engagement, and verification empowering businesses to build trust and lasting loyalty. Passionate about the power of human connection, James has dedicated his...

Jenny Green is the Senior Account Manager at 22:22 Marketing. The company work across all aspects of digital marketing but are particularly well known for helping businesses with online ads for platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Google. When it comes to networking, Jenny's top tip is to keep your pitch short and sweet! https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-green-080121242/ https://www.2222market...

On the Small Business Big Network podcast this week you can hear me talking to Clive Bonny. Clive has been in business for over 30 years and operates as a strategic management partner, management mentor and coach, in association with professional bodies, building capacity in private enterprises and public sector for growth and responsible business sustainability. His work focuses on capacity build...

Imogen Ley-Clowes is the founder of London-based Immo Studio. Too often, branding looks polished but doesn’t do much. She’s more interested in the stuff that works: sharp strategy, clear structure, and design that grows with the business behind it.  She started Immo Studio to help ambitious teams turn brand confusion into something clear, impactful, and built for what’s next. With over a deca...

Kevin Crawford is a life and business strategist for owners of Architecture Practices — specifically small to medium-sized practices with 4 to 16 employees.  He qualified with a degree in Architectural Technology but his real education has been managing a multidisciplinary Practice of Architects, Technologists and Technicians for over 25 years. He knows exactly what it’s like — juggling proje...