Small Business, Big Network

Serge Santos began his career in physics, earning a PhD before completing a Master’s in Finance at London Business School. He went on to build a successful career as a strategy consultant, investment banker, and hedge fund professional — managing global investments before turning his analytical mindset toward entrepreneurship in 2013. Today, Serge leads  Bedrock Enterprises  — a group of...

Raj Thiruchelvarajah is the Co-Founder and CEO of Hytro, the leading human health and performance company known for producing the first wearable Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) garment. After 15 years in global finance and consulting, Raj left the corporate world to build something more purposeful: bringing a proven but complex science out of labs and into everyday sport. Today, Hytro is trusted by o...

David Barnett's specialism is helping people to buy (and sell) businesses, and though he's based in Canada he's able to help people around the world. He encourages his clients to network in the right places so that they meet the people who might be wanting to sell the kind of business they want to buy. https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbarnettmoncton/ www.davidcbarnett.com

Lydia Charilaou  is the Founder and CEO of Labyrinth Consultants, where she helps scaling tech teams embed cultures of belonging that people choose to stay in. With 15+ years in L&D and People roles across global industries, Lydia brings a human-centred design lens to retention translating behavioural insight into habit-based systems that future-proof growth. Her work equips leaders to sp...

Dan Willers is the founder of Yellow Mouse Studios based in Devon. As a 2D and 3D designer and animator he has worked for some of the coolest companies around including Aardman and Paramount. As well as Yellow Mouse, Dan also runs a Community Interest Company, 'Animate Devon', to support the animation and creative community in the county. This provides talks and education, skill sharing, project c...

My guest this week on the Small Business Big Network podcast is Aminata Diallo. Aminata is a French native originally from Mali, West Africa. She has been working in digital marketing and affiliate strategies for over 20 years, primarily in the gambling industry. In 2013, she launched Afiliapub, first in Costa Rica, then expanded to Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and is now planning to open in Nigeria....

Kevin M. Yates is known in the global training, learning, and talent development community as the L&D Detective®. He solves measurement mysteries and investigates how training and development as an experience and L&D as a function contribute to the workplace performance ecosystem. Kevin uses facts, clues, and evidence to uncover the truth about impact, focusing on collective contributions...

Laetitia is an internationally awarded model, movement artist, and published muse whose work bridges fine art, photography, and dance. Trained at the prestigious Paris Opera Ballet School and a former performer with Cirque du Soleil, she brings grace, precision, and theatrical depth to every frame. She has travelled to over 87 countries, published five fine art photo books, appeared on the covers...

Laurie Macpherson is a respected Career and LinkedIn mentor and job search strategist who has been supporting people to find work for the last 10 years. Nowadays, she mainly supports mid/senior women to identify and take the next steps in their career through her knowledge of the job market and practical support around CV's, applications, interviews and LinkedIn. She is a regular contributor to ca...

After a successful 10-year career running busy bars and restaurants in London’s West End, Chris McLoughlin discovered a new passion. In 2023, after a lot of changes in his work and personal life, he decided it was time to get serious about organising his own personal finances. The process ignited his interest in financial planning, showing how having clear goals and a strategy to achieve them can...

Melissa Grewar, known as The Spiritual Engineer, is an author, intuitive guide, and founder of In Us We Trust CIC: a community supporting people facing hardship to find meaningful answers about their lives through personal acceptance, transformation, and support. Her book  In Us We Trust  is a practical tool to build self-awareness that empowers people to help themselves through their in...

Connor Docherty is an Executive Director of Bell4Business. They provide reliable business support services in East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire. This includes admin, call handling & social media help. Connor began working at Bell4Business as a 16 year old apprentice and is still often the youngest person in a networking room! He says it's important not to overlook someone as being a poten...

Michael Walsh is a visionary leader, speaker, and author known for igniting passion in the business owners and senior leaders he works with by helping them to drive their established businesses to growth levels beyond their expectations. Michael has quietly served the owners and leaders of small to medium sized businesses for 30 years. He has supported hundreds of company owners in their quest for...

Brooke Bownes is an accredited trauma coach, therapist & global No.1 bestselling author & speaker. She works with ambitious women who struggle with feeling stuck and have blocks that are holding them back to help them find their power, confidence and release any limiting beliefs. She is passionate about this as she once felt powerless & was scared to show up in the world as herself. Sh...

Nadège Minois is the founder of  Coaching Vision. She helps small and medium-sized business owners bring clarity, structure, and calm to their projects. With years of experience in project management, Nadège believes that project management isn’t just for big corporations — when tailored to a small business, it can be a real game-changer. Her approach is practical and down-to-earth, showing b...

Kessington Ekhaiyeme is a cybersecurity executive and thought leader, specializing in Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) operations at Kenima Cyber Security. With over two decades of Information Technology and Cybersecurity experience, he has spearheaded scalable, efficient Security Operations Centers (SOC) and delivered cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions across industries including health...

Aminata Diallo is a French native originally from Mali, West Africa. She has been working in digital marketing and affiliate strategies for over 20 years, primarily in the gambling industry. In 2013, she launched Afiliapub, first in Costa Rica, then expanded to Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and is now planning to open in Nigeria. Her mission is to help businesses grow their online visibility, and reve...

Sarah Ridge is an multi passionate entrepreneur and a huge supporter of women in business. As well as being the founder of The Sisterhood Networking Group, she is also the host of The Sisterhood....In Session Podcast and works as a podcast trainer and business coach.  She lives in beautiful Leigh-on-sea in Essex with her family and when she’s not working, she loves yoga, walking her dog Daisy...

Rosie McGilvray is co-founder of 'The Networker', a comprehensive directory of networking groups/events, and funding opportunities. In addition the site hosts an online expo and a virtual marketplace.   https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosie-mcgilvray/ The-Networker.co.uk This episode is sponsored by Kenima Cyber Security, a managed security service provider (MSSP) based in the US but working arou...

Lilly Field has always believed that when we pursue our deepest passions, we all rise. That belief led her to create Womb Wise Co. and the Founder Flow Accelerator—where she supports purpose-driven women to launch their business with clarity, confidence, and care for their wellbeing. Her approach is rooted in sustainable business, women’s health, and the lived journey from burnout to balance. She...

For over 15 years Kris Morawski's passion & mission in life has been to help SMEs get more qualified leads & become more visible on the web, even if they're on a tight budget.  When built with intention and integrated into a smart, well-thought-out marketing strategy, your website becomes a powerful business tool: one that can increase sales, save time, and drive sustainable growth. B...

Now in her 10th year of supporting local SME businesses, Helen Pethybridge brings to her business coaching all the skills and insights from her commercial corporate background, blended with SME specific strategies. She is passionate about the importance of leaders investing time and energy to build the right team, which often can dictate the success or failure of the business.  As Managi...

Matthew Stafford is a Venture Capitalist and founder of the 9others network. He didn’t follow a conventional path into VC. Growing up on a farm in Northumberland the world of investments and start-ups was miles away. After school he got a job at John Lewis, then started his own t-shirt company and then moved into IT with RBS before moving to Bank of New York. He went to university a bit later in l...

Kevin Harvey excels in helping ambitious professionals who need confidence to progress in life and business. By clearing deep blocks and fears, he enables them to speak out with impact, drawing on 30 years of experience that spans from warehouse to boardroom. All of his courses are bespoke and 1-2-1 to help to awaken, aspire and achieve confidence, in interviews, meetings, and on stages. www.kevin...

Charlie Hunt is a Fractional CFO/COO with 15+ years of experience working in and with start-ups, scale-ups, and SMEs across digital marketing, recruitment, SaaS, and eCommerce. She specialises in building scalable financial & operational frameworks that drive profitability, streamline processes, and support data-led decision-making. Charlie works closely with founders and their senior leadersh...