TWWork

Like our previous mash-ups, this is where we showcase a whole load of gems and snippets from the podcasts this year. (The last mash-up was back in June, so this is a selection of pod snippets from June to December.. In case you're interested). If you're new to TWWork, then our mash-ups are a brilliant gateway drug into what we do and what we're trying to achieve. Which is to give helpful, inspirat...

Nick's journey into scaling and exiting business started with a need to change what he was doing, and attending a Tony Robbins event on a friend's recommendation. Prior to that he'd had a successful corporate career. Since 'Tony', Nick's journey has taken him far and wide, and he is now paid mega BIG BUCKS to advise global corporations how to scale and run either start-up investments, existing bus...

When we went to Abi (pod 68), we briefly met her partner, George... And before we sat down, Abi casually dropped into conversation that George is a deep sea worker, who professional dives and repairs BIG mega structures underwater for a living. Woah, woah, woah... George, hold the line, don't go anywhere! But that's not the only mad thing about George, because before diving, he used to organise (i...

Abi's childhood working and running overseas student farms in Cambridgeshire with her family (niche, right?), meant that she grew up fundamentally interested in people and being around people... and helping people. And when she left the family business to make a go of things on her own, that experience led her into social care, community care and healing massage.... She still wanted/needed to help...

Darren and Sarah's enthusiasm for the outdoors, and for physical activity - in the fresh air - is contagious. They live and breath what they do. Although it's clear that Darren is the driving force behind the business, and some might say (Sarah might say), the driving force behind the madness; you quickly realise how much he relies on Sarah as a voice of reason and as his anchor. They're a fab cou...

Even though Chops firmly believes Jim & Janet are the best neighbours ever, it's still a bit odd having them on TWWork as podcast guests... Not least because they're retired and long out of the daily grind of working life - right? Wrong. They know a lot! About life and working life, and even though they're retired, they still have business relationships at play, and are still hugely aware of w...

Louise's story is a mixture of creative talent, hard work and... well, chance. Because although she carved out her own successful career prior to the world of reclamation, it was a chance meeting and a chance friendship (that later became a romantic relationship) that ultimately brought her to where she is today. And even though she joined her (now) husband's successful reclamation business later...

Judging by the smells in Katie's home kitchen when we podded her, it's no wonder Katie is so busy with her catering business. A catering business which to this day makes her family laugh, because as a child, and a young teen, Katie had no interest in food or cooking. Her parents also aren't caterers, so this whole career path came out of the blue. ... Although not entirely. Katie talks about being...

Kerry's products and her approach are highly sought after. They're beautifully unique and beautifully executed... Hence why she ships them all over the world. She refused to follow the traditional 'upholstering' path - despite being advised by MANY people to do that - and instead she's carved out her own path, and stayed true to it. And it's now paying dividends, because as well as custom upholste...

Laura & Andy are just BRILLIANT people inside and out; oozing positivity and 'doing good' as a way of life, not just as a way of doing business. It was a real privilege to spend a couple of hours with them, and as Chops said to them afterwards, she felt like a better person for just spending those two hours with them... That's how impactful they are. Their coffee business is also brilliant, to...

Knowing the first pod as TWWork needed to be 'different', it didn't take Chops's brain long to think of Simon; because she has always wanted to pod him. She just didn't know how or when. It's the reason a year down the line she hadn't (yet) podded a female hairdresser, despite LOTS of recommendations and requests for female hairdressers to be podded. Simon's story is brilliant, irrelevant of the r...

There is so much good stuff in Jody's chat... About childhood influences, terrible school career advice, sibling influences; how significant motherhood demands affect career prospects, and about completely re-starting your career in your 40s. ... And that's before we've even got to the world of Herbalism and the role it can play in all of our lives, but particularly the complimentary role it can p...

Bryony is now in her late thirties, has 3 kids still in primary school, and is FINALLY stepping into her true self. She's combining her deep love and passion for music with her work and career, and she is literally glowing from it. And it's all come at exactly the right time for her, because even though she's got a long way to go before she's 'in demand' writing for NME and Rolling Stone, she's no...

Katie's had a pretty tough time of it. From struggling at school, to her mum becoming terminally ill, and then having her own fertility struggles in her 30s... It's been a lot. So it's perhaps no surprise that Katie has looked for answers beyond the conventional, and that she's drawn to 'heal' at a root cause level. In this chat we cover off reflexology for (peri)menopause, for fertility, and inde...

Ally is everything you think she'll be, in so far as she's beautiful, strong and a fierce empower-er of women... However, she's also vulnerable and aware of how much she (over) works. ... Because she does work hard. Yes she has a great team of instructors, and a fab family (and dad) that support her, but The Pole Room is her business and the hard work and the risk are hers alone. Ally's studio is...

Nicki has worked in recruitment for many years, and she has seen A LOT of changes in that time. In this Break Room chat, Nicki and Chops talk through a lot (whilst also barely scratching the surface); not least 'age', and how it can be tough as an 'older' person applying for jobs and going up against not only people in their thirties, but twenty somethings as well... Because young people are smart...

Even though Helen did an Art History degree when she was younger, it wasn't what she went on to pursue as a career. Why? Lots of reasons, but the main one being that she simply didn't think she could, either due to societal perceptions, and/or financial restrictions... It wasn't a job she thought someone like her could do back then. But now that she's in her 40s and has bossed a successful marketi...

It's really difficult to describe/articulate how beautiful Meg's flowers are - and how crazy realistic they are. It's also really difficult to articulate how brilliant it is as a business... Because it's so utterly unique. There's no world in which - prior to this pod, perhaps - you'd leave college and go: 'Right, I'm going to become a paper-flower artist and make money that way'. And yet you can....

Katie owns and runs an estate agency, and has been bossing it in the property world for years, but, that's not all she's about. Katie is not one thing; she never has been, and she never will be; and that's just fine. Yes it means a squiggly career/life journey (as we see with lots of our TWW pods), but it's an evolving journey with one firm goal: To find true happiness and peace in whatever she do...

Hearing Nicola's story, and hearing how she put her own career on hold in support of her partner's (who went on to be her husband), and then in support of her kids, will resonate with A LOT of women. But hearing how she then reclaimed her career - her sense of self - as soon as the kids were a bit older, was equally joyous to hear. Because there is no 'right' way to build a career - no 'right' tim...

Like LOTS of the women, Lisa has very much taken the long way to get to where she is today, which is following her true passion in fashion design and dress-making. A passion she had as a young 16-year-old (if not younger), but somehow got distracted from. ... A distraction that has seen her do some mad jobs/roles along the way, whilst having and raising two amazing daughters near enough on her own...

Jo's journey and career story articulates 'change' brilliantly. She made changes to suit her family - her children's - needs at the time, or at least what she thought they were. She left big pharma and re-trained became a teacher so that she could have matching holidays with her children, and (as she thought beforehand), similar working/school hours to them. But what she didn't factor in, was her...

What's great about Sophie's pod, is that like Leah, Sophie has bossed her teaching career thus far. But in addition, 4-years ago she scratched an itch she'd had for a long time, and went to teach abroad. Moved her whole family to Thailand! And when we say teach, she did teach, and was a Head of department (here in the UK and out in Thailand), but was quickly bossing it so much (in Thailand) that s...

Very much a good-time girl when she was younger, and in lots of respects unsure what she wanted to do 'career-wise' post gap-year'ing and uni - other than use her languages, which Leah was/is excellent at - it's almost chance that took her into teaching. ... Because she isn't a qualified teacher! And yet Leah is a teacher... Well, she was... She's now flourished so much that she's a Head of Lower...

Henna gives lots of great advice and intel about the highs and lows of dentistry, and is honest about what was and wasn't 'for her' within the field; but perhaps the most poignant topics covered, were about the current craze for fillers and veneers; and (not only what that fundamentally does to your teeth, but), the fact that any work is final?! Something lots of, particularly young people, don't...