40 Minute Mentor

Today’s episode is a special bonus episode which was recorded live at our JBM drinks event last month.

We run these events for a mix of clients and candidates who have helped us spread the word about JBM over the years, and without whom we wouldn’t be where we are today.

The goal for these evenings is to bring together a mix of talented people from diverse backgrounds to get to know each other better, make new connections and to learn from some of the best and most inspiring mentors in our network.

Our special guest and your 40 Minute Mentor at this latest event was the brilliant former McKinsey Consultant Caroline Murphree, who is now the UK Director of Growth & Operations at Wealthsimple.

Wealthsimple is an online investment manager that combines user-friendly digital tools and personal investment advice to make smart, automated investing available to everyone. They have over 100,000 clients globally, £2bn in assets under management and have raised over $250m Canadian Dollars to fund their impressive growth.

I am pleased to say that I am one of those 100,000 clients having recently set up a Junior Isa for my daughter, Sienna and I am a big fan.

Two of the questions that I get asked most often by candidates are “how do I move in to Consulting” and “how do I move in to Tech”. Having moved from Silicon Valley into Consulting and then from Consulting back to Tech, Caroline has experienced this first-hand and she shares her advice on exactly these questions in today’s interview.

This conversation isn’t just focused on Caroline’s career advice though, we talk about the challenges that come with growing a rapidly scaling start up, the importance of culture and her advice for others looking to expand their business into international markets. We also touch upon her views on diversity in tech and what the industry can do to promote it as well as the key role that mentorship has helped play throughout Caroline’s career.

Those who were there on the evening, the JBM team and I got a huge amount from this interview with Caroline. It was great to get the chance to speak with her and I’m really pleased to be able to share our conversation with you.

As this was a live event our interview was followed by some questions from the live audience. Some of whom where a little further from the microphones than others so please excuse the fact that some of the questions at the end of this episode are a little quiet.

I hope you will all really enjoy this extra special episode and learn lots from the great insights that Caroline shares!

If you want to find out more about Caroline you can check out her LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-murphree-73247112/

If you want to find out more about Wealthsimple you can check out their website - https://www.wealthsimple.com

We're always keen to get feedback so if you have any thoughts once you’ve listened to this interview just drop me an email at [email protected]

Enjoyed this episode?

Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.

Today’s guest is the brilliant Ruth Penfold, People VP at Onfido.

Onfido uses machine learning to help companies verify the identity of their users online.

Founded in 2012 the business has gone from strength to strength and earlier this year raised $50 million in a funding round led by SoftBank Investments and Salesforce ventures.

Ruth is a phenomenal leader in the people and talent space and as People VP and part of the executive team at Onfido she is responsible for all aspects of their people strategy. Helping their ever-growing team to manage the people and recruitment challenges that come with a rapidly growing tech business. As Ruth says, her role is to create the right environment for the people of tomorrow, whilst retaining the people for today.

Prior to joining Onfido Ruth was the head of talent acquisition at Shazam, responsible for managing their global recruitment as they went from start up, to scale up, to a household name.

In this conversation we go into detail on Ruth’s journey with both Shazam and Onfido and discuss her experience of helping to scale two disruptive tech firms, how she is focused on creating cultures that enable individuals to bring their true self to work and how she has tackled the challenges that come with scale up life.

In addition to her high-flying tech career Ruth is also a practicing yoga instructor and writes a regular blog. Her approach to balancing the different aspects of her life and ensuring she makes time for the things she enjoys is really unique and Ruth shares some great advice on how she does this in today’s show.

If you’re looking to understand how to grow your own tech business, explore ways to make your firm more inclusive, or just looking for some inspirational mentorship from one of the most engaging and honest leaders that I’ve met - this conversation is a must listen!

If you want to find out more about Ruth you can check out her LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthpenfold/

If you want to find out more about Onfido you can check out their website - https://onfido.com/

We're always keen to get feedback so if you have any thoughts once you’ve listened to this interview just drop me an email at [email protected]

Enjoyed this episode?

Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.

Today’s guest is James Routledge, Founder of Sanctus.

Sanctus is a mental wellness start up that is on a mission to inspire people to work on their mental health just like we do our physical health.

They have a bold vision to put the world’s first mental health gym on the high street, and I for one hope that they can achieve this.

The idea for Sanctus actually came about when he shared this struggle in a heart-felt and honest blog where he openly talked about the journey that he and his co-founder George had been through. This blog received 100s of responses and from this initial post the idea for Sanctus was born.

Since then Sanctus has grown into a large team with over 40 businesses including Aviva, Secret Escapes, Tansferwise, RedBull amongst others, to help them reframe the conversation around mental health. Their amazing work has been featured in publications including the Times, The metro, and now the 40 Minute Mentor!

I have close friends and family that have had struggled with their mental health over the years so when I heard about the work Sanctus was doing and saw the refreshing honesty and humour with which James talks about it, I was really keen to get James on the podcast to have a chat.

This episode was recorded shortly after mental health week here in the UK and we go into some really important topics in this interview around mental health, the challenges we all face and what you can think about to look after yours.

James’s experience of launching and growing a VC funded start up and then dealing with and overcoming its failure to get to where he is today is truly inspiring. It’s a little longer than previous episodes but I know you’re going to get so much from what he shares in this interview.

If you want to find out more about James you can check out his LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdroutledge1?originalSubdomain=uk

If you want to find out more about Sanctus you can check out their website - https://sanctus.io/

We're always keen to get feedback so if you have any thoughts once you’ve listened to this interview just drop me an email at [email protected]

Enjoyed this episode?

Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.

Today’s guest is the environmental entrepreneur, Kresse Wesling MBE, who is quite simply, one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever met.

Kresse is the co-founder of the award-winning business Elvis and Kresse, who turn industrial waste into innovative, luxury products and return 50% of their profits to charities related to the waste that they use.

It was a chance meeting with the London Fire Brigade in 2005 that gave Kresse the idea that ultimately become the business she runs today.

At the time, the London Fire Brigade sent all of their decommissioned fire hose to landfill and Kresse thought that there had be a better way to reuse and recycle it. This led Kresse and her partner Elvis – hence the brand name – to launch Elvis & Kresse.

Since founding the business Elvis and Kresse has gone from strength to strength. From their origins using reclaimed firehose they now work with 12 different waste streams, have several charitable partnerships and are involved with collaborations across industries. This includes a unique partnership with the Burberry Foundation to turn Burberry’s off cut leather into stunning bags and accessories.

In recognition of the incredible work she has done, she was awarded an MBE and was named Cartier’s Women in Business Laureate in 2011. She has advised global brands, governments and recently sat on a judging panel with Will I Am from the Black Eyed Peas!

In this episode we cover a range of fascinating topics including:

It was a lucky encounter with her partner Elvis on a train back after a rugby match many years ago that led to me getting to know Kresse and hearing about their inspiring story and unique mission, played a big role in me setting up JBM almost 7 years ago. She was also the first person I asked to join our board of advisors and has been a brilliant confidante and mentor to me over the years.

So if you’re thinking about launching your own business or want to know how you and your firm can achieve profitable growth that also helps the environment then you’re going to love this interview.

If you want to find out more about Kresse you can check out her LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kresse-wesling-mbe-0933646/

If you want to find out more about Elvis and Kresse you can check out their website - https://www.elvisandkresse.com/

We're always keen to get feedback so if you have any thoughts once you’ve listened to this interview just drop me an email at [email protected]

Enjoyed this episode?

Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.

Today’s guest is Iain Martin, former Managing Director of Moonpig and the recently announced, new CEO of Mahabis.

I was introduced to Iain by a client who thought we’d really get on and he was completely right. Iain’s a great guy and was kind enough to come and talk at one of our recent JBM Ambassador networking events which is where this interview was recorded.

Now, Most of you will have used Moonpig at some point in your life but for those who haven’t heard of them, Moonpig are the UK’s largest online card retailer with over 15 million cards sent through their online platform in 2017 alone.

Iain was one of the early members of the Moonpig team and during his time as Managing Director, he grew the business from a team of just 8 people to a team of over 160, turning over £60m a year. This phenomenal growth led to Moonpig being acquired by Photobox for £120m in 2011.

Iain’s story of how he became the MD of Moonpig and his take on what’s important when growing a tech business were fascinating and he shares so many great insights during this conversation. Including how they came up with the Moonpig jingle!

Those who were there on the night really benefited from his insights and advice, and I hope that you will to.

If you want to find out more about Moonpig you can check out their website - https://www.moonpig.com/uk/

If you want to find out more about Mahabis you can check out their website - https://mahabis.com/

If you want to find out more about Iain you can check out his LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/iainscv/

Enjoyed this episode?

Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.

Today’s guest and our first mentor is Charlene Chen, COO at BitPesa.

BitPesa is an online payment platform that leverages Blockchain technology to significantly lower the cost and increase the speed of business payments to, from and within sub-Saharan Africa.

I sat next to Charlene at an Innovate Finance dinner a couple of years ago and we instantly hit it off, sharing very similar views on the importance of people, culture and mentorship. She had a fantastic energy and I found her passion for BitPesa infectious.

Charlene’s story is a really interesting and inspiring one that shows what you can achieve if you chose to follow the path less well travelled.

Having started her career in Consulting she decided to take some time out to complete an MBA which led to her moving to Ghana for 3 months to work with the Tech Start up, Busy Internet.

This trip opened her eyes to the opportunities that existed in Africa and after completing her MBA she went back to work with companies across Kenya and Tanzania for the best part of the last decade before moving to London to launch BitPesa.

We cover some really interesting topics in today’s conversation and I hope you’re going to get a lot from what Charlene has to say.

Whether you’re thinking about launching your own start up, considering an MBA or thinking of going to work in a different country or continent, there’s something in here for everyone.

If you want to find out more about BitPesa you can check out their website - https://www.bitpesa.co

If you want to find out more about Charlene you can check out her LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlenechen

Enjoyed this episode?

Keep up to date with all our latest episodes by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.