A one-year special from An Unorthodox CEO! Listen as Steve & Vic as they chat through their past year of podcasting—from the journey to personal insights, funny moments, and everything in between.

We will be back at the end of May, so keep an eye out for the start of season 4!

00:00 Intro 

01:00 A big THANK YOU!

01:35 Some quick stats from our year

02:24 The podcast journey

10:10 Personal Insights

16:22 Fun & lighthearted

22:07 Outro

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In this episode, listen as Steve chats with his friend Colin about his journey to working for HP, how he has navigated success & stress. Plus, find out how delegation and letting go allowed himself a better work life balance!

00:00 Intro

03:34 How Colin & Steve met

07:00 Colins journey to HP & his first Jobs

12:04 The job & friend that led Colin to the sales world

17:45 How Colin views success

19:30 What HPs purpose & ethos is

21:20 Local leaders & their importance in big businesses

23:56 What Large Format Printing is & the benefits

27:40 Managing Stress, Pressure & Failure

35:50 The success Colin saw after proper delegation

37:00 The changes Colin made personally & professionally

45:00 Colins Pictures

46:39 How print has changed over the years & the impact of AI

52:05 Working on Gangshow together

56:47 How Colin de-stresses

1:02:10 Quickfire Questions

1:08:30 Outro

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On this weeks episode Steve chats with Andy Clarke one of our agents! Listen as they talk through his journey to becoming an agent, what life working in beds is like & how Andy has been on both the retail and agent side! Andy mentions the difficulties of being on the retail side but the enjoyment he got from it! Plus how his resilience led him to his first agent job!

00:00 Intro

01:08 There is always room to learn

07:50 Changing depending on the client

10:00 Job titles & peoples perspectives

12:50 How Andy got his first Job & some big learnings

20:00 Working at Army Navy

21:50 His Apprenticeship in the print world

24:05 How resilience got Andy a Job he wanted

30:00 What being an Agent used to be like & how the industry has changed

37:27 The shift from searching from beds to sleep

40:00 Why Sussex Beds dont service all price ranges

42:00 Long term advice is important

43:05 Why Andy opened his own shop

48:20 Biggest learning from being in retail

51:20 Innovation in the bed industry

57:42 The Green Era & working for a flooring company

58:50 Recycling in the bed industry

1:00:40 What does Andy think retailers need to do to stay relevant & how its changing

1:07:05 Most challenging part of Andys job

1:12:15 How Andy distresses

1:15:05 Quickfire Questions

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Listen as Steve chats with Dr Nick about the focus on prevention in the healthcare industry, what is driving unhealthy lifestyles & the innovations happening within the industry! Plus, we chat about the importance of sleep and get some tips on ways to help you fall asleep quicker!

00:00 Intro

01:40 The links between exercise & health

05:00 Did Nick always want to be a doctor & his journey

08:04 Differences between UK Health Service & New Zealand

09:35 The changes in the NHS over the last 20 years

12:15 The rise of Health Anxiety & the work on prevention

14:45 What is driving unhealthy lifestyles

17:30 South Downs Health Care & where the idea came from

24:12 How SDHC has filled a gap in the Sussex Area

26:30 What changes Nick would like to see

30:00 How AI is being used 

33:22 The Sussex PCPC Board 

35:30 Nick's role as chair in Sussex Integrated Health

36:13 What Nick hopes healthcare will look like in 10 years & what we can do

42:13 The importance of sleep for our health

50:20 Quickfire Questions

01:02:33 Outro

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This week, Steve chats with Richard Cripps about life as a solicitor, the challenges of being a Managing Partner, and what it was like navigating the acquisition of Rix & Kay. Discover the differences between a Managing Partner and a Managing Director, hear how Richard balances pressure with leadership, and why some of the hardest decisions were also the right ones for the business.

00:00 Intro

02:28 Why Richard became a solicitor & growing up

07:10 Where he trained & his first job

08:48 What partnership was and is now

10:56 Taking partnership for the first time & joining Rix & Kay

12:28 Differences between Managing Partner (MP) & Managing Director

15:04 The challenges of being a MP - wearing lots of hats

20:10 Why mid size solicitors are having to adapt

23:20 What a Solicitors fall back position of comfort is

24:12 How the market has changed for Soliciting businesses

27:40 Richards thoughts on AI in Law

31:40 The process of Rix & Kay being acquired

37:00 Toughest challenge faced as MP

39:11 Why Richard joined Vistage & the benefits

43:57 Life as a Partner at Knights - how Richard managed the change

45:54 How Richard switches off

50:00 Advice for anyone striving for senior roles in Law

53:05 Quickfire Questions

1:00:05 Outro

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This week's episode, Steve chats with Oliver Towner all about what it's been like taking on a 150-year-old family-run business, the ins and outs of the funeral industry & its biggest misconceptions. Plus, Oliver shares what it was really like working his first funeral, navigating Covid & why sustainability is a growing factor in all funerals.

00:00 Intro

01:58 Growing up in a family business

03:12 What Oliver did before joining the business

05:30 First day working on a funeral & the day to day jobs

08:38 Biggest misconceptions about funerals & funeral directors

10:30 Furniture side of funerals

13:00 Oliver taking on the role as Managing Director & the transition from taking over from his dad

19:50 What covid was like in the funeral industry

23:35 Hardest point of Olivers time so far

25:31 Olivers release from the pressures

28:50 Olivers ‘Baptism of fire’

30:27 Olivers plans for the business

34:10 Biggest changes Oliver has made

35:20 Sustainability in the industry

38:52 Why Towners dont do any specific marketing

42:30 How data works in the funeral industry

44:54 Biggest risks going forward in the industry

47:00 Grief & Death - why dont we talk about it

53:00 Quickfire Questions

59:40 Outro

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This week on An Unorthodox CEO we are joined by Sarah Southerden Lee's wife and friend of Steve & Paula! Listen as Steve & Sarah chat all about how she found her way into finance & how she worked her way up. Plus, find out how Sarah met Lee & how many pairs of shoes she owns...

00:00 Intro

01:40 Sarahs life growing up

03:15 How she found her way into finance

08:15 Best part of Sarahs job

10:40 Working from home & productivity

13:40 Becoming a Team Leader

17:20 Anxiety & overcoming it

20:21 How Sarah met Lee

22:54 Sarah, Lee, Steve, Paula & their friendship

23:51 Sarahs thoughts on Lee joining the business

26:00 Looking in on the challenges of Sussex Beds

28:20 Quickfire Questions

34:30 Outro

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On this week's episode of An Unorthodox CEO, Steve chats with his friend Colin and original member of Sussex Beds all about what the business was like in the 80's and how its change to now. Plus, they chat about Colin's job in Windows, some contentious quickfire questions and how Steve & Colin work together on the Gangshow!

00:00 Intro

02:20 How Steve & Colin met

04:50 Why Colin ended up working at Sussex Beds

07:10 Colins jobs at Sussex Beds

08:10 What is was like moving from general furnishings to beds

10:20 Funny memories from the opening days

11:47 Opening ‘Little Bexhill’

13:10 How the opening of Haywards Heath changed the business

16:22 Colin became Steves manager

18:50 Hiding in wardrobes…

20:00 The opening of Eastbourne Shop & the sport shop

21:30 Colins jobs in the Window industry

22:50 Watching Sussex Beds evolve & what that was like & why good team is so important

24:10 Stage Managing Gangshow

27:19 Performing in Gangshow & other shows

28:54 Quickfire Questions

36:31 Outro

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On this weeks episode, Steve and Mark chat through his life before Sussex Beds and the jobs that led him into sales, how he has worked his way up with at Sussex Beds starting as a Sales Advisor and his journey to Regional Manager, plus how he de-stresses after work!

Question: Ketchup on Lasagna? Yes or No... Let us know in the comments!

00:00 Intro

01:56 Life before Sussex Beds

04:38 How made his way into Sales

09:53 Starting as a sales advisor with us

14:40 Going from a big to a small business

16:20 Becoming Uckfield Store Manager

18:45 Taking the leap to manage a brand new store

20:37 Becoming a Regional Manager & the kind of manager Mark wanted to be

26:00 80% people management and how that works

27:10 Hardest part of his job

29:44 How Mark has changed over the last 10 years

33:40 Mark & his family

36:20 Hobbies & how he de stresses

45:55 Quickfire questions

54:00 Outro

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In this episode of An Unorthodox CEO Steve chats with Oliver Bowen all about the premium bed world. Oliver has been in the industry for over 20+, listen as they chat about how he got into the industry, the businesses he worked for and what he has learnt along the way.

00:00 Intro

01:50 How Oliver got into beds

05:50 His time at And So To Bed & why the business changed

11:00 Why looking for the ‘why’ is so important

13:10 Olivers role at Feather & Black 

14:19 Working out where the brand should sit in the market

18:24 Moving to Hästens - working in the luxury sector

22:30 Olivers job now working with Carpe Diem

23:50 How Carpe Diem design their beds

25:12 How Carpe Diem started

27:15 Biggest challenge of bringing in a premium supplier into the UK

29:30 Your team on the floor make a huge difference

31:30 What has changed most in the bed industry over the last 20 years

35:37 Quickfire Questions

44:30 Outro

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