B. with Anna Brand

Laurie Sterling didn't set out to become a growth and exit strategist, she stumbled into it through 14 years of running her own web design business, a leap-of-faith email that landed her a coaching role with a top US operations company, and a string of "pivots" that took her from COO work to building her own method for helping founders escape the hustle.

In this episode, Laurie sits down with Anna to unpack the real cost of building a business that can't run without you (spoiler: 80% of businesses that go to sell, fail to).

She breaks down her bottleneck framework and explains why the secret to scaling isn't working harder, it's identifying your "golden goose" activity and teaching it to your team, not just to yourself.

They also dig into AI's role in extracting IP from founders' heads, the "transfer of trust" needed to truly delegate.

If you've ever felt like you're the bottleneck in your own business, this one's for you.

Nic Redman has a master's degree in voice studies, a background in stand-up comedy, and a very strong opinion about AI-generated scripts.

In this episode:

•       Why slowing down doesn't automatically make you a better speaker

•       The real reason people freeze on camera — and it's not confidence

•       Why your voice is tied to your identity in ways you haven't thought about

•       How to write for speaking — and why you should never start with a script

•       Accents, bias and why being told you're well-spoken isn't a compliment

•       Why authenticity on camera is nonsense if you haven't put the practice in

Still hiding behind the script?

Becca Brighty is a business psychologist, occupational psychologist, and ADHD coach who spent years watching RSD run her business before she even knew what RSD was.

In this episode:

•       What rejection sensitivity dysphoria actually is and why it's probably running your business too

•       Why imposter syndrome and masking aren't the same thing

•       How coping mechanisms that got you through school are now holding you back

•       Executive function, spiky profiles and interest-based nervous systems — explained properly

•       Why being brilliant at what you do isn't enough if your brain is working against you

•       What changes when you finally understand how your brain works

Still think it's just a bit of disorganisation?

Sarah Mills was the shyest girl in the room for most of her life. Now she speaks on stages, runs Wow Women, and has plans to keynote in Vegas.

In this episode:

•       Why you have to do it badly before you can do it well

•       The role other people's belief plays before you have any in yourself

•       Building a brand within a brand — and why personality is the whole point

•       Why she finally started the podcast after telling everyone else they should

•       Silk boxer shorts, Vespas and the Greek islands — early business ventures that didn't quite work out

•       Why not giving a f*** is a skill you develop, not a personality trait

Still waiting until you're ready?

Nicola Little spent years being everywhere, being told she was too much, and not knowing why nothing quite felt like her.

In this episode:

•       Why you can't be authentic if you don't know who you are yet

•       Masking, neurodivergence and the exhausting performance of fitting in

•       The 24-hour rule that changed how she communicates

•       Why putting yourself out there is actually the fastest way to find yourself

•       White male privilege, women in business and the conversations people avoid

•       What she got wrong about authenticity when she was teaching it to others

Still pretending to be someone else?

Owen Ryan didn't set out to be a neurodiversity coach. He got there via the media industry, a veterans programme, and a lot of unexpected conversations.

In this episode:

•       Why he doesn't call himself an ADHD coach — and what he does instead

•       Rhythm vs routine — the reframe that actually works

•       Why the ADHD crash isn't a crisis, it's just physics

•       How to stop giving yourself a hard time for the things your brain genuinely can't do

•       Why calling ADHD a superpower can do more harm than good

•       Downton Abbey, hyperfocus and why some series should come with a warning

Still forcing the routine?

Michelle Minnikin is a work psychologist, author, ADHD brain, and self-described menace on the internet. She wrote her first book in 2 years, put on 5 stone doing it, and isn't sorry about any of it.

In this episode:

•       Good girl conditioning — where it starts, how it works, and why it's keeping you small

•       Why staying small is a choice — even if it doesn't feel like one

•       The psychology police on LinkedIn and what happened when she slid into his DMs

•       Why society deliberately keeps women separate from older women — and why that's not an accident

•       Post-menopausal women are at the height of their power — and the world is scared of that

•       The one thing she'd tell any woman who knows she's got something to say but is terrified to say it

Still playing by rules that were never written for you?

Ashley King paid privately for her ADHD diagnosis because she says it saved her life. Then 4 of her siblings got diagnosed too. Nobody in her family had ever known.

In this episode:

•       Why she hates the word superpower — and what she'd call it instead

•       Raving as ADHD self-medication — and why it actually made sense

•       Blind growth — going from 3 to 10 staff and back again with no strategy

•       The rockstar reframe — and why arriving 5 minutes before filming is not late

•       Epigenetics, timeline therapy and carrying trauma that isn't even yours

•       The one question every ADHD person carries: what if I never reach my potential?

Still waiting to feel like you've got it together?

Jenny Smith invented a job going to networking events full time, started a business on maternity leave the day lockdown began, and accidentally enrolled in a PhD at Durham. She also once spent a night signing gossip across an A&E waiting room with strangers. This is that kind of episode.

In this episode:

•       The lobster list — why gangster lobsters hold the secret to chemical confidence

•       Why free networking events are a waste of your time if you want the right people in the room

•       Extroverts think by speaking, introverts think before speaking — and why that changes everything about how you network

•       Networking your kids — and why sports kids are consistently the most confident in the room

•       Accidentally starting a PhD researching networking ecosystems

•       The three chairs — and why you have to start with one before you can have any of the others

Still trying to connect with everyone before you know yourself?

This one's got it all: flaming toilet rolls, driving to work starkers, a house with ears, and a beautifully honest chat about life, IVF, and starting kickboxing at 54. Mychael Owen joins Anna for a rollercoaster of a conversation that bounces from absurd to emotional and back again.

In this episode:

•       What happens when you stop waiting

•       The business of being human

•       How a potato (yes, really) can sometimes do a better job than your glossy marketing brochure