Before joining the RUC as a police constable Judith Gillespie was rejected twice by the organisation she was to go on and lead with distinction years later.

She once stated “When I joined the force in 1982 men were issued with firearms and women handbags things were very different then.. “

Not only did Judith Gillespie face institutional discrimination but also misogynistic treatment from some male colleagues. How she responded is just one of the many remarkable revelations in this extraordinarily frank and honest interview.

Judith explains how she used her “Five Anchors” to get her back from the really low times when serving in the RUC/PSNI during the height of The Troubles. She talks a lot too about forgiveness and admits that she’s still a bit to go before she has forgiven completely everyone who was out to see her fail but she says “You mustn’t let people live in your head rent free either”.

When asked how she felt when she cleared her desk for the last time and left the force she replied “I left with peace in my heart”.

For those interested in how leaders take the big decisions that really matter, how they motivate themselves and colleagues and push for success whilst remaining true to their own values this episode is simply essential listening.

For this very special episode we’ve produced two versions; a short version which features content mainly about Judith’s career in the PSNI and the full unedited version. Enjoy!

A successful criminal defence barrister for many years, Gavan is now a serial entrepreneur owning a stream of SPAR and Subway stores across North Belfast. In a remarkably candid interview, Gavan talks about the only defendant ever to truly scare him, paying protection money and dealing with employees who steal. What he has to say about how to walk into the house every evening, even after a long hard day at work, is advice every parent should follow.

Gary McCausland is one of the UK's most successful property developers with a string of successful prestigious developments to his name, mainly in London. Recently, he decided to "come home" and develop here beginning in earnest with The Gallery - a collection of 58 apartments on the Dublin Road, Belfast along with a café/bistro. In this fascinating interview Gary explains why he believes that Belfast is now not only a safe place to invest but a good one too. His next project, One Bankmore Square, in Belfast aims to provide the city with the kind of accommodation Google employees would typically expect. It's a £65million gamble.

References:

1.Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Paperback – 30 Apr 2015 by Yuval Noah Harari (Author)

Please note this episode contains some bad language. If you are easily offended you are advised not to proceed.

By any stretch of the imagination Bill Wolsey is a remarkable man. Born to staunch socialist parents in Belfast in the 50s Bill borrowed all the money his parents had to start his first pub in Bangor. He now has a portfolio of pubs, restaurants and hotels including of course, the five star Merchant Hotel in Belfast.

“Give people a product or service your staff are proud of and you’ll keep both your staff and your customers” he claims.

This podcast reveals Bill’s amazing journey and a man that hasn’t forgotten where he came from. He’s clearly, someone who believes in the importance of good parenting and helping people that didn’t have the start he had in life.

When he bought the dilapidated building that was to become The Merchant Hotel, the Tourist Board advised him that Belfast wasn’t ready for a hotel of such splendour. Now, it’s championed as one of the great hotels of the world….

I found Bill to be contrarian in his thinking, irreverent, a maverick and a thoroughly beautiful human being.

Aged 25, Niall McKeown started Ion Technologies creating what was at the time the world’s first email marketing engine with customers including Reuters, The European Bank. Goldman Sachs and Apple.

Today, he makes his living as a digital disruption expert/educator helping people throughout the world understand digital development strategies and how to use them to find new space.

He is co-author of the book "The 7 Principles of Digital Business Strategy" and a Visiting Professor at the University of Ulster.

In this rapid pace wide ranging interview, Niall explains why digital disruption is more about leadership than it is technology, why it's essential we stop believing anecdotes over evidence and why the electorate is to blame for the current mess at Stormont.

Richard was born in New Zealand and raised in a family of six boys and one girl. He studied in the US before embarking on a career playing the Bassoon for the Halle Orchestra, Manchester. It was here that he began his career in orchestral management which also took him to the Royal Northern College of Music and to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra where for ten years he worked as general manager.

Richard accepted the post of Managing Director of the Ulster Orchestra in February 2016 at a time when there were big questions hanging over the financing of the orchestra.

Richard gives a fascinating insight into what it is like to manage so many creative and able people who have to work together in such a confined space. “Orchestras” he said “to be successful have to be “of the place””. His mission is to see that the UO is “of Northern Ireland”.

Born in Whitehead June Burgess attended Belfast High School before studying Landscape Architecture in Gloucester.

After a brief spell in Swansea as a surfer by day and a singer in a band at night she eventually re-located back to Northern Ireland to work as the lead consultant on the landscaping for Clarendon Docks a £3million state of the art re-development project.

In 2006 she established the national horse jumping trials in Northern Ireland which developed into an international event for a while afterwards covered by Sky sports and attracting competitors from all over the world.

In 2008 she and her husband began plans to change an old concrete car park on a street corner with Great Victoria Street into what was to become Belfast’s first contemporary look five star hotel. The Fitzwilliam Hotel sports a Manhattan Manor House style in its 120+ bedrooms and remains to this day the preferred choice of clients for many of Belfast most celebrated visitors.

Tune in to find out the one thing June would change about Northern Ireland first of all, how she smiles “with all four cheeks” and just how she prepared for her Tedx Talk at Stormont

Mary McKenna MBE co-founded successful Northern Irish e-learning company Learning Pool following a long public sector career and a spell as a Silicon Valley dot-commer. She now invests in early-stage tech startups, is Entrepreneur in Residence at Catalyst in Belfast and she was recently voted into the Maserati Top One hundred entrepreneurs currently disrupting the business world.

Her journey is fascinating. Her weekly work schedule exhausting. Never one to hold back, this interview is a must for anyone wanting advice on how to start a business and make life a success.

Famed for her presence on social media (she tweets an average of 25+ times a day) she explains she was person No.5 in the UK to own a mobile phone whilst working for BT. “It had a battery that took up most of my car boot” she explains. But that was her hooked on mobile communication. “I live my life online” she says “online is the real world”.

And guess what she had to do to get that selfie with Michael Dell? Listen to find out…

Martin Gilchrist is probably one of Northern Ireland's best networked professionals. He has a huge following on social media and is known for saying there are so many networking events going on in Belfast that "you could eat breakfast, lunch and dinner for free every working day".

As an accountant, he specialises in business start-ups and SMEs in Northern Ireland and has worked closely in this same field with Business in the Community, Digital Circle and the Social Media Association for Business, of which he was a founding member. He's a former Chairman of the Board of Down Business Park and lives with his wife Michelle and son James not far from Strangford Lough.

In this candid interview he explains why it is he aims to ask the first question every time he attends a seminar or workshop and just how he manages to go "off grid" from the world of social media in his own very special way.

Born in Sri Lanka Sheree was raised in Coalisland, Tyrone, after she and her brother were adopted by an Irish couple at just 3 weeks old.

In 2013 Sheree introduced “Women who code in the UK” founding the branches in Belfast, London and Bristol. Women who code is a global non-profit, with over 100,000 members designed to attract more females into the coding industry. She has spoken at numerous international conferences most recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Sheree is just 26.

In this frank interview she talks about the treatment of women in the tech industry, dealing with nerves when public speaking and how you can be a great leader at any age.