This week we are delighted to introduce you to STORRY, an independent singer-songwriter, speaker, filmmaker, and advocate. From opera to reggae, to hip hop, hand on heart, she is one of the most talented people you’ll ever see perform. In 2024, she was a finalist on the Voice UK, and has also been nominated for two Juno awards, but her story is also one of deep focus and healing. After being coerced into the sex industry as a young women, STORRY has rebuilt her life, and her sound. 

Whilst not shying away from her experiences, she has turned pain into power and demonstrates extraordinary clarity and conviction in everything she does.

Here is a woman who truly lives life on her own terms.  

You can follow here here:

IG: @storrymusic

Youtube

Spotify

https://www.storrymusic.com/

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Now we definitely need some more (local) pirate politicians so let us introduce you to Tara Fisher, who, as of this year, is a town councillor for Calne in Wiltshire.

Councillors don't always get a good rep, but as you’ll hear in the first few minutes of this conversation, Tara has started challenging things from the get go.

It is her ambition to make Calne the most connected and least lonely town in the county, but she is also fairly accustomed to challenging the status quo. An avid rule breaker in her former workplaces, Tara is driven by putting people at the centre. You'll hear how exactly she defied her line manager to win over the CEO and take her organisation in a different direction, and how she manages the fear and very real consequences of putting forgiveness above permission.

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Today’s guest is a special one because he is about to become my quartermaster on the first ever Be more Pirate leadership programme. 

Introducing....Nick Heard-Jones, a former teacher, turned learning designer and coach, Nick has spent the last decade working with school leaders to help them challenge and change things both inside and outside the school gates. He’s been National Director of System Leadership at the Shaw Education Trust, and Chief Learning Officer at the NCE,  but no matter the title, he is resolute in always asking the question, what does it mean to lead like a pirate?

For the past 7 years He has loudly and steadfastly supported Sam and I selling more books to teachers than we ever could alone and now that he is managing director of Ioda education, we’re heading into exciting new territory together...

We have fused Be More Pirate into the The Level 7 Senior Leadership Apprenticeship Programme, and are now assembling a crew for an 18 month learning adventure. It's open to anyone employed at a company based in England, and aimed at those in, or working towards a senior leadership position.

So, if you want to lead more like a pirate then please fill out our form here: we will then be in touch for a call, and invite you to an info session.

At the time of publishing we have already have 130 register interest so it's looking like it will be an incredible community.

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Our guest this week is the very lovely Lee Chambers, a business psychologist and the founder of Male Allies UK. In 2023 Lee was named by UN Women as a Gender Equality Changemaker and has subsequently become one the most well recognised voices on gender equity.

But, as is usually the case with these podcast bios — the job titles and awards are not the real story and in this episode we talk about both the leverage and limitations of identity.

With characteristic care and humility Lee challenges a number of well worn ideas: we discuss the fallacy of failing forward, how capitalism is hijacking community, and some of the pitfalls of the self-help genre.

Sam and I certainly learnt a lot from Lee about how to express difficult ideas so we very much hope you enjoy this episode. 

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This week’s episode features our very first Danish pirate, a musician and actor with a background in gender studies.

In this conversation we talk about his experiences as a drag queen, the ways in which he’s used performance to break the fourth wall and push people to their edge, and we discuss why the world needs a slow rebellion.

Through endless cultural experimentation Mathias has become unafraid of life. He embodies an attitude that is inherently pirate "if someone tells me it's impossible, I will prove that it can be done."

You can connect with him on LinkedIn

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Our guest this week is the absolutely brilliant V Spehar, a former New York chef turned journalist and hugely influential tiktokker whose account Under the Desk News has now amassed over 3.6million followers. Which is fairly astonishing for someone who never set out to become a journalist.

It all started when V posted a short video about the 2021 insurrection from under their desk. The video went viral and they realised there was an opportunity for a new type of reporting that could help the American public navigate through the swamp of biased media. I

They are the one staying up all night to listen to dull but important Senate hearings so that the American public knows what's coming and how it might affect them.

We talk about:

💬 what is means to be a 'safe adult'

💬 power crying as a coping mechanism

💬 what you learn being invisible at an AI conference

In an age of algorithms and misinformation V is cutting through the noise, making important but otherwise dry topics funny and relatable. And slowly it seems that the mainstream is catching on, and realising that there is another way to do this.

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Di Macdonald is a native Australian, adopted Brit and all round formidable leader. She has has worked across many industries, but notably at companies like Apple and EE, so this conversation is an unfiltered take on how to survive in corporate if you’re not willing to tow the line.

One for the intrapreneurs or 'pirates inside', she gives rare insights into the conversations that happen behind closed doors; in board rooms, at company off sites and leadership meetings.

Telling it like it is, there's plenty of advice here for how far to push the limits of your role, and how to go about rule breaking in a strategic way.

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Today’s episode is definitely one for the pirate fans, as we are interviewing the author of not one but two books on pirates.

And whilst we get into the symbolism of Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Luke Skywalker, heroes and anti-heroes alike, this episode's guest, Kester Brewin, is much more than just a writer. As an activist Kester has campaigned and stood up to corporations and won, but not for the reasons you might expect.

He shares with us what he learned from his lived experiences of standing up to power, what it means to be counter-cultural today, and why the idea of pirates still inspires him.

You can find find more about his work here:  kesterbrewin.com 

And peruse his books:

Mutiny

God-like: a 500-year history of Artificial Intelligence

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Welcome to Conversations with our Crew a sub series of the pod where we introduce you to members of our Be More Pirate community that are pushing boundaries, writing their own script and starting pirate inspired business. Our hope is that you'll meet some rebels you wouldn't otherwise hear about.

Today’s guest is Simon Dyer, the founder of Pizza Pirates and Dough Bros - a social enterprise based in Devon that combines peer to peer mental health support with pizza making.

But before that Simon has had a long history of working with vulnerable people and challenging the system on their behalf. In this episode you’ll hear about the many times he has quit his job in protest, his thoughts on where health and social care is going badly wrong, and how he has managed to make pizza pirates a success.

So, if you’ve been thinking of setting something up on your own, or you’ve started and hit some road blocks, then we hope Simon’s story gives you the motivation to keep at it.   

Find out more about Pizza Pirates here: https://www.pizza-pirates.co.uk/

And Dough Bros: https://www.resilientlives.org.uk/dough-bro-s

Connect with Simon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-dyer-a353221a/

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Sir Tim Smit, is probably best known as one of the co-founders of the Eden Project; A visionary conservation project set in a claypit in the middle of Cornwall

It’s fair to say that Eden was built against the odds, and Tim played a huge part in that. He’s someone who will pursue a grand idea, despite considerable risks, and isn’t afraid to be disliked in the process.

Before Eden he had a whole other career in the music industry before entering the world of conservation, co-founding the Lost Gardens of Heligan, and with Eden, pioneering the legendary community get together The Big Lunch.

Tim is a master of building crews, and not giving up when the going gets tough. With a tendency to not do as he’s told, this conversation took many twists and turns. We hope you enjoy it.

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