Clair In Conversation

Jonathan is MD of Leafe Consultancy and, wow, is he an inspiring and wise person to speak to.  

From gigging across the world in a band to navigating the very start of the internet, to founding, growing and exiting a £2m turnover agency, he knows a thing or two about what it takes to make a successful business.  

These days he is sharing his knowledge with digital and creative agencies, helping them to reach their potential, and he talks some absolute gold in our conversation.  

We discuss:  

- How the landscape has changed over the last twenty years 

- The common mistakes agencies make when they experience growing pains 

- The importance of knowing your clients, and your vision

 - Why evolving is better than pivoting 

- The three-step process to growing a resilient and profitable business  

Plus loads more…  

One thing that always strikes me when I speak to Jonathan is how positive and empowering he is. So, even though we know these are tough times with maybe more ahead, this conversation left me feeling brave and energised and ready to face them.  

I hope it makes you feel like that too.

Mitchel is the MD of Reward agency, founder of Copy Generators and best-selling author of Serve, which is all about how people and brands can achieve the change they want to see in the world.  

Mitchel believes actions speak louder than words, and that is quite rare in the marketing world. He really is an inspirational voice, and I am honoured to have him as part of this series.  

To him, sustainability is never an “add-on”, and in this conversation he talks about how to make it authentic, going beyond messaging to be embedded into the heart of a business.  He’s not afraid to call it out either. 

 We discuss:  

- How consumer behaviour has changed through Covid-19 

- How we all need to hold big businesses accountable when they don’t live their values 

- How agencies pitch services over the true value of branding 

- And a whole lot more...  

Both our dogs get involved in this one too, which is always a good thing.   

I loved this conversation, and I hope you do too.

Heather is hands down one of the friendliest and best loved people on the Manchester networking scene, and now Leeds and Liverpool too, as she has grown the business development network for Bruntwood.  

She co-chair of Pro-Manchester’s Property and Regeneration committee, sits on the North West Women in Property Committee and has advised at 10 Downing Street on how to better support female entrepreneurs.   

In 2016,  she was named a Rising Star in the Manchester Young Talent Awards for her work building partnerships to better support fast growth businesses in the Manchester Business community. In 2018, she was named on the Northern Power Women Future List, and in 2019 was awarded "Female Networker of the Year" at the City of Manchester Business Awards.   

That's one hell of a list of achievements.  

In our chat she shares some absolute gold about how to develop a robust biz dev strategy, talks about the importance of defining your audience and refining your proposition, and warns about the importance of not panicking in times of challenge.

If you would like to see if Heather can help with your business development strategy, or with growing your network, fill in this form and she will get back to you: https://forms.gle/vww4J4Yb4YbygHFK7

Martin is the founder of Elite Leadership Global Academy. He helps business leaders design, develop and lead elite teams in their growing businesses.  

From "running away and joining the army" to training with SAS and working with airline security teams around the world, he knows what it takes to create agile, creative and enterprising teams that can think for themselves.  

We discuss the changing face of leadership, the make-up of high-performing teams, and the importance of constant practice; as well as how all of this relates to brand ethos and values.

Myles is Founder of Hospitality Inc, and in his own words has been working in the hospitality industry "for a hundred years".   

Previously Commercial Director of one of the high street's best-loved bar chains, and now operating as a consultant within retail and FMCG, his insights and experience are really valuable.  

We talk about the challenges that operators are facing, and how to overcome them, what bigger brands can learn from the independents, and what the future of hospitality could look like.  

Myles also shares his top tips for businesses owners as they rebuild and re-emerge post-lockdown.

Richard is CEO of Adam, a recruitment agency with a vision to change the perception of recruitment.  

We had such a positive and optimistic conversation, and I could have chatted with Richard for hours!  

We discussed how the Covid crisis has impacted the recruitment industry, and agency recruitment in particular. But also how it has opened up new opportunities.  We talk about company culture, and how that's still a central part of Adam, enabled through adopting technology more quickly and bravely than before. 

And we look to the future, to consider how the next 12 months may just be the fastest moving we've seen.

Jess is one half of the "dynamic duo" that make up marketing communications agency, Mac + Moore. She is a WACL Future Leader, and one of the 2020 Creative Equals Business Leaders. 

She is also great fun! Fresh from an agency rebrand, we talk about pivoting (of course), turning the branding tables on yourself, how challenge creates change (and that's a good thing!) and how trust in yourself is really one of the most important things you can have in business. 

We are joined this week by co-host Ben, who is really only concerned with checking out the birds...

Deepa Shah is the multi-award winning Technology CFO of the Year (2020), CFO of the Year (2018) and business mentor with NatWest & The British Library, she is also one of my favourite people to talk business (and life) with.  

With over 20 years working for global marketing, comms and tech companies under her belt, she certainly knows her stuff. 

This year she launched Lab Eight, a growth advisory consultancy, and I have loved watching her journey.

We talk about not being "an average CFO", how to navigate challenging times, and the importance of innovation and diversification.

I hope you enjoy!