What happens when people are already working at full capacity and leaders keep adding more change? On this episode of Clowning Around Again, Em Stroud is joined by leadership expert Graham Wilson to explore human capacity, high performance and what organisations can learn from elite sport and the military about recovery. They get into overwhelmed teams, why clarity matters when leading change, creating space to think, designing a business around a life you actually want, and why play, reflection and celebrating progress all have a place in high-performing teams. Graham also brings in lessons from his own experiences in the British Army, leadership, entrepreneurship and historic motor racing. A conversation about how we work, lead and perform without forgetting the humans doing the work.

Graham Wilson is a leadership expert, author and founder of Successfactory®, who has spent more than three decades helping leaders and teams around the world create high-performance environments where extraordinary results become possible. Drawing on a career that spans the British Army, corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, mountaineering and historic motor racing, he brings a practical, human and refreshingly real-world approach to leadership. His purpose is simple: awakening possibility in leaders and teams to deliver extraordinary results.

Connect with Graham:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrahamWilsonLeadershipWizard Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leadership_wizard/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leadershipwizard/ Successfactory: https://www.thesuccessfactory.co.uk/ Website: https://www.grahamwilson.com/

Follow Em:

• Skool: https://www.skool.com/get-your-spark-back/about
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheComicCoach
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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/em-stroud/
• Website: https://emstroud.com

What does bravery actually look like when you're building something from scratch? In this episode of Clowning Around Again, Em Stroud talks to Louise Hill about building GoHenry, taking risks and learning to keep going when the answer is no. Louise shares how her parents gave her permission to fail, what repeated fundraising rejection taught her about knowing when to stop changing the pitch and start finding the right people, and why GoHenry once pitched to 103 funds during a single raise. They also explore making space for life alongside work, the importance of play and wonder, and the uncertainty of deciding what comes next after years spent building a business. A candid conversation about entrepreneurship, resilience and having the courage to try. About Louise Hill

Louise Hill, financial education campaigner and Founder of GoHenry

Louise Hill is Executive Chair and Founder of GoHenry - the money app helping kids learn to earn, save, spend and invest. Louise has built the business from the ground up, from launching GoHenry in the UK in 2012, expanding to the US in 2018, then acquiring French Fintech Pixpay in 2022, followed by the merger with US Fintech Acorns in 2023.

Louise is a passionate advocate for financial education and campaigned tirelessly to make the subject compulsory in all schools from primary age, with success - financial education is now set to be introduced in primary school curriculums in England from September 2028. Her expertise in kids' banking was recognised when she appeared as an expert judge on The Apprentice (Series 19).

Keen to nurture UK businesses, Louise works to support several UK-based start-ups and is part of Innovate Finance's Unicorn Council for UK FinTech (UCFT), driving growth in the UK FinTech sector, as well as a Board Advisor for The Payments Association. She is also a huge supporter of women in business, regularly mentoring female founders to drive cultural change around female leadership.

GoHenry: https://www.gohenry.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-hill-5197614/

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• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheComicCoach
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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/em-stroud/
• Website: https://emstroud.com

What if a career isn't a ladder to climb, but a creative extension of who you are and the contribution you want to make? On this episode of Clowning Around Again, Em Stroud is joined by Eleanor Ford to rethink what careers can actually look like when we move beyond linear paths, fixed job titles and inherited ideas of success. Drawing on Eleanor's experience as a founder, coach, systems thinker and Chief People Officer, they get into creativity, career transitions, emotional runway, reflection, experimentation and why fear can shut down the very thinking we need when the future feels uncertain. It's a lively, thoughtful conversation about giving ourselves permission to explore, challenge the rules we've inherited and build working lives that make more sense for who we are now.

Ellie Ford is an anthropologist-turned-founder, coach and systems thinker working at the intersection of leadership, human behaviour and ambitious systems change, partly through her role as Chief People Officer at Zine VC, and partly through her work with founders, leadership teams and boards navigating growth and high-stakes decisions. An exited founder herself, Ellie previously founded and sold a tech startup to Time Out Group and later led The Good Lab, a cross-sector innovation lab backed by 12 of the UK's largest charities. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-ford-8b27661/

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/eleanorhford

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• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheComicCoach

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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/em-stroud/

• Website: https://emstroud.com

What happens when the thing you love becomes your work, and how do you keep the passion alive? On this episode of Clowning Around Again, Em Stroud is joined by Nick Elston to explore passion, purpose and the choices that shape what we give our energy to. Drawing on Nick's work as a speaker and transformational speaking coach, they get into childhood ambitions, creativity, the emotional energy behind performing, why authenticity matters more than polished perfection, and why some of the hardest human skills are still dismissed as "soft". They also explore personal brands, building businesses that can exist beyond us and what it really means to create a legacy. It's a funny, candid conversation about staying human, following what lights you up and allowing your passions to evolve.

Nick Elston is an award-winning mental health and keynote speaker, transformational speaking coach, and Founder of Forging People. Known for blending lived experience, humour, and practical insight, he helps organisations, leaders, and audiences have conversations that matter around resilience, communication, wellbeing, and human performance. Nick works globally across corporate, education, frontline, and reform environments, reaching audiences others often struggle to engage.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickelston/

Follow Em:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheComicCoach

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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/em-stroud/

• Website: https://emstroud.com

What does inclusion actually cost us when we get it wrong? On this episode of Clowning Around Again, Em Stroud is joined by Nadia Edwards-Dashti and Samantha Emery to explore the economics of inclusion and why this conversation belongs at the heart of business, not on the sidelines. Drawing on Nadia's experience in financial services recruitment and Samantha's perspective as a financial services executive and former regulator, they get into hiring and investment bias, AI, leadership, workplace culture and the very real consequences of who gets heard, funded, promoted or left behind. It's a thoughtful, lively conversation about making the business case for inclusion while never losing sight of the humans living with the consequences.

Nadia Edwards-Dashti is Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of Harrington Starr Group, a leading technology and sales recruitment firm in Financial Services and FinTech. She is the host of FinTech's DEI Discussions and author of FinTech Women Walk the Talk. She sits on the Exec Board of the European Women's Payments Network and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Anglia Ruskin University for her commitment to inclusion in the sector.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiaedwardsdashti/

Samantha Emery is a financial services executive, NED and advisor. Her portfolio covers start-up and scaling firms, including a seat on the board of ClearBank UK. She has wide-ranging experience as a tier-one banker, regulator and deputy Chair of Swift, the global financial market infrastructure. Samantha knows how the sector works from policy through to product, is an innovation and transformation practitioner and has a personal mission to drive responsible sector growth through greater inclusion.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthaemery Follow Em:

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheComicCoach
• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@emthecomic
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/em-stroud/
• Website: https://emstroud.com

What if better leadership starts not with having all the answers, but with asking better questions? In this episode of Clowning Around Again, Em Stroud is joined by Lucy Jeffrey for a lively conversation about leadership, learning and what it takes to keep growing when the world of work refuses to stand still. They explore curiosity, emotional intelligence, constructive conflict, psychological safety and critical thinking, alongside the challenge of helping successful leaders rethink habits that may have served them for years. With plenty of warmth, humour and honest reflection, Lucy shares why becoming more curious has changed the way she works with people and why continuing to learn might be one of the most important leadership skills of all. About Lucy Jeffrey:

Curious by nature and optimistic by choice, Lucy Jeffrey is passionate about capability, leadership, learning, culture and helping others realise their potential.

Her career has spanned transformation, business leadership, talent development, and culture, always with a focus on making a positive impact.

She is a firm believer that small actions, genuine relationships, and continuous learning can create extraordinary results.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyjeffrey/

Follow Em Stroud:

• YouTube: @TheComicCoach for complete video interviews
• TikTok: @emthecomic for clips and latest updates
• Website: emstroud.com

Twenty five years in Formula One teaches you a fair bit about what happens when a message lands and what happens when it really does not. This week on Clowning Around Again, Em Stroud is joined by Nicole Bearne, former Head of Internal Communication at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, whose working life started at the British Embassy in Moscow as the Cold War was thawing. They get into why communication sits at the very heart of being human, the piece of choral music Nicole chooses to describe it and the rather lovely reason it fits, and the pattern she keeps spotting in organisations that are convinced their problems are about process. Expect Billy Connolly, roller coasters, a fence that refuses to paint itself, and the kind of thinking about leadership and internal communication that you will find yourself repeating to someone else by Thursday. About Nicole Bearne:

Over a career spanning 25 years in the highly competitive world of Formula One motor racing, Nicole helped her team win nine World Championships – eight back-to-back. Her experience encompasses executive and technical operations, Internal Communication, CSR programmes and Employee Experience. She was Head of Internal Communication at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team for over a decade and is also a Non-Executive Board Director of Motorsport UK - the governing body of four-wheel motor racing in the UK. LinkedIn: Nicole Bearne Website: https://comms-exchange.com/ Follow Em: YouTube: @TheComicCoach for complete video interviews TikTok: @emthecomic for clips and latest updates Website: emstroud.com

Ever wondered why talking about money makes your whole body react? Em Stroud sits down with global speaker, author and money psychology expert Catherine Morgan for a conversation that starts with a simple question and ends up somewhere far deeper. Expect big laughs, a protector part named Elvis, a grandmother worth writing books about, and a genuinely fresh way of thinking about financial wellbeing, self worth and the stories we inherit about money. Another episode of Clowning Around Again that proves you can giggle your way into a proper revelation.

Catherine Morgan is a global speaker, author, and visionary founder of The Money Panel®, creator of the groundbreaking Money Narratives Clearing® Framework. A former financial adviser with 17+ years of experience, Catherine now focuses on financial wellbeing and money psychology, training coaches and professionals through her award-winning Financial Coach Certification programme. Her unique trauma-informed approach has been recognised forcreating "tidal waves of change" in the industry. Her international #1 bestselling book, "It's Not About the Money," presents a psychological approach to money. Recognised as one of the top 32 female entrepreneurs by Business Leader, Catherine is on a mission to empower 1 million people towards greater financial equality. Her podcast is in the top 0.5% globally.

• Instagram: @catherinemorganmoney
• LinkedIn: Catherine Morgan

• YouTube: @TheComicCoach for complete video interviews
• TikTok: @emthecomic for clips and latest updates
• Website: emstroud.com

Ever wondered what happens when a double-chartered civil engineer swaps blueprints for drone flights and roller skates? This week on Clowning Around Again, Em Stroud sits down with the brilliantly curious Joe Flores, a Major Projects Director by day and a fearless explorer of drones, skating and clay shooting by, well, every other moment. From flying through the gaps of a viaduct to a very memorable dip in a New Zealand pool, Joe shares why staying curious at any age might just be the secret to feeling a bit better in an overwhelming world. Expect laughter, a few surprising confessions and a gentle nudge to go and play a little more yourself.

Joe Flores is a dual-Chartered Engineer and Major Projects Director at TYPSA UK, with 31 years' experience on major infrastructure programmes including HS2, Transport for London and Transport Infrastructure Ireland. He made a deliberate vow to keep learning new things and has since gained his CAA drone licence, built TikTok channels, taken up clay shooting and continued a lifelong love of skating and table tennis. He believes the most useful thing a senior professional can do is stay genuinely curious and pass on knowledge and experience and hence is mentor and Judge for WICE and is enjoying the variety of being a Liveryman with the Worshipful Company of Paviors.

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joaquinaflores
• TikTok (drones): @ldrone360UK
• TikTok (skating): @skate360uk

• YouTube: @TheComicCoach for complete video interviews
• TikTok: @emthecomic for clips and latest updates
• Website: emstroud.com

Heat waves, mango orchards and a dairy farm floating on a river in Rotterdam. This week on Clowning Around Again, Em Stroud sits down with Dr Mansi Desai, an environmental and sustainability leader who has spent more than twenty years helping governments, businesses and communities balance growth with responsibility. Mansi builds her own ideal country out of the best bits of several others, explains why sustainability is a direction rather than a destination, and shares the one piece of advice from her grandparents that still shapes how she works today. There is also a very honest conversation about AI, energy and what happens to something when you throw it away. Warm, hopeful and full of practical thinking about climate change, carbon, resilience and the small everyday decisions that add up to something much bigger. About Dr. Mansi Densai:

Dr Mansi Desai is an environmental and sustainability leader, international speaker and a driven advocate for creating a better future through practical action. Throughout her career, she has worked with governments, local authorities and businesses around the world, helping them navigate the challenge of balancing growth, resilience and sustainability. Known for her energy, curiosity and ability to connect people and ideas, Mansi believes that real change happens when sustainability becomes part of everyday decision-making. When she's not talking about climate, carbon or resilience, you'll usually find her planning her next adventure, exploring new cultures and asking lots of questions.

Follow Dr. Mansi: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drmdesai Follow Em:

YouTube: @TheComicCoach for complete video interviews

TikTok: @emthecomic for clips and latest updates

Website: emstroud.com