Covid-19 Opportunity In Isolation

Wow, what a 15-months it’s been. I never realised that starting this podcast journey would take me on a completely new trajectory.The podcast was originally supposed to be focused on the events industry, but launching a podcast about events in March 2020 wasn’t going to wash. So I started Opportunity In Isolation instead.I have been lucky enough to have interviewed and chatted with so many fantastic guests in this series. But, I've decided to close this particular series off because I want to look towards the future and what is ahead of us.Right now I am grateful that we’ve been one of the lucky event businesses to make it through there are definitely some green shoots on the horizon.I wanted to end the series with someone who can help sum up what has happened in the last year and what to look forward to. That person had to be wise and inspiring, therefore I was delighted that it was Paul Bassi. You may remember I interviewed him before the pandemic and you can see that episode here.

For those of you who don’t know Paul, he has an interest in a £300 million property and business portfolio and is the Chairman and CEO of a number of companies including Bonde Wolfe Auctions and Real Estate Investors PLC.We touched a lot on what has happened in the past 12 months, and the opportunities in the property market and business going forward.We touched on topics such as;  opportunities that Paul has identified around social media; town and city centre property planning laws, as well as plenty of other nuggets of information for you to take away.I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get an insight into the mindset and thinking of a highly successful person such as Paul as well as getting some useful practical advice and tips.Finally, I just want to end by thanking everyone for listening/watching over the past 14 months. Thank you for the feedback and the time taken to let me know who you want to hear from. And also a big thank you to my amazing team, especially Volo my editor and Jess and Lauren. We wouldn’t have got through this without you.So with that, thank you, happy listening and enjoy life!

Starting a business can be thrilling and exciting. 

It requires a lot of work, time and of course, money. In this episode of my podcast, Alex Balderstone a co-founder at Kaiku a smart matchmaking platform for first-time venture funds backed by start-up wiseguys - one of Europe's largest early stage B2B talked about why you might decide to get investment as well as some of the details on how you can put yourself and your start-up business to attract investors and secure funding. 

This is an amazing episode if you planning to launch a start-up and are looking to secure funding and eventually grow a brand.

We also talked about:

• The legal requirements for starting a business

So with that...happy listening and enjoy!

Starting a business is no joke! Starting a brand from scratch is painstaking, and getting the brand known and recognised is a process that many try but only a few manage to succeed in! 

In this episode, I interview my good friend and entrepreneur Tahzeen Basunia aka (Taz). Taz is the Co-founder of the Jealous life which is a Gluten-free and plant-based sweet brand which you will now see in Asda, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Harrods to name a few. 

BUT - the journey to success is never a straight upward curve! 

Taz grew up as a straight "A" student at school, he later graduated with a 2.1 in Mathematics from Imperial College, London and then went on to gain his ACA at the highly prestigious PwC. 

It was towards the end of his career here that he realised that he wanted and needed to do more with his life so he quit and started a range of different businesses - right at the start of the Financial Crisis back in 2007. These didn't work out for him but he used his experience in these "failures" as key lessons in his next venture which he co-founded in 2010 with his friend. Thus JEALOUS was born. 

In this podcast, we spoke about his journey and how he and his partner Imran started and grew this business, through a lot of ups and downs. 

We go through topics including: - 

• Creating a “household name” brand

• Using Influencer Marketing

• Navigating through the hard times

• And how Imran and he pretty much stalk a buyer of a well known store to get a meeting with them!

So with that...happy listening and enjoy! 

It’s been pretty obvious to me that the events industry lacks diversity, both in ethnicity as well as social-economic backgrounds, unless of course, you count the lower-paid jobs such as waiting staff, porters and cleaners. 

It’s something that I’ve discussed a lot in the world of sport such as hockey (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/aug/03/english-hockey-has-an-endemic-race-issue-from-top-to-bottom-clubs-claim), but not something I really actively mentioned in my own industry. After all of course, i’m a businessman who should keep their head down and work hard!  Well that’s a pretty selfish attitude, and I think it’s about time things changed. 

I was recently asked to speak about some of my experiences being a British born Asian in the industry, and you can watch this here. Some of the stories may shock you! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXNVGJf30ds&t=3s

Moving onto this particular podcast, it was great to be able to have a conversation with Gabrielle Austen-Browne who is the Co-Founder of Diversity Ally! She is doing something about the lack of diversity in the industry and recently set up a business to address it. 

Gabrielle is an experienced event professional, designing and delivering B2C events and creating sales strategies for premium hospitality venues.  Alongside this work, and throughout her career, she has been active in the wellness and D&I space.

Before moving to events, Gabrielle was a professional dance artist and gained a Masters in Community Dance from Laban.  

Gabrielle has written about Diversity & Inclusion for industry publications and has appeared on many panels speaking about racial inequality and diversity in the events sector.

Currently a diversity committee member for the events apprenticeship programme, in 2020 she was also made an ambassador for the Fast Forward 15 mentorship programme, with the aim to encourage applications from more diverse mentees and mentors, specifically from the BAME community. 

Underpinning everything is the ongoing work she does in the health and wellbeing space. Gabrielle is a qualified yoga, meditation and breathwork teacher who supports her industry peers, through teaching online classes for event professionals and corporate clients that are accessible and inclusive. 

In this podcast we discuss:

• Her journey getting into events

Happy listening and enjoy! 

Melinda Livsey got tired of being given a list of requests by her clients and producing designs that didn’t require much input or thought. That wasn’t why she became a graphic designer. The repetitive cycle of what she terms as being an ‘order taker’ was eating at her and she almost changed careers.

In 2015, she added brand identity designer to her title and 2 years later her title grew to include brand strategist. Being able to come up with creative solutions for her clients relit the fire in her creative soul and she now also teaches graphic designers how to make the same transition.

She’s the founder of Marks and Maker and you may have seen her co-host alongside Chris Do on the Futur. For anyone wanting to know more about identifying your ideal customer, branding strategy, how to not pitch or write proposals for free, this episode is for you.

Connect with Melinda: LinkedIn Instagram https://www.marksandmaker.com The Future on YouTube Find us on:

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1AtphlIUtHdtFhr9AhMZjT

With the excitement and buzz of being able to travel again, it was the perfect time to have my friend, and travel agent extraordinaire, Andrey Yurchenko as a guest on this show. Andrey is the best kind of travel agent; the kind that loves their country. You can see it as he warmly describes his beautiful country and the must see places to visit in Russia.

Andrey is the founder and CEO of PriorityStatus which is a concierge travel agency. His company organizes luxury travel, accommodation, logistics, turnkey trips, yacht and private jet charters, corporate events, weddings and birthday parties. He even books sports packages for the Euro League, Fifa, Formula 1 and Golf PGA.

Unlike in the UK, he calls the service providers that he works with, partners and there is such a high level of trust between them that his clients get to benefit from. Can you imagine being able to borrow $10,000 cash from a service provider so that you can satisfy a client’s request?

He shares what is was like working as a tour operator when Russia hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and the FIFA world Cup in 2018, running a travel business during this pandemic and the future of tourism both in Russia and the world.

As always, stay safe and enjoy the show.

Please like, subscribe and share.

Laurent Bougarde is the man you want to meet if you’re visiting Miami. He is at the heart of the Miami nightlife and will give you a first class experience that might make it hard for you to leave. Laurent began his promoting career in 1985 in Paris where he worked in prestigious venues and mastered the craft of being a VIP promoter.

In 1997, Laurent decided to spread his wings and relocated to Miami, which, as you know, is one of the hottest night spots in the world. His first job in Miami was at the renowned Living Room where again, he quickly became one of the top promoters in the city.

After only 6 years of working in Miami, he opened his own venue known as the Grass Restaurant and Lounge in the Design District in Miami helping put the Design District on the global map.

Laurent has been at the forefront of the Miami VIP nightlife scenes, hosting popular dinner parties such as Table 8 on Wednesdays and organising corporate sponsored events. Some of the attendants at his events have included celebrities like Mark Wahlberg and Fat Joe.

His career as a promoter and host in Miami has spanned over 2 decades which is no mean feat in this competitive and evolving industry. As a businessman, he has his fingers in several ventures including being a real estate specialist for Sotheby’s which is a luxury real estate brand is.

Nicholas Clichy Coeru de Roy, is the president of NCCDR, a PR company promoting popular events in Miami like Tuesday Night Dinner Party at Bagatelle Rock n Baga, Kiki On The River and Return To Mykonos.

During his career as a model for Elite in Miami, Nicholas was enchanted by the Miami night scene. Before finally settling in Miami, he opened a restaurant in Ibiza that was known for hosting some of the best parties in the world with crème de la crème of DJs. He ran the restaurant for 5 years after which, he sold it to live and work in Miami.

Nicholas’ popularity as a VIP promoter grew as he hosted at popular clubs like SET and Rock Bar, and organized fashion shows and pool parties. These two gentlemen have defied technology and social media to maintain their brands as two of the top VIP hosts in Miami which is one of the reasons I had to have them on the show.

Watch the interview to get inspired, learn more about the business side of the Miami night scene and their take on the future of promoting. The interview was taken during one of their dinner parties so please forgive us for the sound.

Enjoy, like, share and subscribe.

How do you bounce back from a £2million loss to getting the likes of Pharrell Williams and Lewis Hamilton to show up to your events as a guest?

Show notes

3:11 What made Bali move from Abu Dhabi to Spain

4:07 What is the Rich List?

8:27 Bally talks about the importance of reputation in attracting big names like the Weeknd

11:21 How to make sure celebrities don’t get mobbed at events and maintain their privacy

14:53 Bally talks about scaling the business and delegating

15:43 Balancing family with work

36:00 How has it (Corona) affected your business? Talks about having major events in Abu dhabi getting cancelled one day before the event. We ALL have to adapt.

38:46 Bally talks about what prompted the start of his new energy drink business, Mental Energy, how we can use our network of friends to market and even start a business

Questions from followers

50:29 Andre from Russia asked, “Where do you see the future of luxury events post-covid?”

52: 18 Sid asked, “When do you think events will resume?”

Quotes from Bally

11:20 We make sure people come for the experience, not the artist

12:16 For me, my clients are celebrities. I have to make sure that they have a good time more than the celebrities because you’re the ones that are paying my wages.

14:01 It’s not finished until it’s finished. That’s my trait. I don’t go home until the job is done.

19:34 If you have talent, it can’t be ignored. It’s the same way I am. My talent didn’t get ignored because they saw what I was capable of. It’s your job to be yourself and get past that because if you can’t get past that within yourself, how are you going to let other people see? Never be ashamed of who you are or where you come from.

29:58 The advice I give to anybody in business or any job, do the best you can. Be the best at whatever you do. May it be a road sweeper, may it be an accountant, put all your heart and soul into it because when somebody sees you put your heart and soul into something that you’re doing, you get people’s attention.

37:28 In business, you have to be flexible and you have to rethink your business model.

46:42 The only obstacle you’ve got is your pride.

Quotes from Gurmej

38:27 There’s a quote I heard, “Nothing’s the end of the world apart from the end of the world.”

48:02 I think one of the stories that I read about you is when you came back from America.  And you had a lot less money in your pocket than when you were living in America. You were having to go back to doing security on doors and it’s a message to say that you know what? Sometimes things don’t go your way. And sometimes you are going to fail from a business but that’s life. But you learned a lot from it and if you want to get back on your feet, you have to grind.

Hello and welcome to Opportunity in Isolation.

Being in events has been quite a challenging time for the industry. For my business we've pretty much lost all of our summer trade and at this point in time, we don't know how things will play out for the rest of the year. So in this episode I wanted to get a bit of a deeper insight into what is going on and had a discussion with a few industry figures to help gain a better understanding

Lucy Brazier is one of the world’s leading authorities on the administrative profession. She's the  CEO  of  Marcham  Publishing,  specialist  publishers  of  Executive  Secretary  Magazine  which is a  global  training magazine dedicated to the professional development needs of senior and aspiring administrative professionals. Lucy works  with  the best trainers  of Executive Assistants  from  around the world to  deliver the most up to  date and current training in the market.

Daniel Skermer has been working in the hospitality sector for over 15 years and is the proud founder of PA Forum and West Midlands PA Awards which he started in 2016. They 795 Personal, Executive and Virtual Assistants as members, who have attended a number of different events we organise across the West Midlands. Now into their fourth year, they have successfully hosted 2 Learning and Development Conferences for Business Support professionals and 2 Awards ceremonies to recognize and celebrate PAs, EAs and VAs across the region.

Chris Peacock is Director and co-founder of Conference Care, which he formed in 1995 and has grown to a team over 50 event specialists, providing a range of conference, event and meeting management services to a mostly corporate client base. He has direct responsibility for the sales, finance and procurement areas of the company.  He is a former Chairman of the HBAA in 2012, and served as a board member of the association for over eight years.

Torie Blythe Richards is the owner of the The Partnership Collection which is a private lifestyle and concierge service which includes The Partnership Lifestyle Club, The Partnership Concierge Service and The Partnership Boutique Events This was a great conversation and quite inspiring especially if you are looking for ways to come out of the other side of this.

We covered a lot of ground in our discussion which includes: The extent to which events have been effected The future of the events and hospitality industry Tips on engaging with your customers Opportunities that will come from a post covid world.

Please let us know your thoughts in the comments and subscribe to our podcast for more content!

Show notes

00:26 How their businesses have been affected by COVID-19

9:42 Business forecast of the events industry post COVID-19

16:09 Future of events in the virtual world

24:46 Advice about marketing your business in a more tactful and impactful way during quarantine

31:17 Becoming innovative as a business during and post COVID-19/ Doing things different 36:14 Opportunities to look for now and in the future

45:49 New skills and hobbies they’ve picked up during lockdown – Daniel finally started working out even though he paid for personal trainer sessions 2 years ago

Quotes 13:59 Lucy People will forget what you did but they will never forget how you made them feel

19:13 Lucy Do you know that you can do an event for Microsoft teams for 2500 people, free of charge?

22:33 Daniel

I’ve made bucket list – an updated bucket list which has some places that I want to see and I’m not saying now, I wish I could do that or I wish I did that, I WILL do that.

42:06 Torrie

Honestly, I would not wish this on anybody or any business but I know that it will be the best thing that’s ever happened to us as a business because it has made me – you talk about thinking outside of the box, we’re thinking outside of the circle. We are completely diversifying in every area of the business.

49:36 Lucy

The great thing with the virtual world is that if you put something out and it doesn’t work, you reinvent it and do something different.

25:00 Chris

I think the traditional marketing methods, they don’t work currently.

38:35 Daniel

I think if you feel really strongly about what you do and you stand behind what you do and you believe that what you do is right and that it’s helping people then there’s nothing else really that you can think about.

Follow

Lucy Brazier - Executive Secretary Magazine https://uk.linkedin.com/in/lucybrazier

Torie Blythe Richards - The Partnership Lifestyle Club https://uk.linkedin.com/in/torieb

Daniel Skermer - The PA Awards https://uk.linkedin.com/in/danielskermer

Chris Peacock - Conference Care https://uk.linkedin.com/in/chris-peacock-b979b71