Cultural Enterprises Podcast

Karen O'Connor is one of the sector's most popular figures – a Cultural Enterprises Award for Outstanding Contribution in 2020 is testament to this! Hear how her journey took her to being Director of Commercial Enterprises at National Museums Liverpool after abandoning early dreams of a career making ballet tutus (no, really).

In this open, honest, and passionate episode, Caroline Brown, Head of Commercial Services at the British Library, and Chair of the Association for Cultural Enterprises, tells us how growing up in a small, working class Welsh village helped shape her entire career...

From the high street to cultural sector, Rita Rooney tells us all about her career, including planning for the Museum of London's future, the importance of making mistakes, and developing a range based on a fatberg!

The Sir John Soane's Museum. The Natural History Museum. The Southbank Centre. The Barbican. Kew Gardens. Hear how Adam Thow's career has taken him to some of the most spectacular venues in London, and what he believes is next for the cultural enterprises sector.

Hear how an apprenticeship at sixteen took Matthew Henderson away from a potential career training owls for a living(!) and helped mould him into one of the sector's most creative and enthusiastic leaders...

How did a law graduate end up developing sustainable ranges of crisps for English Heritage? It's fair to say Kingston Myles hasn't had the most traditional career path. From nightclubs and festivals to the cultural sector, hear how Kingston transitioned from the 5-9 to the 9-5...

What impact has the pandemic had on sustainability in cultural trading, and what does the future hold? Can we take this opportunity to radically re-think cultural trading along more sustainable lines? To answer these questions, we welcome Dr. Jamie Larkin, Assistant Professor of Creative and Cultural Industries at Chapman University in California, to the podcast. 

With cultural organisations starting to reopen, there is an opportunity to step back and reflect on some of our working practices, and consider making some changes. In this episode, Chris Snow, Head of Support Services at the National Theatre, looks at a few tools that can help Visitor Experience or Operations Managers to improve a team’s efficiency, the quality of the venue’s visitor experience, and ultimately make our working lives a bit easier.

What will Front of House operations look like as we reopen in 2021? Head of Visitor Experience at the Royal Opera House, and presenter of Series Two of the Cultural Enterprises Podcast, Gabriela Gandolfini, looks back at 3 lessons learned from 2020 and how to implement those 3 learnings in 2021.

While some organisations were put in the difficult position of being unable to trade at all in the last year, others were fortunate (and entrepreneurial) enough to find new ways to generate income, stay connected with the community, and help shape the future of their enterprises. One of these organisations is Birmingham Museums Trust, and we are delighted to be joined by their Commercial Director, Alex Nicholson-Evans, who talks pizza pods, selling leftover food and completely revamping their online store...