Evolve to Succeed

As well as telling the story of his own entrepreneurial journey, host Warren Munson reviews the experiences of several guests that have appeared on the show over the past few years. From hospitality and IT, to gaming, nursery school owners, olive farmers and more, this episode examines the joys and challenges of entrepreneurship from a wide variety of perspectives.

Nigel Smith is managing partner and solicitor at Ellis Jones Solicitors, which have offices in Dorset and Hampshire as well as London. From his serendipitous path to becoming a lawyer, the pleasures and challenges of running a professional services business and watching members of the team develop, other topics covered include adapting to the changing landscape of professional services, Ellis Jones's commitment to community, the motivation behind signing up for the Armed Forces Covenant, and the emphasis that Nigel places on Ellis Jones' values and how they help to build and maintain relationships.

Warren Munson joins host Emma Sheppard and fellow guests Leanne Spencer—bestselling author and expert in corporate wellbeing—and Rachel Harris—Director of striveX and founder of ACCOUNTANT_SHE—to talk about the very important topic of entrepreneurship and mental health.

With rising costs, economic uncertainty and recruitment challenges, SME owners are under considerable pressure at the moment. It's therefore crucial to have an open discussion about issues such as burnout, positive habits that can encourage better work-life balance and where to go for help.

Richard Eastham is founder of Feria Urbanism, an award-winning design practice that connects community aspiration with urban planning projects to design thriving hubs of activity that benefit people, the natural environment and the local economy. Amongst other achievements and accolades, Richard has been nominated as one of the four most inspiring people in the planning and design profession by the Royal Town Planning Institute's Young Planner Survey.

Carna Wilson and sisters Dani and Mel Bowen founded Muddy Boots Nursery School in 2014 while they were all still in their 20's. Their original vision was to start a nursery where children can spend as much time as possible outside, exploring, learning, getting dirty, challenging themselves, testing out ideas and growing their imaginations. Fast forward to 2023, and there are now five Muddy Boots nurseries scattered around Dorset.

After more than twenty years of drug addiction, which included three years on the street, three years in prison, and four years in rehab, Steve Wyatt found a talent for furniture restoration and used it to restore his own life. He now owns a furniture restoration space called Restored Retro and collaborates with Repair Shop star—as well as friend and mentor—Jay Blades by stocking Jay & Co's furniture in his own shop.

Gina Felce is the co-founder and COO of Tailwind Games, a video game development studio working within the Roblox metaverse that has raised more than $4-million since its creation in 2021. Gina was also one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2022.

Amongst other things, you'll hear how Gina transitioned to tech from a career in costume design, what she's learned from her experience of angel and venture capital funding, her people-centred principles at Tailwind Games, what it's like running the company with her life partner Mike, how to get the best out of your creatives and why she chose Bournemouth as Tailwind's base.

Gordon Fong is the CEO and co-founder of tech company Kimcell, which contains three businesses within it—Datacenta Hosting, e-mango and X-Net. Gordon is deeply passionate about making connections, both in the technical sense and the personal one. His goal is to enhance and champion business in Dorset, and part of this has been Kimcell's expansion into the Dorset Innovation Park.

Kelli Aspland and Laura Waters are the founders and directors of Solar Buddies, a child-friendly sunscreen applicator. Their story began in 2011 whilst discussing issues they were both encountering, along with other fellow parents, about how they children could apply sunscreen safely and effectively whilst not in their care. Fast forward twelve years and their award-winning product has been featured on TV screens around the world, including Dragon's Den, and they now operate out of two premises with ten members of staff and rapidly counting.

Kevin Dawson is the owner and managing director at Dawsons Bang & Olufsen, which has been designing, supplying and installing industry leading audiovisual systems for an incredible 90 years. Kevin himself has been with the company, which is a family business, for almost 43 years.

The podcast covers topics such as the pleasures, pressures and complexities of a long-running family business, Kevin's opinions on the supposed death of the high street, his dedication to keeping his delivery vans clean, and both the toughest and proudest moments he's had in the business. It's an incredible story that begins at a time when not every household in the UK had electricity!