Good Podcasts

Rebecca White, CEO and founder of Your Own Place CIC, tells Tim West that she started the award-winning “targeted prevention homelessness” social enterprise after seeing that “something crucial was missing for people who didn’t have many of the advantages” that others had, and opens up about her biggest regret as a social entrepreneur.

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It has survived the 2008 financial crisis and Covid-19 – but, for events industry trailblazer Connection Crew, “the social enterprise narrative” isn’t always helpful, says director Charlie Dorman, even if impact is embedded in the business model.In our Good Leaders podcast, founding editor Tim West grills some of those balancing purpose, profit and personal challenges, as they navigate the ups and downs of mission-driven business. This month: Charlie Dorman, director of award-winning social enterprise Connection Crew.

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What makes a ’Social Business Champion’? In this Fit for the future podcast, produced in partnership with Buzzacott accountants, we explore the brilliant and blustery journey of Point and Sandwick Trust, a social enterprise based in the Outer Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland that built and operates the UK’s biggest community wind farm. Point and Sandwick – winner of this year’s NatWest SE100 Social Business Champion award – has been recognised as leading the way in community renewable energy. Not only does it generate power, but with the income this makes, it also provides significant support for projects and amenities within the local community. One such amenity is Bethesda Hospice, which must find more than £400,000 revenue to provide its crucial services to the islands each year, a significant part of which is provided by the wind farm.In the podcast, Pioneers Post’s Tim West and Eddie Finch from Buzzacott speak to Point and Sandwick director Calum MacDonald about how they have built, funded and sustained this award-winning successful social business through good times and bad – and they also hear from Bethesda Hospice general manager Carol Somerville and finance development officer Joanne Ferguson about the work of the hospice, and the importance that Point and Sandwick has to the local community.

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Katie Buckingham started Altruist Enterprises aged just 19 following her own experience of mental ill health. She tells Tim West why she’s an optimist – and why outside support was crucial in taking her business to the next level.

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‘Being on a journey of personal development is never ending’Teaching young people the practical life skills they’ve not learned at school: such is the mission of SE100 winner 2-3 Degrees. Co-founder Azzees Minott speaks to Tim West about leaving politics, imposter syndrome, and her initial suspicions about social investment.

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What does it take to lead a pioneering organisation in the new impact economy? In our Good Leaders podcast, founding editor Tim West grills some of those balancing purpose, profit and personal challenges, as they navigate the ups and downs of purpose-driven business.This month: the founder and CEO of On Purpose Tom Rippin talks to Tim West about helping 1,000 people switch to impact-first careers, why an outdated view of science is hindering systems change, and what good leadership is all about.

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There are only a few days left before the Impact Shakers summit in Brussels – which its organisers describe as “Europe's first big startup event focusing on inclusive entrepreneurship and impact”. But what does “inclusive entrepreneurship and impact” actually mean? In this episode, Tim West speaks to Yonca Braeckman, CEO and co-founder of Impact Shakers, about what drove her to want to build an “impact ecosystem”. She also recounts her career path from a Belgian chip-shop to social entrepreneurship – which took her to the pre-2008 banking sector and virtual reality filmmaking in New York along the way.Being a good leader? “For me, it's all about being kind and caring,” says Braeckman. Being too caring can also prompt her to take on too much – although she admits she performs well under pressure: “It never felt like an option, to me, to not lead… I'm good in crisis situations… when big challenges arise, I go into some type of problem-solving mode, and move on.”

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Over his long and diverse career, Liam Black has run a number of purpose-led businesses – both his own and other people's. Now in his sixties, he’s mentoring other leaders to do the same, and has just published a new book: How to lead with purpose – partly a story about his own journey as a purpose-driven leader, and partly drawing from his experiences as a mentor.In this episode, he speaks to old friend Tim West about having imposter syndrome in his first role as CEO, growing bored and moving on (more than once), the importance of building organisations that can thrive without his support in future, and the fine line between authenticity and virtue signalling.He shares successes and failures – and tells us that failing as a leader is different from failing a business.“The big failures for me in my leadership have been when I haven't stayed true to my values,” Black says. “As the CEO, or the chair of something, I think the biggest responsibility you have is to protect the strength and the positivity of the culture. And it's very easy to spoil that and when I have spoiled that by my own behaviour, or by allowing in people who were able to bullshit their way through… those, I feel, are my biggest failures in leadership rather than particular business decisions or business ventures that haven't worked.”

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How did a kid from a London council estate end up advising the UN on inclusion? In this episode of the Good Leaders Podcast, Tim West speaks to social entrepreneur Atif Choudhury, founder of Zaytoun and Diversity and Ability.

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What does it mean to build a healthy, resilient, sustainable organisation that’s able to do good and well at the same time? Previously, we've discussed how to find the right finance, how to navigate risk, and how to look after your team in challenging times. In this episode, co-hosts Tim West and Eddie Finch talk to Martin Cosarinsky Campos, managing director of social enterprise Breadwinners, and trustee Harry George, about the art of impact measurement and management.

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