Simon Phipps, 57, lives near Long Eaton, between Nottingham & Derby, is married (Jayne) with 2 children (aged 26 & 22), and has for the past nearly 40 years been a top, self-taught programmer and video game designer in an industry that’s bigger than the film business – the electronics manufacturing sector has an estimated worth of £90 billion. The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held in Las Vegas, is one of the world’s biggest and Simon has attended it and presented at it many times. He started his career in his 20s routinely “working 7 days a week, starting at 8am, finishing at 1am”. Now taking retirement 10 years early, he espouses the “retire well” concept, having made significant lifestyle adjustments. He’s a man who’s prioritised his Health over his Wealth and advises listeners: “Don’t overlook the hidden benefits of taking early retirement!”

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Originally from Preston, Lancs, Zoe Bennett is known as ‘The Motivational Queen’, and was recently awarded the British Empire Medal and was one of the first people to receive the honour from King Charles. The medal is a British & Commonwealth award given for meritorious civil (or military) service worthy of recognition by the Crown and Zoe was given hers (quote) “for services to charity and inspiring disadvantaged people.” Zoe has fought back from adversity and become known for her dedication to helping others through her expertise in developing resilience, employability skills, entrepreneurial mindset and personal mindset development. A mother of 3, Birmingham-based Zoe is an award-winning inspirational speaker & Founder of the Multicultural Business and Community Champion Awards. She is a personal development & entrepreneurial mindset coach, TedX speaker & author. While there’s much to celebrate about her achievements, her private, family life contains a tragic past. In 2011, her father, Erroll, 59, was murdered while on holiday in his homeland, Jamacia. Zoe’s determination to seek justice for his death has led her to where she is today, working tirelessly to continue her father's legacy by helping people to overcome trauma and encouraging them, as she puts it, “to be the best version of themselves”. Her inspirational story has made a deep impression on many, including the Prime Minister, who recommended her for her BEM Honour.   

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A highly-driven entrepreneur, James Carroll, 61, is the Founder of the THOR Laser company which specialises in Photobiomodulation (PBM). He grosses £10 million a year in sales, has 5,000 customers in 70 countries, and is currently marking Thor’s 30-year anniversary. He is a businessman who prioritises his wealth, in that he works 364 days a year! How does this impact on his work-life balance? “The only day I take off is Christmas Day,” he says. Despite this, he says he’s in fine health, fit and eats a nutritious diet. His celebrity clients include Mo Farrah, Novak Djokovic, Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg, and his biggest-name customer, film star Tom Cruise. Cruise famously broke his ankle during filming in London on ‘Mission Impossible: Fallout’ in 2017 while leaping from one building to another. Cruise used James’s laser to recover and now has lasers in his homes and always one on location. James led a workshop in Florida and Cruise walked in wearing his trademark aviator sunglasses. “Tom was a delight,” says James. As for his business ambitions to grow the company, James adds: “My real goal is to get this technology into every corner of every department of every hospital in the whole world.

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Cloudy Galvez, aged 27, describes herself as a “musician, songwriter and educator”. Born in Reading, Berkshire. she started learning the piano at age 6 and she got her first guitar, a bright pink & electric one, when she was 11. Now a successful, still up-and-coming artist, Cloudy has pioneered a new sound she calls “progressive soul with a touch of pop”. She has also just formed a new band named ‘What Do You Fancy?’. They perform at weddings, parties and corporate functions. As the name suggests, the ‘business model’ is that she invites clients to make song requests on the spot at the gig, or else to send in their playlist requests in advance. The band’s success (performing up to 12 gigs a WEEK) puts pressure on many areas of Cloudy’s health & lifestyle (eg, sleep, diet, exercise) and she speaks openly about them with Dr Ben in this episode. Cloudy’s life is still also affected by her continuing struggles with Long Covid, which developed after she caught Covid in March 2020. 

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Born in Dudley, trailblazing West Midlands entrepreneur Safaraz Ali is one of the most high-profile trailblazers and business executives in the region. A well-known face on the business networking circuit and social scene, he describes himself as “social entrepreneur, business investor, author and mentor”, but he’s much more. Dedicated to changing thousands of lives through skills and work, Safaraz is Co-Founder & CEO of Pathway Group, a company working with the public sector that helps 4,500 people a year find work by upskilling and reskilling them. He owns other businesses, only one of which, his care home business, employs 1,000 people. He Founded and hosts the annual Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards; and also hosts his own podcast series ‘Canny Conversations’. 

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