I was gonnae

This week's #iwasgonnae podcast guest is Dr Andy Campbell Commercial Director at Elevator UK.

Andy grew up in and still lives in #Paisley and has a real passion for the town. He tells us he loved school and liked being an academic sponge. He remembers talking to one of his primary teachers and referred to his classmates, ‘as his fellow scholars’, ‘and couldn’t believe that she laughed for using a big word!’. Needless to say, this was water off ducks back to Andy even at an early age.

Andy says he thrives on some level of chaos and loves to live life fully with all the adventures it throughs up.

Recalling his early #business #career, he says it was initially me tapping into my ‘inner geek’ playing with his ‘Spectrum computer.’ 'Initially as a hobby but quickly turned into my first business called Red Lemon', a very successful gaming business.

Andy is currently the commercial director at Elevator UK ‘working alongside some really amazing and ambitious #entrepreneurs '.

Listen to more of Dr. Andy Campbell’s life and career stories on the #Iwasgonnae podcast.

This weeks guest is Prof Eleanor Shaw OBE Associate Principal ( Pro Vice Chancellor) at University of Strathclyde.

Eleanor explains she is left-handed and reflects on her early days at school being told to ‘sit on her left hand and write with her right hand’ and consequently ending up in a remedial class for spelling and writing because of the effect this was having on her brain. Despite this she ‘really enjoyed school’ but was unsure what career direction she was wanting to take. She remembers thinking she would like to be an ‘English teacher or even more boldly a writer’.

Eleanor tells us of how Glasgow and the universities have always acted as magnet to her throughout her life and career.

Now as the Associate Principal (Pro Vice Chancellor) at University of Strathclyde she says she wants to help encourage young people to ‘take ownership and agency of their lives’ and ‘not to be frightened of failure’.

Listen to more of Prof Eleanor Shaw OBE life and career stories on the I was gonnae podcast.

This weeks I was gonnae guest is Geoff Leask, Chief Executive at Young Enterprise Scotland. 

Geoff tells us that he had a nomadic life as a young man being born in Edinburgh and then moving to the borders then Leeds before settling in Jedburgh. As a young man Geoff tells us that despite Jedburgh’s size it had an independent record store where he spent a lot of time and money buying punk singles. Geoff has a ‘give it a go’ attitude to life which he reflects as emanating from his passion for punk music especially The Clash.

Geoff’s first job on leaving school was as an apprentice deck officer for a shipping line company Fyffes shipping line the ‘banana ship’ to get his ‘escape route from the sleepy town of Jedburgh’ (no he didn’t hear London Calling or get on a Train in Vain!). ‘This job gave me the opportunity to see things over the horizon’.

Geoff’s passion, motivation and life ethos is apparent to anyone who knows Geoff and what he has achieved within his career and most recently for YES (Young Enterprise Scotland).

Listen to more of Geoff’s life and career stories on the I was gonnae podcast.

This week's guest is Dr. Poonam Malik Head of Investment at Strathclyde University.

Dr. Poonam Malik was born and educated in India, however, Dr. Poonam tells us of there not being a secondary school in her local area, and her mother had to make the tough choice as to whether to send her at the age of 8 to another city to continue her education. Dr. Poonam describes this as an incredibly difficult decision but the correct decision. As Dr. Poonam's education developed she tells us she was offered a number of scholarships worldwide and decided to choose Glasgow to continue with her study of Virology. However, Dr. Poonam recalls landing at Glasgow airport herself with only £35 in her purse and having to pay the taxi driver £17!

Find out how she managed from the airport and more about Dr. Poonam's career and life story on the I was gonnae podcast.

This weeks guest is Michelle Ferguson. 

Michelle realised at a young age that she had a ‘passion for modern studies and history’ and ‘loved reading newspapers for school projects’. When she left school studied computer design and reflects that this gave her the ability to ‘visualise things' within projects and still uses the skill 'on a daily basis’.

Michelle is the UK Managing Director at Scotland’s bravest manufacturing company based in Erskine and a part of the Royal British Legion Industries. Who give veterans the opportunity to work within their manufacturing facility  and ‘learn about manufacturing processes’.

Michelle remembers coming from a family who ‘sat discussing and arguing points regarding the news and politics’ and thinks this is where she really ‘found my voice to stand up and say what I really believe’.

Listen to more of Michelle’s inspirational life and career story now on the #iwasgonnae podcast

This weeks #iwasgonnae podcast guest is Lianne McGrory UK Vice President Sales for Government & Transport; Public Sector for Salesforce UK.

This weeks #iwasgonnae podcast guest is Aiden Martin Author and recovering drug addict.

Aiden was born and educated in Livingstone and feels he was ‘failed’ and didn’t feel as if I was educated in high school’. Aiden tells us ‘ I left school at 16 with no qualifications, no hope and no future’. However, had a very different story when he went to West Lothian college in his mid twenty’s’ where he felt ‘I was getting nurtured and getting told how bright my future could be’.

How ever what happened in the years between is as they say another story. Aiden is now an author and has written about the years in between in the first of two books called Euphoric Recall and details Aiden’s recovery from extreme trauma and addiction whilst detailing how he survived being groomed, his experiences with suicide, violence and severe mental health issues.

Listen to more of Aiden’s harrowing and motivational life and career story now on the #iwasgonnae podcast.

This weeks #iwasgonnae guest is Ken Pinkerton.

Kenneth Pinkerton was born in Cumbernauld and went to Cumbernauld High School where he remembers he was academically ‘bright’ but found that he didn't ‘get much guidance’.

Ken’s passion has always been theatre and especially musical theatre. However, tells us he was ‘brought up watching’ the TV drama series Petrocelli, starring Tony Petrocelli as an Italian-American Harvard-educated lawyer, and thinking ‘that’s what ill do’ as a career. Ken followed the legal path and successfully studied at the University of Dundee.

Ken is now Director of Charities and Third Sector within Brodies LLP.

Listen to more of Kens life and career stories on the #iwasgonnae podcast now. 

This weeks #iwasgonnae s guest is Gordon Smith, Scottish football player, coach and executive.

Gordon Smith was born in Kilwinning but brought up in Stevenson. At a very early age Gordon tells us he always wanted to be a footballer, but his mother said, ‘if he wasn’t in the top 3 for all his exams, she was going to stop him paying’. At the age of 14 Gordon had Rangers, Celtic and Kilmarnock wanting him to sign at 14 he signed for Kilmarnock and was in the first team at the age of 17. He recalls one day returning to his house and his mother said, ‘there is your acceptance, and I said acceptance for what and she said your degree, I said I never applied mum, no she said I did!’

A few months after signing for Rangers from Kilmarnock Gordon says he members signing autographs outside Ibrox and then knocking on the door and the ‘wee doorman at Rangers was quite an old chap’ and as the door opened the doorman said ‘aye what is it, and I went I’m a player’, and the door man says ‘who for!’

Gordons career even after playing football hasn’t stopped and he tells us of one of his positions After his playing career Gordon remembers working on a FIFA football committee and turning up to a meeting in Zurich he remember sitting down having a coffee and as he sat there he is then quickly joined by Franz Beckenbauer, and who then sat across from him was Pele and then sitting next to him was Eusebio, Michele Platini and then Dino Zoff and Gordon thought to himself, ‘If there is a team getting picked here, I’m not getting in it!’

Listen more to Gordons amazing football career, career, and life stories on the #iwasgonnae podcast.

This week's guest is FORMER Royal Marine David Devenney.

David was born in Maryhill in Glasgow and admits that he grew up in the local library and tells us ‘it was his love of books’ that set him on the path for absorbing education like a ‘sponge’.

David’s first job was an apprenticeship with his uncle before he realised that 'it wasn’t for him' and joined the police at the age of 19. However, he recalls that he ‘was always playing soldiers as a kid’ and always had that interest in the military. He remembers ‘walking down queen street towards argyle street and walked past the Army, Navy and Air force careers office and will never forget that there was a green beret in the window, ‘I thought I quite fancy that’ and so a couple of weeks was walking up to the commando training centre, which was the start of a lifelong career in the royal marines.

David tells us he still remembers the day clearly when he was called up as a commando to join the forces for the Falklands war and says they cruised down to the Falklands on the PO Canberra cruise liner, ‘it’s the only way to go to war’ he laughed.

David is currently director of the Community Veterans Support based in Govan’s Pearce Institute.

Listen to more of David’s fascinating life and career stories on the #Iwasgonnae podcast.