Interwoven from The Weave

Before founding Kingswood Group, Sarah Mckee-Harris spent years in HR recruitment, moving between small businesses and global firms in London and beyond. For all her success, a pivotal tension lingered: balancing professional ambition with the desire for more presence in her young son’s life. “My primary focus and reason for going alone was to… spend more time with my family,” she reflects—though she’s quick to admit that entrepreneurial life has proved anything but leisurely.

Her journey into entrepreneurship did not begin with elaborate planning or certainty. Instead, she started small, alone at home, focused on her core expertise. Only as the business gained momentum did new ideas and needs emerge. Realising local businesses needed ongoing HR support—not just recruitment—Sarah Mckee-Harris expanded, hiring her first staff and developing consultancy services. Each growth spurt brought new risks: spinning multiple plates, worrying about cash flow, and learning to manage people for the first time. She credits her family’s accounting background, a willingness to ask for help, and an openness to learning as keys to navigating uncertainty.

Building Kingswood Group changed how Sarah Mckee-Harris sees herself and what matters in business. She describes the unexpected rewards—and challenges—of leading a team, and the importance of aligning decisions to values, even when that means walking away from big clients. For listeners, her story offers a realistic window into entrepreneurial reinvention: a blend of ambition and adaptability, small experiments and difficult choices, humility and courage. Success isn’t about having all the answers at the start—it’s the product of reflection, support, and choosing to act even with imperfect information.

KEY THEMES

• Balancing ambition and family

• Growing organically with uncertainty

• Building confidence through experimentation

• Leading with values under pressure

LISTENER TAKEAWAY

This conversation reminds us that career reinvention is rarely seamless—founders grow through curiosity, seeking help, and daring to build as they go, not from having a perfect plan.

Many founder stories begin not with a clear plan but a moment of loss—or a nagging sense that something’s missing. For Nigel Richardson, leaving a 25-year career in the city brought both relief and anxiety. He expected new opportunities to arrive quickly, but faced silence and the discomfort of no longer knowing his place or purpose.

As the months passed, odd jobs and village handyman work kept life ticking over, but not his spirit. It was an advert—showing one neighbor’s simple act of kindness to another—that put something new in motion. That, and a memory of an afternoon spent listening to his neighbor Harry’s loneliness, made Nigel Richardson act on impulse: a late-night groceries drop on a rainy December evening. The surprise was how good it felt—how giving for its own sake could restore, briefly, the clarity and connection he’d been missing.

That moment gave birth to Secret Hamper, a business designed around making it easier to show we care. Nigel Richardson didn’t set out to be a founder, let alone sell gift boxes; he was searching for meaning, community, and a way to pay forward the comfort others had given him. The transition brought uncertainty, small and large experiments, and more than a few risks. But it also drew on longstanding skills—relationship-building, practical creativity, persistence—and on learning to believe in himself again.

For anyone contemplating starting anew, this episode illuminates how beginnings often come disguised as endings, and that you don’t need the certainty to act—only a willingness to try, notice what matters, and follow the things that light you up.

KEY THEMES

• Reinventing your purpose after redundancy
• Turning empathy into action
• Building confidence through experiment
• The unexpected rewards of giving

LISTENER TAKEAWAY

“This conversation reminds us that starting over can be uncomfortable, but following moments of meaning—however small—can open doors to new purpose and connection.”

In episode 1 of 'Interwoven' we hear from the participants and mentors of the iTEAMS program and interviews with Nigel Richardson from 'Secret Hamper' and singer Tara Wilcox-Leech from 'The Wandering Hearts'.

Hosted by Alex O'Neill and Adam Roxby.

First episode out May 31st.

Community members get early access to the show and much more.

www.wearetheweave.co.uk