Mad Influence

How does someone build a tech startup from scratch when the odds are stacked against them, and help thousands of other young people improve their access to opportunity across the UK?

In this episode of Mad Influence, Helen Saul is joined by Joe Seddon, Founder and CEO of Zero Gravity, a tech platform supporting students from low-opportunity backgrounds into top universities and high-impact careers.

Joe built Zero Gravity from his student bedroom with the last £200 of his student loan. Today, the platform has supported over 15,000 students into leading institutions and careers, deployed millions in scholarships, and partners with some of the UK’s biggest employers.

But Joe’s journey also reveals the personal trade-offs and identity questions that often come with social mobility.

As Joe puts it: “Everyone talks about imposter syndrome. What we don’t talk about enough is social mobility guilt.”

This conversation explores how Joe identifies talent early, why community and long-term support matter as much as access, and what it takes to build systems that level the playing field at scale. Helen and Joe also discuss employer partnerships, geographic mobility, and how AI could reshape opportunity for the next generation- for better or worse.

Key Moments:

02:42 What Zero Gravity does and who it’s for
07:36 The four factors that shape opportunity
11:16 Imposter syndrome vs social mobility guilt
18:23 Natalie’s story: Oxford, Tesco and a US law firm
25:59 Why opportunity is concentrated in London
36:43 Who gets to build startups (class and founders)
43:35 AI, education and the future of early careers
48:50 Final reflections

Music written by Joseph McDade

Follow Joe Seddon:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeseddon/

Website: www.zerogravity.co.uk

Follow Helen Saul:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

Follow Mad Influence:

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@madinfluencepod

Instagram: www.instagram.com/madinfluencepod/

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@madinfluencepod

What does it take to build a personal brand that leads to real opportunity - not just visibility, but credibility, career momentum and influence?

In this episode of Mad Influence, Helen Saul is joined by Claudia Cardinali, Strategy Director at Great Influence, where she runs personal brands for founders, entrepreneurs and leadership teams, including leaders from brands such as Booking.com, Gousto and MyProtein.

Claudia is also a LinkedIn Top Voice and speaker. She first built her audience by openly talking about navigating a quarter-life crisis, and today advises leaders on personal branding strategy, creator-led thinking and employee advocacy. Her career has grown rapidly from freelance copywriter to director level through consistency and showing up publicly, and she’s now followed by tens of thousands of people for practical, experience-led advice.

As Claudia puts it: “If I was just starting my career now, I would not be making a CV. I would be thinking about how I create content on a platform.”

This conversation explores why showing up online often feels uncomfortable, how influence compounds over time, and what personal branding looks like in an AI-saturated world - particularly for founders, leaders and ambitious early- to mid-career professionals.

Chapters

00:00 Why showing up online feels uncomfortable

04:45 Strategy vs posting without direction

11:05 Authenticity, performance and being ‘real’ online

15:50 Criticism, outrage culture and leadership visibility

18:50 AI comments, bots and the future of connection

25:45 How personal brands drive hiring and inbound opportunity

35:10 The biggest barriers stopping people from showing up

41:53 Confidence, self-belief and career decisions

49:21 Influences, mentors and career-defining moments

52:00 The future of personal branding and reputation

Music written by Joseph McDade

Follow Claudia Cardinali:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccardinali9/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@claudia___cardinali

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/claudiaccardinali/

Follow Helen Saul:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

Lauren Ashcroft, the founder of UltimateYou, joins Mad Influence to talk about how she launched a globally successful business in the middle of the pandemic, to help people realise their ambitions. We talk about her journey from being made redundant to creating a set of products that have been reviewed by Women’s Health as having ‘life-changing powers.’ We also discuss her U-turn from a planned career in law, how she dealt with the knockbacks of unemployment, and what she’s truly learnt from her first year in business. We chat about her successful Kickstarter campaign and which unexpected channel turned it viral. Lauren also tells me about the genuine highs and lows of being a founder, why she thinks living abroad is fundamental to personal development, and the differences between a growth and fixed mindset.

Where to find us:

Guest: linkedin.com/in/lauren-ashcroft/ @ultimateyouplanner on Instagram and TikTok

You can buy your own UltimateYou planner at uyplanner.com

Host: @madinfluencepod on Twitter and linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

Books we talked about:

Mindset by Carol Dweck

Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

Key Topics:

Goal setting and direction

Fixed mindset vs growth mindset

The biggest mistakes made starting a business

The power of reading

Unemployment and surviving redundancy

Overcoming self-doubt

Morning routine

Being true to yourself

Overcoming your ego

Kickstarter campaigns

Getting funding to start a business

If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate and review us, as this will really help the podcast to grow.

This episode was recorded remotely with music by Joseph McDade

Katie Martell, speaker, writer, documentary maker, and marketing expert, joins Mad Influence to talk about what happens when social movements and brands collide. We talk about how Katie carved out her career by being brutally honest, and as ready to critique the marketing industry as to champion it. We talk about the difference between genuine allyship versus co-opting a movement for a brand’s own gain. We discuss which brands miss the point, and which ones do it well. We also talk about the power of consumer activism, why you should never reduce an important movement to a hashtag, and deliberate some real world examples of both barriers and opportunities for change.

If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate and review us, as this will really help the podcast to grow.

Key topics

Woke-washing

Consumer activism

Brands and purpose

LGBTQ+

Black Lives Matter

Feminism

Workers rights and facial recognition software

Allyship

Employee branding

Diversity and inclusion

Where to find us

Guest: linkedin.com/in/katiemartell/ @KatieMartell on Twitter and katie-martell.com

Host: @madinfluencepod on Twitter and linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

This episode was recorded remotely with music by Joseph McDade

Claire Eades, CEO and founder of Marmalade Film and Media, joins Mad Influence to talk about what it was like setting up an agency aimed at getting brands to care about purpose a decade before it became top of everyone’s agenda. We chat about some of her most memorable campaigns, like the one which reduced teen pregnancy by 25%, and had everyone in the UK talking about it, including the prime minister. We also discuss how you know when the right time to set up your business is, and being proud of the price you charge. We talk about creating an ad with the intention of getting it banned, and debate if charities or profit-driven businesses are able to take more risks like this. We also discuss how Claire’s varied projects have taken her as far as Brazil, Kenya, and The Amazon rainforest and what she learned from the social impact entrepreneurs in those places.

If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate and review us, as this will really help the podcast to grow.

Key topics

Where to find us

Guests: www.linkedin.com/in/claireeades/ on LinkedIn or marmaladefilmandmedia.com

Host: @madinfluencepod on Twitter and linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

This episode was recorded remotely with music by Joseph McDade in February 2021

Lee Wilcox and Adam Barrie, founders of Electric House and On The Tools, join Mad Influence to talk about what it’s really like running a successful business with your best friend, and how they streamed the Mars landing live on TikTok to 100,000 people. We delve into their journey from being broke to employing 100 people and how their attitudes to supporting mental wellbeing and inclusion have evolved over time. We talk about silly topics like their favourite failed business ventures, and serious ones like why people in construction are 3 times more likely to commit suicide. We discuss if it's ever OK to use humour to tackle problems like these, how trolls can actually be quite helpful, and why your employees make the best influencers.

If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate and review us, as this will really help the podcast to grow.

Key topics

Where to find us

Guests: Search Lee Wilcox and Adam Barrie on LinkedIn or @electrichouseuk, @theelectricceo and @adam_barrie on Twitter

Host: @madinfluencepod on Twitter and linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

This episode was recorded remotely with music by Joseph McDade

Marta Decarli, founder of Marta Decarli Yoga, and marketing executive at Kuula, joins Mad Influence to talk about why it’s OK to change your life plan, and how she felt adapting hers after her dreams of becoming an Olympic skier fell through after a decade of training. We also talk about what led her to leave her successful corporate job during the pandemic and set up a yoga business instead, and why marketing and pricing often feels like taboo. We also discuss why Marta will never be the stereotypical yoga teacher, disappointing a few people, and learning to be completely OK with that. We investigate why people gravitate towards you when you are failing and how it’s important to normalise the fact that we all have good days and bad days. We also talk about the pain of having to say goodbye to a loved one over WhatsApp- (this is a covid story with a happy ending though, we promise!) and the importance of connection in getting us through times like this.

If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate and review us, as this will really help the podcast to grow.

Key topics

Where to find us

Guest: www.martadecarliyoga.com and @martadecarliyoga on Instagram

Host: @madinfluencepod on Twitter and linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

This episode was recorded remotely with music by Joseph McDade and contains one use of explicit language.

Amy Rollings, founder of Let’s Connect, and Head of Partnerships & Mentoring at Good Nugget, joins Mad Influence to talk about the community she set up to support people going through redundancy. She created it after being made redundant herself five months ago, after a very successful career working for brands like Burberry, Kurt Geiger and Michael Kors. We have a very honest conversation about the genuine emotions people facing uncertainty in the job market are feeling right now. We also discuss the pros and cons of networking and how doing it well can be the ultimate marketing tool for yourself. We chat about staying positive, dealing with ghosting or rejection when applying for jobs, and the social responsibility that companies must uphold when they are handling recruitment processes. We also talk about young people trying to get on the career ladder for the first time, and the mentoring programme that Amy is involved in to help them get into the creative industries.

If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate and review us, as this will really help the podcast to grow.

Key topics

-Coping with redundancy

-The lessons you learn from living abroad

-Grieving your job loss in the pandemic

-Dealing with the emotions around redundancy, furlough and unemployment

-Ghosting and rejections in recruitment

-Staying positive through situations out of your control

-How companies and recruiters can handle the recruitment process positively

-Obstacles young people face getting into the job market

-Mentoring young people into the creative industry

Where to find us

Guest: linkedin.com/in/amy-rollings/ and __letsconnect on Instagram

Host: @madinfluencepod on Twitter and linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

This episode was recorded remotely with music by Joseph McDade

Jay Richards, co-founder and CEO of Imagen, joins Mad Influence to talk about his research agency which pays thousands of its Gen Z community to help brands and agencies shape culture. We chat about how he started out by setting up his first business selling t-shirts aged 14, after an injury put an end to his pro football career. In the brutally honest spirit of Imagen, we also talk about everything from why brands are often too quick to believe their own hype, how it’s not a natural human instinct to accept feedback, and why Gen Z reports often fill Jay with fear. We also talk about how Jay felt when he put his own brand through his research process (spoiler: it was equal parts stressful and rewardingl!) and some of his proudest projects working with brands like Gymshark, Ebay and Pepsico.

If you like this episode, please subscribe, rate and review us, as this will really help the podcast to grow.

Key topics

Where to find us

Guest: linkedin.com/in/jaykrichards/, imageninsights.com, Imagen This podcast at anchor.fm/jay-richards5

Host: @madinfluencepod on Twitter and linkedin.com/in/helensaul/

This episode was recorded remotely with music by Joseph McDade