Suzy Sanders, founder of Alchemy Virtual Assistance UK, shares her journey from employee to entrepreneur, the challenges faced by leaders, and the importance of appropriate vulnerability and playful curiosity. The conversation explores the transition from employee to entrepreneur, the challenges faced by leaders, the significance of appropriate vulnerability and playful curiosity, and reframing leadership and personal growth.

Making the brave decision after the birth of her son to leave her corporate job at a global recruitment firm, Suzy embarked on a journey to entrepreneurship. Her business – Alchemy Virtual Assistance (VA) – began from a (then) makeshift home office in Northamptonshire in 2016 with the purpose of providing remote administration, practical marketing and flexible PA support to independent business owners and entrepreneurs.

With her own strong core values; integrity, honesty, family, kindness and adventure at the heart of all business activities, Suzy’s collaborative approach has been built around building connections with the right people to make the most impact.

Quickly realising the power and strength in collaboration and community, Suzy set about fostering meaningful relationships – actively seeking to work with likeminded businesses who shared a similar ethos, exploring local, regional and global speaking opportunities at relevant events, chairing a well-known networking group, and supporting upcoming businesses and charities in her spare time.

She had recognised that success was not always about making money. Instead, it was these nurturing and compassionate business activities that truly boosted Alchemy VA's reputation – Suzy has won awards for her noticeably different approach and has been featured on radio, TV and in leading industry publications. The company’s loyal client-base and team rapidly grew and thrived as a result.

Continuing to receive a steady and increasing influx of enquiries from curious and aspiring virtual assistants who had been inspired by Suzy’s journey, she saw an opportunity to launch a franchise model where carefully selected individuals – only those with the same commitment, skills, mindset, personal objectives and values – could be trained, empowered and supported to build their own VA enterprises under the trusted Alchemy brand.

Suzy has since self-published a book, ‘The Alchemy of Virtual Assistance: creating a successful virtual assistant business around your family’ and continues to explore and advocate the importance and value in developing meaningful relationships in business.

Suzy holds the belief that this focus will enable her to amplify her business success, create more meaningful impact and value to her team and achieve her ultimate ambitious vision – for Alchemy to become the VA company of choice in the UK.

Connect with Suzy here

Tae the FREE VA readiness test here

Takeaways

• Transition from employee to entrepreneur
• Challenges faced by leaders
• Appropriate vulnerability and playful curiosity

Chapters

• 00:00 Transition from Employee to Entrepreneur
• 07:41 Appropriate Vulnerability and Playful Curiosity
• 17:21 Reframing Leadership and Personal Growth

In this solo episode, host Jackie Handy discusses the impact of pressure in the workplace and how it shapes leadership and team dynamics. She shares the importance of clarity, attention, and respect under pressure, and provides insights on how to navigate pressure effectively as a leader or individual contributor.

Want to connect? Find Jackie on LinkedIn here

Or check out her website here

Take the FREE FlowFinder assessment here

Takeaways

• Pressure reveals true character
• Clarity, attention, and respect are crucial under pressure

Chapters

• 00:00 The Nature of Pressure
• 08:54 Navigating Pressure Effectively

In this episode of Manage What Matters, Marina Ibrahim explores one of the most overlooked leadership challenges in today’s workplaces: not a lack of motivation, but a lack of understanding.

Drawing on her experience working with multicultural teams, Marina shares how accents, assumptions, and cultural differences shape the way we interpret behaviour – and how misinterpretation can quietly impact trust, performance, and belonging.

Together, we explore:

• Why leaders often misread behaviour in diverse teams

• Where leaders unintentionally make communication harder

• What helps people feel they truly matter at work

• A simple shift leaders can make this week to improve understanding

• The advice Marina challenges – and what to do instead

Marina also reflects on how her own thinking has evolved, and why leaders don’t need to “sound the same” to be effective – but do need to be understood.

This is a practical and human conversation for leaders who want to improve performance without losing their people – or themselves.

Connect with Marina on LinkedIn here

Or visit her website: www.globility-insights.com

Chapters

• 00:00 Challenges of Multicultural Organizations
• 08:34 Accent Anxiety and Communication Challenges
• 14:09 Understanding and Curiosity in Leadership
• 22:38 Language Barriers and Cultural Understanding

In this solo episode, Jackie Handy discusses the topic of resilience and its importance in the workplace. She explores the concept of resilience, its connection to the Matter Model, factors affecting resilience, creating resilient environments, and the role of leadership in building resilience.

Takeaways

• Resilience is shaped by the environment and is influenced by factors such as support, clarity, connection, and a sense of control.
• Leaders play a crucial role in creating conditions where resilience can exist, and it is important to acknowledge and support the efforts of team members during times of pressure.

Chapters

• 00:00 Navigating Change and Resilience
• 08:00 Creating Resilient Environments

Sarah Stones is a Motivation Specialist, speaker, and founder of Plain Sailing Motivation. With over 20 years’ experience in HR, she helps people understand what drives their energy so they can think clearly, perform at their best, and protect their wellbeing. Her work brings practical insight into motivation, helping people move forward with confidence, clarity, and purpose. The conversation with Sarah Stones dives deeper into the critical aspects of motivation, its impact on mental health and engagement, and the importance of understanding individual motivation styles. Sarah shares personal experiences and insights, emphasising the need for leaders to take action and create conditions for self-motivation. The discussion highlights the significance of motivation in both work and personal life, ultimately showing the value of pursuing what one loves.

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn here

And check out the 9 motivating factors at Sarah's website here

Takeaways

• Understanding individual motivation is key
• Motivation impacts mental health and engagement

Chapters

• 00:00 The Leadership Challenge Around Motivation
• 05:51 Understanding Motivation Styles
• 11:01 Impact of Motivation on Engagement
• 21:06 Taking Action on Motivation

In this solo episode, host Jackie Handy discusses the nature of change and the human experience of change. She shares the importance of leaders supporting their teams through change and provides practical tips for doing so.

Takeaways

• Change is unsettling and constant
• Leaders need to support their teams through change

Chapters

• 00:00 Supporting Teams Through Change

Ian Hawkins, a speaking and storytelling coach, joins host Jackie Handy to share insights on the impact of fear on speaking and storytelling, the importance of speaking in leadership, the role of storytelling in corporate presenting, finding stories in everyday decision-making, the power of stories in changing perspectives, and key principles of speaking and storytelling.

Takeaways

• Fear is a significant factor that affects speaking and storytelling.
• Authenticity and understanding the audience are key principles of effective speaking.
• Stories play a crucial role in changing perspectives and driving change.

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction and Background
• 06:05 The Importance of Speaking in Leadership
• 12:38 Finding Stories in Everyday Decision-Making
• 17:38 The Power of Stories in Changing Perspectives
• 23:20 Key Principles of Speaking and Storytelling

In this solo episode, host Jackie Handy discusses the importance of good leadership communication, common mistakes made in leadership communication, factors affecting communication, and strategies for improving leadership communication. The key takeaways include the importance of effective communication in leadership and the tendency to over-communicate information while under-communicating its meaning.

Takeaways

• Good communication in leadership is measured by what people hear, understand, and feel able to act on.
• Leaders often over-communicate information but under-communicate the meaning behind that communication.

Connect with Jackie on LinkedIn here

Or visit her website at www.jackiehandy.com

You might want to revisit Episode 8 - Why Listening Feels So Difficult And How To Do It Better

Chapters

• 00:00 The Importance of Good Leadership Communication
• 06:41 Factors Affecting Communication

Today's episode introduces Karen Mills, a Business Psychologist, entrepreneur and academic based in the West Midlands, UK. Karen brings a powerful combination of psychological expertise and real-world leadership experience, particularly in the social care sector.

She’s Director of Business and Strategy at the Psychology Business Incubator, where she helps psychologists around the world turn their expertise into impactful and sustainable businesses, while championing collaboration across the profession.

Alongside this, Karen leads KPF Services, a consultancy focused on quality improvement and leadership development in adult social care, and she also works directly within services supporting individuals with complex physical and mental health needs.

Karen is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Wolverhampton, researching dual diagnosis in substance use and mental health — work aimed at improving support systems for people who are often overlooked.

Our conversation covers the challenges of workplace wellbeing, the messy middle of leadership, the passion and purpose in adult social care, leadership challenges and stagnation, addressing addiction and stigma, creating value through acknowledgment, and reflection and growth. Key takeaways include the importance of workplace wellbeing and the challenges faced by leaders in managing the messy middle of leadership.

Connect with Karen on LinkedIn here

Takeaways

• Workplace Wellbeing
• Leadership Challenges

Chapters

• 00:00 The Challenge of Workplace Wellbeing
• 09:05 Leadership Challenges and Stagnation
• 20:07 Creating Value through Acknowledgment

The episode discusses the Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report 2026, highlighting the decline in global workforce engagement and the impact on managers. It discusses the importance of managerial engagement and its impact on team engagement, as well as the concept of the four zones of work. The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to continue to focus on what matters in their organisations.

Download the full report here

Take the FREE FlowFinder quiz here

Takeaways

• Global workforce engagement declined in 2025
• Managers experience higher levels of stress, anger, sadness, and loneliness
• Engagement matters for both individuals and organisations

Chapters

• 00:00 Call to Action