A two year old girl leaves nursery with a man who wasn’t authorised to collect her. By the time her mother is told, her daughter has already been returned.

What happened in between remains unknown.

In this episode of On a Mission, Jody Riley tells the full story of the day her daughter Rosie was taken from nursery by a man Jody did not know, the account she says she was initially given about what happened, and the serious questions that were raised when she finally obtained the CCTV footage for herself.

What followed has been an extraordinary fight for answers. Jody describes conflicting accounts, safeguarding failures, an inadequate response from the organisations she turned to for help and what she believes has been a cover up, including attempts to shut her down as she continued to ask questions.

For the first time, Jody takes us through the entire sequence of events without restrictions as we also discuss the extraordinary personal cost of trying to find those answers. Jody speaks candidly about the deterioration of her mental health, the impact on her businesses and family, and the abuse she has received online as she fights to uncover the truth about her own child.

Jody wants answers, accountability and change, and she has no intention of being silenced.

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Chapters:

00:00 Jody Riley joins Ellie McKay on On a Mission

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow Jody Riley:

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jodyriley_/?hl=en-gb

Daniel O’Reilly became one of Britain’s first huge social media stars as Dapper Laughs, building an audience of millions with a character that was loud, laddish and deliberately pushed boundaries, until it all came crashing down.

Branded misogynistic, accused of promoting rape culture and effectively cancelled, Dan went from having his own ITV show and sold out tour to becoming one of the most hated men in Britain. More than a decade later, a lot has changed.

Dan is sober, selling out theatres again and is the first to admit he got plenty wrong. He tells us what he regrets, what he still stands by and what it takes to rebuild when the mainstream media and an entire industry have all but exiled you.

We talk about the manosphere, the men dominating that space today and what happens when provocative content attracts millions of eyeballs, controversy brings even more attention and the character you’ve created starts influencing the young men watching you.

Away from the headlines, Dan is brutally open about cocaine, alcohol, losing his dad, almost losing his family and reaching the point where he didn’t want to be here anymore. He talks candidly about how bad things became, getting sober and the difficult reality of rebuilding his life from the ground up.

In this episode, I’m also joined by my co host Eth Power, who has his own experience of addiction and recovery and brings another perspective to a conversation that covers addiction, masculinity, shame, hitting rock bottom and what it really takes to turn your life around.

Dan’s story is ultimately proof that no matter how publicly you fall, how badly things have gone wrong or how many people have written you off, you can take responsibility, change direction and build a life you’re proud of.

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Key moments include:

✔ The rise and spectacular fall of Dapper Laughs

✔ Being branded misogynistic and accused of promoting rape culture

✔ What Dan regrets and what he still stands by

✔ The manosphere and the men dominating it today

✔ Why outrage and attention can become addictive

✔ Rebuilding when the mainstream media and an entire industry have all but exiled you

✔ Cocaine, alcohol and functioning addiction

✔ Losing his dad and reaching the point where he didn’t want to live

✔ Why telling men to “just talk” isn’t enough

✔ Getting sober and facing the man in the mirror

✔ Fatherhood, masculinity and what success looks like now

✔ Why taking accountability can change your life

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow Dan O’Reilly:

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dappersinstagram?igsi=MmNhN3FoOTZhbnM3

🔗Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1ceuuatYqt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Follow Eth Power:

🔗 Forever Young Retreat: https://www.weareforeveryoung.co.uk

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_ethpower_?igsh=bDlqMDFsbDF5bmh4

Tim Storey has spent decades working with some of the most recognisable and successful people on the planet.

Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West, Robert Downey Jr., Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder are just some of the names connected to a man who has become known around the world as The Comeback Coach.

He’s a world renowned speaker, bestselling author, life strategist and spiritual leader who has spoken in more than 90 countries, impacting millions of people with his message.

In this episode of On a Mission, we go beyond the celebrity names to understand the man they turn to when life doesn’t go according to plan.

Tim shares his philosophy on turning setbacks into comebacks, why even the most successful people in the world struggle with confidence and identity, and what it really means to keep showing up when you’re not at your best.

We talk about happiness, authenticity and learning to live in the present, as well as the relationship between financial success and spiritual health and why Tim believes the ability to develop a “Miracle Mentality” can be trained.

From studying crisis counselling and becoming a spiritual leader at a young age to advising people at the very top of entertainment and business, Tim has spent his life understanding human behaviour and what allows some people to rise again when life knocks them down.

This is a conversation about resilience, identity, success and the mindset required to navigate the inevitable setbacks that come with being human.

Tim Storey is the man some of the world’s most successful people turn to when life goes wrong. In this episode, we find out why.

Chapters:

00:54 How Tim became a world renowned communicator

03:10 From aspiring to be Mother Teresa to becoming a spiritual leader

07:20 The Comeback Coach: turning your biggest setbacks into comebacks

11:06 Why success won’t necessarily make you happy

14:24 How to discover who you really are

19:58 Playing injured: how to keep showing up when life gets hard

25:22 Why even the most successful people struggle with confidence

27:09 Can you be financially wealthy and spiritually fulfilled?

28:47 The Miracle Mentality and the mindset of the top 1%

30:29 Why your success can only grow as much as you do

33:13 Tim Storey’s mission to impact the world

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow Tim Storey:

🔗 Website: https://www.timstorey.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realtimstorey?igsh=MWFzN21ia2c5ZmVmdA==

Most people don’t need more information. They need the right answer, from the right person, at the exact moment they need it.

In this special episode, TalentDec co founders Dean Kelly and Ellie McKay reveal the thinking behind a new expert marketplace designed to make valuable knowledge and real world experience far more accessible.

Dean sold his first company at 30 for an eight figure sum before becoming the youngest CEO on the stock market. He has since built and sold multiple businesses, chaired companies in the UK and overseas, invested in founders and developed an international network spanning the UK and Dubai.

Ellie is the host of the On a Mission podcast, which has ranked in the top 0.5 percent of podcasts globally and regularly appeared in the UK Top 10. After more than 300 interviews with leading entrepreneurs, thought leaders and experts, she has seen how one relationship, conversation or piece of advice can completely alter someone’s direction.

TalentDec stands for Talent Decentralised. It gives people direct access to vetted experts across business, finance, health, legal, HR, sport, performance and many other areas. Instead of committing thousands of pounds to a mentor or programme, users can ask a specific question, compare different perspectives and pay for the knowledge they need.

The idea is simple. You don’t always need months of coaching or another generic course. Sometimes you need ten minutes with somebody who has already faced the problem sitting in front of you.

Dean shares how access to experienced business leaders helped him navigate recessions, complex financial decisions and challenges that could have cost his companies millions. He also explains why the most famous person isn’t necessarily the person with the best answer for you.

Ellie opens up about losing everything, declaring bankruptcy and rebuilding her life as a single mother of three. The relationships she had built through the podcast became an essential part of finding her feet again, creating new opportunities and moving forward when her circumstances changed beyond recognition.

Together, they explore the true value of experience, why successful people still need guidance and how TalentDec allows experts to earn from knowledge that has often taken decades to acquire. They also discuss the pressure to pretend we have all the answers, the importance of asking for help and why several informed perspectives can lead to far better decisions.

Whether you’re building a company, facing a difficult decision, trying to improve your health or looking for clarity in another area of your life, TalentDec helps you reach people whose experience could save you time, money and years of avoidable mistakes.

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Key moments include:

✔ The eight figure entrepreneur building a completely new way to access expertise

✔ Why the right person can be almost impossible to reach

✔ What is 30 years of experience actually worth?

✔ The one answer that could change the trajectory of your life

✔ The board level advice most small businesses can’t afford

✔ The uncomfortable truth about self proclaimed experts on LinkedIn

✔ Why the biggest name in the room might give you the worst advice

✔ The conversation with a billionaire that changed Dean’s entire perspective

✔ Dean sat in Canary Wharf pretending he understood what the bankers were saying

✔ How admitting he didn’t know potentially saved Dean £2 million

✔ The relationships that carried Ellie through losing everything

✔ Why the questions Dean gets asked most have nothing to do with business

✔ The part of success most entrepreneurs completely overlook

✔ How the right people can help you build the life you actually want

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow Dean Kelly:

🔗 Website: https://kellstar.co.uk

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deankelly_kellstar_mentor?igsh=MTIydWpqM2locHYxaA==

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d3anukelly?igsh=MWw5ZzBwY2g0YXp6aw==

🔗TalentDec: www.talentdec.com

Millions of people know Adam (ADMT) for his incredible voice, but what I love most about him isn’t his music. It’s the person behind it.

It was an absolute pleasure to sit down with one of my good friends and an all round brilliant human being, Adam Taylor.

Behind the sold out shows, record deals and millions of views is someone who, for years, struggled to believe he was good enough. Adam speaks with incredible honesty about growing up feeling like he never quite fitted in, the impact bullying had on his confidence and working in a glass factory before music took off.

We also talk about the reality of depression and the darkest moments of Adam’s life. He shares how therapy helped him understand himself in a way he never thought possible and ultimately became one of the most important turning points in his life.

Adam is still the same grounded lad from Doncaster who cares deeply about people, values genuine connection over fame and has used some of the darkest moments in his life to create music that has helped millions of others feel less alone. We talk about everything from the dark side of social media and mental health to purpose, biohacking and what success really means when you strip away the numbers.

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In this episode:

✔ Why Adam changed his name to AT and the story behind it.

✔ Growing up feeling like an outsider and the lasting impact of bullying.

✔ The teacher who saw something in him when nobody else did.

✔ Working in a glass factory while chasing his dream of becoming a musician.

✔ Thinking he’d made it in America before everything suddenly fell apart.

✔ Why songwriting became his therapy and how his most personal songs have connected with millions.

✔ His experience with depression, suicidal thoughts and the role therapy played in changing his life.

✔ His perspective on social media, authenticity and staying true to yourself in a world that’s constantly asking you to be someone else.

If you’ve ever struggled to believe in yourself, questioned your own worth or wondered whether you really belong, I think you’ll get a lot from this conversation.

⸻

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow ADMT:

🔗 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/33M0vL5kF0AMJqXYxeX7kF

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamadmt/?hl=en

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IAMADMT/?locale=en_GB

We’ve never had more access to information, yet it’s never been harder to know who or what to trust.

Social media has created a generation of experts who look successful. AI can give two completely different answers to the same question. Millionaires are selling courses on building wealth, despite making more money from the courses than the thing they’re supposedly teaching.

So how do you separate genuine expertise from clever marketing? How do you build real wealth instead of just looking wealthy? And in a world that’s changing faster than ever, what skills are actually going to matter over the next decade?

In this episode, I’m joined by entrepreneur, investor and chairman Dean Kelly. Dean became a multimillionaire before the age of 30, has built, scaled and exited multiple businesses, advises CEOs around the world and has spent decades sitting in rooms where the biggest financial decisions are made.

This isn’t another conversation full of motivational clichés or recycled business advice.

It’s an honest, often controversial discussion about money, success, AI, critical thinking, health, entrepreneurship and why so many people are following advice from people who’ve never actually done the thing they’re teaching.

We explore why making money is only half the battle and why keeping it requires a completely different mindset. Dean explains why successful entrepreneurs lose fortunes, why wealth managers won’t care about your money as much as you do, why social media has blurred the line between perception and reality, and why genuine experience is becoming more valuable than ever.

We also dive deep into artificial intelligence. Is AI the greatest opportunity we’ve ever had, or are we outsourcing the very skill that makes us human? As more people rely on ChatGPT and other AI tools to think for them, Dean explains why critical thinking could become one of the greatest competitive advantages anyone can develop.

The conversation also moves beyond business. We discuss high performance, health, longevity, discipline, family, fulfilment and why success without your health, relationships or peace of mind is a price neither of us is willing to pay.

Finally, we tackle one of society’s biggest questions. Why has wealth become something we’re encouraged to resent instead of understand? Is Britain developing a culture that punishes ambition? And what really separates the people who continue building from those who spend their lives blaming everyone else?

Whether you’re building a business, rebuilding your life, navigating uncertainty or simply trying to think more clearly in an increasingly noisy world, this conversation will challenge your assumptions and leave you questioning far more than you expected.

⸻

In this episode:

✔ Why fake experts are thriving and how to spot genuine credibility.

✔ The uncomfortable truth about business gurus and online courses.

✔ Why making money and keeping money require completely different skills.

✔ The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make after achieving success.

✔ AI, critical thinking and the future of human expertise.

✔ How successful founders make decisions under pressure.

✔ Why health, fitness and longevity are competitive advantages.

✔ The habits Dean has followed for more than 30 years to stay at the top of his game.

✔ Britain’s attitude towards wealth, success and ambition.

✔ Why fulfilment matters far more than simply chasing money.

If this episode challenged your thinking, share it with someone who needs to hear it and subscribe to On a Mission wherever you get your podcasts. The biggest breakthroughs often start by asking better questions.

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow Dean Kelly:

🔗 Website: https://kellstar.co.uk

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deankelly_kellstar_mentor?igsh=MTIydWpqM2locHYxaA==

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d3anukelly?igsh=MWw5ZzBwY2g0YXp6aw==

🔗TalentDec: www.talentdec.com

How do you go from working on one of the biggest films ever made to delivering post just a few years later, and then going on to build a multi million pound business from scratch?

Joining Ellie McKay on the On a Mission podcast, Liam James Collins tells the full story.

At 19, he landed the role of Tom Hardy’s body double in The Dark Knight Rises. From the outside, it looked like Hollywood was calling. Then the auditions stopped, the work disappeared and everything he’d spent years building came crashing down.

Liam opens up about working on one of the biggest films ever made, what Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman and the rest of the cast were really like when the cameras weren’t rolling, the networking opportunities he wishes he’d handled differently, surviving the London terror attacks, losing his father to suicide, battling panic attacks, delivering post to make ends meet, and the mindset that helped him rebuild his life and create a multi million pound business.

This is a conversation about success, failure, grief, identity, self belief, taking action when life falls apart, and why sometimes the chapters people never see are the ones that shape everything that comes next.

For more conversations like this, make sure you’re subscribed to the On a Mission podcast so you’re notified as soon as the next episode goes live.

⸻

In this episode:

✔ From Batman to the Post Office

✔ Landing the Role in The Dark Knight Rises

✔ What Tom Hardy Was Really Like Off Camera

✔ The Networking Opportunity Liam Still Regrets

✔When the Hollywood Dream Fell Apart

✔ Delivering Post and Starting Again From Scratch

✔ Surviving the London Terror Attacks

✔ Losing His Father to Suicide

✔ Battling Panic Attacks and Rebuilding His Life

✔ Building a Multi Million Pound Business

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow Liam James Collins:

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liam.james.collins/?hl=en-gb

🔗 LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/liam-james-collins

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Liam.James.Collins.Coach/

🔗 Website: https://thecoachingmasters.com 

Twenty one years ago, serial entrepreneur and wellbeing expert Hannah Lanel made a split second decision that saved her life.

On the morning of the 7/7 London bombings, Hannah was sitting on the Tube when she looked up and made eye contact with another passenger. An overwhelming sense of dread washed over her. She got up, ran off the train and left the station, despite the fact it wasn’t even her stop.

Hours later, she discovered she’d been sitting in the carriage where the deadliest of the London bombings took place. The man she’d made eye contact with was the bomber.

If she’d stayed on that train, she would almost certainly have been among those who lost their lives that morning.

What almost nobody knew at the time was that Hannah was secretly battling a crack addiction while running a successful business. To everyone around her, she appeared to have it all. Behind closed doors, she hadn’t slept for days, was falling apart and desperately needed something to change. That day became the catalyst for rebuilding her life.

Ellie sits down with Hannah to explore everything that followed, from addiction, ADHD and survivor’s guilt to entrepreneurship, nutrition, mental health and why she believes we’ve got the conversation around addiction completely wrong. They also discuss the realities of building businesses, overcoming trauma, the failures of the modern wellness industry and why connection, not shame, is often the key to lasting recovery.

Whether you’re interested in the 7/7 London bombings, addiction recovery, ADHD in women, mental health, trauma, entrepreneurship or nutrition, this is a conversation that will stay with you long after it ends.

⸻

In this episode:

✔ Hannah’s miraculous escape from the 7/7 London bombings

✔ Crack addiction and recovery

✔ ADHD diagnosis later in life

✔ Survivor’s guilt and PTSD

✔ Entrepreneurship and resilience

✔ Nutrition and wellbeing

✔ The psychology of addiction

✔ The wellness industry

✔ Rebuilding after trauma

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow Hannah Lanel:

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahlanel/

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-lanel-a28970194/

🔗 The Fore Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefore_london/

In this episode of On a Mission, I sit down with female entrepreneur, author and founder Chloë Bisson to talk about the reality of building and scaling a seven figure business whilst raising a newborn.

This is an honest conversation about female entrepreneurship, motherhood, postnatal depression, burnout and the mental load that comes with trying to balance it all.

Chloë opens up about becoming a director at just 24, building a successful career in finance, and then being diagnosed with severe clinical depression at the very point she thought she had made it.

We talk about high functioning depression, how easy it is to hide when you are still performing at a high level, and why so many ambitious women can miss the warning signs until they hit breaking point.

Chloë also shares her experience of postnatal depression after the birth of her daughter, the impact it had on her identity, and what it looked like navigating new motherhood whilst leading a fast growing business.

This episode explores the realities of being a female founder, the pressure of business growth, the guilt that can come with motherhood, and the challenge of building success without losing yourself in the process.

We also get into people pleasing, trauma, boundaries, purpose and why creating a business around your values matters more than ever when life changes.

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Key moments include:

✔  Scaling a seven figure business as a new mother

✔ The reality of postnatal depression and maternal mental health

✔ High functioning depression and burnout in female entrepreneurs

✔ The pressure of balancing motherhood and business growth

✔ Identity shifts after becoming a parent

✔ How trauma can shape ambition and success

✔ Why boundaries are essential for female founders

✔ Building a business that supports your life and not the other way around

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow Chloë Bisson

🔗 Website: https://www.chloebisson.com/hello

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloebissonofficial/?hl=en

What happens when the life and soul of the party can no longer escape himself?

In this episode of On a Mission, Eth Power joins Ellie McKay for a raw and deeply honest conversation about addiction, shame, identity, self destruction and recovery.

For years, alcohol and drugs were at the centre of Eth’s life. What began as chasing confidence, connection and escapism eventually spiralled into chaos, leaving him battling addiction, suicidal thoughts and overwhelming shame.

Eth opens up about the reality of addiction, the choices he made whilst under the influence, the guilt that followed, and why he believes cocaine is ultimately a drug fuelled by shame.

This conversation goes far beyond sobriety.

We explore what happens when your entire identity is built around being the entertainer, the party animal and the person everyone expects you to be. We discuss the difficult process of rebuilding your life, learning to sit with uncomfortable emotions, forgiving yourself for the past and finding purpose beyond external validation.

Most importantly, we discuss how peace is often found on the other side of the very things we’ve spent years trying to avoid.

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Key moments include:

✔ Why Eth describes cocaine as “the drug of shame”.

✔ The reality of addiction and the guilt that follows.

✔ Living with suicidal thoughts and reaching breaking point.

✔ How therapy changed the course of his life.

✔ Learning to live without alcohol and drugs.

✔ The challenge of discovering who you are without the mask.

✔ Self forgiveness and letting go of the past.

✔ Why external validation never fills the void.

✔ Finding meaning, purpose and peace.

✔ Reconnecting with your authentic self.

⸻

Connect & Follow

Follow Ellie McKay:

🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb

🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 

Follow Eth Power:

🔗 Forever Young Retreat: https://www.weareforeveryoung.co.uk

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_ethpower_?igsh=bDlqMDFsbDF5bmh4