Cheryl Lessels walked away from an established teaching career to build a business and launch and original product, with no prior experience, no contacts and no plan. She just knew there was a problem she understood and she had to do something about it.

Her product is a subscription box, carefully curated with thoughtful treats and ideas to help mothers and daughters to bond. But it's much more than a product! It's a platform, too. Cheryl is committed to supporting women – she's using the box as a way to surface local female creatives and wellness entrepreneurs.

The greatest and most successful initiatives have this rare passion at their core, and I hope you enjoy hearing from this true business mind as much as I did.

Check out Cheryl's site and order a subscription box at Happythoughtssquad.com

*****

I'm Leila Johnston. I live in Scotland and I write about business and finance for a living. The music on this podcast is called 'Just a Waltz' and is by Alena Smirnova.

In this relaxed, entertaining chat I'm joined by my old friend, social media expert Sarah Dobbs. We discuss the current cost of AI on the digital creative industry, whether there's any reasonable way to make serious money as an independent creator at the moment, the impact of digital media in general, the future of magazines, and the real value of humans.

Head to sarahdobbs.com to see some of the fantastic projects Sarah has been involved with over the years.

I'm Leila Johnston. I live in Scotland and I write about business and finance for a living. The music on this podcast is called 'Just a Waltz' and is by Alena Smirnova.

Everything is a story. Being both highly desirable and highly abstract, money has always attracted nefarious manipulators with great storytelling skills – as theatre maker Liam Rees explains. The book I mention in the intro is "Narrative economics" by Robert Shiller.

This episode is syndicated from a recent episode of the Library of Mistakes podcast, another culture of finance-themed series I am lucky to be involved with. Check it out.

I'm Leila Johnston. I live in Scotland and I write about business and finance for a living. The music on this podcast is called 'Just a Waltz' and is by Alena Smirnova.

In this episode I chat to Chris Cooke, a marketing professional who exited his business with £30 million.

Amongst other things, we discuss his entrepreneurial spirit, his parents' attitude to wealth, how such a change affects you (and the people around you), and what it means to be a socialist when you're richer than your wildest dreams.

I'm Leila Johnston, I live in Scotland and write about business and finance for a living.

The music on this podcast is 'Just a Walz' by Alena Smirnova.

In this episode I talk to Klyzza Lidman, an investment analyst based in Edinburgh. Klyzza is on the Board of the charity Didasko, and is involved in several initiatives supporting women and school leavers on their financial journey.

I have also included a snippet of a talk from Adam Smith biographer Jesse Norman, who spoke at the Library of Mistakes on the same day we were recording our chat there.

I'm Leila Johnston, I live in Scotland where I work as a copywriter and journalist. The music used in this podcast is 'Just a Waltz' by Alena Smirnova.

Welcome to Series 2 of One Thing About Money, the podcast where guests from different walks of life explain the 'one thing' they believe everyone should know about money, finance or the economy.

In this episode I chat to Simon Evans, a comedian, writer and broadcaster who recently performed very entertaining shows about enlightenment thinkers Adam Smith and David Hume at the Edinburgh Festival. We discuss these two thinkers in the broad context of the changing world – capitalism, the changing targets of comedy, modern atheism and more.

I'm Leila Johnston, I live in Scotland and write about business and finance for a living.

The music on this podcast is 'Just a Walz' by Alena Smirnova.

Welcome to the final episode in the first series of One Thing About Money, the podcast where guests from different walks of life explain the ‘one thing’ they believe everyone should know about money, finance or the economy. 

How much do you know – and indeed want to know – about money? This week's guest is James Ramirez, a behavioural finance expert. Among other things, we touch on:

Jamie's site: https://www.grendel-consulting.com/

I'm Leila Johnston, I live in Scotland and write about technology and business for a living. The music on this podcast is called Just a Waltz and is by Alena Smirnova. 

Welcome to One Thing About Money. On this podcast, guests from different walks of life explain the ‘one thing’ they believe everyone should know about money, finance or the economy.

This week's guest is Roy Lines, a non-fungible technologist! Roy is a technology executive and advisor in web3, cloud technologies, and more. He is the founder and chief technology advisor of indiigo a web3 consultancy specialising in helping businesses unlock the potential of the decentralised web.

In this chat we discuss some of the benefits and drawbacks of crypto, and ponder the future of money.

https://www.indiigo.com/

Welcome to One Thing About Money. On this podcast, guests from different walks of life explain the ‘one thing’ they believe everyone should know about money, finance or the economy.

This week's guest is Doug MacBeath, a curator at the Museum on the Mound, a free public museum all about money that's based in the Bank of Scotland's HQ in central Edinburgh (near Waverley train station). As we look through the items in the collection, we discuss how money has changed from the days when the coin was worth the weight of metal used to make it, to the mixture of tokens and promissory notes we use today.

https://museumonthemound.com/

My name is Leila Johnston, I live in Scotland and write about technology and business for a living. The music on this podcast is called Just a Waltz and is by Alena Smirnova.

Welcome to One Thing About Money. On this podcast, guests from different walks of life explain the ‘one thing’ they believe everyone should know about money, finance or the economy.

This week's guest is Fraser Allen, an expert in communications and publishing, specialising in business and finance clients. Fraser is another volunteer for the wonderful Library of Mistakes in Edinburgh – a finance and business reference library – and we talk about the library and its lessons in this episode. Fraser is particularly struck by the recurring theme of the library's books... that while money is undoubtedly useful if you don't have enough of it, it often brings unhappiness, in excess.

libraryofmistakes.com

My name is Leila Johnston, I live in Scotland and write about technology and business for a living. The music on this podcast is called Just a Waltz and is by Alena Smirnova.