What does it really take to build a business from scratch with no safety net?

In this episode, host Thomas Spencer sits down with Cathi Harrison, founder of the Verve. From growing up on a council estate to building a multi-service support platform for financial advice firms, Cathi shares a powerful story of grit, resilience, and swimming against the tide.

This is an honest conversation about entrepreneurship, culture, risk, and what it really means to build something different in financial services.

In this episode, Cathi shares:

• Growing up in a low-income household and how instability shaped her resilience and drive
  

• Discovering financial services by chance and falling into a career she never planned
  

• Taking the leap into self-employment with no safety net and surviving the early months
  

• How one referral kickstarted sustainable growth and ended constant cold calling
  

• Scaling from a solo paraplanner to building Verve and expanding into compliance and training
  

• Creating a one-stop support platform now used by hundreds of advice firms
  

• Learning to separate personal identity from the business and make difficult leadership decisions
  

• Why culture, values, and intentional leadership matter more as a business grows
  

• Launching the Verve Foundation to support new entrants and protect the future of financial advice

Hit play to hear an inspiring story about resilience, leadership, and building a business that refuses to follow the standard path.