Second Curvers

I am excited to welcome my fabulous guest, Alice Ko, a businesswoman, an entrepreneur, and Strengths for Teams coach. She founded a remote digital marketing agency, Pivot six, and for the last 15 years, she was building businesses and working with teams around the globe.

To start, Alice shared with us her daily routines and healthy habits, as well as the story of her early life as a child of Chinese immigrants in Canada and the beginnings of her career. She early recognized her ability to assess the moment and look into the future. Working with different teams, she realized that at the end of the day, whatever you do, it all comes down to the people you are working with. This encouraged her to become a coach for teams.

We talked about how focus moved from projects to people in the last decade and how to fill the gap between different generations. We agreed that the secret is in micro-shifts.

Alice taught us about CliftonStrengths methodology. Many studies and research have shown that a set of strengths makes an individual unique, so everyone should focus on their strengths instead of weaknesses.

Using the example of an overachiever, Alice showed us how the methodology works and what people with achiever strength can do to avoid burn-out, which is a natural result of overusing this strength.

We talked about the range of skills and how some of the best leaders choose their coworkers to make success even more certain. We also reflected on the past year and what changes Alice noticed happen in teams.

Alice shared how she decided to start working remotely from Colombia four months a year. She also talked about learning and choosing the right content. Right now, she is learning about philosophy, blockchain, and cryptocurrency.

Key Takeaways:

Introduction (00:41)

How does your day start? (02:24)

About Alice's early life (03:13)

When did you decide to become a coach? (07:20)

What shifts did you notice while coaching teams? (11:20)

Generational differences in teams (13:20)

About CliftonStrengths methodology (16:00)

About overachiever (22:04)

About strengths partnerships (24:44)

Specialization vs. a range of skills (28:41)

Observation on teams in 2020. (34:25)

About Colombia and working remotely (38:57)

Ongoing learning and passion in your life (44:30)

What is the best advice you have been given? (48:46)

If you could have coffee with anyone, who would that be? (53:15)

Additional Resources:

Follow Alice on Linkedin

Learn more about Pivot six

Find the book "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" by David Epstein

Follow us on Instagram

Visit our website

Today I'm having a coffee with a beautiful, spectacular Nomshado Michelle Baca. Her great story starts in Zimbabwe and continues in London. She is a successful immigrant entrepreneur, founder of A Complexion company, where she developed botanical wellness products based on traditional African remedies. Her amazing products are available both in the UK and the US and recognized by Vogue, Forbs, and many others. 

Nomshado shared with us the story of her childhood in Africa, fond memories of her grandmother and parents, and coming to the UK at the age of nine. She talked about her challenges of adapting to new environments and circumstances while coping with the rejection of other children in school. She discovered that she can learn how to fit in and make people more comfortable with her being different. We talked about why immigrants make great entrepreneurs.

We talked about the Black Lives Matter movement and how everything is more difficult when you are a black female. The change we need is not a threat but an idea of a new, better, diverse society. Nomshado taught us that when two individuals are getting married in her culture, both families are getting together trying to understand each other. This is how she sees the way races have to work together to build a society everyone will be comfortable with. 

Nomshado took us through her first steps as an entrepreneur. She started her company as a beauty company for the needs of black women because not all solutions made for everyone are the best for a specific race. 

After having health issues caused by her diet, she realized she has to take a lot of supplements to get back to normal. This was when her grandfather told her about the traditional multivitamin their ancestors used to get the necessary nutrition and energy.

We talked about A Complexion co. and what the plans are for the future. They are working on lots of new products which will soon be launched on the market. They are also educating people on how important it is to understand that their biology impacts how they process certain vitamins and minerals.

Right now, in collaboration with herbalists and scientists, they are designing a unique revolutionary supplement for people of colour that promises to be a gamechanger. 

• Introduction (00:58)
• Early days in Africa (03:02)
• First days in the UK (07:28)
• How do we adapt? (9:58)
• Why fit in when you can stand out (16:20)
• Nomshado's point of view on ethnic diversity today (24:23)
• How did you start your business? Do you feel today that you have grown into yourself? (30:27)
• Your business today and plans for the next year (42:55)
• What is the best piece of advice someone has given to you? (48:45)
• If you could have coffee with anyone, who would that be? (49:29)

Follow Nomshado on Linkedin

Learn more about A Complexion co.

Follow us on Instagram Listen to our Meet the Entrepreneurs serial

I am excited to welcome my friend Renna Brown-Taher, founder and creative director of Renna Jewels. She is a master of arts and gemologist based in NYC who decided to take an entrepreneurial leap and start her own business. Now she is taking over the world with her jewellery, featuring pages of many popular fashion magazines.

She took us back to when she was nine and when the Renna Jewels collection started. She fell in love with one special kind of shell, Coffee Bean Shell, she used to gather at Laguna Bech, California, and treasure with her mother. When she graduated from Barkley, her mother presented her with a bracelet made of those shells. Wearing this bracelet she got many compliments of how great and unique it was, and that motivated her to start designing jewellery with seashell motives.

She shared what makes a jewel special and the biggest challenges in the first days of Renna Jewels. She didn't know from the beginning that she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She just knew she wanted to be creative. So, figuring out business concerns was a step-by-step process for her. The moment when people from all over the world started buying the product was the most exciting one.

Renna shared with us that she doesn't hire anyone for any job until she has done it herself first. She also talks about ethics and sustainability as core values of her brand. Gold recycling, transparency about stone origins and mines, human rights are some of the key topics when it comes to jewellery.

We discussed the subject of laboratory-grown stones, which are in most cases harmful to the environment. Still, there are some carbon-neutral labs.

Renna considers herself as her target audience and always tries to make something she can express with. She reflects on last year and the changes it brought both to her customer and her business. At the same time, she has big plans for this summer.

Key Takeaways:

• Introduction (00:50)
• The genesis of Renna Jewels (03:36)
• How did you find what is unique about your jewellery? (06:27)
• Challenges of starting a business (08:09)
• What were you most excited about on this journey? (12:23)
• Ethics and sustainability in jewellery business (12:58)
• What is your opinion about stones grown in the laboratory? (18:53)
• Who do you design for? (20:05)
• Last year in your business (22:56)
• How did you use your time differently last year? (26:24)
• Looking ahead, what are you excited about? (28:50)
• The biggest influences on your life? (32:15)
• The most important learning from the corporate world? (35:24)
• If you could have coffee with anyone, who would that be? (36:12)

Additional Resources:

Follow Renna on Linkedin

Learn more about Renna Jewels

Follow us on Instagram

Visit our website

On the show today, we have spectacular Dr. David Jack, one of the new-generation medical doctors who have become pioneering health and wellness entrepreneurs. He pursued a clinical career in plastic surgery and aesthetic medicine worldwide before landing in London, where he runs his own clinic. In 2018, he launched Dr. David Skin Care based on the demand of clients. Along the way, he launched a number of other exciting businesses in the health and wellness space.

We talk about what happened with our skin last year. David has noticed a change in how people feel about it because they focus on skin health more. Since we spent so much time in front of Zoom, we are more aware of how our skin looks, and David explains how blue light coming from our screens affects our skin.

David shared with us consumer trends in the world of skincare and how coming back to normality reflects on his business. He generously gave us advice on choosing face UV protection and what quality indicators to look for in a product. He also talked about skin aging and health in general and how to reverse the damage that happens to our skin.

We have heard about David's road from being a successful plastic surgeon to becoming an entrepreneur. He talked about his experience of launching a product line and how he decided to take a leap and become an entrepreneur.

David shared his career challenges with us, such as being judged, doing marketing for health and wellness products, and formulating new products, which is a time-consuming process. On the other hand, he is super excited about growing his skincare brand, new products he is working on, launching in the US, and, of course, about his book "Vain Glorious: A shameless guide for men who want to look their best."

Key Takeaways:

Introducing (00:50)

What happened to our skin during the Covid-19 pandemic period? (02:42)

Longterm consequences of increased screen time (04:29)

Do blue light filters really work? (07:13)

Consumer trends (08:08)

Myths in skincare world: UV protection (11:22)

Anti-aging (16:05)

The genesis of Dr. David Jack product line (18:40)

What made you take the entrepreneurial leap? (25:00)

What was the biggest challenge for you? (28:49)

What are you passionate and excited about today? (32:17)

What would you've been doing if you weren't doing this? (35:01)

Who or what has been the biggest inspiration in your life? (35:56)

Additional Resources:

Follow Dr. Davids work on various channels

Learn more about Dr. David Jack Skin Care

Find the book "Vain Glorious"

Follow us on Instagram

Visit our website

I am beyond excited to welcome Sahar Hashemi, my first entrepreneur guest who successfully built a coffee company. She started as a lawyer, but soon she and her brother founded the Coffee Republic, the first UK chain of coffee bars. After scaling and successfully selling it some years ago, she identified the new market segment - sugar-free sweets and founded Skinny Candy.

She is a claimed author of two books - a bestseller "Anyone can do it" translated into multiple languages, and her latest "Startup forever."

She is also a renowned speaker on international platforms, a multi-award winner including an OBE for services to the UK economy and to charity, and on the board of the Scale-up Institute.

Sahar shared a story about why and how she turned her love for coffee ritual into a successful coffee bar business. She remembers her first market research and a moment she found the gap that needs to be filled, but also how she learned that people hate new ideas until you make them tangible.

We reflect on the differences between building a startup and running a company as two completely different roles and how selling a fully grown business feels like.

Sahar shared her thoughts about the process of writing a book about her entrepreneurial journey and then entering another one with Skinny Candy.

She believes women make amazing entrepreneurs because of their natural qualities: we are the perfect consumer, we are emotional about what we do, chatty, multitasking. All those qualities are actually qualities that make a great entrepreneur. This inspired her campaign "Buy Women Built" to support female entrepreneurs.

Sahar advises people with business ideas never to ask others for validation but try to make it happen. As you make it happen, you will figure out whether or not it's a great idea.

Her advice to those women who fear starting their own business is just to go for it because women are obviously the answer, especially in this pandemic recovery time. They should have confidence and use their feminine power because the economy needs more women.

Key Takeaways:

• Introducing (00:30)
• About the idea of starting a coffee business (03:32)
• How did a lawyer decide to become an entrepreneur? (10:32)
• Are there things you would do differently now? (18:02)
• About book writing process (23:25)
• Going back for more: starting the Skinny Candy (25:49)
• The new venture is coming (29:13)
• Sahar tips on exposing an idea (33:33)
• What is shifting for women in business now after Covid? (37:44)
• What is the best piece of advice you've ever been given? (41:38)
• If you could have coffee with anyone, who would that be? (43:28)

Additional Resources:

Follow Sahar on Linkedin

Learn more about the Coffee Republic

Find Sahar's books

Follow us on Instagram

Visit our website

I am very happy to introduce you to my guest today. It is spectacular Tamara Gillan. She is a serial entrepreneur, a warrior for female empowerment and equality, founder of two award-winning agencies (including Cherry London), and founder of The WealthiHer platform.

She is also a major change agent, award winner, a speaker - I would say an action girl.

Tamara shared with us the genesis of The WealthiHer network. She accepted the challenge of women's economic empowerment, and the network was launched in a record time of just six months. They did massive research to find a deep understanding of gender economic differences, but also values, motivations, and needs behind women's financial decisions.

We talked about female entrepreneurship, leadership, and managing female-dominant teams. We discuss how working from home affected our professional habits and what we can learn from the working environment during Covid.

Key Takeaways:

Introducing Tamara (1:05)

About The WealthiHer network (3:20)

What happened after starting a movement like this? (8:11)

What have you learned from this experience? (13:02)

Challenge of remote-working women (18:19)

What are exciting focal points for your team right now? (21:25)

Tamara's life in partnerships (25:20)

How do you make a game plan? (27:12)

Beck to the time Tamara launched her first business (28:53)

What are the big things going on in your life today? (33:59)

How do you manage different aspects of your life? (36:09)

The piece of advice in the new world order (42:16)

If you could have a coffee with anyone, who would that be? (45:20)

Additional Resources:

Follow Tamara on Linkedin

Learn more about Cherry London and The WealthiHer network

Follow us on Instagram

Visit our website

I am delighted to welcome amazing Mike Bandar, a serial entrepreneur, a founding partner of Turn Partners, the start-up studio focused on the acquisition, turnaround, or creation of digital businesses.

Mike is telling a story of his entrepreneurial journey, how he started from a young age(13) and developed and scaled multiple businesses. He is sharing what he learned during the way and how it helped him be more resilient. Mike is embracing the concept of staying in the learning zone and constantly improving.

He has received various awards and accolades including being awarded a British Empire Medal from the Queen of the United Kingdom for his coaching and training work within entrepreneurship and a Doctorate of Science (DSc) for his contribution to enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Through Turn Partners, Mike co-founded Hopper HQ the Instagram planning and scheduling tool, working with thousands of influencers, brands, and agencies around the world. He is also co-founder of the fast scaling platform Waybook, a tool for business owners and senior leaders to easily document their systems, processes, and know-how which become highly effective onboarding, training, and reference material for teams.

Key Takeaways:

• Introducing Mike Bandar (00:33)
• Where does your energy come from? (04:44)
• Are you born to be an entrepreneur? (07:00)
• Ground zero - The early wins are the best (10:13)
• Mike's view on being an entrepreneur - Is that something anyone can do it? (11:45)
• Exploring the model of co-founders in Mike's businesses (15:26)
• Highs and lows in Toy Boy business - what were the outtakes? (18:40)
• The digital world - which direction consumers should take? (23:01)
• How are you safeguarding the privacy of your customers? (26:40)
• Importance of setting personal challenges (29:36)
• Finding your learning zone (33:50)
• Mike's words to young people coming out of university or school in this peculiar time (36:04)
• What has been the best piece of advice you have ever been given? (39:16)
• If you could have coffee with anyone, who would that be? (40:33)

Additional Resources:

Follow Mike on Linkedin and visit his website

Learn more about Turn Partners

Follow us on Instagram

Visit our website

I am so beyond happy to welcome the legend - Sian Sutherland, a serial entrepreneur across many disciplines and sectors from advertising to Michelin-star restaurant, film production, and skincare startup. On top of all, her attention is now focused on the titanic problem of plastic. So she and her incredible co-founder launched the Plastic Planet.

Sian shared with us the raw story of her beginnings. She was the first entrepreneur in her family and sort of a black sheep. Unlike her siblings, who had an academic future planned, she made her rocky road through life, starting with the first job at the age of seventeen. On the other side, she had an incredibly supportive family and total encouragement, which helped her become who she is today.

We talk about the importance of failures and how they made us more empathetic, grounded, connected persons. So, Sian re-branded the term "failure" into "growth." We need to applaud people for trying, and if they fail, we have to applaud them for having grown into that failure.

The first business Sian launched was a restaurant. She wanted to leave her job in advertising to start a restaurant business she had zero experience with, so she simultaneously did 3 jobs for a year. After that, she finally opened her restaurant.

This was a fantastic five-years-experience. Sian describes it as a rollercoaster. She also thinks that women are biologically adept at re-invention, so she got back to her marketing roots and started a branding and marketing agency.

We talk about the position of naivety and how empowering is the benefit of not knowing. This is something that has played a huge role in Sian's decision to build her next business - a pregnancy skincare brand Mama Mio. If you have a will, you will find a way. If you can run the restaurant, you can run the country.

Finally, she left Mio too, and she talks about her feelings back then. That business was a part of her identity she loved. Still, she realized she had to jump off. At the time, she was asked to consult the board of Plastic Ocean Foundation. She advised them on releasing the documentary film "A Plastic Ocean" and realized this was her next thing.

Sian shared with us the story of the very beginning of the idea behind the Plastic Planet. They wanted to give people a choice to buy something different, become free of guilt, and start prototyping the future.

She is aware that plastic pollution is not slowing down. Plastic Planet is initiating dialogue between important stakeholders and at the same time building a global resources library.

Sian's message for people who are starting their business is: "Don't find a trend, find a need, or go even further - find a movement and build a community." She also has a question you need to find the answer to if you want to build a successful business: "How is it converted to sales?"

"Life is too short to blend in," "Embrace your naivety as your superpower," and many other inspiring pieces of advice from Sian are waiting for you in this episode.

Listen to it until the end, and find out even more about how incredible Sian does her thing and still makes time for mini-breaks with friends and family.

Key Takeaways:

Introducing Sian Sutherland (00:33)

The beginning: Sian as an entrepreneur - when did that start? (04:20)

What was your first job ever? (06:26)

At what point did you come to the attitude: "I'm going to give it a go because I have nothing to lose?" (09:14)

Re-branding the failure (09:55)

What was the first business you launched? (11:03)

How did you feel when you were exiting businesses? Leaving Mio (20:04)

Emotions of transitions: starting the Plastic Planet (23:35)

What was the first step for the plastic-free concept? (28:35)

Prototyping the future (33:01)

What is your vision for the next 6-12 months? (35:29)

What are the top tips you would give to people who are starting their business? (39:16)

How would you encourage young people to just do their own thing? (43:36)

Importance of mini-breaks and holidays (49:17)

What would you've been doing if you weren't doing this? (51:09)

Additional Resources:

Follow Sian on Linkedin

Learn more about Mama Mio and Mio brands

A documentary film on misuse of plastic - A Plastic Ocean

Learn more about Plastic Planet

Follow us on Instagram

Visit our website

My guest is another incredible entrepreneur and my dear friend, Jackie Cuyvers. She is a tech entrepreneur and social intelligence expert. Jackie is also Co-Founder and CEO of leading tech company Convosphere, a social intelligence agency working with clients across a range of different industries.

I have to add that she is also a mother of three. She is doing the MSc at Oxford University in the Social Science of the Internet and supporting young female entrepreneurs along the way.

In the beginning, Jackie explains what social intelligence is and how it helps businesses understand consumer behavior. They analyze public conversations that have already happened, and they do it globally in different languages.

We talk about changes made by pandemic experience and how social intelligence replaced traditional research technics such as focus groups.

Jackie remembers how she evolved along with the tech industry and how her career combined art, science, and technology.

She shares her perspective on privacy and mass data collection and why she thinks that concern is misplaced.

Jackie encourages young people who are building businesses to try things out, prioritize and focus. She also recommends a book she recently read, "Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age."

Key Takeaways:

Introducing Jackie Cuyvers (1:07)

What is social intelligence? (2:10)

Which sectors can benefit more from this type of technology? (4:15)

How pandemic experience influenced social intelligence? (6:31)

Privacy and cross-related clients matter (8:25)

What was the beginning for you in this industry? (10:23)

Looking to the year behind us in terms of privacy (13:56)

What would the Jackie-today say to the Jackie-15-years-ago? (17:28)

What have you learned through your life experiences so far? (19:22)

How do you see women entrepreneurship today? (21:17)

What is your secret for having the fullness of a life on so many fronts? (24:04)

If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing? (25:28)

Book recommendation (26:24)

Additional Resources:

Recommended book - "Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age" by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger

Follow Jackie on Linkedin

Learn more about Convosphere

Follow us on Instagram

Visit our website

I'm excited to welcome Kike Oniwinde, founder and CEO of BYP network and the winner of many awards. You can find her on all lists that matter, such as Forbes 30 Under 30, 25 Leading Black British Business People To Follow, Computer Weekly's Most Influential Women in UK Tech, and 100 Bame leaders influencing the tech sector. Also, she is a former professional athlete.

We talk about the year 2020 and how Kike and her business ended up thriving instead of just surviving.

Kike is taking us back to the beginning of her career and tells us the story of how her dream of becoming an Olympic champion evolved into something else. She remembers the time when she first thought: "where are all those black professionals?"

Kike talks about how competitive sport made her what she is today, especially the "I could do better" mindset. She adapted to her later entrepreneurial career.

We talked about the 2020 challenges for both athletes and entrepreneurs, wrapping up with ways for leaders to find more time for themselves.

Kike shared with us what keeps her going and what she is excited about in the future.

Key Takeaways:

Reflecting on the previous year: fundraising, growth, team expansion, innovation, and initiatives. (2:31)

How is business conducted online? (6:36)

Beginnings of Kike's career (8:23)

How are you coping with challenges? (15:38)

How do you find time for yourself? (18:53)

Looking out in the future, what are you excited about? (21:39)

Superpowers (23:19)

Lesson from the last year (24:54)

Additional Resources:

Follow Kike on Linkedin

Learn more about BYP network Follow us on InstagramVisit our website