The Parentpreneur Accelerator Podcast

In our 50th episode, I'm going to share something a little different... I recently ran a live workshop at a Mastermind event run for business owners with revenues between £500k and £5m, run by my friends and mentors Dan Bradbury and Kevin Hall. In the workshop I shared an approach that has helped my software business catch, diagnose and solve 95% of all the issues in my business (including people issues). This is the power of an awesome meeting rhythm. In this episode you will learn what an awesome meeting rhythm is, how you can use it to address your issues, what meeting rhythm I use at my software business, and how you can adapt this for your business. I've provided a workbook that accompanies the episode to help you put this into practice. You can find this at parentpreneur.com/podcast-050

In this episode I’m interviewing John Lamerton, a father of two, bestselling author, entrepreneur and mentor to small businesses. John describes himself as just an average bloke who has gone from being an unhealthy civil servant to living the dream. He says he has transitioned from life as a clock watcher in a stressful work environment, to leaving his career and running his own business with hustle and grind, to his breakthrough moment soon after the birth of his first child.   He now lives a very different life, working 20-25 hours a week on his business and getting plenty of time to raise his kids. John’s story started in the early 2000s, when he saw others making millions from business ideas and taking them on the internet in the height of the Dot.Com years. John has since run more than 60 small businesses making millions of pounds and made thousands of mistakes along the way. He now coaches small businesses to think bigger, work less and design their business around the lifestyle they want, through his Amazon number 1 best-selling book, his podcast and coaching programs. Show notes: http://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-049-john-lamerton-coaching-to-think-bigger

In this week’s episode of the Parentpreneur Accelerator Podcast I am pleased to introduce Liz Cameron OBE, Chief Executive & Director at the Scottish Chambers of Commerce. Liz is an amazing business leader with expertise encompassing all aspects of entrepreneurship. Hailing from bonny Scotland, Liz’s career spans three decades during which she has founded and run a series of businesses. Liz's love for business in Scotland comes from the heart, she takes a personal interest in promoting Scotland internationally, from Europe to China to India. Liz is included in the Scottish Business Insider’s Top 10 Women of Influence in Scotland, she was shortlisted as Female Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2013 Scottish Business Awards and was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2014 for her outstanding services to business and commerce. Throughout her career, Liz has served in a number of organisations in Scotland and the USA, where she is able to add value from her business expertise and knowledge of policy formation. These include Director for WEVOLUTION, a Scottish charity promoting entrepreneurship as a route to better life chances, being on the Brain Trust of TEDx Glasgow and ex-Vice Chair of the Scottish National Lottery Fund. Liz is passionate about advocating the importance of Mentoring, especially for women and under-represented groups. She's made it her mission to encourage more women to have or become mentors and to help support and create more female business owners. Liz has also championed the need to bring the world of business and education together and has promoted the importance of business employing and nurturing young people and developing future talent. In this interview, we explore Liz's incredible career and being recognised as an authority on business, strategic leadership, creativity and entrepreneurialism. We also discuss Liz being awarded an OBE, her involvement with The Women’s Business Mentoring Programme, and her top advice for women who want to succeed in business.

In this episode I talk to Jeannette Washington, founder of Bearly Articulating, empowering parents to bear their entrepreneurial voices, based in Detroit, Michigan, USA. After relocating to Detroit, Michigan, Jeanette started a collective co-working space where parents can work at a desk, and their kids are cared for by guides, with activities like coding workshops. In this interview, we explore how her business has evolved to suit the needs of her audience, and what life is like for entrepreneur parents in her area and the USA as a whole. We discuss how building her business led to divorce with her husband, and whether her divorce could have been avoided. Jeannette also shared some tips on how to beat imposter syndrome and create a healthy business-life balance. Show notes: http://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-047-jeannette-washington-barely-articulating

In today's episode we are meeting Julie Creffield, mother (of a 5 year-old daughter) and founder of The Fat Girls' Guide to Running. The world's only resource specifically designed for plus size runners. Julie ran her first marathon back in 2005 weighing 20 stone and unable to run to the top of her road. Since then, she's ran 4 marathons and a 40 mile ultra marathon! Julie has inspired and coached thousands of women across the planet to survive and thrive in the world of long distance running. She's appeared on TV, been featured in national media publications, and written several books including "The Fat Girls' Guide to Marathon Running". Her award winning blog The Fat Girls Guide to Running has challenged social norms and transformed the landscape of plus size running. Julie is now working as a life coach on more broader health and happiness topics with women. In this interview, we’ll explore where the idea for The Fat Girls Guide to Running came from, how she built her audience, how she's monetised her mission, and how she's raised so much media attention. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-046-julie-creffield-the-fat-girls-guide-to-running/

Childcare is a massive issue for parentpreneurs. In this latest episode I interview London-based Rachel Carrell, founder of Koru Kids a childcare service that provides nanny shares and after school childcare. Before entrepreneurship, Rachel worked at McKinsey – one of the world’s most esteemed management consultancies. She became a mother, and soon noticed the many childcare challenges experienced by her and her friends. This widely spread problem inspired her to start Koru Kids in 2016. In our chat, you’ll hear us discussing how Rachel transitioned from corporate career to startup trailblazer and how she raised £600,000 of funding some of which was given by Gumtree’s founder. We will also discuss why her business is being compared to Airbnb, after being touted as ‘Airbnb for Nannies’ by The Evening Standard. In line with our steadfast Parentpreneur values, we will ask Rachel her tips and solutions to consider in addressing the tribulations of modern-day childcare, and how she balances work with family life! Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-045-rachel-carrell-airbnb-for-nannies

In this episode I am proud to present Liane Katz, the CEO and founder of mama codes. Liane is on a mega mission to get children into coding from a young age. She does this by making coding simple, fun and appealing to youngsters. Liane’s background in digital products and becoming a mother inspired her innovative approach to teaching coding. She has taken a concept which may have once seemed a too complex for children, and made it digestible for kids as young as three. Educating children, even those before preschool age, about coding is guaranteed to demystify the skill and produce confident young learners. In our chat we talk about how Liane’s business has flourished in local areas, as well as her being listed in the #BIMA100 2017 and recognised as a leading influencer of the UK’s digital industry. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-044-liane-katz-teaching-kids-to-code/

Raising teenagers can be a HUGE test for parents! Equally surviving being a teenager can be difficult for kids. But fear not, in the latest episode of the podcast I interview family coach and parentpreneur Cai Graham. After a varied career, Cai started her business The Mind Model. She focused on coaching Mums wanting to get back into the workplace and enjoy a healthy work-life balance. It soon struck Cai that a large area for concern within her target audience, was parenting through the teenage years. Drawing on her own experiences raising her family, plenty of study, research and self-development, Cai developed an app, launched a book and created coaching programmes all aimed at helping families navigate these changeable times. Cai's content also pays special attention to methods families can use to live better whilst faced with the negative impacts of modern day pressures and technology. It's a slightly different topic to our normal interviews, though I believe you'll find it really useful. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-043-cai-graham-tools-to-navigate-adolescence

From jewellery and thrifting to tea shops, and now a monthly subscription of fun! My guest this week has enjoyed a colourful career in the entrepreneurial world. Let me introduce you to Leona Baker, founder of the Lucky Dip Club who deliver a monthly confetti cannon of colour and entertainment to letterboxes around the world. Leona lives her passion through her business by creating wicked products that bring out the playful in adults and children alike. Leona has 1,000s of women subscribing as part of her Girl Planet community, and by sharing her incredible imagination has built a following of over 60,000 Instagram followers. Listen up to learn more on how she runs a creative startup, grows and engages her following, gets to spend quality time with her daughter Lola, and how she made some extreme changes in her business when things got too tough. Show notes: http://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-042-leona-baker-a-winning-subscription-startup

In this episode, I interviewed Lucy Bartlett, founder of Bundlebeds, which provides a brand new type of roll-out camping bed, that aims to provide the comfort of your own bed, but can be rolled out in seconds. She founded Bundlebeds with her co-founder, James Clark, in 2016 - which they started via a kickstarter campaign that aimed to raise £25,000. The campaign was hugely successful, raising over £65,000. In this interview we'll explore Lucy's experiences of designing her product, getting her first sales via the kickstarter, and how she has balanced building her startup alongside her family. Show notes: https://www.parentpreneur.com/podcast-040-lucy-bartlett-how-to-run-a-hugely-successful-kickstarter-campaign