In this episode, Alan and I discuss the power of purpose, how to find it, and some great techniques to help you on your way Alan Riva is one of Australia’s leaders in the field of Purpose and Presence. He is a public speaker,  mentor, facilitator, entrepreneur, and father.  Alan works as a mentor and a facilitator in the corporate, not-for-profit, and education sectors, helping individuals and teams learn how to become more present and access the benefits that deep presence unlocks in performance, culture, and relationships.  Alan’s programs, books, and talks draw on his experience living in the Himalayas and his time spent in monasteries across China, Tibet, Mustang, and India. His approach fuses traditional mindfulness practices with the day-to-day experience of working in and running local and international businesses for the last 13 years. This knowledge and experience of both ‘systems’ help to make Alan’s work easily accessible for the western mind, while highly impactful.

Absolutely LOVED recording this episode, honest frank and discussion what most people avoid!  Emma Sayle, Founder, and CEO of the Wearekk brands; Killing Kittens, Safedate, Sistr, and The Sisterhood  In 2005 there was nowhere women could go to feel in control and explore their sexuality in a safe environment, so Emma created Killing Kittens.  KK has grown in to a fierce army of over 160,000 sexually liberated people around the world, through events hosted from London to New York, Venice to Sydney on top of a global online community platform. Global press regularly pronounces Emma a leader in female sexual liberation and empowerment.   When Emma started Killing Kittens 15 years ago, she wanted to create a brand that stood for women and want they wanted.   Greater awareness of female sexuality and sexual freedom was slowly becoming more socially and commercially acceptable, but there was still a long way to go in an industry that claimed to be for women but run almost exclusively run by men.  She knew that to empower women sexually, it had to be with a business that put them first.    Since setting up the first parties, Emma has fully expanded the business, which now operates both on and offline. This autumn Emma will be launching the hotly awaited KK social network and dating app (think Facebook meets Bumble) as well as virtual workshops offering sex education and advice for singles and couples. During lockdown, KK also became the world leader in virtual adult parties, creating world-wide press coverage for their virtual adult parties, held weekly across all major time zones from London to New York and Sydney.   Emma understands that a successful business can’t be built without a passion and a team who believes in it just as much, and that one must have fire in the belly to take on an industry that is almost universally run by men, like the adult and ‘sex-tech’ industries.  Unfortunately, there is still a huge amount of bias and misconceptions to address, but Emma has never once doubted her belief to lead the business and keep pushing the boundaries.  It is true, sadly, that sexual discrimination is still alive and kicking in many sectors, across all levels, and many women struggle to be treated with the respect they deserve. She has learned that the best way to deal with the negativity is to stick to the facts, stick to the evidence; track your achievements, demonstrate your successes and let the facts and figures do the talking.    In 2018 Emma led the business through a funding round.  The first ever public crowdfund for an adult sector brand of this nature and closed the round at 118% overfunded.   The second funding round closed completely funded in just four days – raising a total of £1m over the two rounds. The latest funding round has again closed overfunded after just 10 days. In August Killing Kittens again hit global headlines having received £170,000 as part of HM Government’s Future Fund, matching the £170,000 raise from Seedrs.   The KK Group portfolio of brands, including Killing Kittens, now also includes Sistr, a dedicated online platform for women in business to connect, share and learn from one another, especially important during the current crisis when women in the workplace are under threat. Emma has also launched Safedate, an app for anyone wanting to stay safe whilst online dating. www.wearekk.com

What a perfect topic for this week and celebrating IWD.  Raj and I talk about how we bring diversity and inclusion into ALL levels of the business and Raj talks about how he is ACTING on this within his business, not just saying the right things.  It was an absolute pleasure talking to Raj and I hope more leaders in business will look at the importance of diversity and inclusion at ALL levels, enjoy.

In this episode, we bring 2 formidable women to talk about diversity, philanthropy, resilience, alongside how and why they founded Women Who Do Wonders.  We discuss topics that are close to their heart, like human trafficking, wellness, and wisdom.  Pamela - Born in Canada, mother of three, and a military spouse, Pamela is an ambitious entrepreneur with a big heart. While living abroad in the last 15 years, she’s founded several small businesses. Pamela was born with a cleft lip and continues to be a committed advocate for Smile Train as well as organizations that work to end human trafficking.    In 2018, Pamela organized the inaugural Wellness & Wisdom Summit to bring wellness, wisdom, and purpose to the women who serve in our military. Amidst the pandemic, she launched the quarterly publication Wellness & Wisdom Magazine.   Alana - Born and raised in Aberdeen, Scotland, Alana is the middle of 3 children. She is a property developer, charity founder, fundraiser, writer, adventure planner, coach, speaker, security specialist, former Mrs. Scotland, wife to former UK Special Forces and double world record holder, Dean Stott, but her most important role, mummy to 2 beautiful little people, Tommy and Mollie.   Her UK charity was founded in 2018 and has since raised over $1 million dollars, supporting projects in the fields of both mental health and combating Human Trafficking.  Alana has a varied and diverse background with roles such as debt collector, bank manager, close protection officer (bodyguard) and she was one of the first-ever female ship security officer tackling piracy in areas such as the Gulf of Aden. Alana currently lives with her family in California where she is working on various projects including a TV series about Human Trafficking, her numerous businesses, planning Dean’s next record-breaking adventure, her own personal fitness challenge, as well as expanding her philanthropic reach.

In this episode, Nic and I talk about the importance of leadership, inspiring the workforce, and the skills to positively impact your life.  Nic is a mother of two teenage girls, Ella and Amy, and lives on the North Essex coast close to where she was born. Nic held Senior Exec/VP roles in Sales, Marketing and Innovation within a global FMCG drinks company but decided to leave corporate life and start her own business in order to achieve the work-life balance she wanted and support her girls. She is an experienced leader, coach, and facilitator of change with a passion for people and delivering results by creating passionate teams, and high accountability cultures with purpose and belief. Her first book Courage, dear heart – How to look back, learn and leap forward was published in 2019 receiving 100% 4- and 5-star reviews on Amazon. It motivated many to make big changes and spurred her on to write the second book, less than a year later. Alongside her consultancy work, Nic has spent a growing part of her time volunteering, supporting Crisis at Xmas, and in 2019 joining the Board of Farleigh Hospice and The Local Hospice Lottery as a Trustee.  She is an enthusiastic open water swimmer but more than anything loves to learn and train with other coaches, teachers, and leaders from around the world. Over the past two years, she has spent six weeks in New Zealand, France, and the UK working and learning from Maori Healers, in techniques and a practice that is designed to support health and wellbeing, and shift emotional and physical pain from the body.

After my first ever podcast with Dean, I am delighted to welcome Dean back and this time with Alana, this power couple who are open and honest about recognising their strengths and weaknesses.  We discuss the age-old saying behind every successful person is another successful partner (notice I didn't say man!)  Should people change their weaknesses or allow those that have those as strengths to thrive and vice versa.

Wow, that is all I can say!  In this episode, I talk with Greg about his journey of recovery after a night out in Brighton.  For anyone out there looking for inspiration, THIS is a must listen to.  From a night out with the lads to being in a coma with little chance of survival to how Greg is now, I am honoured to call Greg a friend and thank him for sharing his journey in an open and honest way 

In this weeks episode, we discover what AI and blockchain are, well for people like me who are just learning to understand, if this is you this is a great lesson and informative session.  Cliff joined Lewis Silkin LLP as a Partner in April 2006 after over a decade as in-house counsel in the music and broadcast industry. Cliff is now part of the team spearheading our Media & Entertainment sector for the firm and he now acts for some of the world’s largest names in mobile, brands, recorded music, mobile, live music, radio, audio-visual production, and online. He also specialises in working with clients who are embracing content-based entertainment for the first time such as FMCG and lifestyle brand owners, advertising agencies, digital agencies, investment funds, and financial institutions. He has a passion for working on innovative new business models, advertiser-funded programming and in the monetisation of format rights.

The Media & Entertainment Group is ranked in the “Legal 500” and “Chambers” and Cliff is ranked as a ‘leading individual’ in both directories.

He is also the founder and a director of "Eleven", a business advisory company working with disruptive business models in the world of Digital Media, Film, and Sport.

In this episode, I basically have a rant for 10 mins on the epic failure of an individual, who stated he 'Always empowers Women' but clearly did not, rant over and thank you!

This episode talks about the huge potential for brands to engage in a MASSIVELY growing opportunity and the lack of girls and women in this sector.  We talk about the size of the opportunity, brands that have done it well and how we could get more girls into this sector, enjoy