Wole Talabi’s curiosity has taken him places. At nine, he read his parents’ entire collection of encyclopedias because he enjoyed the process of finding things. Later, as a chemical engineer, he went to Imperial College to pursue a Master’s degree in Reservoir Engineering because he was so frustrated at the uncertain numbers given to him to design facilities for the oil and gas company. When given negative feedback on his writing as a new writer, he took it as a challenge. He continued to write and studied how he could improve as a writer over many years before becoming an award-winning writer.

The word ‘text’ originates from ‘textile’ - which means woven together. To Dr Dibyadyuti Roy, this was the single most accurate way of describing his journey from literature into digital humanities. To him, his foray into media studies digital humanities was about looking at texts in the largest possible dimension. Listen to discover how digital humanities and media studies will be a core partner to help students retain skills necessary for jobs in the next ten years.

“It won’t work,” people told Kim when she first bounced the idea of a blowdry bar. “You’re going to get eaten alive by the big fish.” Kim, the perennial lover of challenges, set out to prove everyone wrong. Here’s her story of starting Malaysia’s first blowdry bar to mind-blowing success.

Straight from the heart, Dr Ria Dunkley revealed that she didn’t know what she wanted to do at university. Her tutor encouraged her to study tourism. She thrived at university and became a lecturer in tourism - then dedicated her life to ecopedagogy after she worked for the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK. Learn about her struggles with imposter syndrome, working part-time jobs while pursuing her doctorate, and how you too can play a part in the climate crisis right where you are.

Shari’s teacher would complain to her parents, “Shari’s just a daydreamer, she should really focus more in class.” But being a daydreamer had grown her observation and reflection skills, which in turn, she put to writing and illustrating. Today, Shari is a sought-after multi disciplinary creative who has worked for local and international brands, from Monki, Uniqlo, to local brands such as U Mobile.

“There was always an action at the workplace,” Southampton University’s Assistant Professor of Marketing, Dr Tugra Akarsu shares. She confesses that growing up with her working parents had sown the seeds of sales and marketing in her from her early years. Discover how her food engineer parents’ influence had made her emotionally mature, resilient and took her to the heights of her career today.

“I’ll just sell my car - that will do our salaries for a while, and we can just walk to meetings,” thought Carl Hewitt when his co-founder Reece Matthews and him first started their little-known media agency. Discover how these 18-year-old’s rose against all odds and gave their all to build an award-winning digital marketing agency.

“We won’t be able to send you to university anymore, we couldn’t afford it. You got to think for yourself,” Venon Tian’s mother told him as he finished high school. 

Amazingly, Venon (who is now COO at ZUS Coffee) went ahead with university and even funded his own law degree in the UK. Tune in to find out how Venon overcame his financial challenges, secured a job in the UK and went on to preach and breathe operational excellence at work.

As the founder and leader of the UK’s two highest-performing A-level colleges for twelve consecutive years, Yasmin started her career “purely by chance” in her kitchen-turned-to-lab when she was waiting for her research grant in Cardiff. Tune in to find out how this Malaysian education entrepreneur rose to the top of A-level education in the UK while continuing to help students rise the ranks in their career as well.

When James Barton broke his leg as a teenager, his dreams of being a professional rugby player had to take a dramatic shift. Looking back, the mishap literally ushered him into a new ‘stage’ of his life: acting and Indiana Jones (yes) were part of that stage. Tune in to discover how it all came together for James who is now a renowned ambassador of UK education and a successful public speaker and actor.