Sharmadean Reid MBE is a leading entrepreneur and beauty visionary on a mission to digitally connect like-minded females. She is the founder of The Stack World, an exclusive platform for female founders, leaders and entrepreneurs to connect and share experiences.

Sharmadean is a serial entrepreneur with three impressive startups. Before launching The Stack, Shamadean first took the beauty industry by storm with her business WAH Nails, which featured in collaborations with global brands including Nike and Marc Jacobs. A beauty enthusiast at heart, Sharmadean also developed 'Beautystack' - a booking platform for beauty professionals to gain clients and show off their unique style.

Expanding her life-long mission for female-driven empowerment Sharmadean then launched the Stack to connect like-minded women. With gender equality and female entrepreneurship at its core, Sharmadean started The Stack to provide exclusive business opportunities, education and networking for business-minded women at the cost of just a small monthly fee. Sharmadean stands up for all females and has also expressed her concern over the lack of diversity in investment funding, among just 1 of 10 female founders to receive venture capital funding in the UK in the past decade.

Topics:

- Founding the trendiest nail bar in London WAH Nails

- The story of BeautyStack and the jump to tech.

- The Stack World: the exclusively female portal for business

- How the odds are stacked against female founders in business

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Oliver Patrick is a leading physiologist, entrepreneur, and expert in lifestyle management who is on a mission to teach others the skills required to build stress resilience. A multiple business owner, Oliver is both co-founder of the world’s most advanced health evaluation service Viavi and founder of the first lifestyle medicine gym, Viavi:be. He is also an admirable public and keynote speaker for functional and lifestyle medicine, for which he has extensive clinical experience.

Prior to entrepreneurship, Oliver was Head of Physiology at Nuffield Health, where he helped to set up the largest team of applied physiologists, well-being advisors and nutritionists in the UK. So far Oliver has already completely revolutionised the concept of traditional health screening frameworks - his primary aim to contemporise the delivery of well-being services within the corporate and hospitality marketplace for all levels of access.

In Oliver’s words as a society we are in the midst of a stress epidemic, and though largely considered a psychological problem, unknowingly, prolonged cognitive strain is one of the most significant contributors to ill physical health. Oliver suggests that our ability to mentally flourish lies in our lifestyle choices and the personal routes we take – on reflection this episode communicates a powerful message that I personally consider very important, making it a gracious addition to my podcast.

Topics:

- Early career, experiences and education.

- How he helped to develop the World's Most Advanced Health Evaluation Service.

- The Fight vs Flight response to stress.

- Hustle culture and stress at work

- When does stress become detrimental to our health?

- A lesson on how to reset and recalibrate.

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Jaz O’Hara is the founder of The Worldwide Tribe, an organisation and online community committed to supporting refugees and asylum seekers globally. The platform uses methods of innovative storytelling to share the narratives of refugees embedded in the crisis, inspiring others to get active and inform a new lease for change. Since its founding in 2015, The Worldwide Tribe has been met with overwhelming love and support by its followers, physical and monetary donations inundated by concern and care for the refugee crisis.

Jaz’s devotion to The Worldwide Tribe is inspired penultimately by her adopted younger brother Mez, an Eritrean who made a dangerous voyage across the world to flee compulsory military service. Amazed by her brother’s story, Jaz made a life-changing visit to a refugee camp in Calais, where she saw first-hand the terrifying conditions and extreme challenges that she realised all refugees have in common. Arriving back in the UK Jaz quit her job in fashion and devoted her career to the refugee crisis, intending to raise awareness, share stories and encourage people to help in any capacity.

Now a Human Rights Activist, Ted X and United Nations Speaker and Podcaster, I am blown away by the process of advancement Jaz has made to the global refugee community. Because of this, I have decided to donate all streaming revenue from this episode to The Worldwide Tribe. I urge you to go and see what they do, and if you’d also like to donate yourself please use the link below:

https://www.justgiving.com/prism-worldwidetribe

Topics:

- Introducing her refugee foster brothers - 'My adopted refugee brothers; the inspiration for everything I do'

- Jaz's life-changing trip to the notorious Calais 'Jungle' - a refugee camp in a humanitarian emergency.

- Making the switch to the charity sector from a career in fashion.

- Founding The Worldwide Tribe: a space for refugee storytelling.

- Hindering misconceptions of refugees and how we can help.

https://www.patreon.com/theworldwidetribe

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Simon Mottram is the Founder of Rapha. Hailed as one of the greatest marketers and business innovators in modern cycling; he made cycling cool. Having founded the brand in 2004, Rapha has transformed the industry and blurred the lines between fashion and cycling through its stylish, high-quality performance products, creative and engaging storytelling, direct to consumer model and innovative approaches to physical retail and membership.

Simon has been a passionate cyclist for more than 30 years and has successfully transferred his passion to the Rapha brand and internal culture. Prior to setting up Rapha, Simon specialised in brand strategy and marketing and worked for various firms and agencies - experience he later utilised to attract attention to his own brand. Rapha has since been deemed a ‘marketing machine’ and over the years has mastered the art of community marketing, reliant on a strong membership programme that connects over 17,000 cyclists worldwide.

After an exceptional decade of sales Simon sold the business for a cool $200 million to the heirs of America’s retail giant, Walmart. Though he remains active at Rapha as a shareholder director and founder, in December 2021 Simon stepped down as CEO to allow his business to excel and be taken to the next level. I am also pleased to have him on board my own vision for TALA as an investor.

Topics:

• Early years in finance and experience in branding

• Start-up years at Rapha and finding the niche

• Building authenticity and exclusivity into the brand

• Maintaining brand culture in the face of growth

• The future for Rapha and ‘semi-retirement’

• How to succeed as an entrepreneur

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Candice Braithwaite is the Sunday Times best-selling author, presenter, journalist and founder of Make Motherhood Diverse: an initiative fighting for equal representation for mothers and parents. Initially a content creator and 'mumfluencer', Candice began posting on her socials in 2015 to document her journey of motherhood, keen to disrupt the flawless 'yummy mummy' facade online. The authenticity of her account resonated with thousands online, empowering her to write her first of three bestseller books.

During the episode, I had the opportunity to speak with Candice about her revelations about being a black woman and mother. She shed light on a shocking statistic; that black women are 5x more likely to die in childbirth than white women. Candice herself went through a particularly turbulent first birth experience, meaning she could not be present in the first six weeks of her daughter's life.

Throughout Candice's story, there is grit, courage and perseverance. Her experiences of systemic racism, her concerns as a black woman, and her view as to what must now be done are told with light-hearted humour and energy. Candice also speaks for the first time about an online public attack from a fellow mumfluencer that forced her to 'go mute' online.

Topics:

- From marketing to mumfluencer: a whistle-stop tour of Candice's career

- Candice's mission: to make motherhood more inclusive

- The Instagram trolling scandal (an inside scoop)

- Systemic racism in healthcare and the inadequate care of black mothers

- Breaking the stigmas surrounding motherhood and abortion - 'I don't need your abortion story - your body your choice'

- The #1 problem with maintaining transparency online

- Dating and relationships

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Michelle Kennedy is the founder and CEO of Peanut, one of the fastest-growing social networking apps for women focusing on fertility, pregnancy, motherhood and menopause, which has raised $23m to to date. Peanut was founded in 2017 when Michelle had her first baby, serving as a gift to like-minded mothers during their most uncertain and uncanny moments. Women now use the Peanut app for all sorts of reasons, whether that be trying to find a playdate for their children or networking with other working mums.

Having worked as Deputy CEO of dating behemoth Badoo, Michelle has extensive experience using swipe-right technology to match people online, her expertise invaluable to Peanut. While Peanut continues to flourish, Michelle has joined the chase for the next unicorn brand and is now a strategic investor in several early and late-stage start-ups including TALA.

While the internet is full of advice for women, in this episode Michelle shares the prestigious tale of how Peanut changed the female demographic forever. Michelle talks candidly about the importance of surrounding yourself with other great women, both in business and personally, being open to new experiences and knowing how to fail fast without getting broken by it. Michelle stands out as a true example of how to be a respected leader in today's society: ambitious and driven yet taking challenges with a heart and passion unlike no other.

Topics:

- Whistle-stop tour of career: tech and the dating industry

- Building and expanding the concept for Peanut

- The personal toll of entrepreneurship

- The beauty of making business mistakes

- 'Women making products for women' - it just makes sense.

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Jason Mahendran is a Senior Investor at Active Partners, one of the UK’s leading investment firms committed to the search for the next prosperous unicorn brand. Through his venture capital and investing experience, Jason has helped to build several outstanding consumer-based, founder-led brands including the reputable LEON, Honest Burgers and Rapha. Active Partners have also recently invested in my own brand TALA in our $5.7m seed round, Jason himself joining the board.

While getting your head around investment may seem like a minefield, obtaining funding could be the difference between making one's business a success, or having it never take off the ground. Investors like Jason offer so much more than just funding - they also provide founders with business advice, industry contacts and innovation, riding all the highs and lows along the way.

Today I get the inside scoop on entrepreneurship from an investor's standpoint, including the process of securing investments, marshalling resources and utilising opportunities to achieve the unicorn.

Topics:

• Early years in the retail sector at the Woolworths Group

• Investible businesses and their equally investible founders

• Should I seek funding for my business?

• 'The reality of pitching is NOT Dragons Den'

• Investment in TALA (I get roasted)

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*Trigger Warning*

Nicola Kilner is the co-founder and CEO of DECIEM, ‘the abnormal beauty company’ and hub of science-backed beauty brands that pave the future for skincare. Part of the DECIEM family ‘The Ordinary’ has taken the skincare world by storm, providing an evolving collection of clinical technologies and treatments at drugstore prices. In just 9 years DECIEM has completely revolutionised the beauty industry, its long-term mission to curate brands that educate and inform consumers about products best for their skin.

Starting her career as a sponsored beauty buyer for Boots, Nicola is not short of corporate beauty exposure. As a CEO Nicola has navigated $2.2 billion-dollar sale to Estée Lauder, achieving nearly £500m in annual sales and in 2021 she made the Forbes 40 Under 40 list. She is also, much to my delight and surprise, one of my investors at TALA.

In our heartfelt conversation Nicola and I discuss the extraordinary growth of DECIEM, her personal successes as a CEO and friendship with co-founder Brandon Truaxe who tragically passed in 2019. Today, with one product being reported to be sold every second, I delve into Nicola’s story of success, heartbreak, and phenomenal business growth.

Topics:

• Early career and sponsorship from Boots

• Building 10 brands at once and the fun of being a start-up

• Co-founding and Nicola’s close relationship with Brandon

• Brandon’s public mental health decline

• Taking on new responsibilities: becoming a mother and becoming sole CEO

• Phenomenal growth during COVID-19

• Building an inclusive company, women in the workplace, flexible and remote working

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Tolani Shoneye, writer, producer, host of 10/10 Would Recommend and 1/3 of The Receipts Podcast - a leading award-winning UK podcast and one of my personal favourites for YEARS. While Tolani is best known for hosting The Receipts, she has established herself as a trusted voice that resonates with millennial women on and off the mic. A former beauty editor for Buzzfeed UK, Tolani's credits include Elle, The Independent and Refinery29. Her breadth as a creative is undeniable as a one-time playwright for the Young Vic, with commissioned monologues under her belt and TV credits including hit Netflix series Top Boy. 

Topics

Building a career based on your talents

Testing and learning to build a career

The joy of storytelling

The importance of taking opportunities and dreaming big

Dealing with grief at work 

Buy the Working Hard, Hardly Working book here: http://linktr.ee/whhw 

Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracebeverley/

Keep updated on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-beverley-574a10102/

Shop Sustainable Style at TALA: http://wearetala.com

Get everything you need to reach your fitness goals at SHREDDY: http://shreddy.com

Working Hard, Hardly Working is produced by Burning Bright Audio, the series producer is Ben Tulloh, editing by Ben Tuloh and video editing by Chris Ahjem.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Nicola Elliot, Founder and Creative Director of NEOM Organics - one of the first, and fastest growing wellbeing brands in the UK, which specialises in 100% natural fragrances. Nicola’s inspiration for NEOM came whilst working as a magazine editor, when she realised the wellbeing of her friends and colleagues was suffering due to the demands of their fast-paced lives. She chose to retrain in aromatherapy and fast forward to today, NEOM has 4 standalone stores and is stocked with renowned retailers. I'm so thrilled to have her on today.

Topics

Women in work and women in entrepreneurship

Turning a side hustle into a business

Identifying your ideal customer

Working mothers

Buy the Working Hard, Hardly Working book here: http://linktr.ee/whhw 

Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracebeverley/

Keep updated on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-beverley-574a10102/

Shop Sustainable Style at TALA: http://wearetala.com

Get everything you need to reach your fitness goals at SHREDDY: http://shreddy.com

Working Hard, Hardly Working is produced by Burning Bright Audio, the series producer is Ben Tulloh, editing by Ben Tuloh and video editing by Chris Ahjem.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.