Podcaster & Coach Alex Manzi: Becoming Your Best Self & Daring to Dream

"I didn't know what I wanted to and not until very recently did I discover that. I've had lots of different career paths but I still managed to get myself into some really good positions in terms of work. It's not the end of the world if you don't know what you want to do until you're 30, 35, 40 or whatever. That's just part of life. You've just got to roll with it."  My guest this episode is Podcaster, Coach and Social Media Producer Alex Manzi. Born and bred in London, Alex says he “never got on with” with school and found greater purpose working at his Uncle’s delicatessen at the weekends.  It wasn’t a surprise, then, that Alex decided to forgo University in favour of hitting the ground running in the workplace. From working in a pasta factory to delivery driving, he spent his first year as a jack-of-all-trades before working at a factory for almost three years.  While he considers this a dark and directionless time, it was also when he created his Music Blog 'We Are SME' and Club Night called Wanderlust. By day, he was stretching canvases onto their frames and by night he was furiously writing about his favourite new musicians. Eventually, he landed his first job in Media at an Events and Marketing firm, before embarking on a career in Advertising.  In 2014, he became BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Social Media Producer, where he spent four and a half years tweeting and Instagramming about music. At a point, however, he couldn’t help but feel something was missing. He stooped back into that familiar dark place, finding solace in motivational podcasts and books. This motivated him to create his very own podcast ‘Dreamer’s Disease’ - a podcast dedicated to telling the inspirational stories of others, in a bid to inspire himself and his audience.  Almost 80,000 plays later and after four years at 1Xtra, Alex has now taken a leap to pursue his passion full-time, to see where Dreamer’s Disease can take him. I had the pleasure of working with Alex at the BBC and was so impressed when he started his own podcast on the side. Seeing him go ahead and pursue his dreams stoked a fire inside me, and served as an inspiration to get my podcast off the ground. I absolutely love how honest and candid Alex is when talking about some of life's more difficult subjects.  In this relatable chat, Alex talks about how he felt lost for most of his twenties, unsure of what he really wanted to do. He explains how his decision to reject the usual path of university in favour of working has served him in the long run, and how feeling directionless has been the cause of some of his darkest moments. Alex also explains how he found purpose and re-discovered himself, to now be in a position to help others do the same with his Podcast Dreamer's Disease and new Coaching Business.  **Follow me:** Twitter: [@katiephilo](https://twitter.com/katiephilo) Instagram: [@katiephilo](https://www.instagram.com/katiephilo/) [](https://katiephilo.com/) [www.katiephilo.com](https://katiephilo.com/) [](https://katiephilo.com/) **Follow Alex: ** **Twitter:** [@IAmAlexManzi](https://twitter.com/IAmAlexManzi) **Instagram:** [@iamalexmanzi](https://www.instagram.com/iamalexmanzi/) **Facebook:** [@iamalexmanzi](https://www.facebook.com/iamalexmanzi/) **Follow Dreamer's Disease** **Twitter: **[@DreamersPod](https://twitter.com/DreamersPod) **Instagram: **[@the_dreamersdisease](https://www.instagram.com/the_dreamersdisease/)