The Happy Entrepreneur

This is the third in the series of weekly episodes of our live podcast with myself and Laurence reflecting on the past week and what's going on in theres uncertain times.The core message of this episode is around how we navigate our internal world to better navigate the external one.This week we're joined by Lana Jelenjev, a learning experience designer and community alchemist. We discuss the idea of recalibrating in this time of chaos and Lana shares her thoughts and ideas on chaos and the opportunities it offers. She talks to two aspects of chaos. The chaos we are experiencing ourselves and the chaos experienced by our clients.During the conversation we offer thoughts and ideas on how to deal with the internal chaos and also how to help others who find themselves in chaos too.To find out more about Lana go to her LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lanajelenjev/

This is the second of our weekly live transmissions where Laurence and I reflect on the past week and our thoughts and ideas.During this session we talk about:our covid coping strategies and what we've done to get through this weekanti-fragility and how we can build resilience in times of uncertaintyhow entrepreneurship can be seen as a journey of personal growthWe go live every Friday at midday UK time and you can join the Zoom or watch via our Happy Startup Summercamp Facebook group. We'll share links to the session via our various social media channels.

I’ve learned from talking to coaches and business owners, and also reflecting on my own experiences, that the biggest obstacle to growing a business is the founder.Our beliefs and values, without proper examination, can stop us from making the best decisions for our businesses.In this conversation with Dirk Bischof I learn about how his passion for stories and his drive to understand himself have helped him grow as an entrepreneur.In particular I found fascinating the tension between his need for freedom and his need to create more impact.In order to grow his impact he needed to grow his team, but in order to work as an effective team he needed to create structure.But Dirk hated structure. He’d always run away from it. Sticking with that belief would have limited his ability to create more impact. However he discovered that structure can also create freedom.Through self-reflection and questioning we discover the beliefs that are getting in the way. By learning to accept and reframe them we avoid creating inner conflict that stops us from making the impact we want.For many entrepreneurs the idea of looking inwards sounds self indulgent and a waste of time.However, when things get really tough and you need to make some big decisions knowing more about yourself will help you overcome those challenges more effortlessly.

During this time when we're going to feel more apart this video call is our way of pulling us together.Laurence and I are committing to doing a live video call every Friday at midday UK time.We'll talk about what's been going on for us and invite community members to jump on the call and share their stories.We're working it out as we go along and so we need all the help and support we can get.

Podcasting and vlogging are great low cost ways to get your message out to the world. If you’re a purpose-driven entrepreneur being able to share your story and activate people who want to join your mission is fundamentally important. I think of the work of Marshal Ganz and particularly his principle of story of self, story of us and story of now. Check out Seth Godin’s take on this idea and how it’s important for marketeers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he1Vji1n8z0.Even though telling your story and talking in public is so powerful many of us don’t believe we can do it. We say “no-one wants to listen to me”. However, according to Matt Matheson this is just a story you tell yourself and once you know that story you can change it.This is why I was eager to talk to Matt. His mission in life is to help people find their voice and he does this by coaching people who want to do public speaking. During this conversation we talk about how he was called to do this work and how he helps people overcome the fear. He shares some fundamental principles to move past the fear and also what makes for a compelling talk.Two simple questions to ask yourself when you’re thinking about speaking in public are:What’s the feeling you want to give people?What do you want them to take way with them?If you’re considering talking in public for the first time or you’re wanting to become a better speaker then this episode is for you.

This is the last episode of 2019 and a bit of a milestone for me. The podcast started in February as a bit of an experiment and I'm proud to have now recorded 50 episodes.Recording and producing each episode has taken a lot of time and effort but at the beginning of the year I had set myself a one word intention of learning and this podcast has felt so aligned with that.When I first started I didn't know what I was doing. The first few episodes were very raw but the podcast evolved after each recording and over time I discovered the style and format that felt right. Also, sharing these stories with listeners has allowed me to exercise my own practice of listening. I've learned as much about myself as I have about my guests.I'd like to thank everyone who gave up their time to join me on the podcast and also to everyone who's taken the time to listen.On this 50th episode I'm joined by one of our good friends and an alumnus of our first ever Alptitude retreat, Haje Kamps. He's had an eclectic career taking on the roles of journalist, entrepreneur, author, podcaster, VP of a VC and pitch coach. He's also one of the most well-read and knowledgable people I've ever met with ideas and thoughts on just about every subject you can throw at him.Through my work with the Happy Startup School one of the most common questions we're asked is about getting funding. In this episode we talk about venture capital and what it does to founders. In the startup world VC backing is seen as a badge of honour but I've come to understand that it isn't for everyone.I learned from Haje that being backed by VC funding can be brutal. They'll support you with their time and money but only if they can make a massive return on their investment. If you don't look like you're going to go big then you might as well go home.Building the unicorn businesses that VCs are looking for can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams and a household name, but at what cost? While many entrepreneurs appear to be after the money and the status, what's really motivating them?During our conversation we talk about intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and the importance of self knowledge for entrepreneurs. Haje shares some of his own journey of self knowledge and we talk about the value of deep conversations and vulnerability.

This episode is a meaty one in which the conversation covers 10 year plans, cottage renovations, business goals, life goals, selling companies, self-awareness and leadership.My talking partner on the podcast is Ray Richards, founder of Do Something Different. He's fascinated by behavioural flexibility and is on a mission to make the world a better place by helping people make better behaviours. He's also an experienced entrepreneur who's sold two businesses and is now in the process of growing his third.Along the journey he's learned many things not only about business but about himself. He says he's "inherently lazy" but what he really means is that he doesn't want to spend all hours of the day on work, as he's got other things he wants to do. So what does that mean when it comes to leading a business? What makes a leader?When we think of great leaders we associate them with traits such as drive, charisma, resilience, clarity and clear communication.However, I believe that we can all lead in our own way. To do so we need to ask ourselves some probing questions. What are my personal (emotional) needs and where do they come from? What does my organisation, business or work need to be to address these needs?With that deeper understanding of ourselves we can develop a style of leadership that feels authentic and purposeful. We may not become the next Steve Jobs, but we'll build a business that does the job of making us happy.And that's what Ray wants. To do work and build a life that makes him happy. Listen on to hear his thoughts about leadership and how he needs to lead now.

In this episode I talk to Rob Day about the traps and pitfalls of founding an agency business.When Laurence and I started our digital agency back in 2004 we didn’t have a business plan or exit strategy. We just enjoyed doing the work and wanted to continue doing it and get paid. We grew organically taking people on when we couldn’t handle the workload.Over time we got more work and therefore needed more staff which meant finding more work to keep the staff happy (and paid).We then did less of the work we enjoyed (i.e. designing and coding) and doing more of the work we didn’t enjoy, and had never been trained to do (i.e. management and sales).Without a clear vision for the business (and for ourselves) we spent more time in the doing and less time in the being. We felt that we needed to become a well respected agency doing innovative work but we didn’t know what that meant for us individually and also what it meant for the future.Who wants to think about exit strategy when you’re doing work you love?Who CAN think of exit strategy when you’re too busy trying to feed the beast?And why even think of an exit? If there’s a need to exit why did we start the business in the first place?If this story sounds familiar to you then you’ll relate to this episode of the podcast with Rob Day, cofounder of Liquid Light, a digital agency based in Brighton. Amongst other things he now coaches agency founders by sharing his knowledge and awareness of the hidden traps and pitfalls of founding a service based business.If you’re early in your journey then you’ll learn what to look out for as you grow your business. If you’re a seasoned agency founder you’ll probably nod your head in agreement and maybe be inspired to look at your work differently.

Brendan Kearns is a designer and founder of Studio Rival. For many people his career path is already a mark of success having worked at Twitter, Invision and Google. But like most creative entrepreneurs he has his own definition of success that isn’t driven by money or status.In this episode we talk about his time working for tech giants, his view on the role of designers and what it means to him to be an entrepreneur.Brendan is definitely values driven and you’ll hear about how he puts those values into action when choosing clients. He’s also pragmatic and looks at the bigger picture of what he’s trying to achieve rather than being too strict with his values. For instance, even if there isn’t an exact values match with the client, if the money is good enough he’ll see it as an opportunity to create change in the organisation and also fund other projects that he believes in.Like myself and Laurence, Brendan took an unorthodox route into his profession, studying at a business school before becoming a designer. This has meant he’s been able to look at things differently and not be conditioned by orthodox training. Rather than being T-shaped he aspires to be comb-shaped. This means, instead of being a specialist in one area he’d rather have a good knowledge of a broad set of disciplines.If you’re a creative professional looking to make the leap or you’re an early stage entrepreneur wanting to be assured you’re on the right path then this episode is for you.

Does creating impact always have to take effort and hard work? Can you make change without forcing it? According to Rei Chou it is possible. You just have to hold on less tightly to the outcome and be more honest about why you need to be a changemaker. This takes some inner work, which according to Rei is an exploration into what you don’t know that you don’t know about yourself.Rei is a former marketing creative now Reiki master and healer and also founder of The Feast. The purpose of The Feast is to gather people who can share in their abundance (their gifts and talents) so that they can effortlessly help each other. I believe this work embodies Rei’s perspective on how creating impact can be easier and more joyful.For some people it’s hard to let go of the belief that big change takes hard work. But if you can believe that it’s possible maybe you can make it reality. While this all sounds a little woo woo I think there’s some truth to it, even backed by science. Our perceptions are governed by our beliefs and values. And so if we can change our beliefs we can change what we see and spot different opportunities around us.This episode is a bit of a deep one but I recommend you stick with it. If you’re struggling at work or in your business and you can’t see a way forward maybe the thing that’s getting in your way is actually you. Once you get out of your own way life will get a lot easier.You can find out more about Rei and her work here - https://www.thisisreichou.com/