The Happy Entrepreneur

This is another recording of the live webinar that Laurence and I are hosting during lockdown in the UK and across the world.We're joined by Christina Kisley, our long time friend and Alptitude alumnus. She’s co-chair of Conscious Capitalism in Atlanta and is an executive coach for leaders, executives and entrepreneurs with 20 years of experience.For this episode we talk about loss. When we downplay loss and don't allow ourselves to grieve we store up that emotion so that next time we have a loss we feel exponentially worse. This is because the new loss, even if it's relatively smaller, lights up all the grief that's still in our system.We're all currently suffering from a loss of some kind whether it may be as tragic as the loss of a loved one or even the loss of a dream.Rather than push those unpleasant feelings away we need to lean into them and just feel. We can't think our way out of grief we can only feel our way through it.Many people try to "silver line" the loss and try to find something positive from the event. But there's no actual need to do so, it can just feel bad, and that's okay.With the help of the amazing Christina Kisley we share the Kubler-Ross model on the different stages of grief and relate them to what we're seeing around us and experiencing ourselves.We hope it helps you deal with any loss that you're experiencing in your businesses and personal lives and gives you a way to process what's going on.

Georgee Low is a sales and marketing coach from Vancouver and she helps purpose driven entrepreneurs build their businesses and make them profitable. She works with people who really want to make a difference in the world but struggle with marketing and sales.During this podcast we talk about what it takes to be authentic when selling as well as what it means to be an entrepreneur.Most people think that to sell well you need to be an extrovert and if you’re an introvert you’re going to suck at it. But Georgee believes that it doesn’t matter what your natural personality is. What’s important is whether you can listen and whether you care. Those are the qualities of great sales people.Be curious, ask questions and don’t take offence if they don’t want to work with you. It’s fine, it just means there’s someone else out there who’ll be a better fit for them and a better fit for you.I also talk to Georgee about her own entrepreneurial journey and what it means to her. According to her, making money is all well and good but if that’s all you’re here to do then you’re just taking up space.She became an entrepreneur because it was the only way she could get what she needed: to always be there for her children; to put a roof over their heads; and to make a difference in the world.She also says that being an entrepreneur is the best personal development program you could ever follow.

This episode is the audio recording of the live webinar that Laurence and I have committed to broadcasting every Friday during the lockdown period in the UK.We were joined this time by one of the funniest and kindest people we know. His name is Shamash Alidina and is the author of Mindfulness for Dummies as well a being an ACT trainer and a keynote speaker on wellbeing and resilience.ACT, also known as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Training, was around before mindfulness became a thing. It’s a highly flexible evidence-based model that can be used by everyone from coaches and consultants to school teachers to therapists and doctors.At it’s core ACT is about feeling the feelings rather than pushing them away. As Shamash says during the webinar the more we try to push unpleasant feelings away the more they’ll grow. If we’re able to accept these feelings and give them space the less likely they’ll hijack our actions.Understanding how this works is essential for first time entrepreneurs. When you’re launching a business fear and self-criticism are your worst enemies. By applying some of the principles in ACT we believe you’ll be better equipped to deal with the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.I hope you enjoy this episode, particularly the little meditation Shamash shares towards the end.

Every Friday Laurence and I have been hosting live discussions about what's been going on this week for us and our community.It’s our opportunity to process what's going on in the world right now and tackle some crunchy topics around life and business, and the overlap of the two.Each week we have a different theme and for this episode we were joined by the amazing Charles Davies, one of our teachers & guides and also the founder of How to Be Clear. Charles has devoted most of his working life to trying to understand what clarity is and how it works.He joins us to talk about money and what it means to us. Not in terms of the mechanics of value exchange but about how our relationship and attitudes to it gives us insight into our inner world.During these uncertain times our relationship to money is going to manifest itself more strongly in the way behave and the decisions we make. Learning more about how that works will help you make better decisions.

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.